Keisha Lance Bottoms has won Georgia’s governor’s race, according to an Associated Press race call, becoming the first Black woman elected governor in the United States. Her victory also returns the state’s governorship to Democrats for the first time in more than 20 years, though Republicans are expected to retain a majority in at least one chamber of the legislature.

Bottoms, 56, defeated Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive endorsed by President Trump. Jackson had aligned himself with Trump during the primary campaign, but later removed references to the president from his website and left his name out of campaign speeches. He instead backed Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who endorsed him after the primary.

A central promise of Bottoms’ campaign was to fully expand Medicaid in Georgia, a change that would require legislative approval. She also pledged to oppose the Trump administration and address high prices. Her proposals included allowing municipalities to remove sales taxes on groceries and eliminating state income taxes for public school teachers.

Bottoms also called for a moratorium on new data centers, an issue in a state that leads the nation in new data center construction. During her only gubernatorial debate with Jackson in October, she said Georgia should seek expert guidance on how to proceed.

Before running for governor, Bottoms served one term as Atlanta’s mayor, from 2018 to 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic and a period of social unrest. She chose not to seek a second term and later worked as an adviser in the Biden administration. Jackson’s campaign criticized her mayoral record, citing concerns about crime in the city during the pandemic.

Bottoms received endorsements from former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama and campaigned with Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff. Her victory breaks a long Republican hold on Georgia’s state government, as the state has shifted from reliably electing Republicans to federal and state office to a more competitive political landscape.

Sources: NPR News.