Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia’s governor’s race on Election Night, becoming the first Black woman elected governor of any U.S. state and flipping the office to Democrats for the first time since 1998.
What happened
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, according to the Associated Press and NBC News. Networks projected her win in the evening as votes came in across Georgia.
CBS News reported that Bottoms will be Georgia’s first woman and first Black governor. She is also the first Black woman elected governor of any U.S. state.
She succeeds term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Georgia voters had not elected a Democratic governor since 1998.
How each side responded
The Democratic Party celebrated the result on X. “DEM FLIP: Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has won the race for governor of Georgia, defeating Republican Rick Jackson,” @TheDemocrats wrote on Nov. 3, 2026. “With her victory, she is the first Democrat to win the office in 28 years. Congratulations, Governor-elect Bottoms!”
Jackson thanked supporters after the race was called. “Georgia, thank you,” he wrote on X on Nov. 3, 2026. “Thank you to everyone who believed in this campaign, who knocked doors, made calls, sent texts, put up signs, prayed for us, and stood with us.”
Key facts
- Bottoms is a former Atlanta mayor (2018–2022) and a former Biden administration official, according to NBC News.
- Jackson, a healthcare executive and first-time statewide candidate, spent more than $100 million of his own money on the race, NBC reported.
- Bottoms focused on affordability and tied Jackson to President Donald Trump late in the campaign, per NBC.
- Jackson cast himself as a business outsider during the GOP primary, then sought to connect himself to Kemp in the general election.
- AP’s midterm live blog listed the Georgia governor’s race as the first gubernatorial pickup of Election Night for either party.
What it means for Georgians
A governor is a state’s top elected executive. In Georgia, the office oversees day-to-day state government and plays a role in certifying presidential election results, including for 2028.
Democrats framed the win as a long-sought return to statewide power after decades of Republican control of the governor’s mansion. Republicans had argued Jackson’s business background and Kemp-era continuity would better manage costs, schools, and public safety. Both messages will now face the test of governing.
Bottoms takes office in January 2027. Jackson’s concession on X closed an expensive, closely watched contest that ran alongside Sen. Jon Ossoff’s reelection fight in the same state.
Sources: AP; NBC News; AP live blog; CBS News on X; @TheDemocrats on X, Nov. 3, 2026; @RickJacksonGA on X, Nov. 3, 2026
