Opinion: Republican call for redistricting is great timing for Keisha Lance Bottoms’ campaign

Politics

Gov. Kemp’s call for a special redistricting session is great timing for Bottoms, who just launched a voting rights tour.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announces her proposal for a Voting Rights Act for Georgia. Atlanta, Ga. May 13, 2025. (Patricia Murphy/AJC)

Two things happened this week that seemed to add momentum to former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ already dominant primary campaign for Georgia governor.

First, Bottoms launched a statewide tour on Wednesday to roll out her plan for a new Voting Rights Act in Georgia. With the U.S. Supreme Court gutting a key portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Bottoms said it would be up to the next governor of Georgia — hopefully her — to protect the rights of voters in the state.

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Patricia Murphy is the AJC’s senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

Patricia Murphy is the AJC’s senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.