The results were decisive and came faster than most expected. Keisha Lance Bottoms, who served as Atlanta's mayor from 2018 to 2022 and briefly worked in the Biden White House, captured more than 56% of the Democratic primary vote with 99% of precincts reporting. That cleared the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff, giving her the nomination outright. The Georgia Recorder notes that former state senator Jason Esteves finished a distant second at about 18.7%, followed by former DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond at 13%.
The magnitude of the moment was not lost on Bottoms. Speaking to supporters at the Hyatt Regency around 11 p.m., she appeared to choke up multiple times. She invoked the names of civil rights leaders, including her aunt Ruby Doris Smith Robinson, a SNCC activist from the 1960s.
"When people ask me if it can be done, I think of the words of Nelson Mandela who said, 'It always seems impossible until it's done,'" Bottoms told the crowd. "We will get it done in Georgia."
On the Republican side, the race is far from settled. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones led with about 38%, followed by healthcare executive Rick Jackson at 33%. Neither cleared 50%, which means a June 16 runoff will decide who faces Bottoms in November. If she wins that general election, Bottoms would become Georgia's first Black governor and first woman to hold the office. The last Democrat to win a gubernatorial race here was Roy Barnes nearly 28 years ago.
