He defeated his billionaire rival and made US history

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the Democratic Party won the governorship election held in the US state of Georgia.

According to unofficial results reported by The Hill newspaper, Bottoms won with 55.4 percent of the votes against her rival, Republican billionaire Rick Jackson, a healthcare industry executive.

Jackson emerged from the ballot box with 44.6 percent of the votes.

With this result, Bottoms became the first Democrat to hold the governorship in Georgia since 1998.

The Democratic politician also made history by becoming the first black woman to be elected governor of any state in US history.

Bottoms, who previously served as the Mayor of Atlanta between 2018 and 2022 and then advised former US President Joe Biden, won a race where the polls showed they were neck and neck.

The poll, published Oct. 20 by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, had Jackson at 46 percent and Bottoms at 45 percent.

Jackson, who had never held any political office before, won the nomination by beating Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones in the Republican Party primaries.

Jackson, who financed his campaign entirely from his own wealth, poured more than $200 million of personal funds into the race, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution data.

Jackson, whose fortune was calculated as 1 billion dollars by Forbes magazine, claimed that his net worth was 3 billion dollars in his financial statement in April.

Bottoms, on the other hand, faced former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Illinois Governor J.B. in the final stretch of the race. He benefited from the donation support provided by billionaire names such as Pritzker.

Former US President Barack Obama also publicly supported the Democratic candidate.

The campaign programs of the two candidates reflected the traditional lines of their parties. Bottoms; He promised to expand the low-income health insurance program Medicaid, protect abortion rights, increase the minimum wage and tighten firearms controls.

Bottoms, whose father was imprisoned during her childhood, noted that this experience shaped her perspective on criminal justice reform.

In addition to increasing support for law enforcement, the Democratic candidate has proposed alternative execution methods for non-violent crimes and programs to prevent recidivism.

Bottoms also advocated for a pause on the construction of data centers.

In response, Jackson wanted to make eligibility for the Medicaid program conditional on work.

The Republican candidate, who advocates cutting the state income tax in half, taking strict measures on immigration, and banning abortion after six weeks, only sided with the introduction of additional regulations for data centers, in which he also has personal investments.

Jackson, who placed his life story of growing up in the foster care system and rising from zero to the top at the center of his campaign, has been criticized in the past for advocating the privatization of the foster family system.

The fact that the healthcare company he owns has many contracts with the state was also brought to the agenda by Democrats due to concerns about conflict of interest.

Jackson announced that he would liquidate his business ties if elected.

The relationship between Republican Party candidate Jackson and President Donald Trump was also a subject of discussion during the election process.

Jackson, who told voters that he would "be like Trump with a Southern style" during the primary election process, requested support from Trump before the second round with Jones.

After his primary election victory, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, "Rick Jackson ran a great TRUMP Campaign. Very smart!" He shared his message.

Jackson, who stated that he aimed to be Trump's "favorite governor" at a rally in July, tried to distance himself from Trump due to his low popularity in the following period.

Jackson did not mention Trump at an Oct. 16 rally and initially planned a separate event on the day Trump would be in the state.

Jackson stated that he adopted the stance of current Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who disagreed with Trump during the process of objecting to the 2020 election results. During the debate, Jackson said, "I'll stand up to anyone, just like Brian Kemp did." he said.

Bottoms' camp, on the other hand, constantly reminded voters of her opponent's past pro-Trump attitude.

Campaign spokeswoman TaNisha Cameron claimed that Jackson "will go running every time Donald Trump calls him."