Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) defeated Rick Jackson (R) in the general election for governor of Georgia on November 3, 2026. Click here for detailed results. As a result, Democrats gained control of the governorship and broke the Republican trifecta.

Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp (R) was term-limited. The last Democrat elected governor of Georgia was Roy Barnes in 1998. Independent election forecasters rated the general election a Toss-up.

Bottoms was the mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022. She was also a senior advisor to former President Joe Biden (D) and a member of the Atlanta City Council. According to her campaign website, Bottoms ran for governor "to deliver for working families and bring steady leadership to Georgia in the midst of uncertainty and chaos coming from Washington."

Bottoms campaigned on Medicaid expansion, lowering costs, and education, saying that people "want to hear how we are going to address these everyday issues that are impacting their lives: cost of living, access or lack thereof to healthcare, education, access to jobs." On healthcare specifically, Bottoms said: "It's the difference between life and death for so many people — when you can't get to a hospital, when you can access medical care, when you can't see a doctor when you're in need." Her campaign website said she "will lower health care costs for everyone by expanding Medicaid, ending the failed Georgia Pathways program, and replacing it with real coverage that actually works for families."

Jackson founded and worked as chief executive of Jackson Healthcare, a healthcare staffing and services company. His campaign website described him as "a Georgia businessman, philanthropist, and conservative outsider running for Governor because he believes results matter more than rhetoric — and Georgia's future depends on action, not talk."

Jackson ran on tax cuts, border security, and what he described as an outsider business background, saying: "Georgia needs an outsider — not a career politician — who will cut taxes, lower costs, secure the state, and make government work for the people." He said that as governor he would "make Georgia the most affordable state in America by freezing property taxes, cutting the state income tax, eliminating wasteful spending, and raising standards in government and education." On healthcare, Jackson said, "I'm the only candidate in this race who actually understands healthcare costs. I've spent my life in it — I know where the costs are, I know where the wastes are, I know how the system works, and I know how it fails families."

At the time of the election, Georgia had had a Republican trifecta since 2005. Along with the governorship, the legislature was up for election in 2026.