Georgia governor sues Atlanta mayor over mask mandate

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and state Attorney General Chris Carr (R) on Thursday sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) and the Atlanta City Council to block the city’s coronavirus mask mandate after Kemp issued an executive order overruling such mandates at the local level.

“This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are struggling to survive during these difficult times,” Kemp said in a statement Thursday. “These men and women are doing their very best to put food on the table for their families while local elected officials shutter businesses and undermine economic growth.”

The governor’s office, in its Wednesday order, said that “any state, county, or municipal law, order, ordinance, rule or regulation that requires persons to wear face coverings, masks, face shields, or any other Personal Protective Equipment while in places of public accommodation or on public property are suspended to the extent that they are more restrictive than this executive order.”

 Bottoms, who tested positive for the coronavirus earlier in July, said Thursday she is prepared to fight the governor’s office on the issue.

“You all know I love to quote Audre Lorde, she says ‘I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.’ So I am not afraid of the city being sued,” she told reporters.

3104 Georgians have died and I and my family are amongst the 106k who have tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, I have been sued by @GovKemp for a mask mandate. A better use of tax payer money would be to expand testing and contact tracing. #ATLStrong pic.twitter.com/z4hpTrCS1B

— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) July 16, 2020

Atlanta is one of at least 15 Georgia cities and counties that have ordered residents to wear masks.