How Keisha Lance Bottoms plans to win Georgia governor race as underdog

Former Atlanta mayor advances after primary blowout

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms advanced to the November general election after winning the Democratic primary for the Georgia governor's race.  

ATLANTA - Keisha Lance Bottoms is shifting her focus to the general election after winning the Democratic primary outright to avoid a runoff.

FOX 5 reporter Aungelique Proctor sat down with Bottoms to discuss her upcoming campaign strategy as she prepares for a challenging November election. Bottoms acknowledged her position as an underdog but expressed strong confidence in her path forward.

Georgia Democratic primary results

What we know:

Keisha Lance Bottoms and her supporters celebrated a blowout victory after she won the primary race outright. Bottoms stated that while raising money is important, her campaign will rely on earning the votes of Georgians rather than buying attack ads.

"We still have the power of the vote," Bottoms said. "And even in this race, I was not the top fund raiser on the democratic side. We are not holding a candle to what the republicans put in and still more democrats turned out to vote."

General election campaign strategy

What we don't know:

It remains unclear exactly how much total funding her Republican opponents will amass by November, or how national political trends will impact the financial gap between the campaigns leading up to the general election.

Atlanta public safety debate

The backstory:

Public safety stands as a major issue that opponents plan to use against Bottoms during the campaign. The debate follows the police killing of Rayshard Brooks and the death of 8-year-old Secoria Turner.

Bottoms addressed the emotional weight of these events, stating, "You can't have the death of a beautiful young girl and not wonder was there something I could have done differently." However, she strongly rejected criticisms regarding the city's operational response, adding, "Even the narrative around abandoning streets... it wasn't true. Nobody ever gave orders to officers to stand down."

Statewide policy platform

Why you should care:

The outcome of this race could reshape Georgia's economic and healthcare landscapes. Bottoms plans to center her campaign on every day kitchen-table issues, specifically emphasizing housing affordability, expanding Medicaid and eliminating the state's sales tax.

Representation in Georgia politics

What they're saying:

Bottoms openly challenged the political double standard often placed on minority candidates running for statewide office.

"We don't look at a slew of white men who served statewide and say, Mark Taylor loss, Casey Cagle loss.... why should a white man run again," Bottoms said. "So I think to assign that burden to black women is unfair to us."

Upcoming campaign adjustments

What's next:

The campaign will now analyze and apply lessons learned from past statewide elections, including the previous Abrams race. Bottoms noted that critics originally doubted whether Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock could win their 2020 Senate races, pointing to their victories as proof that unconventional campaigns can succeed in Georgia.