Florida A&M University (FAMU) alumna Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has been named Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chair in charge of civic engagement and voter protection.
Bottoms is one of the FAMU alumni to play a more prominent role in Democratic Party politics and policies following the 2020 November elections. FAMU alumnus Vincent Evans was named deputy director of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Office of the Vice President.
“FAMU alumni continue to excel,” said FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D. “We often tell our students they can get anywhere from FAMU. Mayor Lance Bottoms and Vincent Evans serve as additional evidence of this fact.”
In response to being appointed to the new role, Lance Bottoms tweeted she was “honored and humbled” to be endorsed by President Joe Biden.
“I am ready to build on our party’s progress to make a better future for all Americans. But we cannot do it alone- please join me,” Bottoms wrote.
The announcement came as the DNC seeks to build on the successes of the 2020 election campaign, during which the party flipped Bottoms’ home state, Georgia, blue.
“Mayor Bottoms is the only mayor in Atlanta’s history to have served in all three branches of government, serving as a judge and city council-member before being sworn in as mayor,” a release on Bottoms’ appointment stated. “Leading with a progressive agenda focused on equity and affordable housing, Mayor Bottoms serves as chair of the Community Development and Housing Committee and the Census Task Force for the United States Conference of Mayors.”
Evans was an early recruit to the Biden campaign. In 2019, he signed on a Southern political director for Biden, a position that proved pivotal in the former Presidential candidate’s success across the Sunbelt, beginning with South Carolina.
The 2011 FAMU political science graduate served most recently as political director for Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail.
Evans of Jacksonville has worked as an aide to both Tallahassee City Commissioner Curtis Richardson and U.S. Congressman Al Lawson. He had joined Lawson’s 2016 campaign after serving as Richardson aide 2014-17.
