Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta, was elected governor of Georgia on Tuesday, making history as the first Black woman to be elected governor of a US state.
Bottoms, 56, also became the first Democrat elected governor in Georgia in more than 25 years. Her victory against Rick Jackson, a Republican billionaire entrepreneur, affirms Georgia’s transformation over the past decade from reliably Republican to a swing state.
The Historic Win
The state shaped by the legacies of slavery, segregation, and the fight for civil rights became the first to choose a Black woman as its chief executive.
Bottoms positioned herself as an unrelenting foil to President Trump in a state he had won two years ago but where he had considerable baggage — including a criminal indictment stemming from his schemes to overturn his 2020 defeat.
The Campaign
Like Democrats elsewhere, Bottoms sought to harness the frustrations of voters who blamed Trump for inflation, rising fuel prices, challenges accessing affordable health care, and an unpopular war with Iran.
She also zeroed in on protecting access to the polls and safeguards for minority representation after the Supreme Court’s decision this year that weakened much of what remains of the Voting Rights Act — one of the principal achievements of the civil rights movement that had been grounded in Atlanta. The issue had already been potent among many Black voters in Georgia after Republicans responded to Democratic gains by adding restrictions on voting access.
Overcoming Doubts
To win, Bottoms had to overcome doubts in her own party and even in her hometown about her viability in a statewide election. She had been dogged by concerns and resentments from her time leading Atlanta from 2018 to 2022, which ended with her declining to run for re-election as crime increased and her support eroded.
The Bottom Line
Keisha Lance Bottoms has been elected Georgia’s first Black woman governor and the state’s first Democratic governor in over two decades. She defeated billionaire Rick Jackson. Bottoms campaigned on protecting voting rights, expanding health care, and standing up to President Trump. Her victory marks a historic milestone in a state shaped by the legacies of slavery and the civil rights movement.
