FAMU journalism graduate Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and a prominent figure in the Biden administration, decisively won the Democratic primary for Georgia governor on Tuesday, capturing more than 50 percent of the vote and clearing the threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
Her victory sets the stage for a high-stakes general election contest in a state that has become a pivotal national battleground, though her Republican opponent will not be known until after a June runoff.
Ms. Bottoms emerged from a crowded and competitive Democratic field that included Michael Thurmond, the former chief executive officer of DeKalb County; former state Senator Jason Esteves; and Geoff Duncan, a former lieutenant governor who served as a Republican but later switched parties.
Her win was widely anticipated, as she had consistently led in primary polls, buoyed by strong name recognition from her tenure as Atlanta’s mayor from 2018 to 2022 and her subsequent role as a senior adviser in the Biden White House. That visibility was amplified in the race’s final days by a coveted endorsement from President Joe Biden himself, who praised her leadership during crises ranging from the coronavirus pandemic to civil unrest.
The Republican primary, meanwhile, remains unresolved. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a staunch ally ofPresident Donald J. Trump, and Rick Jackson, a billionaire health care executive, finished at the top of a fractured field but fell short of the majority needed to win outright. They will face each other in a runoff election on June 18, ensuring a fierce and expensive intraparty battle over the next month.
The November matchup will be closely watched as a test of Georgia’s evolving political identity. Once a reliably red state, Georgia has elected two Democratic U.S. senators and supported President Biden in 2020, but Republicans have recently regained momentum in statewide offices.
Ms. Bottoms’s candidacy is seen by many strategists as a potent force for Democrats, given her deep ties to the state’s largest city and its base of Black voters, who are crucial to Democratic success in Georgia. Her time as mayor was defined by navigating the pandemic, protests for racial justice, and tense relations with the state’s Republican leadership.
The general election will be held on Nov. 5.