Keisha Lance Bottoms Wins Georgia Governor’s Race

Democrats have accomplished in Georgia what has slipped through their fingers for decades: Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to win the state’s cutthroat gubernatorial race, her victory cementing her as the state’s first Democratic governor in 23 years and the country’s first Black female governor.

The former Atlanta mayor overcame substantial financial obstacles: her Republican opponent, billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson, outspent her by tens of millions of dollars. But her campaign was able to break through the tremendous financial firewall, in part by centering her attacks on Jackson on his relationship with President Donald Trump amid the president’s soaring unpopularity in the state.

“Georgia is a work in progress, and we’ve got a lot of work to do, but we have the power to make Georgia more affordable, to protect a woman’s right to choose, to protect our voting rights, to protect our communities from out-of-control data center growth, to make sure every child has the opportunity to reach their God-given potential, and to make sure we are protected from the harmful policies of Donald Trump,” Bottoms said during the sole debate that featured both Bottoms and Jackson.

Bottoms was able to triumph over attacks that painted her as a bumbling, ineffective mayor during her term from 2018 to 2022 — which included overseeing the city during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent nation-and-city-wide spike in crime. Bottoms decided to not run for reelection, and Jackson then accused her of abandoning Atlanta, and laying the groundwork for a more dangerous city.

Bottoms briefly served as an adviser to President Joe Biden and as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement from 2022 to 2023. Both Biden and his former boss, President Barack Obama, endorsed Bottoms’ gubernatorial run.

Georgia is a key part of the 26 gubernatorial seats Democrats hope to secure Tuesday night.

Bottoms’ win also puts up significant barriers to Republicans’ agenda in the statehouse, where they have held the majority for over 20 years: She will hold veto power that could effectively kill much of the new business.