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Georgia governor’s mansion projected to flip blue for first time in nearly 30 years
Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to defeat Republican Rick Jackson in Georgia’s governor’s race, returning the state’s governorship to Democrats for the first time since 1998. The result would also make Bottoms the first woman to govern Georgia and the first Black woman elected governor in the United States.
Bottoms, Atlanta’s mayor from 2018 to 2022 and later a senior adviser in Joe Biden’s White House, won the Democratic nomination in an open-seat contest. Jackson, a healthcare executive and political newcomer, spent more than $200 million of his own money and defeated Trump-backed Lt Gov Burt Jones in the Republican primary runoff. Bottoms proposed expanding Medicaid and raising the minimum wage, while Jackson called for phasing out the state income tax; Democrat Jon Ossoff was also projected to win re-election to the Senate.
In short
- Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to win Georgia’s governorship.
- The win would end Republicans’ hold on the office since 2002.
- Rick Jackson spent more than $200 million on his campaign.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Bottoms’s projected victory could bring policies aimed at widening access to healthcare and improving low-wage workers’ incomes, while ending a long period of Republican control may give voters a chance to reassess the state’s direction. Her election would also be a historic milestone in representation, showing that Georgia’s governorship is open to women and Black candidates.
The case against
Jackson’s platform offers a case for lower taxes and a smaller tax burden on residents and businesses, which supporters may see as a way to encourage investment and leave people with more of their earnings. Voters who prefer continuity in Republican-led state government may also favour his approach over Bottoms’s proposals to expand public programmes and raise the minimum wage.
Explained simply
Georgia is a state in the south-east of the United States, where governors lead the state government and oversee areas such as healthcare, education and taxes. The governor’s office has been held by Republicans since 2003, after Democrats last held it in the late 1990s.
Keisha Lance Bottoms is a Democrat who was mayor of Atlanta, Georgia’s largest city, and later worked as a senior adviser in President Joe Biden’s White House. Rick Jackson, the Republican candidate, is a healthcare executive who entered politics as a newcomer.
The race drew attention to different proposals for state policy, including Medicaid, a public health insurance programme, the minimum wage and income tax. A Democratic win would also mark a first for Georgia and for women’s representation in US state government.