Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson to win Georgia’s gubernatorial election, according to the result supplied for this report. Bottoms’ victory breaks the Republican hold on the governor’s office that began in 2003 and makes her Georgia’s first female governor. She will succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

Bottoms previously served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022, becoming one of the state’s most recognizable Democratic political figures. After leaving City Hall, she joined President Joe Biden’s administration as a senior adviser in the White House. Her campaign sought to build on her experience in local government while presenting her as a candidate focused on affordability, healthcare and public services.

During the campaign, Bottoms supported expanding Medicaid eligibility, raising Georgia’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and increasing compensation for teachers, firefighters and police officers. She also called for restrictions on data-center development and the expansion of surveillance technology used by law enforcement.

Jackson, a healthcare entrepreneur and billionaire investor, ran as a political outsider with a business background. He built his fortune through Jackson Healthcare, a company that provides staffing services to hospitals and healthcare systems. He campaigned on reducing Georgia’s income tax, expanding healthcare coverage through private-sector partnerships and increasing pay for public employees.

President Donald Trump endorsed Jackson and appeared with him at a campaign rally in suburban Atlanta. Jackson also spent more than $200 million of his own money on the campaign, making the contest one of the most expensive gubernatorial races in the country.

The candidates offered sharply different approaches to healthcare and economic policy. Bottoms advocated for direct Medicaid expansion, while Jackson proposed using private insurers and federal support to broaden coverage. Jackson also criticized Bottoms’ record as Atlanta mayor, while Bottoms questioned his business interests and state government contracts.

Georgia had been a major battleground for both parties, with Republicans seeking to maintain control of the governor’s office and Democrats attempting to translate their strength in the state’s largest metropolitan areas into a statewide victory. Bottoms’ win marks a major change in the state’s political leadership.

Bottoms will take office in January 2027, becoming the first woman to serve as governor of Georgia and the first Black woman elected governor in American history.