Keisha Lance Bottoms

Keisha Lance Bottoms brings one of Georgia's most recognizable Democratic names into 2026, and the verdict on her leans on how the public remembers her Atlanta years. As the city's 60th mayor from 2018 to 2022 she became a national figure during the pandemic and the 2020 protests, was sued by Brian Kemp over her mask mandate, and landed on Joe Biden's vice-presidential shortlist before leading the White House Office of Public Engagement. That résumé carried her to 56.2% in a crowded primary with no runoff needed. The same record supplies the discount: her opponent has made her mayoral tenure his central attack, telling voters at their October 6 debate that "bad mayors don't make good governors," which keeps Atlanta at the center of the race. A win would make her Georgia's first Black and first female governor, and she has campaigned as a unity ticket with Senator Jon Ossoff. Against the self-funded Rick Jackson, her standing turns on whether voters weigh the mayoralty or the milestone more heavily.