Keisha Lance Bottoms to join Biden administration, White House official says

▶ Watch Video: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms explains decision not to run for reelection

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, will join the Biden administration, a White House official confirmed to CBS News. She is set to replace Cedric Richmond as the director of the Office of Public Engagement.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is seen at the Essence Festival at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 7, 2018, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Essence

Richmond resigned from the position in May. It was not immediately clear when Lance Bottoms would join the White House.

The one-term former mayor — who was Atlanta’s second Black mayor — shocked the political world when she announced last year she would not run for reelection. Before President Biden announced Kamala Harris as his running mate for the 2020 election, Lance Bottoms was considered to be among the top contenders for the position.

Axios was first to report Lance Bottoms would be joining the Biden administration.