Bottoms was investigated during the mayoral election for several lump payments to campaign staff totaling over $180,000 that were not properly reported according to state law.[7] In October 2017, she voluntarily returned $25,700 in campaign contributions she had received from PRAD Group, an engineering contractor whose office had been raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation the previous month.[8] On November 4, 2017, she called on the Attorney General of Georgia to investigate fake robocalls made in her name, which her campaign said were laden with racist overtones and were made primarily in white neighborhoods of Atlanta.[9]