Keisha Waites facts for kids

Keisha Sean Waites (born October 30, 1972) is an American politician from the state of Georgia. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Keisha Waites has served in the Georgia House of Representatives and is currently a member of the Atlanta City Council.

Early Life and Education

Keisha Waites was born in 1972 in Atlanta, Georgia. She went to Lakeside High School and finished in 1991. After high school, she studied at Georgia Southern and Atlanta Metropolitan State College. She earned a degree in political science, which is the study of how governments work.

In 2014, Keisha Waites also took part in a special program at Harvard University for leaders in state and local government. This program helped her learn even more about how to be a good public servant.

Keisha Waites' Political Journey

Before she was elected to the state legislature in 2012, Keisha Waites tried several times to win different political jobs. She ran for office seven times but was not successful in those early attempts. For example, she ran for the Atlanta City Council and the Georgia State Senate. She also applied for a temporary spot on the Atlanta City Council in 2004.

First Election to the Georgia House

Keisha Waites first won an election for the Georgia House of Representatives in 2012. She ran for the District 60 seat. In this special election, she received more than half of the votes. This meant she did not need to have a second round of voting, called a runoff election.

As a state representative, she worked for people living in areas like southeast Atlanta, College Park, and East Point. Her district also included parts of Clayton and DeKalb counties.

Running for Other Offices

Keisha Waites left her job in the Georgia House of Representatives in 2017. She decided to run for the leader of the Fulton County Commission. This is a group that helps manage the county. She made it to a runoff election but did not win.

Later, she also ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. This is a national job where politicians represent their state in Washington, D.C. She ran in the Democratic primary but did not win that election either.

Joining the Atlanta City Council

In 2021, Keisha Waites decided to run for the Atlanta City Council again. This was her fourth time trying for a council seat. She ran for the Post 3 At-Large position. This means she represents the entire city, not just one small area.

In the first round of voting, she received the most votes among five candidates. Because no one got more than 50% of the votes, she had to go into a runoff election. In the runoff, she won with 52% of the votes. She officially became a member of the Atlanta City Council on January 3, 2022.