South Carolina Democratic U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn mentioned Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as a potential choice for Joe Biden’s vice presidential running mate in an article published in the London-based Financial Times last week.

Clyburn, the U.S. House of Representatives Majority Whip, is the most powerful African-American in congress. His

endorsement of Biden earlier this year helped Biden win the South Carolina presidential primary — a key victory that put Biden on a trajectory to be the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Clyburn told the Times that he wanted a black woman on the 2020 presidential ticket. He said former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams lacked enough experience, but he had different thoughts about Bottoms, Biden’s top surrogate in Georgia.

“There is a young lady right there in Georgia who I think would make a tremendous VP candidate, and that’s the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms,” Clyburn told the Times.

A spokesman for Bottoms declined to comment on Clyburn’s quote.

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Workers, clean up damaged house near Paulding County High School after a storm passed through, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Dallas. National Weather Service teams will be conducting a damage survey in the Paulding County/Dallas area, which sustained “pretty significant” damage from the storms, NWS Senior Meteorologist Dylan Lusk told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday morning. (Hyosub Shin / AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC