Keisha Lance Bottoms elected Governor of Georgia

Keisha Lance Bottoms made history Tuesday night, becoming the nation’s first Black female governor after defeating Republican Rick Jackson to become Georgia’s 84th chief executive.

The former Atlanta mayor’s victory caps a 2026 midterm that also makes her Georgia’s first Black woman elected to any statewide constitutional office.

Bottoms - whose career spanned Atlanta City Council (2010-2017), one term as Atlanta’s 60th mayor (2018-2022), and President Joe Biden’s director of public engagement (2022-23) - defeated Jackson, the billionaire healthcare executive whose stunning February entry upended the GOP primary and ousted Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a June runoff.