Bottoms defeated her opponent Rick Jackson in the Georgia gubernatorial race by a wide margin

NEED TO KNOW

• Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected governor of Georgia, defeating her opponent, Republican Rick Jackson
• With her victory, Bottoms will become the first Black female governor in the nation’s history
• She will also be the first Democrat to become governor of Georgia in over 20 years

Keisha Lance Bottoms just made history with her election in Georgia, becoming the first Black female governor in the nation’s history after defeating her Republican opponent, billionaire Rick Jackson. She is replacing incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican.

The Associated Press declared Bottoms, 56, the winner of the 2026 Georgia gubernatorial race on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The former mayor of Atlanta defeated Jackson by winning 55.3% of votes.

Bottoms and Jackson, 72, were neck-and-neck in polls until Election Day. The gubernatorial race was considered to be only one of the four tossups among 36 races this year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the Cook Political Report.

With her victory, Bottoms is reclaiming the title of governor for her party, which Republicans have held for 23 years in Georgia. The last Democrat-elected governor in Georgia was Roy Barnes, who won the 1998 election.

Bottoms, an attorney and former magistrate judge, launched her campaign for governor “to deliver for working families and bring steady leadership to Georgia in the midst of uncertainty and chaos coming from Washington,” per her official campaign website.

She ran on a platform of lowering costs for housing and healthcare, as well as increasing funding to schools in her state and supporting Georgia’s farmers, along with lowering driving costs.

Bottoms previously served on the Atlanta City Council from 2010 to 2017 before being elected mayor of Atlanta, a role she held for a single term from 2018 to 2022.

She rose to national attention when some peaceful protests in Atlanta devolved into violence and looting following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. While denouncing the “chaos,” Bottoms spoke passionately at a press conference where she told looters to “go home.”

“What I see happening on the streets of Atlanta is not Atlanta. This is not a protest. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.,” she said at the time.

Bottoms also spoke out against President Donald Trump’s comments on the protests in Atlanta, saying during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union in May 2020 that he should “stop talking” because he was only making things “worse” in her city.

During her term as mayor, Bottoms faced scrutiny for tensions with Atlanta’s police department and how she handled the city’s crime rate.

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After opting not to seek reelection, Bottoms joined former President Joe Biden’s administration as senior adviser to the president for public engagement. She left the role in February 2023. Before Biden publicly announced Kamala Harris as his 2020 running mate, Bottoms was among the names floated as his possible VP pick.

She has also served as Chair of the Community Development and Housing Committee and the Census Task Force for the United States Conference of Mayors, and as a Trustee for the African American Mayors Association.

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