Name recognition across Georgia helped former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms outpace her Democratic rivals to win the party’s nomination for governor Tuesday.
The magnitude of the moment wasn’t lost on Bottoms when she took the stage around 11 p.m. with her husband and four children. She appeared to get choked up multiple times during her speech and invoked the names of civil rights leaders of the past, including her aunt, SNCC activist Ruby Doris Smith Robinson, while examining her chances of becoming Georgia’s first Black governor in November.
“When people ask me if it can be done, I think of the words of Nelson Mandela who said, ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done,’” Bottoms said. “We will get it done in Georgia.”
Bottoms gained more than 56% of unofficial votes cast in the race by 10:18 a.m., Wednesday, with 99% of votes counted in the race, according to the Associated Press. Former state Sen. Jason Esteves came in a distant second with about 18.7% of the vote.
Former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond placed third with about 13% of the vote, followed by former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (7%) and state Rep. Derrick Jackson (2.5%).
In November, Bottoms will try to become the first woman, and the first African American to serve as governor of Georgia. It’s been nearly three decades since a Democrat won a gubernatorial race in the Peach State. Former Gov. Roy Barnes was the last to do it nearly 28 years ago when he defeated Republican businessman Guy Millner in 1998.
The mudslinging between Georgia governor candidates Burt Jones and Rick Jackson will likely continue for the next three to four weeks as their battle for the Republican nomination heads to a runoff.
Jones received 38% of unofficial votes counted on election night and Jackson received about 40%. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger came in a distant third with 14.5% support.
Taking aim directly at Trump when she launched her gubernatorial campaign last May, the Bottoms campaign released a video outlining her plans to expand Medicaid, end state income tax for teachers, target corporate landlords, and increase support for small businesses.
“This is a defining moment for Georgia and for our country,” Bottoms said in the video, which featured an homage to her late grandmother and her five-generation lineage that hails back to a Georgia plantation. “With chaos in Washington, Georgians need a leader who will stand up for them. I’m running for governor to fight for Georgia families and deliver the leadership they deserve.”
Who is Keisha Lance Bottoms
Bottoms, 55, is just the second Black woman in state history to run for governor on a major party ticket. Stacey Abrams became the first in 2018 when she launched her first of two historic bids.
A former prosecutor who served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022 after previously spending eight years on the Atlanta City Council, Bottoms also logged two years as a Fulton County Superior Court judge.
She was the first Atlanta mayor to have served in all three branches of government. During the 2020 election, Bottoms’ name was mentionedas a potential running mate for Biden. Her most-recent political role was in the White House where she served as director of the Office of Public Engagement and as a senior adviser to former President Joe Biden from 2022 to 2023.
Bottoms is the daughter of 1960s blues singer Major Lance and Christine Boular Lance. She’s a Frederick Douglass High School graduate who received her undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University and earned her law degree from Georgia State University.
She has four children with her husband, Derek Bottoms.
