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Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has made history after being elected governor of Georgia, becoming the first Black woman to win a gubernatorial election in United States history.
Bottoms defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson in Tuesday's election, securing 2,259,100 votes against Jackson's 1,905,921 votes.
She won by a margin of 353,179 votes, polling approximately 54.2 per cent of the total votes, compared with Jackson's 45.8 per cent.
“No matter who you voted for tonight, I will be a governor for all of Georgia,” Bottoms said. “Georgia, we sent a message loud and clear that we want a leader who will put Georgia first and who will stand up to all the chaos coming out of Washington, DC.”
Bottoms, who served as Atlanta's mayor from 2018 to 2022, later joined former President Joe Biden's White House as a senior advisor and director of the Office of Public Engagement.
She emerged from the Democratic primary to face Jackson in the open-seat race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Rick Jackson, a wealthy healthcare executive and first-time candidate, poured more than $200 million of his personal fortune into his campaign. He defeated Trump-endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the Republican primary runoff , setting up the general election against Bottoms.
Bottoms’ victory ends more than two decades of Republican control of Georgia's governor's office, which has been held by Republicans since 2002.
