Volunteers celebrate Georgia governor-elect’s historic moment: ‘Over the moon’

Election Day saw a historic win in Georgia, and Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms is already looking ahead to her first days in office.

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Bottoms made history as the first Black woman elected governor in the country.

After a blue sweep across the state, Bottoms thanked her supporters.

Some supporters told Channel 2’s Ashlyn Webb they’ve spent decades waiting for a moment like this.

Volunteers helped Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms make history.

It’s a victory that included flipping seven counties President Donald Trump won and one that came despite her opponent, Rick Jackson, pouring nearly $200 million of his own money into the race.

“It was kind of over the moon, exciting,” Louis Howard said. “I’ve been pouring a lot into the campaign, volunteering, phone banking, canvassing. So to see the efforts of the team here pay off.”

But this win is about more than politics for supporters like 74-year-old Sue Ross. She grew up in segregated schools and has watched Georgia change before her eyes.

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“I’ve been in Georgia, you know, virtually all my life. And in that whole time, we’ve only had white male governors,” Ross said.

She even worked to elect Maynard Jackson as Atlanta’s first Black mayor. But she says seeing a Black woman elected governor was something she once thought was out of reach.

“The state seemed unapproachable. So this is, it brought tears to my eyes to see Keisha accepting this,” Ross said.

Now the celebration is turning to the work ahead.

Bottoms says she’s already spoken with Gov. Brian Kemp, who has offered his team’s help with an orderly transition.

But even with Democrats making gains across the state, Republicans still control the Georgia Senate.

“We have completed one leg of this journey,” Bottoms said.. And the next leg will be for us to lead this state and to deliver on all the things that we have promised to do.”

Those campaign promises include raising the minimum wage, lowering housing and grocery costs, eliminating the state income tax for teachers, expanding Medicaid, which Channel 2 Action News asked her about Wednesday

Bottoms says she’s optimistic.

“I truly believe that this is an issue we can get bipartisan support with,” she said.

Bottoms said one of her first priorities will be figuring out how Georgia works with federal immigration authorities.

In fact, she plans to speak with governors in other states about how they’ve navigated the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

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