Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is reportedly being vetted as Biden's running mate

Rumors began swirling that Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms could emerge as a possible running mate for former Vice President Joe Biden after she gave a well-received speech late last month during protests against police brutality in her city. As it turns out, those rumors are true, Politico reports.

Two sources with knowledge of the discussions confirmed the Biden campaign is vetting Bottoms to potentially be the Democratic presidential nominee's vice president. Bottoms deferred questions about the process to the campaign, and said she remains focused on her mayoral role, the protests, and the coronavirus pandemic. But she has previously acknowledged she was honored to have her name mentioned.

Bottoms is known for sticking by Biden through thick and thin. She was the first big city mayor to endorse him and has served as a campaign trail surrogate for over a year, refusing to budge even when it looked like his campaign was on the edge of collapse.

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Politico also reports the Biden campaign has begun to focus more heavily on selecting a black woman as vice president, especially in light of the nationwide demonstrations responding to racial injustice. Other candidates for vice president besides Bottoms include Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), former Georgia Democratic state House Leader Stacey Abrams, and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

"These are extraordinary times, Joe is an extraordinary candidate," said former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman to serve in the Senate. "The only way he's going to get the voters energized is to have a black woman candidate — a black woman — for vice president." Read more at Politico.