Keisha Lance Bottoms has emerged as the Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, aiming to secure the state’s leadership for her party for the first time in almost thirty years.
After successfully outpacing her competitors in a crowded primary race on Tuesday, Bottoms is now poised to focus on the general election, while the Republicans face the prospect of an expensive runoff.
Georgia has not seen a Democratic governor since 1998, although recent years have shown a shift towards a more competitive political landscape. Democrats have won the state in the 2020 presidential election and secured Senate victories in 2020 and 2022. However, winning the governor’s office has remained a challenge. Some Democrats express concerns about Bottoms’ chances in the general election, citing her contentious time as Atlanta’s mayor from 2018 to 2022 as a potential weakness.
With her primary victory, Bottoms can begin to bridge the fundraising gap in her campaign. Leading Republican contenders, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and health care executive Rick Jackson, have raised substantial funds, largely through personal loans to their campaigns, setting a high financial bar.
Now that the primary is concluded, Bottoms is expected to intensify her efforts to engage national donors and garner support from Democratic leaders who had previously remained neutral.
Having served as a senior adviser in the Biden administration and securing the former president’s endorsement, Bottoms enjoyed greater name recognition than her primary rivals. She defeated Jason Esteves, Michael Thurmond, and Geoff Duncan to secure her party’s nomination.
Polling prior to the primary indicated Bottoms was the favored candidate, though Georgia’s requirement for a candidate to achieve over 50 percent of the vote increased the possibility of a runoff.
Even before the primary concluded, Bottoms faced attack ads from Republicans like Jackson, hinting at the challenges she will likely encounter in the general election.
