It’s been more than two decades since Georgia Republicans finally broke through and won the state’s top job for the first time since Reconstruction.
And after years out of power, Democrats have recently come closer to winning Georgia’s race for governor. In the last open race for the seat in 2018, then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp held off Democrat Stacey Abrams, winning by just 55,000 votes — the closest contest in 24 years.
This year, Kemp is term-limited and Democrats are hoping they have found the right candidate and the right moment to succeed where they have failed before. But a surprise candidate on the Republican side of the ledger has upended the race.
Here’s a look at the candidates.
Keisha Lance Bottoms (Democrat)
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Keisha Lance Bottoms’ political career seemed to end when she chose not to seek a second term as Atlanta mayor in 2021. But she easily won the Democratic nomination by defeating a crowded field of candidates in the May primary.
An attorney and former magistrate judge, Bottoms represented a large portion of southwest Atlanta on the City Council for two terms.
During part of that time, she was also executive director of the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority, where she helped broker the $30 million sale of Turner Field to Georgia State University and a private development group.
Critics said the dual roles posed a conflict of interest because of business relationships between the city and the authority. She recused herself from the City Council votes related to the authority.
Bottoms was elected mayor in 2017. Her tenure was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and a rise in violent crime in the city. She also feuded with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
She launched her 2021 reelection campaign with then-President Joe Biden’s help after turning down a spot in his Cabinet, then stunned supporters by abruptly ending her campaign.
After leaving City Hall, Bottoms worked as a senior White House adviser to Biden. She also wrote a memoir about her Atlanta upbringing and political career that published earlier this year.
See where Bottoms stands on the issues
Rick Jackson (Republican)
Credit: Natrice Miller for the AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller for the AJC
Rick Jackson’s foster care-to-billionaire biography has been central to his campaign.
Raised by a mother who he said struggled with alcoholism, he moved through five foster homes and 13 schools as a child and dropped out of college because of financial problems.
In 2000, he founded Jackson Healthcare, building the Alpharetta-based company into a healthcare staffing and technology powerhouse with more than 20 subsidiaries.
Subsidiaries of the company have received more than $1 billion in payments by state agencies. Some of them were no-bid contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic. If elected, Jackson said he would “work to responsibly unwind” those business dealings.
He poured more than $108 million of his own money into the GOP primary and is spending at least $87 million more in the general election campaign.
Jackson has never run for office before, but he has been a political player for years.
He, his family, companies and employees gave roughly $1 million to state and local candidates and their PACS, mostly Republicans. He held a fundraiser for Gov. Brian Kemp and helped bankroll Geoff Duncan’s 2018 GOP bid for lieutenant governor.
And he has lobbied at the state Capitol to press for changes to the foster care system and healthcare laws. He’s donated at least $2 million to Trump, stroking his first $1 million check to the president just weeks before he entered the race.
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