Keisha Lance Bottoms turns into first black lady elected governor of US state
News outlets are calling the Georgia governor’s race for Keisha Lance Bottoms, which would deliver Democrats a victory in one of the nation’s most closely divided political battlegrounds
Keisha Lance Bottoms has been elected as governor of Georgia(Image: Derek Storm/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has been elected as governor of Georgia, making her the first black woman to be elected the governor of a US state as the midterm election results are declared.
The former Atlanta mayor, who will also be the first female governor of the state, defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson, according to US media projections.
News outlet CNN is now calling the Georgia governor’s race for Keisha Lance Bottoms, the daughter of Northern Soul legend Major Lance. The Democrat ran in a tight race against Republican billionaire Rick Jackson, and is the first black woman to be elected governor in US history. Meanwhile, in Florida, Republican Byron Donalds is projected to become the first black governor of the Sunshine State. He defeated David Jolly, a former Republican who switched to the Democrats, by just 1.3 per cent with 98 per cent of votes counted. The slimmest of margins – and a far closer call than expected in a state like Florida.
Bottoms won Georgia’s race for governor on Tuesday, delivering the Democrats a victory in one of the nation’s most closely divided political battlegrounds.
She succeeds Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who is leaving office after serving two consecutive terms. Bottoms, 56, also previously served as a senior adviser to former President Joe Biden and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
The victory marked a new milestone for black women in American politics, who have long been a core base within the Democratic Party but remain underrepresented in the nation’s highest elected offices.
The same evening, Stacey Plaskett was elected governor of the US Virgin Islands, a US territory, becoming the first black woman elected governor of a US jurisdiction.
Bottoms’ win also marks a significant shift in Georgia state politics, where black voters have formed a central part of the Democratic coalition that helped to turn the reliably Republican state into a national battleground.
Republicans had controlled the governor’s office for more than two decades.
Jackson, the billionaire founder of healthcare staffing company Jackson Healthcare, cast himself as a political outsider and campaigned on tax cuts, public safety and reducing government regulation.
Bottoms’ victory comes eight years after fellow Democrat Stacey Abrams became the first black woman nominated for governor by a major US political party.
Abrams lost governor’s races in Georgia in 2018 and 2022, but her campaigns helped to build a multigenerational, multiracial coalition that boosted Democratic turnout, helped elect two Democratic US senators and delivered Georgia’s electoral votes to a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in decades.
