Keisha Lance Bottoms has momentum and runway going into the 2026 Georgia gubernatorial election in November.
The former Atlanta mayor and Biden administration senior official bested a half dozen opponents, collecting a majority of Democratic primary votes (56%) and avoiding a runoff.
Meanwhile, Republicans Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire insurgent candidate Rick Jackson will continue to duke it out for the next four weeks because no one captured a majority in the GOP primary.
Expect more commercials accusing Jones of being a do-nothing son of privilege and Jackson of being a hypocrite on tough illegal immigration talk. That gives Bottoms the freedom to talk about her campaign.
During the primary campaign, Jackson went after front-runner Bottoms, accusing her of destroying Atlanta during her one term as mayor from 2018 to 2022 because of her handling of the COVID pandemic and violence in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder.
Bottoms survived those accusations handily during her primary, and she may be able to do so again in the general election, regardless of whether she ends up facing Jones or Jackson.
Consider their vote totals in Tuesday’s primary:
- Bottoms (607,187)
- Jones (357,926)
- Jackson (303,442)
Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial candidates earned 1.08 million votes, while Republicans garnered 933,205.
Credit: Natrice Miller for the AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller for the AJC
Pendulum swings in U.S. politics
Reinvention is an art in American politics.
Trump lost his bid for reelection in 2020 — and swung Georgia blue — because under his watch he fumbled the COVID pandemic response and tanked the economy.
Former President Joe Biden was effectively an “anyone but Trump.”
Four years later, high inflation and concerns over Biden’s age — demonstrated during his disastrous 2024 debate performance in Atlanta that forced him to drop out — gave Trump a lane to return to office, with the Peach State going his way this time.
He would be the anti-Biden. No more foreign incursions and no more high prices.
But wait …
Trump’s war on Iran is deeply unpopular among most Americans; gas has exceeded $4 a gallon in Georgia; and inflation just rose to 3.8% — its highest rate in three years.
This is a path for Bottoms, who can keep the focus on Trump and let voters not think too much about her mayoral term.
It’s true that Trump is still extremely popular with Republicans, and his endorsement is swaying primaries even against Republican incumbents he deemed “disloyal,” such as Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, both of whom lost their recent primaries.
The question now is if that will make a difference in November’s general elections.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
2026 is not 2024
Last year, I wrote a column about the two main reasons why former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential race against Trump: her inability to connect with average Americans on the economy and the albatross of Biden, whom she refused to break with despite his unpopularity.
But Biden is no longer in office and Bottoms seems more adept at talking about the economy than Harris — state income tax relief for educators, healthcare expansion, free community college and low-interest financing for housing.
Her recent memoir, “The Rough Side of the Mountain” shows she’s focused on telling a Georgia story about someone who overcame adversity to ascend to become the Democratic nominee for governor.
Jackson is doing something similar with his rags-to-riches storytelling campaign, told thanks to tens of millions of dollars in political ads; he will use it against her if he faces her in November.
And Bottoms still must worry about how Atlanta sees her.
As politics reporter Riley Bunch wrote recently, City Hall insiders did not jump on her campaign wide and large.
More importantly, although she came in first in just about every Georgia county Tuesday, she received a plurality of votes only in Fulton (48%) and DeKalb (42%) counties.
Now that she’s won the primary, it behooves Democrats to consolidate around her. She will have a tough race ahead.
Her handling of Atlanta during the pandemic and post-George Floyd demonstrations could be her Achilles’ heel.
On the other hand, Trump’s looming shadow could tank her opponent with both Democrats and Independents.
As for her past, as Trump proved in winning the 2024 election — COVID response, the economy and 34 felony convictions — maybe it doesn’t matter anymore.
David Plazas is the AJC’s opinion editor. Email him at david.plazas@ajc.com.
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