The victory ends a continuous Republican hold on the Georgia governor’s office that began with Sonny Perdue’s election in 2002. The last Democratic governor to serve in the state was Roy Barnes, who won the election in 1998 and took office in 1999. Republicans have held the position ever since, including through the administrations of Nathan Deal and the term-limited Brian Kemp, whom Bottoms will succeed.
Bottoms, 56, campaigned on economic issues, pledging to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, raise the state’s minimum wage, and increase pay for public employees. She also sought to roll back restrictions on abortion access. Her opponent, Jackson, a healthcare executive and first-time candidate, pitched himself as a political outsider and called for phasing out Georgia’s income tax. Jackson defeated Trump-endorsed Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones in the Republican primary runoff to secure his place in the general election.
The race drew intense national attention, with Jackson pouring more than $200 million of his personal fortune into the campaign, according to Fox News. The Guardian reported the figure as more than $100 million. Jackson’s strategy included heavy media spending featuring footage from the 2020 George Floyd protests and the murder of eight-year-old Secoriea Turner. Bottoms countered by attacking Jackson’s massive self-funding and seeking to associate him with President Donald Trump. Bottoms also faced sustained attacks on her record as Atlanta mayor, a role she held from 2018 to 2022.
Bottoms entered the race after Democrat Lucy McBath, the party’s initial favorite, withdrew citing her spouse’s health problems. Bottoms defeated six other candidates in the Democratic primary without a runoff. She campaigned alongside Senator Jon Ossoff, who was also projected to win re-election, and received a video endorsement from former President Barack Obama in the final days before the vote. Bottoms previously served as a senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement in the Biden White House until 2023.
The result is viewed as a major breakthrough for Democrats in Georgia, a state that has shifted from a longtime Republican stronghold into a presidential battleground. Joe Biden narrowly carried the state in 2020, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to win it since Bill Clinton in 1992, before Donald Trump returned it to the Republican column in 2024. Bottoms’ win signals a potential turnaround in a state where federal elections have become increasingly competitive.
