Georgia has a Governor Named Keisha

More than 160 years after her ancestors were enslaved in Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms took the stage to announce her victory in the Georgia gubernatorial race – making her the first Black female governor in the history of the United States. 

Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms is a fifth-generation Georgia native. A graduate of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, a historically black university, and an attorney, Bottoms served as the 60th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.  Following her mayoral term, Bottoms served as Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden. 

Alongside Bottoms, all Democratic candidates slated on the ballot for Georgia’s executive branch were successful in their campaigns, effectively flipping the state.

Georgia’s Democratic sweep is in line with other states' results in the 2026 November midterms, contributing to the “blue wave” seen across the United States, resulting in the Democratic Party winning control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. This dramatically shifted national power and potentially turning President Donald Trump into a lame-duck leader for his final two years in office.

Democratic majorities in Congress can use the federal budget process to block, slow down or defund controversial administration policies, protecting local grants and safety net programs.

Georgia’s blue wave was a joint effort by high-hat Democrats at all levels of government. Rallies, phone banking, canvassing events and service sites were held by all Democratic candidates and their political action committees throughout Georgia in the weeks leading up to Election Day – many featuring prominent democratic political leaders. 

On October 28th, Former President Barack Obama headlined the “United for Georgia” rally in suburban Atlanta. The rally featured down-ballot democratic statewide candidates, such as Lieutenant Governor-elect Josh McLaurin, Senator Jon Ossoff, Congresswoman Nikema Williams and Governor-elect Lance Bottoms. 

It also featured speakers who were not on the ballot, such as Senator Raphael Warnock and President Obama, who shared their support for the slated candidates and belief in Georgia’s future. 

Obama focused on economic frustrations such as rising costs for housing, healthcare, utilities and gas. 

“First of all, if you thought everything cost too much before.  Guess what?  Everything is more expensive now: your mortgage, your healthcare, your utility bills. And then there's gas. Four bucks a gallon last month. Diesel is still over five,” Obama said.

He also criticized the Trump administration’s foreign policy and federal actions, saying, “The administration’s own actions are directly responsible for rising costs.”  

Obama called back to Sen. Ossoff’s commentary, “As Jon [Ossoff] described, the current president made a series of bad decisions –  the most important of which was to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for, and nobody voted for.”

He ended his address by endorsing Ossoff, Lance Bottoms and all of the democratic candidates on the midterm ballot, reiterating that their leadership will be a turning point not just for Georgia but America. 

“I want friendship and neighborliness and joy and generosity,” Obama said. “I want everybody handing our country and our world off to our kids a little better than they are right now. That's what I want. That's what you want.” 

The joint effort of democratic figureheads to flip Georgia blue worked. Democrats in Georgia made historic gains during Tuesday's midterm election, flipping the state House, governor’s mansion and all state constitutional offices. 

The midterms’ historic nature does not stop with Lance Bottoms' win. A total of eight Black women won statewide elections in Georgia on Nov. 3.

Judge Penny Brown Reynolds, now Georgia’s Secretary of State-elect, is one of the eight victors, making her the first Black person and the first Black woman to be elected to this office in state history.

Alongside Reynold and Lance Bottoms, Tanya Miller is Georgia’s attorney general-elect; Katherine Juhan-Arnold is the agriculture commissioner-elect; Keisha Waites is the insurance commissioner-elect; Nikki Porcher is the labor commissioner-elect; Sheila Edwards is the public service commissioner-elect; and Lydia Powell is Georgia’s state school superintendent-elect. 

This shift is a long time coming. Democratic success in the Georgia midterm would not have been possible without the strides made by public servants before us. 

Students like Elle Smith, a first-year international studies major, are in good spirits about Election Day.

“It’s obviously really good. Especially when two years ago, we were looking to elect our first black female president and it was disappointing to see those results,” Smith said. 

“I think Keishia Lance Bottoms shows us we can win — and it’s only amplified by the historic wins of other marginalized groups like Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed,” She continued. 

Black women like Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to hold a congressional office; Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to serve as Vice President of the United States; or Stacey Abrams, the first Black woman to win a major-party nomination for governor, in Georgia no less. 

Through their painstaking efforts, these women laid the groundwork for Keshia to become Georgia’s next governor. 

Governor-Elect Lance Bottom has broken a glass ceiling not just for Black women seeking leadership roles, but for an America seeking a new normal. Georgia, a state profoundly influenced by its history of slavery, segregation and the struggle for civil rights, made history by electing the first Black woman as its governor – the first of her kind. 

This win demonstrates that despite an overwhelming sense of gloom – an unattainable middle class, unsanctioned foreign wars, nonstop inflation and a disregard for the democracy this country was founded on – hope is not gone, and we, the people, generate that hope with our voices – and our votes.