Georgia Nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms Faces Attack Ads Ahead of Rally

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia, is facing a Republican opponent who has spent more than $200 million of his own money on television advertising. Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta and onetime White House senior adviser, is running against Republican nominee Rick Jackson, a 72-year-old billionaire. No Black woman has ever been elected governor in any state.

Bottoms, 56, is campaigning on her record. She said, “I am at least a fifth-generation Georgian,” noting that her family’s history can be traced back five generations to a plantation in Crawfordville. Her campaign focuses on policy issues like economic struggles and expanding Medicaid insurance eligibility.

Her opponent, Jackson, has centered his campaign on her time as mayor. He has repeatedly said, “Bad mayors don’t make good governors.” Jackson’s advertisements feature footage of the 2020 street protests in Atlanta following the police killing of Rayshard Brooks, an unarmed Black man. Other Republican figures, including President Donald Trump, have also criticized her record.

Bottoms has pushed back against these attacks. She called the Republican framing of Atlanta as a dangerous city “ridiculous,” pointing out that the city once hosted the Olympics and recently staged eight World Cup soccer matches. A recent campaign advertisement from Bottoms features a clip from a 2020 news conference where she addressed protesters, saying, “If you care about this city, then go home. We are better than this.”

The campaign for the governorship has a long history in Georgia. Since 1776, all 83 governors of the state have been white men. This marks the third consecutive time that Georgia Democrats have nominated a Black woman for the office. Stacey Abrams, the party’s nominee in 2018 and 2022, lost both races to Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who is leaving office in 2027 due to term limits.

Stacey Abrams, in an interview, said that Black women running for governor face a higher bar because voters may place a special emphasis on executive experience. She said that standard “does not apply equally across candidates” in politics. Abrams added that Bottoms “has a sound argument” because she has held the executive role as mayor, and previously served as a City Council member, magistrate judge and prosecutor.

Supporters of Bottoms have noted that some criticism of her campaign is connected to her race and gender. Retired educator Beverly Rice, a Bottoms supporter, said, “It’s easy for people to attack Atlanta and Mayor Bottoms based on their own biases.” Rice added, “I have 100% faith that she can win if people just judge her with their values. I don’t look at her and see a ‘Black governor.’ I see a governor for all the people.”

Bottoms is scheduled to appear at a rally on Wednesday. The event will be headlined by Barack Obama, the first Black U.S. president.