Bottoms wins Georgia governor's race, flipping office Democrats lost in 2002

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson to become Georgia's next governor, the Associated Press declared at 9:24 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State, last updated at 4:19 a.m. on Nov. 4, showed Bottoms with 2,268,462 votes, or 54.3%, to Jackson's 1,908,261 votes, or 45.7%. All 159 reporting units had reported, with 4,176,723 votes counted. Bottoms led by 360,201 votes, a margin of 8.6 percentage points.

The result ends the Republican Party's hold on the governor's office dating to 2002, according to WABE. Bottoms is the first Democrat elected Georgia governor since 1998 and the first former Atlanta mayor to hold the office, AP reported.

AP also reported Bottoms is the first Black woman elected governor of any U.S. state.

Cobb County's role

East Cobb voters cast ballots in the governor's race alongside contested local contests, including the Cobb County Commission District 3 seat and the Cobb Board of Education Post 4 race. About 40% of Cobb's registered voters took part in three weeks of early voting, or more than 235,000, a record turnout for midterm elections, according to Cobb Elections, as East Cobb News reported.

Outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term-limited, had endorsed Jackson along with local East Cobb Republicans. Kemp backed Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell in District 3 and school board member David Chastain in Post 4, according to East Cobb News.

State Sen. Josh McLaurin, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, grew up in Cobb County, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. McLaurin, an attorney from Sandy Springs, graduated from the University of Georgia and Yale Law School and served four years in the Georgia House before winning a state Senate seat in 2022.

What the candidates said

Bottoms addressed supporters after the AP call. "No matter who you voted for tonight, I will be a governor for all of Georgia," Bottoms said, according to AP's live midterm coverage. "Georgia, we sent a message loud and clear that we want a leader who will put Georgia first and who will stand up to all the chaos coming out of Washington, DC."

Jackson conceded the race, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. "Tonight the voters spoke. And I respect their decision," Jackson said in his concession speech, as reported by Fox 5 Atlanta. "This was a hard-fought election. Keisha Lance Bottoms deserves our congratulations and our prayers as she prepares to take office."

Taxes and healthcare split the race

Both candidates focused on affordability. Bottoms proposed a property tax relief package, a gas tax cut and letting local governments waive sales taxes on groceries, according to WABE. Jackson proposed cutting the state income tax in half along with property and sales tax reductions.

On healthcare, Bottoms called for federal Medicaid expansion. Jackson spoke of "intelligent" Medicaid expansion but offered few specifics, according to WABE.

Jackson, 72, is the founder of Jackson Healthcare. He says he grew up in Georgia's foster care system and built a path to business ownership after he could not afford college. He spent more than $200 million of his own money on the campaign, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Jackson faced Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a June Republican runoff before the general election, according to WABE. Kemp and President Donald Trump endorsed Jackson.

Bottoms served one term as Atlanta's 60th mayor from 2018 to 2022 and later worked as a senior adviser in the Biden administration, according to WABE. She took more than 56% of the vote in the May Democratic primary. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden endorsed her.

AP declared Democrat Jon Ossoff the winner of the Georgia U.S. Senate race over Republican Mike Collins at 7:55 p.m. EST.