Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Georgia governor race
The gist
Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia's governor race with 55.85% of returned results, defeating Republican Rick Jackson.
Her win flips the office to Democrats after 24 years and makes her Georgia's first woman governor.
How it unfolded
- May 19, 2026Bottoms won the Democratic primary for Georgia governor with more than 50% of the vote, avoiding a runoff against a field including former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, former state Sen. Jason Esteves and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.
- Jun 2026Rick Jackson defeated Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a Republican runoff to win the GOP nomination.
- Aug 12, 2026A Quantus Insights poll commissioned by the Natural Gas Association of Georgia showed Bottoms at 46.4% to Jackson's 44.9%, with 7.7% undecided.