Keisha Waites facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Keisha Waites
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| Member of the Atlanta City Council from the at-large district Post 3 |
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| In office January 3, 2022 – March 8, 2024 |
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| Preceded by | Andre Dickens |
| Succeeded by | Eshé Collins |
| Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 60th district |
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| In office February 13, 2012 – September 18, 2017 |
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| Preceded by | Gloria Bromell Tinubu |
| Succeeded by | Kim Schofield |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Keisha Sean Waites
October 30, 1972 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Atlanta Metropolitan State College (BA) |
Keisha Sean Waites (born October 30, 1972) is an American politician from Georgia. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2012 to 2017. During this time, she represented areas like southeast Atlanta, College Park, and parts of Clayton and DeKalb counties. Later, she was a member of the Atlanta City Council for Post 3 At-Large from 2022 to 2024.
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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. In 2014, Waites also completed a special program at Harvard University for leaders in state and local government.
Political Career Highlights
Before she was first elected, Keisha Waites ran for public office several times. She showed great determination by trying seven times before winning her first election.
Early Campaigns and First Win
Here are some of her early attempts to get elected:
- 2001: Ran for Atlanta City Council
- 2002: Ran for Georgia State Senate
- 2005: Ran for Atlanta City Council again
- 2006: Ran for Fulton County Commission
- 2008: Ran for State House
- 2009: Ran for Atlanta City Council
- 2011: Ran for Fulton County Commission
In 2004, she also applied to temporarily fill a vacant seat on the Atlanta City Council. However, the council chose someone else for that position.
Waites finally won her first election for the District 60 House seat on January 9, 2012. In that special election, she received 54.2 percent of the votes. This win meant she did not need a second election, called a runoff.
Later Elections and Public Service
Keisha Waites left her House seat on September 18, 2017. She decided to run for the leader position of the Fulton County Commission. She came in second place in the first round of voting. She then went to a runoff election but lost to the person who was already in office, Robb Pitts.
She also ran in the Democratic primary for Georgia's 13th congressional district. She finished second among four candidates. Later, she ran in a special election for the 5th congressional district. This election was to fill the rest of the term for the late John Lewis.
In 2021, Waites decided to run for Atlanta City Council Post 3 At-Large. This was her fourth time trying for a council seat. She won the most votes in the first round against five other candidates. She then won a runoff election on November 30 against Jacki Labat, with 52% of the votes.
Waites resigned from the Atlanta City Council in March 2024. She chose to run for Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts. She was defeated in the Democratic primary by the person already in office, Ché Alexander.
Most recently, Waites ran for the Georgia Public Service Commission District 3 in a special election in March 2025. She led the first round of the Democratic primary. However, she was defeated in the primary runoff election by Peter Hubbard on July 16, 2025.
