Bottoms wins Georgia governor race, first Black woman in role
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor, won Georgia's governor race on 3 Nov, defeating Republican businessman Rick Jackson, according to Associated Press and US media projections. She becomes the first Black woman elected governor of any US state and the first Democrat to win the post since 1998. Bottoms, 56, succeeds Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who is leaving office after two terms because of term limits. Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive, spent more than 200 million US dollars of his own money on the campaign.
Key facts
- Jackson is a billionaire founder of healthcare staffing firm Jackson Healthcare, who ran as a political outsider.
- Bottoms campaigned on expanding Medicaid and raising the state minimum wage to 15 US dollars an hour.
- Bottoms pledged to pause new data centre developments in Georgia.
- Stacey Plaskett was elected governor of the US Virgin Islands the same evening.
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Why it matters
A Democratic win in a state Republicans had held for more than two decades.
What changed
First published from NPR, Al Jazeera English, The Straits Times, The Independent and Hindustan Times