History was made in the A. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson on Tuesday night to become Georgia’s next governor, and the first Black woman elected governor anywhere in the United States.
Multiple networks called the race shortly after 9:15 p.m. ET, and the Associated Press confirmed the win at 9:24 p.m., the Washington Examiner reports. Bottoms celebrated with supporters at the Marriott Marquis downtown, according to Capital B News Atlanta, and Jackson extended an olive branch to her in his concession speech.
A Win Years in the Making
Bottoms will become Georgia’s 84th governor and the first Democrat elected to the office since Roy Barnes, who lost to Sonny Perdue in 2002, Atlanta News First reports. She is also the first Black woman elected to any statewide constitutional office in Georgia.
Her résumé runs deep in this city. She served on the Atlanta City Council from 2010 to 2017, became Atlanta’s 60th mayor in 2018 and later served as director of public engagement in the Biden White House. She won the Democratic primary outright in May, avoiding a runoff.
On the trail, she ran on expanding Medicaid, lowering housing costs, fully funding schools, raising pay for teachers, firefighters and police, and a $15 state minimum wage. She took aim at Jackson’s spending, telling supporters, “He may have the money, but we have the power,” per Capital B News.
The Other Side
Jackson, a billionaire health care executive and first-time candidate, beat Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a June runoff and poured nearly $200 million of his own money into the race. He campaigned on phasing out the state income tax and repeatedly argued, “Bad mayors don’t make good governors,” WRDW reports. Pre-election polls showed a tight race, and a RealClearPolitics average had Jackson slightly ahead.
Bottoms will be sworn in in January. Her win came the same night Sen. Jon Ossoff won re-election to the U.S. Senate.
Why it matters: Georgia has never had a Black governor, and America has never elected a Black woman to lead a state. For a city that calls itself the Black Mecca, seeing one of our own make that leap is a moment for the history books, and a reminder of what our votes can do.
Relive the final push, when Obama rallied in Morrow for Bottoms and Ossoff.
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Sources: Atlanta News First, Capital B News Atlanta, Washington Examiner, WRDW, FOX 5 DC
