Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Wednesday morning that he wants City Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms to succeed him as the city’s next mayor.

Speaking during a V-103 radio show, Reed said Bottoms is "absolutely the best candidate" among the large field of hopefuls.

The mayor’s endorsement comes in the middle of a race where up to 13 candidates are vying for the city’s top post.

Keisha Lance Bottoms is a candidate for Atlanta mayor.

Why the Atlanta mayor’s race is worth knowing

The next mayor will impact all of metro Atlanta, and the economy of the Southeast. In our series Election 2017, we examine how a lack of affordable housing means fewer new companies – and new jobs – moving here.

Visit Politically Georgia at http://www.myajc.com/georgia-politics/

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A Korean Air plane takes off from Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The plane is chartered to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia. (Yonhap via AP)

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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