First posted on Instagram
Georgia voters on Tuesday, November 3, elected Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms as the state's next governor, defeating Republican businessman Rick Jackson. The Associated Press called the race for Bottoms shortly after 9:15 p.m. Eastern on election night. Unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State put Bottoms at about 54 percent of the vote to about 46 percent for Jackson, a margin of roughly 8.6 percentage points, with all 159 Georgia counties reporting. The results remain unofficial until they are certified.
Bottoms, 56, the former mayor of Atlanta, becomes the first Black woman ever elected governor of a U.S. state, as well as Georgia's first woman governor and its first Black governor. She is also the first Democrat to win the Georgia governor's office since 1998. She succeeds Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who was barred by law from seeking a third term, and is expected to take office in January 2027.
Bottoms served as Atlanta's mayor from 2018 to 2022 and later served as a senior adviser to former President Joe Biden and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Her campaign centred on expanding Medicaid, increasing housing availability, addressing household costs and protecting abortion rights. Jackson, a healthcare executive, poured more than $200 million of his own fortune into his campaign, according to local reporting. Former President Barack Obama endorsed Bottoms in a video posted on October 8 and campaigned alongside her and Senator Jon Ossoff in Atlanta on October 28; former Vice President Kamala Harris also campaigned for her in Georgia in the final week. President Donald Trump backed Jackson after his preferred candidate, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, lost the Republican primary.
In Florida, Republican U.S. Representative Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly in the race to succeed term-limited Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Unofficial results from the Florida Division of Elections put Donalds at about 50.05 percent to about 48.69 percent for Jolly, a margin of roughly 112,000 votes, with almost all precincts reporting. The Associated Press and NBC News called the race for Donalds. The results remain unofficial until certified.
Donalds, 48, a congressman since 2021 and a close ally of President Trump, becomes Florida's first Black governor and the first Black Republican ever elected governor in the United States. He campaigned on affordability — inflation, housing and insurance — and promised to continue the conservative policies of the outgoing DeSantis administration. Jolly, a former Republican congressman who ran as a Democrat, carried South Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, but could not overcome Donalds' statewide lead. Donalds is expected to take office in January 2027, with state legislator Bryan Avila as lieutenant governor.
Together, the two results give the country its first Black woman governor and its first elected Black Republican governor on the same night, from opposite parties and neighbouring Southern states.
Join us on Telegram — t.me/profilopoliticsnews