Keisha Lance Bottoms Wins Georgia Governor Race as First Black Woman Elected to a State Governorship

Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia’s race for governor on November 3, 2026. She becomes the first Black woman elected governor of any U.S. state and the first Democrat to win the office in Georgia since 1998.

Bottoms, 56, defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson. She previously served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022 and as a senior adviser in the Biden administration. She succeeds term-limited Republican Governor Brian Kemp. Georgia voters last elected a Democratic governor in 1998.

With most votes counted, Bottoms led by roughly 8 to 10 points or about 360,000 votes in early tallies. Jackson, a healthcare executive, spent more than $100 million or even $200 million of his own money on the campaign. He had the endorsements of Kemp and President Donald Trump. Bottoms overcame that spending gap by focusing on affordability, Medicaid expansion, a higher minimum wage and pay for teachers and first responders.

In her election night remarks she thanked Jackson for a hard-fought race. They agreed to continue supporting foster children across the state. She told supporters the win is for all of us. Georgia also reelected Senator Jon Ossoff and continues to have Senator Raphael Warnock. The state now has a Democratic governor alongside its two Democratic senators.

Bottoms cleared the Democratic primary without a runoff against a field that included former Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond and others. She campaigned against large-scale data center development and against expansion of certain surveillance cameras. She argued Jackson would govern more for Trump than for Georgia.

Her victory ends a long Republican hold on the governorship. Stacey Abrams came within about 55,000 votes of defeating Kemp in 2018. This time the margin was larger. Bottoms is also Georgia’s first woman governor. Nationwide, the number of women governors reaches a new high.

She takes office in January. The result adds to a series of Democratic wins in Southern and battleground states in the 2026 midterms. How the new governor handles economic issues and works with the legislature will test the durability of the shift in a state that still shows strong Republican performance in some contests.