WorldUS midterms
Keisha Lance Bottoms flips Georgia as Congress hangs in the balance
The former Atlanta mayor becomes the first Black woman elected governor of a US state, ending 24 years of Republican rule in Georgia. Neither the Senate nor the House has been called.
Key points
- Keisha Lance Bottoms beat Rick Jackson to flip Georgia's governorship for the Democrats.
- She is set to be the first Black woman elected governor of a US state.
- Control of both chambers of Congress is still uncalled; Democrats need a net four seats in the Senate.
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has won the governor’s race in Georgia, defeating Republican Rick Jackson and ending the Republicans’ 24-year hold on the office in one of the most closely watched states of the night.
The former mayor of Atlanta is set to become the first Black woman elected governor of any US state. Her win was projected a little after 9 pm Eastern time on Tuesday, around 7:45 am in India, on the same night that Jon Ossoff held Georgia’s Senate seat for the Democrats. For a state that Donald Trump carried in 2024, it is the clearest sign yet of how badly the evening has gone for his party in the South.
Congress still open
What the night has not yet produced is an answer to the big question. Neither the Senate nor the House has been called, and the counting in the western states had barely begun.
In the Senate, Republicans went in with a 53 to 47 majority. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control, because Vice President JD Vance breaks a 50-50 tie. Roy Cooper’s win in North Carolina gave them one. Ossoff in Georgia, Chris Pappas in New Hampshire and Mark Warner in Virginia held seats Republicans had hoped to contest, while Shelley Moore Capito kept West Virginia for the Republicans.
The races that will settle the chamber are still counting. Network race ratings had moved Texas and South Carolina towards the Democrats, where James Talarico faces Ken Paxton and Annie Andrews is challenging Lindsey Graham. Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed faces Mike Rogers, Maine, where Susan Collins is defending her seat against Troy Jackson, and Ohio, where Sherrod Brown is trying to return against Jon Husted, had not been called.
The House
Republicans held 218 House seats to the Democrats’ 214 going in, with one independent and two vacancies, so Democrats need only a handful of gains. Forecasters had leaned their way all evening, and before polls closed the Decision Desk HQ model projected 241 seats for the Democrats. That is a forecast, not a result. Most calls so far have been safe seats, such as Republican Clay Fuller’s re-election in Georgia’s 14th district.
Hakeem Jeffries, who would become Speaker if Democrats win, has said he would bring bills to the floor quickly after taking over.
Why India is watching
For New Delhi, a Democratic House or Senate would mean a Congress more willing to check Trump on tariffs and on the war with Iran, both of which have hit Indian exporters and pushed up oil prices. The picture of the House should become clearer through Wednesday in India. Close Senate races, including Alaska with its ranked-choice count, may take days.