For the first time in more than 20 years, Georgia has elected a Democrat governor, handing the keys to the kingdom to former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, NBC News and Decision Desk HQ projected.
The Peach State’s gubernatorial race was called around two hours after polls closed at 7 p.m. with 75 percent of the votes counted showing Bottoms leading Republican billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson by more than 10 points, 55.4 percent to 44.6 percent.
The clear blue victory is a major bellwether in the ever-purpling southern state, which went for President Donald Trump in 2024 after narrowly breaking for President Joe Biden in 2020 by less than a point.
Bottoms notably decided not to run for a second term as Atlanta mayor in 2021 after overseeing a massive murder and crime spike during the peak of the Black Lives Matter riots and subsequently went on to become a Biden adviser. The former mayor was narrowly behind Jackson in most polling leading up to the election, making her large victory much more shocking.
Georgia last had a Democrat governor in January 2003, giving Republicans a more than two-decade run of the state. The GOP has held a trifecta of power in the state since 2005, dominating both the state House and Senate in addition to the governorship.
Jackson and Bottoms competed for the seat left vacant by Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who could not run again due to term limits.
Kemp and President Trump had endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) in the GOP primary runoff before Jackson’s last-minute campaign pulled off a startling upset. President Trump and Kemp put their weight behind Jackson in the general election after Jones’s loss.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
