Keisha Lance Bottoms wins the Georgia governors race, flipping the office for Democrats

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has won Georgia’s race for governor, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Rick Jackson and flipping control of the battleground state office for the first time in 24 years.Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and a former Biden administration official, overcame an enormous spending disadvantage against Jackson, a wealthy healthcare executive who pumped more than $100 million of his own money into his campaign.Bottoms is the first woman and the first Black person to be elected governor of Georgia.Like many Democrats across the country, Bottoms leaned heavily into a message focusing on affordability and economic issues.Down the late fall stretch, she also ran ads that hit Jackson over previous comments supporting the construction of data centers and linked Jackson to President Donald Trump, who faced low approval ratings in the state.

Throughout a contentious Republican primary this spring, Jackson had frequently compared himself to Trump, allowing Bottoms to use much of his own words against him during the general election.Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson.Elijah Nouvelage / GettyDuring their sole general election debate last month, Bottoms slammed Jackson for having “said he wants to be Trump’s favorite governor.” She also attempted to tie Jackson to Trump’s yearslong effort to sow doubt over the results of the 2020 election.The issue remains particularly pertinent in Georgia, as the FBI seized election records related to the 2020 election earlier this year, and the governor will play a critical role in the certification of the 2028 presidential election results.During the primary, Jackson refused to say who won the 2020 election.

But ahead of his matchup against Bottoms, he acknowledged Joe Biden’s victory.Bottoms, who will succeed term-limited Republican Gov.

Brian Kemp, also linked herself to popular Democratic Sen.Jon Ossoff, who was up for re-election this year.

Ossoff held several “United for Geo...