In new memoir, Bottoms says hardships shaped her political identity

Keisha Lance Bottoms wants Georgians to see more than the candidate.

In her memoir released Tuesday, “The Rough Side of the Mountain,” the Democratic contender for governor recounts childhood sexual abuse, yearslong battles with bulimia and anorexia, the pain of being dismissed as a political “puppet” and how her father’s arrest and incarceration shaped her views on criminal justice reform.

Bottoms writes candidly about private trauma, public slights and political betrayals, arguing the same hard edges that tested her also forged the leader asking Georgians for a promotion.

She writes that watching her father, soul singer Major Lance, struggle after prison instilled in her a lifelong belief in redemption.

“I understood the battles my father faced when he was released from prison and I wanted to ensure that people were given real second chances and weren’t only seen through the lens of their mistakes,” she adds.

Bottoms also reveals that when she was 8 years old, an older neighbor repeatedly “inappropriately touched” her after neighborhood games of hide-and-seek. She writes that she kept the abuse secret for years, fearing it would upend her family.

The memoir revisits the rough-and-tumble realities of Atlanta politics, from a losing battle for a judgeship to a rise up the City Hall ladder. She describes heartbreak when former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin backed a rival in the 2017 race, before she reminded herself Franklin only had one vote.

“She could hurt my feelings but she could not stop me from being elected mayor,” Bottoms writes.

And she recounted being dismissed during her mayoral run as a surrogate controlled by others.

“As the only African American woman in the race I constantly found myself defending my credentials and pushing back against the subtle and not so subtle insinuations that I was a ‘puppet’ and not very talented or smart,” she wrote.

She defends her decision not to seek a second term as mayor, writing that after years of public pressure and private stress, stepping aside was a deliberate choice to put her family and her own well-being first.

There are lighter moments, too: first meeting future husband Derek Bottoms as a child at Woolworth’s, growing up around her mother’s salon in the West End and her beloved Grandmama’s early wake-up calls.

But the broader message is unmistakable. Bottoms is using the memoir to argue that the setbacks and struggles that shaped her life also forged her political identity.

Things to know

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Credit: TNS

Good morning! Here are three things to know for today:

Democrats hit data centers

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

You don’t need a pollster to tell you that the explosion of data center construction across Georgia has become a top issue for voters worried about the location, tax breaks, and water and energy consumption of Big Tech’s massive new storage facilities.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff announced that he’s investigating the effects of the data center boom on U.S. consumers. In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Ossoff wrote, “Without proper safeguards, higher prices and capital costs from increased energy generation could be passed onto Georgia families.”

Ossoff’s fellow Democrat, Jason Esteves, was in DeKalb County on Monday laying out his own “smart data center growth plan.” The candidate for governor told the AJC he hears voters’ anxiety about the issue at events around the state as he campaigns for governor.

“Georgians want common sense leadership on this,” he said. “We can balance the good paying jobs that data centers bring when they are constructed, and at the same time, we can ensure that these are built responsibly, in a way that limits impact on our community and ensures that these data centers are good neighbors.”

Despite nearly two dozen data center bills being introduced at the Legislature this session, the General Assembly failed to pass any significant new oversight or management of the industry.

Trolling

Credit: Nathan Posner for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Credit: Nathan Posner for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Clay Fuller knew exactly what he was doing.

Any self-respecting SEC football fan knows Maryland is not SEC country. So, when the newly minted Republican U.S. representative rattled off a string of absurdities in a social media video — including the claim that Maryland has never won an SEC championship — he wasn’t bungling geography. He was trolling.

Specifically, he was channeling @3YearLetterman, the anonymous Georgia fan account whose whole brilliant shtick is deadpan nonsense, faux authority and plenty of mockery declaring political leaders, historic figures and even entire nation-states irrelevant because they’ve never won an SEC title.

That wasn’t Fuller’s only deliberate howler. He said that Georgia was named after “George Washington” and that Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. was born in Georgia rather than Venezuela.

The bait worked. National media figures and plenty of other online scolds rushed in to fact-check him, which was probably the point all along.

The @3YearLetterman account, meanwhile, seemed to appreciate the homage by posting: “My influence is spreading.”

Ad watch

Credit: (YouTube screenshot)

Credit: (YouTube screenshot)

It’s unusual enough for a metro Atlanta judge to launch a TV ad in the region’s expensive market. It’s even rarer for that judge to share the screen with one of the city’s biggest rap stars.

But that’s exactly what Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall did this week, appearing in a campaign spot alongside Lil Baby.

Police have said the fatal shootings of two Atlanta teenagers stemmed from a gang dispute tied to a shoot for one of the rapper’s music videos. But Lil Baby hasn’t been charged with any crime, and his attorney called the claims “complete and total nonsense.”

The 30-second ad was Schwall’s second of the campaign. It ran during Monday night’s Atlanta Hawks NBA playoff game.

“In this world we live in,” said Lil Baby, whose real name is Dominique Jones, “fairness is key.”

Listen up

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Credit: AP

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, Marjorie Taylor Greene joins the show for a wide-ranging conversation about her post-Congress political role and ongoing influence inside Republican politics.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Campaign happenings

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Credit: Contributed

Family friendly

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Enough with the brutal stuff.

After months of attack ads and hard-edged messaging, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is trying something rare in this vicious campaign cycle: humor.

His latest spot for his campaign for governor features his children, Banks and Stella, offering glowing praise for their father.

Stella, 16, goes especially big, calling dad “the best football player ever” and the “Paul Bunyan of cutting taxes.”

When mom, Jan, asks why she’s laying it on so thick, Stella comes clean.

“I need to borrow dad’s truck on Saturday night.”

The ad ends with Jones delivering the punch line with the dry, matter-of-fact certainty any dad can appreciate.

“Not gonna happen.”

ICE impact

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

MS NOW is out with an 18-minute minidocumentary about the town of Social Circle’s fight with the federal government over plans to turn a warehouse into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.

As you’ve read in the AJC, the town is led by Republicans who say they support President Donald Trump. But they say this ICE facility is not what they voted for.

MS NOW highlights how the dustup is also playing into the U.S. Senate race where voters are saying U.S. Rep. Mike Collins has not had their back, even as he seeks their support in his campaign to unseat incumbent Ossoff.

“Mike Collins, if you want our vote ever again, you need to help us and come down here and do something,” Newton County Commissioner LeAnne Long, a Republican, says in the piece. “You need to go to President Trump. You do all these videos with him like you’re besties.”

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who was interviewed for the documentary, appeared on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” earlier Tuesday morning to talk about the issue. Both he and Ossoff have spoken out in support of Social Circle leaders’ efforts to kill plans for the proposed facility, receiving praise from local leaders.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced the construction projects were on hold indefinitely.

Today in Washington

Ask AJC

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Credit: Philip Robibero

Do you have questions about the midterm elections? Don’t ask ChatGPT, ask the AJC!

We have reporters who are experts on taxes, immigration, public safety and a host of other topics — and they’re all itching to answer your questions ahead of the elections.

Fill out the form below to ask us anything. AJC reporters and editors will read them and answer select questions in the weeks and months ahead. We can guarantee all questions will be answered by humans.

Shoutouts

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Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Today’s birthday:

Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.

Correction

Yesterday’s newsletter misspelled the late Rosalynn Carter’s first name.

Before you go

Credit: Charles Seabrook

Credit: Charles Seabrook

The Trump administration is mulling whether to shutter a number of U.S. Forest Service offices. But Georgia appears to be off the chopping block for now. An agency reorganization plan lists 57 research and development facilities slated for potential closure. Georgia isn’t on it.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider information to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.