Former Columbia, S.C., Mayor Stephen Benjamin will replace Keisha Lance Bottoms as the Biden administration’s new senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement, the White House announced Monday (Feb. 27).

“As a former President of both the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the African American Mayors Association, Steve’s deep relationships with communities across the country will serve our Administration and the American public well,” President Joe Biden said of the three-term Columbia mayor.

Bottoms, who served as Atlanta mayor from 2018 to 2021, joined the Biden administration in June 2022, replacing former Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond.

“Under Keisha’s leadership, the Office of Public Engagement has kept equity at the heart of our agenda, and continues to serve as the connective tissue between our Administration and everyday Americans who may not have a voice to reach Washington otherwise,” Biden said of Bottoms, who worked directly with him and Vice President Kamala Harris as the administration’s public face.

Biden added, “I have leaned on Keisha as a close advisor with exceptional instincts, and I am grateful to her for serving our nation with honor and integrity. I wish her the best as she returns home to Atlanta to be with her family.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Bottoms was proud to contribute a Southern African-American woman’s voice to the White House, which is seldom heard at the pinnacle of national power.

“Sitting across from the president in the Oval Office, he knew that whatever my response was, I was speaking for so many people,” she said.

Bottoms, an early supporter of Biden’s 2020 presidential bid, was on Biden’s short list for vice president and was offered a cabinet position. She now plans to return to Georgia and stay involved in public policy.

Looking to the future, the former Atlanta mayor told The AJC that she’s open to the possibility of running for Georgia statewide office, perhaps governor, in 2026.

“Never say never. I said that when I left the mayor’s office. Stay tuned,” she said.