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Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia’s Black gubernatorial election Tuesday, becoming the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history and returning the state’s governorship to Democrats for the first time since 1998.
The former Atlanta mayor, Democrat Bottoms, defeated Republican Rick Jackson, according to unofficial results, and will succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
She is the first woman and the first Black person elected governor of Georgia.
Her victory is a major gain for Democrats in a state that has become closely contested in recent federal elections.
Bottoms served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022. During the gubernatorial campaign, she received support from several prominent Democrats, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, who endorsed her in a video message.
Democrats mounted a nationwide effort to win the Georgia race after failing to capture the governor’s office since 1998.
The result ended a long period of Republican control of the state’s governorship.
Republicans, meanwhile, won major races in Florida, where Trump-backed Byron Donalds became the state’s first Black governor and Ashley Moody retained a U.S. Senate seat after strong Democratic challenges.
Democrats also retained the governorship of New York, where incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul defeated Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman.
Hochul, 68, secured another four-year term, according to unofficial results.
She first became New York’s governor in 2021 after then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned, becoming the state’s first female governor.
Hochul then won a full term in 2022, defeating Republican Lee Zeldin by six percentage points.
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