Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will run against Republican billionaire Rick Jackson in a governor’s race that promises to be highly contentious.
Jackson, a healthcare executive and political novice who spent over $100 million during his campaign, secured 53% of the vote to beat Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a runoff Tuesday night. The Associated Press called the race at 9:45 PM.
As for Bottoms, since becoming the Democratic nominee last month, she’s been crisscrossing the state selling her vision for Georgia.
“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 at her May 19 election watch party. “We will get it done in Georgia.”
Bottoms, 55, is campaigning 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.
Jackson has characterized himself as the Georgia version of Trump, noting that both men gained notoriety in the business world before entering the world of politics.
Mudslinging and money
Bottoms’ road to the Gold Dome won’t be easy, given the level of mudslinging voters saw between the Republican candidates and the millions Jackson spent on attack ads.
And while Bottoms has been campaigning on a message to expand Medicaid, end state income tax for teachers, target corporate landlords, and increase support for small businesses, she’s also showed her willingness to attack opponents.
Her campaign launched an ad last month featuring a donkey and showed Bottoms calling out Jones and Jackson for “kissing Donald Trump’s *bleep*.”
After Jackson questioned Bottoms’ decision to rein in aggressive police tactics in the wake of the police killing of Rayshard Brooks in an aggressive ad, she shared a Facebook post April 22 that included audio from Atlanta rapper Bone Crusher’s “Never Scared.”
“Gazillionaire MAGA Republican Rick Jackson says he will do whatever it takes to defeat me in November,” Bottoms wrote. “He may have the money, but we have the power.”
Protecting the Black vote
After Gov. Brian Kemp issued a proclamation to convene a special legislation session on June 17 to redraw Georgia’s political maps this year, Bottoms declared that she would block those plans if she’s elected.
“Any map that dilutes voting of respective communities, I’ll veto,” Bottoms told supporters during a campaign stop in Columbus last month. “The fight is really going to be in the states right now.”
Bottoms unveiled a comprehensive plan to protect voting rights that includes establishing a state-level voting rights law known as the Johnson-Lewis Voting Rights Act. It would ban rules, maps, procedures, or election systems that restrict equal access to the ballot or dilute fair participation.
Bottoms’ law would also punish people who intimidate, harass, obstruct, or interfere with people’s voting rights.
Kemp’s proclamation says the proposed maps wouldn’t take effect until the 2028 election cycle.
Additional reporting by Chauncey Alcorn.
