5 facts to know about Keisha Lance Bottoms, America’s first Black female governor

Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson in Georgia’s November 3, 2026, gubernatorial election, becoming the first Black woman elected governor of a US state and the first woman to lead Georgia. She will take office in January 2027. Bottoms served as Atlanta’s mayor from 2018 to 2022 and later worked as a senior adviser to Joe Biden and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Her victory breaks a longstanding barrier to political representation for Black women.