7 statewide offices won by Black women in Georgia

On this page: Georgia’s new leaders; Where the votes came from; What these offices control; and People power and big money

Disclosure: SourceLine’s founder, Kazemde Ajamu, was part of Real Men for Keisha, a supporter group that backed Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor and held a fundraiser for her campaign. Every figure in this story comes from the public record and is checked the same way for every candidate.

Georgia’s new leaders

When the General Assembly opens in January, the people at the top of Georgia’s government will look like no group that has held those offices before. Keisha Lance Bottoms will be governor, the first woman to hold the office in Georgia and the first Black woman elected governor of any state. Tanya Miller will be attorney general, the first woman elected to that office. Penny Brown Reynolds will be secretary of state, the first Black woman elected to it; Robyn Crittenden held the office before her by appointment. Georgia has had 83 governors since 1776, and the Associated Press reported in October that every one of them was a white man.

They did not win alone, and they did not win narrowly. Democrats won every statewide race on the ballot, and Black women won seven of those offices: governor, attorney general, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner, insurance commissioner and school superintendent. Nikki Porcher becomes the first Black woman elected labor commissioner in any state, as The Citizen of Fayette County reported after her primary runoff win.

Georgia also reelected Senator Jon Ossoff with 2,463,132 votes and elected Josh McLaurin lieutenant governor with 2,327,235. Shelia Edwards and Peter Hubbard won seats on the Public Service Commission, which sets what Georgia Power charges every household; with them, the commission will have a Democratic majority from January.

Where the votes came from

Look at where the votes landed. Penny Brown Reynolds and Tanya Miller each drew about 50,000 more votes than the top of the ticket. Voters did not just follow one name down the ballot; they chose these women office by office.

The votes behind them came early and came from every part of Black Georgia. Before Election Day, 526,264 Black women and 311,419 Black men had already voted early or by mail, up 14.3 percent and 11.0 percent from 2022. Early and mail voting among all Georgia men rose 2.4 percent, and among all Georgia women 6.1 percent.

On the day itself, the survey the Associated Press and the networks shared estimates that Black women were about 15 of every 100 Georgia voters and 91 percent of them chose Bottoms, and that Black men were about 12 of every 100 and 86 percent chose her.

What these offices control

Each of these offices carries real power over daily life in Georgia. The secretary of state runs Georgia’s elections and oversees the boards that license dozens of professions. The attorney general is the state’s lawyer and enforces its consumer protection laws. The labor commissioner runs unemployment insurance. The insurance commissioner regulates what Georgians pay for car, home and health coverage. The agriculture commissioner oversees food safety and Georgia’s largest industry. The school superintendent leads the Department of Education.

People power and big money

Rick Jackson’s campaign spent about $220 million to win the governor’s office, most of it his own money, from February through late October (Atlanta Journal Constitution, October 30). His leadership committee raised more than $35 million more, including at least $21.5 million from the Republican Governors Association. In the final stretch, about $76 million in television time was bought or reserved for Jackson and the groups backing him, against about $8 million for Bottoms and her allies (MultiState).

From August 1 to October 20, Bottoms raised more than $30 million by one count (Capitol Beat) and $23.2 million by another (AJC); the two reports count differently and are not added together. Against all of that money stood 2,268,462 Georgians who voted for Keisha Lance Bottoms, and more than 2.2 million who voted for each of the Black women elected statewide with her. Jackson’s spending works out to about $115 for every vote he received.

On this page: How close the legislature is; What she promised; What comes next; and What you can do

How close the legislature is

The count is not final, and some races could go to recounts. In the Georgia Secretary of State’s unofficial count, Democrats lead in 93 of the 180 House seats, two more than the 91 it takes to hold a majority; two of those leads are under 60 votes. In the 56 seat Senate, Democrats lead in 27 seats, up from 23, and Republicans in 29, exactly the number it takes to hold a majority. The two closest Senate seats were decided by 1,668 votes (District 32) and 3,328 votes (District 1). Every seat in both chambers is on the ballot again in 2028.

What that means for the governor: every budget and every law must pass both chambers. Expanding Medicaid in Georgia needs the legislature’s approval under a 2014 state law. With a House majority, her plans can pass the House; in a Senate where Republicans hold 29 seats, they need at least two Republican votes. Overriding a governor’s veto takes two thirds of both chambers, 120 House votes and 38 Senate votes, so her vetoes would stand.

What she promised

Bottoms campaigned on expanding Medicaid, ending state income tax for teachers, fully funding schools in her first budget, prekindergarten for every four year old, a state housing trust fund and an Office of Small Business. SourceLine will follow each promise on the record.

What comes next

November 9. Each Georgia county certifies its count by 5 pm.

November 20. The Secretary of State certifies the statewide result by 5 pm.

January 11, 2027. The General Assembly opens its 2027 session. Georgia law sets the new governor’s inauguration during the first week of that session.

What you can do

Find your state House and Senate members in Where you live below, and see who now represents you. Then keep following SourceLine. As the new officials take office, SourceLine will show you, from the record, whether each promise is kept, and every issue that comes before them that touches your family.

Vote counts are the Georgia Secretary of State's unofficial results as of 4:18 am Eastern on November 4; they are final only when certified on November 20. SourceLine does not call races.