Rick Jackson spent more than $100 million in his unsuccessful Georgia campaign

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor and Democrat, won Georgia’s governor race on Tuesday, defeating Rick Jackson and becoming the first Black woman elected governor of a US state. The Guardian reported that Bottoms prevailed after campaigning with former President Barack Obama and Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who also won reelection. Jackson had been favored until recent days and poured more than $100 million of his personal fortune into the campaign.

Keisha Lance Bottoms at a news conference in Smyrna, Georgia, on Nov. 3. Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP.

A historic result in a closely watched state

The Guardian characterized Georgia as historically a swing state offering tight margins to the winners of statewide contests. It reported that Jackson had been favored to win the governor’s race until recent days.

The Guardian described the result as “a sign of tides turning against Donald Trump and Republicans as a whole.”

Bottoms entered the race after McBath withdrew

Bottoms entered Georgia’s governor race shortly after the Democratic Party’s favorite to run, U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, chose not to seek the nomination because of her spouse’s health problems. Bottoms then defeated six other candidates in the Democratic primary without a runoff.

Bottoms, 56, was from Atlanta and the child of blues musician Major Lance. She worked as an attorney and served as a magistrate judge in Fulton County before first winning elected office to an Atlanta city council seat in 2009.

During the waning days of the 2020 George Floyd protests, when she was on the short list of potential vice-presidential candidates in a Biden administration, Bottoms was Atlanta’s mayor and announced that she would not seek reelection. She later joined the Biden administration as a senior adviser and director of the White House office of public engagement, serving until 2023.

The Guardian reported that Bottoms campaigned with Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and former President Barack Obama in the days before the election. Ossoff also won reelection to the US Senate on Tuesday.

Affordability and health care shaped Bottoms’s campaign

Bottoms’s campaign emphasized affordability. She pledged to sign legislation expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. She also pledged to roll back Georgia’s restrictions on abortion access.

Jackson’s spending and media campaign

Jackson, a billionaire businessman, poured more than $100 million of his personal fortune into the race. The Guardian reported that his campaign flooded media with scenes from the 2020 George Floyd protests and the death of Secoriea Turner. Turner was an eight-year-old girl murdered during a street takeover by rifle-bearing gunmen, according to the report.