US elects its first Black woman governor

Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Georgia gubernatorial race on November 4, 2026, becoming the state's first Democratic governor in over two decades and the nation's first Black female governor. Overcoming a $100 million spending disadvantage against Republican Rick Jackson, Bottoms campaigned on expanding Medicaid, raising the minimum wage, and increasing public employee pay. Despite Jackson's efforts to portray himself as an outsider businessman with billionaire backing (he spent more than $200m of his own money), Bottoms secured victory by nearly nine points in a race initially seen as a toss-up.