Georgia Race: A Historic Test for Black Women in Power

Keisha Lance Bottoms is running for Georgia governor with the goal of becoming the first woman elected to that office in any state. The 56-year-old Democrat is also aiming to be the first Black woman to hold the position. She faces Republican nominee Rick Jackson in a race that has drawn national attention due to the historic nature of her candidacy.

Bottoms has served as the mayor of Atlanta and previously advised President Joe Biden in the White House. She describes herself as a fifth-generation Georgian, noting that her family history traces back to a plantation in Crawfordville. While she rarely mentions slavery or Jim Crow segregation directly, she acknowledges that this history shadows her campaign against Jackson, a 72-year-old billionaire who currently resides in a suburban estate outside Atlanta.

The campaign has been marked by aggressive attacks on Bottoms' tenure as mayor. Jackson has characterized her four years in office as a period of decline and crime. He has spent over $200 million of his own money on television ads featuring footage from the 2020 protests in Atlanta. Those demonstrations occurred after the police killed Rayshard Brooks, an unarmed Black man. President Donald Trump has also joined the criticism, stating at a rally in Macon that Bottoms destroyed Atlanta with crime and filth.

Bottoms has responded by highlighting her management of the 2020 unrest. In a recent advertisement, she references a press conference she held with law enforcement leaders during the peak of the protests. She told the public to go home if they cared about the city, arguing that Atlanta was better than the image Republicans are presenting. Her campaign also points to the city’s recent success in hosting World Cup soccer matches as evidence of its vitality.

Stacey Abrams, who lost governor’s races in 2018 and 2022, says Black women face a higher standard when running for executive office. Abrams argues that voters often look for specific executive experience that has not been applied equally to other candidates. Bottoms’ resume includes time as a city council member, magistrate judge, and prosecutor. Jackson’s campaign argues that bad mayors do not make good governors, specifically criticizing Bottoms for leaving her post to join the Biden administration.

Jackson’s allies have used strong language to describe the 2020 events. John King, a former Atlanta police officer and current state insurance commissioner, has said at rallies that Bottoms let Atlanta burn. This refers to a fire at a Wendy’s restaurant near where Brooks was killed. The imagery carries weight in Atlanta, whose symbol is a phoenix rising from ashes, a reference to fires set during the Civil War.

Bottoms and her team want voters to focus on policy differences, particularly her plan to expand Medicaid eligibility. They argue this move would help urban and rural populations across racial lines. Jackson’s campaign continues to push the narrative that Bottoms turned her back on the city by not seeking a second term as mayor. The next major event is scheduled for Wednesday, when Bottoms will appear at a rally headlined by Barack Obama.

Supporters like retired educator Beverly Rice say that if voters judge Bottoms by her values, she has a strong chance of winning. Rice stated that she sees Bottoms as a governor for all people rather than just a representative of a specific group. The race remains focused on whether voters will prioritize the historical firsts or the concrete policy proposals on the table.