Bottoms Wins Dem Nomination; GOP Runoff Looms

Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia’s Democratic nomination for governor on May 19, clearing a seven-candidate field without a runoff and moving first into the state’s open-seat general election. The Associated Press called the race after Bottoms won a majority of the vote, while the Republican contest remained unresolved. (georgiarecorder.com) Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and health care executive Rick Jackson advanced to a June 16 GOP runoff after neither reached the 50% threshold required under Georgia law. Gov. Brian Kemp cannot seek another term, leaving both parties to contest an open governorship this year. (apnews.com) ### How did Bottoms avoid a Democratic runoff? (georgia.gov) Bottoms won outright on Tuesday, according to AP-tabulated results and Georgia-based race coverage, sparing Democrats an additional month of intraparty campaigning. Georgia Recorder reported that Democrats had seven candidates on the ballot and that Bottoms secured the nomination without a runoff. The Democratic field included former state Sen. Jason Esteves, former DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican-turned-Democrat. Georgia Recorder said none of them came close enough to force Bottoms below a majority threshold. (georgiarecorder.com) At her election-night event in downtown Atlanta, Bottoms told supporters, “We know the answer is absolutely yes,” answering doubts about whether she could win statewide. Georgia Recorder reported that she also cast herself as “a fighter” against President Donald Trump and rising costs. (georgiarecorder.com) ### Which Republicans are still standing? Burt Jones finished first in the Republican primary with 357,929 votes, or 38.4%, while Rick Jackson took 303,447 votes, or 32.5%, according to AP results posted May 20. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger placed third with 140,014 votes, or 15.0%, and Attorney General Chris Carr was fourth with 110,645 votes, or 11.9%. (georgiarecorder.com) AP’s county-by-county results showed Jones running strongest in rural parts of central and southern Georgia, while Jackson led in parts of the Atlanta area and around Augusta and Columbus. AP described Jackson as testing the value of Trump’s endorsement of Jones after spending more than $83 million of his own money on the race. (georgiarecorder.com) FOX 5 Atlanta and other Georgia outlets reported that the runoff is set for June 16. Under Georgia’s rules, the top two candidates advance when no one wins more than 50% in the primary. ### Who is Bottoms heading into the fall campaign? (apnews.com) Bottoms served as Atlanta mayor from 2018 to 2022 and later worked as a senior adviser in former President Joe Biden’s administration, according to Ballotpedia and NBC News. Her campaign emphasized health care access, education and cost-of-living concerns, according to local coverage. (apnews.com) Joe Biden endorsed Bottoms on May 1 in what NBC News described as his first endorsement since leaving office. Biden said in a video backing her that he had known Bottoms “for a long time.” (fox5atlanta.com) ### Why is this race open in the first place? Brian Kemp is leaving office because he is term-limited, opening the governorship for the first time since he first won it in 2018. Georgia’s 2026 general election page lists the governor’s race among the statewide contests voters will decide on November 3. Georgia Recorder said Democrats have not won the governor’s office since Roy Barnes in 1998. (news.ballotpedia.org) The party has nominated Stacey Abrams twice in the last two cycles and now turns to Bottoms for a third straight attempt with a Black woman at the top of the ticket. (nbcnews.com) ### When will voters know Bottoms’s Republican opponent? June 16 is the date of Georgia’s general primary runoff, according to Georgia.gov and the secretary of state’s 2026 election calendar. The winner of that runoff — Jones or Jackson — will face Bottoms in the November 3 general election. (georgia.gov) (georgiarecorder.com) (georgia.gov)