Georgia elects Keisha Lance Bottoms, first Black woman governor in U.S. history, CBS News projects

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, won the Georgia gubernatorial election on November 3, 2026, becoming the first Black woman to be elected governor in U.S. history. She defeated Rick Jackson, a billionaire businessman who had spent over $100 million of his personal fortune on the campaign. Bottoms campaigned on expanding Medicaid and raising the state's minimum wage, while Jackson focused on phasing out Georgia’s income tax and presented himself as an outsider with business acumen.

Bottoms' victory is significant not only for its historic nature but also because it flips the governor's mansion from red to blue in a traditionally swing state. Her win marks a major political upset for Republicans and reshapes control of one of the nation's most crucial battleground states ahead of future elections.