PHOTOS: Atlanta mayor announces she will not run for reelection

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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms conducts a news conference Friday, May 7, 2021, after announcing she will not run for reelection.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms prepares to speak during a news conference, Friday, May 7, 2021, in Atlanta. Bottoms said Friday she has wrestled since her first year in office with whether to seek a second term, and this week she made a final decision to step aside even as she insisted she doesn't know what she'll do next. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms holds a news conference on her decision not to seek a second term Friday, May 7, 2021, at City Hall. JOHN SPINK / AJC

May 7, 2021 Atlanta: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms held a press conference Friday, May 7, 2021 at Atlanta City Hall speaking about her decision not to run for a second term. Here she is shown with husband Derek. In her first public appearance since announcing her decision to supporters Thursday night, Bottoms said her decision was guided by faith. “In the same way that it was very clear to me almost five years ago that I should run for mayor of Atlanta, it is abundantly clear to me today that it is time to pass the baton on to someone else,” Bottoms said at an emotional news conference at City Hall. She added that “the last three years have not been at all what I would have scripted for our city,” referencing a crippling cyber attack, a widening federal corruption investigation into the previous administration, the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest last year. Bottoms said she doesn’t know what’s next for her; she denied rumors that she or her husband Derek have taken jobs for Walgreens out of state. “I can’t get Derek to move two miles off Cascade Road,” she said. Bottoms, who was seen as a strong incumbent candidate despite a spike in violent crime, told friends and supporters Thursday evening she won’t seek a second term. She released a video and statement online a few hours later elaborating on her decision and reflecting on her time in office. “This is not something I woke up and decided yesterday,” Bottoms said Friday. “This is something I’ve been thinking about for a very long time.” (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms prepares to speak during a news conference, Friday, May 7, 2021, in Atlanta. Bottoms said Friday she has wrestled since her first year in office with whether to seek a second term, and this week she made a final decision to step aside even as she insisted she doesn't know what she'll do next. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

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