Former President Barack Obama is throwing his support behind Keisha Lance Bottoms, invoking her record as Atlanta mayor and her plans for health care, pre-K and taxes in a new endorsement video.
The former president endorsed the Democratic nominee in a video set to be released Thursday morning, urging Georgians to support her in November.
The endorsement is hardly a surprise. Former President Joe Biden endorsed Bottoms before the May Democratic primary, after Bottoms served as a senior adviser in his administration.
But the timing matters: Obama is weighing in just days before advance voting begins Tuesday, putting another marquee Democratic voice behind Bottoms as the general election enters its final stretch.
“This is Barack Obama, Georgia,” Obama opens the roughly one-minute video. “I hope you’ll support my friend Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor.”
Obama goes on to tout Bottoms’ record as a judge, Atlanta City Council member and mayor before highlighting several pieces of her gubernatorial agenda, including expanding Medicaid, strengthening rural hospitals, universal pre-K for 4-year-olds and allowing communities to eliminate grocery taxes.
Bottoms isn’t alone in leaning on a high-profile political ally. President Donald Trump endorsed Republican nominee Rick Jackson in July, meaning both major-party nominees now have the backing of one of their party’s most recognizable national figures. Jackson has also rolled out support from more than 100 Georgia sheriffs.
The Trump endorsement came after a tough Republican primary in which Gov. Brian Kemp backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones over Jackson. Jackson went on to win the nomination and later secured Kemp’s endorsement.
In-person, advance voting begins Tuesday and runs through Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Watch the full endorsement here.
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