Biden names former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as senior adviser

June 15 (UPI) -- Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, once under consideration as President Joe Biden's running mate, was named White House senior adviser for public engagement on Wednesday.

Bottoms did not seek reelection for office last year after rising to national prominence in Atlanta, where she was hailed by progressives and derided by conservatives for her work on police brutality and protests, the COVID-19 pandemic and reopening decades-old Atlanta child murder cases.

"Mayor Bottoms understands that democracy is about making government work for working families, for the people who are the backbone of this country," Biden said in a White House statement. "She led the city of Atlanta with strength through the pandemic, through a summer of protests and pain, and through the mass shooting that left Atlanta's Asian American community in fear.

"Keisha is bright, honorable, tough and has the integrity required to represent our administration to the American public. Jill and I have known Keisha for a long time and look forward to working with her more closely."

In 2020, she squared off against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp over the city's mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kemp sued Bottoms to block an order requiring masks for all persons in public places.

Bottoms, a former judge and councilwoman in Atlanta, had been serving as a CNN political commentator, based in the city. She has not commented publicly on the appointment but pinned an Axios story at the top of her Twitter page about the new job.

Biden also announced the appointment of Stuart Delery as assistant to the president and White House counsel replacing Dana Remus and Julie Chavez Rodriguez as senior adviser and assistant to the president. Rodriguez is the granddaughter of the iconic late civil rights and farmworkers organizer Cesar Chavez.