Published 9:41 am Wednesday, November 4, 2026 ATLANTA — Georgia voters made history Tuesday, electing for the first time in 238 years of statehood a woman — and a Black person — as governor. In January, when she is sworn into office, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, will also become the first Black woman governor of any state in the 250-year history of the nation. Bottoms declared victory Tuesday night at 10:41 p.m. “Thank you, Georgia. I am honored to be your 84th governor,” she said at her victory party in an Atlanta Marriott Marquis ballroom. She claimed victory with a lead of nearly 10 percentage points over Republican Rick Jackson, with more than 4 million votes counted, according to unofficial results from the Georgia secretary of state’s office. Bottoms rode a wave of frustration over the cost of living, with Republicans in control of the governor’s office and the legislature, not to mention the White House and Congress. The issue was so potent that Bottoms took a page from the GOP playbook, campaigning on cuts to some taxes, though her pitch was not as expansive as her opponent’s. Jackson had pledged to cut the state income tax in half and eliminate the state tax on energy for residential and small-business customers. He also pledged to suspend the gasoline tax during price spikes. Bottoms proposed permanently lowering it by about a nickel, to 28 cents a gallon from 33.3 cents. She also said she wanted to eliminate the tax on auto insurance…
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