The key facts

  • Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson in the Georgia gubernatorial election
  • She became the first Black woman gubernatorial candidate to win in the U.S., and Georgia's first woman and first Black governor
  • Democrats reclaimed the Georgia governorship for the first time since 2003 (according to Anadolu)

A historic victory in Georgia

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson in the Georgia gubernatorial election, becoming the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state in American history. According to the Associated Press, cited by Anadolu, she also became the first woman and the first Black person elected governor of Georgia — a post previously held exclusively by white men.

What changes for the party and the state

Bottoms' victory means the Georgia governorship returns to Democratic control: according to Anadolu's dedicated report, for the first time since 2003, while the first publication clarifies that Democrats had not won a gubernatorial race in this Southern state since 1998. Bottoms will succeed Republican Brian Kemp, who was barred from seeking a third term due to term limits. The result comes two years after Donald Trump won Georgia in the 2024 presidential election, underscoring a shift in the state's political balance.

Who is Bottoms and what she ran on

Bottoms was born in Atlanta, worked as a lawyer and a magistrate judge, served on the Atlanta City Council from 2009, and held the office of the city's 60th mayor from January 2018 to January 2022, leading the city through the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests following the murder of George Floyd. In 2022–2023 she was a senior adviser and Director of the Office of Public Engagement in the Joe Biden administration, and in May 2026 she won the Georgia Democratic primary. Her rival Jackson is a millionaire (described as a billionaire in the initial report) and a healthcare executive running for public office for the first time; he criticized her record as mayor, particularly her handling of crime and her response to unrest. During the campaign, Bottoms emphasized expanding Medicaid, raising Georgia's minimum wage to $15 an hour, increasing public-sector pay, affordable housing, and restrictions on data center expansion. The publication also notes the symbolic significance of the victory following Stacey Abrams' two unsuccessful bids for Georgia governor in 2018 and 2022.