Keisha Waites
Keisha Sean Waites is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, she served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2012 to 2017, representing southeast Atlanta, College Park, East Point, Hapeville, Forest Park, Hartsfield Jackson Airport, Porsche Headquarters and parts of Clayton and DeKalb counties. She also served as a member of Atlanta City Council for Post 3 At-Large from 2022 to 2024.
Early life and career
Born in 1972 at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, Waites attended Lakeside [High School (DeKalb County, Georgia)|Lakeside High School] in Dekalb county and graduated in 1991. She then attended Georgia Southern and Atlanta Metropolitan College and graduated with a degree in political science. In 2014, Waites completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow.Political career
Before winning election to the state legislature in 2012, Waites mounted seven unsuccessful campaigns for elected office:- 2001: Atlanta City Council, at-large post 1
- 2002: State Senate, District 36: placed fourth in the Democratic primary
- 2005: Atlanta City Council
- 2006: Fulton County Commission
- 2008: State House, District 61: lost primary runoff
- 2009: Atlanta City Council
- 2011: Fulton County Commission: lost runoff
Waites's qualified for the District 60 House seat on January 9, 2012. In the special election, she took 54.2 percent of the vote compared to 18.6 percent for Theresa Middlebrooks and 27.2 percent for Latrenka Riley, thus avoiding a runoff.
Waites resigned from her House seat on September 18, 2017, to run for the chairship of the Fulton County Commission. She finished in second place, ahead of Gabriel Sterling, and advanced to a runoff election, which she lost to incumbent Robb Pitts. She ran in the Democratic primary for Georgia's 13th congressional district against incumbent David Scott, coming in second place in a field of four candidates. She filed for the 2020 [Georgia's 5th congressional district special election|5th congressional district special election] to fill the remaining term of John Lewis.
In 2021, Waites filed to run for Atlanta City Council Post 3 At-Large to succeed incumbent Andre Dickens, her fourth bid for a council seat. After winning the largest share of votes in the first round among five candidates, Waites ran in a November 30 runoff with Jacki Labat, winning the runoff 52%-47%. Waites resigned in March 2024 to run for Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts. She was defeated by incumbent Ché Alexander in a four-way Democratic primary, who then won the election unopposed.
Waites filed for the Georgia [Public Service Commission] 2025 [Georgia Public Service Commission special election|special election] for District 3 in March 2025. After leading the first round of the Democratic primary, she was defeated in the primary runoff by Peter Hubbard on July 16, 2025.