Two Major Wins for Democrats in Georgia

Democratic Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms (left) and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) campaign together at the Tabernacle in Atlanta on May 31, 2026. Source: AJC.

History has been made in Georgia. With her defeat over Republican Rick Jackson, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has become the first woman elected governor of Georgia and the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. In another win for Democrats, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) was reelected, defeating Republican Representative Mike Collins.

Although President Trump flipped Georgia for Republicans in 2024, Democrats’ confidence in Ossoff helped lead to the victory. Collins' closeness with President Trump, along with one of his former staffers who reportedly shared Nazi and KKK content online, was seen as a boost for Ossoff’s campaign. Ossoff led the polls by a considerable margin heading into the election. In a poll conducted by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), he performed most strongly among Black voters, college-educated voters, women, and younger voters. Similarly, another Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll suggests Bottoms has immense support from Black voters. 

Although Georgia has been considered a battleground state in past elections, it was a solid red state for nearly thirty years. The 2020 presidential election was the first time since 1992 that a Democrat won the state; former President Biden defeated President Trump by just 0.2 percentage points. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022, Trump won in 2024, and now Ossoff has flipped the state back to Democrats this year. Ossoff, however, was not always predicted to win. Earlier in the year, this race was viewed as one of Republicans’ best chances to flip a Senate seat—a testament to Georgia’s unpredictable nature.

Despite these chances, Senator Jon Ossoff continued to make gains in the polls leading up to the election and ultimately denied Republicans a seat they hoped to gain. His relatively swift victory over Collins sparked hope for Democrats as they look to win a Senate majority.