09/30/2026
Where Is the Excitement: The Curious Case of Keisha Lance Bottoms’ Campaign for Governor
Georgia may be standing on the threshold of political history. Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta and Democratic nominee for governor, has a chance to become the first Black woman elected governor of Georgia—and, more significantly, the first Black woman elected governor of any state in American history. Her Republican opponent, businessman Rick Jackson, is a political newcomer whose business record and personal history are increasingly under scrutiny. And yet, with Election Day approaching, an uncomfortable question deserves to be asked:
Where is the excitement?
Where is the sense that Georgia is witnessing one of the most consequential gubernatorial campaigns in its history?
Where are the rallies, surrogates, community organizations, business leaders, celebrities, churches, grassroots fundraisers, social-media campaigns and political personalities that normally surround a candidacy capable of making history?
To be clear, Bottoms is not running an invisible campaign. She won the Democratic primary decisively, taking 56 percent of the vote against a crowded field. Her campaign reported raising more than $1 million from more than 23,000 grassroots donations before the primary. Former President Joe Biden endorsed her. Former Attorney General Eric Holder has also backed her. Higher Heights for America PAC, an organization dedicated to electing Black women, endorsed her candidacy. And Bottoms has appeared at joint rallies with Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff.
Her campaign has also advertised. It launched television advertising during the primary and, as recently as September, released an advertisement directly attacking Jackson while contrasting his record with Bottoms’ proposals on Medicaid, grocery taxes and electricity costs.
So the question is not whether a campaign exists.
The more provocative question is this:
Why doesn't a campaign with such historic potential feel historic?
Where Is the Visibility?
Drive through many communities in Georgia and ask yourself: Does it look like Georgia is weeks away from potentially electing its first Democratic governor of the 21st century—and the first Black woman governor in American history?
Where are the Bottoms signs? Where is the saturation advertising? Where are the constant interviews on television, radio, podcasts, and emerging social-media platforms?
Where is the candidate showing up in the unconventional places where younger voters, Black voters, suburban women, independents and politically disengaged Georgians now consume information?
Political campaigns are no longer won solely through television commercials, newspaper endorsements, and traditional campaign stops. Modern campaigns must create a sense of movement. They must appear ubiquitous.
The Harris presidential campaign demonstrated how quickly political enthusiasm can become cultural energy. Social media became part of the campaign infrastructure. Celebrities, influencers, professional organizations, alum groups, Black fraternities and sororities, business leaders and ordinary citizens created their own fundraising and organizing networks.
Bottoms does not necessarily need to duplicate that model. A Georgia gubernatorial campaign is fundamentally different from a presidential campaign.
But the comparison raises an important question:
Where is the Bottoms movement?
Where Is the Democratic Party?
Another question deserves attention.
Why does the Georgia Democratic Party not appear to be treating this race as an all-hands-on-deck opportunity?
The party officially supports Bottoms and has described Democrats as united behind her candidacy. She has campaigned alongside Senator Ossoff, including rallies in Savannah and Athens. But where is the event that changes the statewide political conversation?
Where is the massive rally featuring national Democratic figures? Where is the political equivalent of saying to Georgia voters: This race matters nationally, and Georgia matters nationally?
Republicans understand the symbolic value of political theater. Donald Trump appeared publicly with Jackson and formally endorsed him after a Georgia rally. The image itself communicated party alignment and political strength.
Democrats should ask whether they are communicating the same level of urgency around Bottoms.
Where Are Georgia's Democratic Leaders?
The primary was competitive. Michael Thurmond, Jason Esteves and others had their own constituencies and endorsements. Indeed, Bottoms entered the primary without the support of several prominent Atlanta political figures, while Thurmond secured endorsements from former Governor Roy Barnes and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young.
Primaries create wounds. But general elections require reconciliation. Esteves has since endorsed Bottoms, an important development. Yet voters should still ask:
Where is the unmistakable public demonstration of Democratic unity?
Where are the former opponents standing together?
Where are Stacey Abrams, Michael Thurmond and the broad collection of elected officials and civic leaders who understand precisely how difficult it is for a Democrat to win statewide in Georgia?
Imagine the symbolism of Georgia's leading Democratic figures standing on one stage—not simply endorsing a candidate, but declaring that electing Bottoms represents a generational opportunity. That photograph alone could communicate something that a hundred press releases cannot.
Where Is Black Georgia?
Perhaps the most consequential question concerns Georgia's Black electorate. Black voters are indispensable to any Democratic statewide victory in Georgia. Bottoms cannot win Black voters alone. She needs enthusiasm, turnout, and organization.
So where is the visible infrastructure surrounding this historic possibility?
Where are the large-scale Black community fundraising efforts?
Where are the coordinated efforts involving Black professional associations, civic organizations, business organizations, fraternities, sororities, churches, alum groups and community leaders?
Where are the conversations specifically directed toward Black men?
Signs suggest Bottoms is doing better here than appearances might suggest. Democratic strategist Fred Hicks told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Bottoms is speaking directly to Black men more aggressively than Stacey Abrams did. At the same time, the campaign has also demonstrated strength outside metro Atlanta.
That is politically important. But effective campaigning is not simply about doing the work. It is also about making the work visible enough that participation becomes contagious.
The question therefore becomes:
Does Black Georgia understand that it could make American history in November?
If not, why not?
Where Is the Business Community?
Then there is corporate Georgia.
Atlanta and Georgia are home to some of America's most recognizable corporations and business institutions. Corporate political involvement, of course, is complicated. Major corporations generally do not issue candidate endorsements like newspapers, unions, or political organizations, and companies must navigate relationships with elected officials from both parties
So expecting companies such as Delta Air Lines, Coca-Cola, Truist, Chick-fil-A, or Southern Company to endorse Bottoms formally may be unrealistic.
But the broader question remains legitimate:
Where is Georgia's business establishment?
Where are individual CEOs, retired executives, entrepreneurs and business leaders publicly discussing the economic stakes of this election?
Where is the conversation about healthcare, workforce development, education, infrastructure, energy costs, economic competitiveness and Georgia's ability to attract talent?
Bottoms served as mayor of the state's economic capital. She later worked in the White House. Her candidacy should therefore invite a serious discussion about whether Georgia's corporate community views her as someone capable of managing the state's continued economic growth.
Silence itself becomes politically interesting.
Where Are the Small Businesses and Civic Organizations?
The same question applies at the community level.
Where are the highly visible coalitions of small-business owners?
Where are the community forums?
Where are the Black chambers of commerce, neighborhood organizations, professional associations and civic groups?
Where are organizations devoted to voting rights, economic empowerment and civic participation mobilizing people around the stakes of this election?
A successful Democratic coalition in Georgia cannot consist only of professional political operatives and reliable voters in Atlanta. It must look like Georgia. That means rural communities and suburbs. Black voters and white moderates. Young voters and seniors. Women and men. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives. Union households and small-business owners. Progressives and independents.
Bottoms has actually demonstrated encouraging strength outside metro Atlanta. Reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that she performed strongly in several rural counties during the Democratic primary—an important development because Democratic gubernatorial candidates have historically struggled outside Georgia's population centers.
That makes the apparent absence of a larger visible statewide movement even more puzzling.
Is Bottoms Running a Campaign When She Needs a Movement?
This may ultimately be the central question. Campaigns persuade people to vote. Movements persuade people that they are participating in something larger than themselves. Barack Obama created that feeling in 2008. Stacey Abrams created elements of it during her first Georgia gubernatorial campaign.
Kamala Harris briefly generated extraordinary grassroots enthusiasm when she became the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024. Historical candidacies do not automatically produce historical movements. Campaigns have to create them deliberately. Bottoms possesses something political consultants cannot manufacture: the possibility of making history.
Yet history alone is insufficient. Voters still need a reason to care about what happens the morning after the election. Bottoms must connect the historical significance of becoming America's first Black woman governor to Georgians' everyday concerns: the cost of groceries, healthcare premiums, housing affordability, electricity bills, public education, public safety, economic opportunity, and the future their children will inherit.
History gets attention. Relevance gets votes.
And Then There Is Rick Jackson
The urgency becomes even more striking when considering the opponent. Jackson has attempted to position himself as a successful businessman capable of bringing private-sector discipline to government. He has also secured significant Republican institutional support, including Donald Trump's endorsement and endorsements announced by his campaign from more than 100 Georgia sheriffs.
At the same time, aspects of Jackson's business and personal record have become campaign issues, including questions surrounding taxpayer-funded healthcare contracts and a decades-old property dispute that has recently received renewed scrutiny. Bottoms has begun attacking Jackson aggressively on his business record.
That contrast should make the Democratic strategy even more consequential. f Democrats believe Jackson's record makes him vulnerable, why does the campaign not feel more aggressive? If Democrats believe Bottoms is qualified to govern, why isn't there greater visible institutional enthusiasm around her?
And if Democrats believe electing the first Black woman governor in American history matters, why has that possibility not become one of the defining political stories of 2026?
The Polls Make These Questions Urgent
This is not an academic exercise. The race is close.
Recent September polling has generally shown Jackson with a narrow advantage. One September 21–23 survey placed Jackson at 50.5 percent and Bottoms at 49.5 percent; another placed the race at 48 percent to 46 percent. Earlier surveys showed Bottoms ahead, underscoring just how competitive and fluid the contest remains.
That means enthusiasm matters.
Turnout matters.
Visibility matters.
Black turnout matters.
Suburban turnout matters.
Rural margins matter.
And every organization, endorsement, volunteer, fundraiser and voter-contact effort could matter.
The Question Georgia Democrats Must Answer
Keisha Lance Bottoms has already accomplished something significant. She defeated a crowded Democratic field with 56 percent of the primary vote, avoiding a runoff and demonstrating political strength that many observers underestimated.
Now comes the much harder challenge. Georgia has not elected a Democratic governor since Roy Barnes won in 1998. Stacey Abrams demonstrated twice how tantalizingly close Democrats can come—and how unforgiving statewide electoral mathematics can be.
Bottoms therefore cannot afford a merely competent campaign. She needs one that feels consequential. Which brings us back to the original question:
Where is the excitement?
Where is the coalition?
Where is the urgency?
Where is the grassroots energy?
Where are the political heavyweights?
Where are the business leaders?
Where are the community institutions?
Where are the influencers?
Where are the young voters?
Where is Black Georgia?
And perhaps most importantly:
Does Georgia fully understand the decision it is about to make?
The opportunity before voters is bigger than electing a former Atlanta mayor. Georgia could elect its first Black woman governor and, at the same time, the first Black woman governor in the history of the United States.
That fact alone should not determine anyone's vote. Voters should judge Bottoms on her record, leadership, policies, temperament and vision just as they should scrutinize Rick Jackson on his.
But the historic nature of the choice makes the relative absence of overwhelming public enthusiasm worth examining.
Maybe the enthusiasm exists beneath the surface.
Maybe Georgia's changing electorate no longer expresses political energy through rallies, yard signs and traditional endorsements.
Maybe voters exhausted by years of national political conflict are quieter.
Or perhaps Democrats are making a dangerous assumption—that voters already understand the stakes and will mobilize themselves.
If that is the assumption, history suggests caution.
Political history is rarely made simply because the opportunity presents itself. It is made because someone convinces enough ordinary people that this moment matters, their participation matters, and their vote can make the moment possible.
With Election Day approaching and the race extraordinarily close, Keisha Lance Bottoms may have the opportunity of a lifetime.
The unanswered question is whether her campaign can make Georgia feel the same way.
