Bottoms reflects on roots after historic win as Peach State’s next governor

by Doug Reardon

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Keisha Lance Bottoms made history on a number of levels on Tuesday night, most notably becoming the nation’s first ever Black woman elected to serve as governor.

But Bottoms’ campaign also noted Wednesday that she received the most votes ever for a candidate for Georgia governor and also flipped seven Georgia counties that voted for President Donald Trump in 2024.

But the nature of her historic victory means far more than numbers to many close to Bottoms’ roots.

At Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta, one day after the election, students at the school where Bottoms graduated from looked to the unprecedented win as inspiration.

“I was excited, I was overjoyed,” said senior Simora Gaines. “It gives me a lot of hope. It inspires me to want to do better for not just myself but for my community.”

Gaines, who has aspirations of attending college and possibly majoring in criminal justice and psychology, said Bottoms has blazed a trail and broken down a massive barrier.

“Her being an African-American woman, as well as being a woman, is very inspirational on another level,” said Gaines.

Bottoms’ election was also heartening to some school administrators, who looked forward to her upholding some campaign promises on education including calls to raise teacher pay, increase literacy levels, and add a poverty weight to the state’s Quality Basic Education formula that dictates how much state funding schools receive.

“It’s a special, special day and special, special moment,” said Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools. “Thinking about making that additional investment to make sure our students get what they need most is something we’re extremely excited about.”

Bottoms also said Wednesday that she spoke with Gov. Brian Kemp and said that his team is available for an “orderly transition,” and that it was a good conversation between the two of them.

“I told y’all this before but we actually get along,” Bottoms quipped to those in attendance. “It was a great call today.”