Atlanta’s next mayor could be a black woman named Keisha – a prospect that thrills Diamond Harris.
The 28-year-old graphic designer exulted Wednesday on her Facebook page: “Keisha, Keisha, Keisha! I just want a mayor name Keisha.”
Harris, a native of Saginaw, Mich., who moved to Atlanta last year, cast her ballot Tuesday for city councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms, who will face fellow councilwoman Mary Norwood in a Dec. 5 runoff election.
“Just having a mayor whose name isn’t the standard name you would find on a coffee mug. I don’t know what could be better!” Harris said in a phone interview. “It’s kind of like when [Barack] Obama became president.”
In this Saturday, Oct 14, 2017, file photo, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., right, speaks to resident Pat Sabo, 67, a retired school teacher who was evacuated from her Santa Rosa, Calif., neighborhood. As Tuesday’s contest headed for a runoff pitting Keisha Lance Bottoms against Mary Norwood, social media was abuzz with the thought of a “Mayor Keisha.” Recent cycles have seen voters have cast ballots for mayor-elect Chokwe Lumumba in Jackson, Mississippi, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and California Senator Kamala Harris. (AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala, File) In this Saturday, Oct 14, 2017, file photo, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., right, speaks to resident Pat Sabo, 67, a retired school teacher who was evacuated from her Santa Rosa, Calif., neighborhood. As Tuesday’s contest headed for a runoff pitting Keisha Lance Bottoms against Mary Norwood, social media was abuzz with the thought of a “Mayor Keisha.” Recent cycles have seen voters have cast ballots for mayor-elect Chokwe Lumumba in Jackson, Mississippi, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and California Senator Kamala Harris. (AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala, File)A campaign once fixated on the possibility of Atlanta electing a white mayor for the first time in decades has suddenly shifted to the notion that the city could end up with “Mayor Keisha” – adding Bottoms to a growing list of politicians whose ethnic-sounding names haven’t hindered them from winning elected office.