Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will not seek re-election: report

The political world in Atlanta was rocked on Thursday evening.

"In a stunning announcement Thursday night, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told supporters that she will not run for reelection this year. Bottoms announced she will not seek a second term as Atlanta's 60th mayor during a private call with friends, staffers and allies, according to two people who were on the call and several others who were told about it," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The mayor's office has schedule a 10 a.m. press conference.

"The move is a shocking reversal for Bottoms, a mayor with a rising national profile who had launched her reelection campaign and held a fundraising event featuring President Joe Biden. The decision creates a wide-open mayor's race this year, and is likely to open the door for a slew of new candidates," the newspaper reported. "The March fundraiser with Biden, which was the first headlined by the president since taking office, raised over $500,000 for Bottoms' reelection bid — a sign of her strong financial standing and national political connections."