Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Georgia governor's race, first Black woman to lead a US state
The former Atlanta mayor defeated Republican Rick Jackson, flipping the governorship to Democrats for the first time since 1998
ATLANTA (AP) — Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected governor of Georgia on Tuesday, becoming the first Black woman elected governor in the United States, according to The Haitian Times and The Associated Press. The former Atlanta mayor defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson, flipping the top job in a battleground state and becoming the first Democrat to win Georgia's governorship since 1998.
Reports say Bottoms prevailed despite a significant spending disadvantage, with Jackson investing more than $200 million of his own fortune. "No matter who you voted for tonight, I will be a governor for all of Georgia," Bottoms told supporters at a victory party, adding that "no amount of money will ever" overcome "the power of the people."
Bottoms campaigned on expanding Medicaid to cover hundreds of thousands more people, raising Georgia's minimum wage to $15 an hour and countering President Donald Trump's administration. A descendant of enslaved Georgians, she described herself as "at least a fifth-generation Georgian."
She will succeed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was term-limited. According to The Haitian Times, the outcome carries weight for Georgia's growing Haitian American community in metro Atlanta amid uncertainty over Temporary Protected Status and federal immigration enforcement.