Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to win Georgia's governor race. What comes next?

On this page: What happened tonight; A first for the country; What comes next; and Reach the governor’s office

What happened tonight

The Associated Press projected at about 9:24 pm Eastern on November 3 that Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee and former mayor of Atlanta, has won the race for governor of Georgia. SourceLine does not call races. The projection is the Associated Press’s.

The count so far, from the Georgia Secretary of State as of 9:17 pm Eastern on November 3: 3,288,937 votes for governor. Keisha Lance Bottoms has 1,825,866 votes, 55.5%. Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee, has 1,463,071 votes, 44.5%.

These numbers are unofficial until Georgia certifies the result, by November 20, 2026.

A first for the country

Before tonight, three Black people had been elected governor of a state. All three are men. Two Black men also came to the office without being elected to it.

In December 1872, P.B.S. Pinchback, the lieutenant governor of Louisiana, became acting governor when the legislature impeached Governor Henry Clay Warmoth, which under Louisiana law suspended him from office. Pinchback served 34 days, until a new governor took office in January 1873. The U.S. Senate’s historians call him the first Black governor of a state.

L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, elected in 1989, was the first Black person elected governor of any state. He took office on January 13, 1990.

Deval Patrick of Massachusetts was elected in 2006 and served two terms, 2007 to 2015.

David Paterson, the lieutenant governor of New York, became governor in 2008 when Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned. He served until 2010.

Wes Moore of Maryland, elected in 2022, became the third Black governor elected in the country.

No Black woman had ever been elected governor of any state. In Georgia, Stacey Abrams was the Democratic nominee in 2018 and 2022. This year Keisha Lance Bottoms became the third Black woman in a row to win the Democratic nomination for governor of Georgia.

Georgia has had 83 governors since 1776. The Associated Press reported in October that all of them have been white men. If the count holds, she will be Georgia’s first Black governor and its first woman governor.

What comes next

November 20. The deadline for Georgia to certify the result.

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, on a day lawmakers choose.

Reach the governor’s office

The Office of the Governor is at 206 Washington Street, State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia 30334. The phone is (404) 656 1776. The state’s online form is at georgia.gov/contact-georgiagov.

Wherever you live, Where you live shows who represents your address, and the share of citizens of voting age in your state, county and district who are Black.

Vote counts are the Georgia Secretary of State's unofficial results as of 9:17 pm Eastern on November 3; they change as counties finish counting and are final only when certified. The projection is the Associated Press's; SourceLine does not call races.