Keisha Lance Bottoms Wins Georgia Governor’s Race, AP Projects

Bottoms projected to win Georgia

November 3, 2026 · 10:10 p.m. Eastern

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has won Georgia’s governor’s race over Republican Rick Jackson, the Associated Press projects, putting the former Atlanta mayor on course to become the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state.

The projected result gives Democrats the governorship after more than two decades of Republican control. Bottoms would succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Axios also reported AP’s call, and The Daily Beast reported Bottoms’s victory.

AP’s call is a projection, not official certification. Election officials will continue counting and reviewing ballots before Georgia’s results are finalized.

A first for a state and the nation

According to AP’s reporting on election milestones, no Black woman has previously served as a U.S. state governor, and all of Georgia’s previous governors have been white men. Bottoms’s election would mark a first for the state as well as the nation.

Bottoms served as Atlanta’s mayor from 2018 to 2022. She will not take the governor’s office until the transition; Kemp remains governor in the meantime.

The race for the governor’s mansion

Jackson, a healthcare executive, won the Republican nomination in a June runoff against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Georgia Public Broadcasting reported. Bottoms had won the Democratic primary in May.

The candidates offered different approaches to healthcare. Bottoms promoted full Medicaid expansion; Jackson favored a more limited approach, according to GPB’s account of their town hall. Both campaigned on affordability, with Jackson proposing a cut to the state income tax and Bottoms warning that broad cuts could reduce funding for public services, according to the Georgia Recorder’s voter guide.

The governor’s result came as AP also projected a win for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in his Georgia reelection race.

Where the race was held

The governor’s contest was statewide. The star marks the approximate Atlanta area, Georgia’s capital, for geographic context; it does not identify a polling place.

Key dates

1. 2018–2022 — Bottoms served as Atlanta’s mayor.
2. May 19, 2026 — Bottoms won the Democratic primary for governor.
3. June 16, 2026 — Jackson won the Republican primary runoff.
4. November 3, 2026 — Georgians voted in the general election, and AP projected Bottoms the winner.

Sources and visual credits

Associated Press: race call · AP: election milestones · Axios: race coverage · The Daily Beast: result · Georgia Public Broadcasting: debate · Georgia Recorder: candidate guide.

Visual: conceptual paper-cut ballot and capitol illustration, not a photograph of an election event. Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.