Early voting Oct 13–30 · Election Day Nov 3 · Make your plan
Make Governor History Get a ride
Get a rideHealth carePaychecksHer planHer record2020VoteReceipts

Georgia governor · Tuesday, November 3

Let's make history.

Georgia has never had a Black governor. Georgia has never had a woman governor. On November 3, we can change both.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, official White House portrait
Keisha Lance BottomsFormer mayor of Atlanta. Democratic nominee for governor.
0

Black governors in Georgia's history

0

Black women ever elected governor of any state

Go vote
  • Oct 13–30 Early voting
  • Tue, Nov 3 Election Day, 7am–7pm
Check your registration ↗ Need a ride? We'll get you there

Check everything on this page. Every fact links to its source. Tap any to see who reported it and read it yourself.

See all the receipts

Health care

Health care is on the ballot.

Even if it isn't a ballot question.

Health care shouldn't be a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It affects every family.

And so on this issue, I don't see political party lines.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who represented Georgia's 14th District as a Republican until January 2026, on CBS Mornings, Nov. 14, 2025

She warned that letting the Affordable Care Act's premium tax credits expire meant "a financial crisis for Americans." Health care costs were among her complaints when she announced her resignation from Congress a week later.

Illustration: a family looks out at the Georgia State Capitol and the Atlanta skyline, framed in the shape of Georgia
About 400,000

fewer Georgians have marketplace coverage than last fall. That's roughly 30%.

About 900,000 were covered in early September 2026, down from about 1.3 million in fall 2025, per the state insurance commissioner. No survey has yet measured how many of them are now uninsured.

Where they stand on health care

Keisha Lance Bottoms

Democrat
  • Fully expand Medicaid to adults earning up to 138% of the poverty line, about $22,000 a year for one person, and end Georgia Pathways. At the debate she called it a "day one priority."
  • Give targeted state help with premiums to people who buy coverage on Georgia Access.
  • Create a Georgia Rx Savings Board to review excessive drug price hikes and set fair limits on what the state pays.
  • Rural Care First: expand EMS, mobile health, telehealth, and labor and delivery care.
Read her CARE Plan ↗

Rick Jackson

Republican
  • An "intelligent Medicaid expansion" that goes beyond Gov. Kemp's Pathways program but stops short of full expansion.
  • Keeps work requirements: We will cover those who need it the most and keep work requirements in place for those who are able.
  • Uses Medicaid money to help some Georgians keep private or employer coverage. We will not force the 500,000 people who have subsidized private plans onto a government plan.
  • Price transparency and bulk purchasing to lower drug costs.
Read his Action Plan ↗

Key details of Jackson's plan, including who would qualify and what it would cost, haven't been released, and it would need federal approval. Bottoms has said, "I will not have the power unilaterally to expand Medicaid." It needs the legislature.

12%

of Georgians had no health insurance in 2024

That's the second-highest rate in the country, after Texas.

Under 3,500

full-year-equivalent enrollees in Georgia Pathways’ first 15 months

The state had projected more than 25,000 in year one. Through March 2025 the program cost $80.3 million, and $54.2 million of that went to administration. Enrollment has since grown to about 18,500.

Whatever your party, read the plans, check the facts, and decide which one you believe will best protect your family's access to affordable care.

Paychecks and cost of living

The economy is a health issue.

A paycheck affects more than a bank account. It decides whether a family can afford groceries, rent, gas, prescriptions, insurance premiums, and a checkup before a problem becomes an emergency.

Federal public-health guidance lists economic stability as one of five key social determinants of health.

Can working Georgians earn enough, and keep enough of what they earn, to afford a healthy life?

Illustration: a family shopping for groceries, with the question: What helps your family more, higher wages now or more training and jobs?

Two different answers

Keisha Lance Bottoms

Democrat
  • A $15 living wage. At the debate, pointing to Atlanta's $15 pay for city workers, she said "that living wage should be applied across this state" and that she would "strongly encourage private employers to follow suit."
  • Eliminate state income tax for teachers.
  • Let cities and counties suspend or end local sales taxes on groceries, with a one-time $250 million state fund to help cover lost revenue. The legislature would have to approve it.
  • A path to free technical and community college, and universal childcare.

Rick Jackson

Republican
  • Create more jobs, expand job training, and steer people toward trades paying "$25 an hour or more."
  • Cut the state income tax in half within four years, and end the tax on tips.
  • Freeze property taxes, and freeze tuition, room and board at public colleges and technical schools.
  • His published Action Plan does not include raising the minimum wage.
$5.15

Georgia's own minimum wage, by state law

Most workers are covered by the federal minimum of $7.25 instead. That hasn't gone up since July 2009.

These ideas aren't opposites.

Job training raises what someone can earn later. A higher wage floor raises what people earn today. Lower taxes help people keep more of it. A state can do all three. Raising wages alone won't fix housing, childcare, or what insurance costs.

HealthPaycheckCost of living

Don't vote for a party. Examine the policy. We did. We're independents, we compared both plans on health, paychecks and cost of living, and we're voting Keisha.

Her plan

Here's what she's putting on the table.

People vote for what helps their family. These are the promises Keisha Lance Bottoms has made in her published plans and at the Oct. 6 debate.

Expand Medicaid

Cover adults earning up to about $22,000 a year.

A $15 living wage

At the debate: "that living wage should be applied across this state."

No state income tax for teachers

And $60,000 starting pay. The state pay scale starts new teachers at $43,592.

Grocery tax relief

Let cities and counties end local sales taxes on groceries, with a one-time $250M fund to help local budgets.

Free technical and community college

A tuition-free path to a trade or degree.

Universal childcare

And a pre-K seat for every 4-year-old whose family wants one.

Affordable housing trust fund

Plus a "Georgia Housing Fast Track."

Lower drug prices

A Georgia Rx Savings Board to check excessive price hikes.

Rural Care First

More EMS, telehealth, mobile clinics and labor and delivery care.

Office of Small Business

Focused on businesses with up to 25 employees.

Protect your power bill

Slow and reassess data-center growth so families don't pay higher utility bills.

Protect your vote

Expand early voting, protect absentee voting, make Election Day a state holiday.

These are campaign promises, not laws yet. Most need the General Assembly. On Medicaid she has said, "I will not have the power unilaterally to expand Medicaid."

Her record

She's done the work.

Judge.Councilwoman.Mayor.Senior advisor to the President.

  1. c. 2002 Judicial

    Fulton County magistrate judge

    She served part-time on the bench, starting around 2002.

  2. 2010–2018 Legislative

    Atlanta City Council, District 11

    Two terms on the council.

    She co-sponsored the 2011 reform that took on Atlanta's $1.5 billion pension hole. It passed unanimously.

  3. 2018–2022 Executive

    60th Mayor of Atlanta

    Proposed a 30% raise for Atlanta police over three years. The council approved it unanimously in 2018.

    Put $2.1 billion of city spending online with Open Checkbook. Her housing plan had about $596 million committed and 7,000+ homes by October 2021.

    Named Georgia Trend's 2020 Georgian of the Year.

  4. 2022–2023 White House

    Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement

    Named in June 2022. She served until February 2023.

Her official bio, republished by the White House and the U.S. House, notes she was the first Atlanta mayor to have served in all three branches of government.

In their own words

What Georgians say.

From Houston County to Columbus to Atlanta City Hall, in their own words. Tap any ✓ to see where it was published.

She’s for not just one segment of the population. She’s for everybody.
Jacqueline KnightRetired schoolteacher · Houston CountyWGXA · Aug 2025
I watched her do the hardest version of this job in one of the hardest years in the history of the United States.
Andre DickensMayor of AtlantatheGrio · Sept 2026
Keisha was a leading voice to ensure Atlanta officers had the resources they needed.
Rodney BryantFormer Atlanta police chiefFOX 5 · Oct 2026
I follow you and what you did as mayor of Atlanta. That was a super job.
Gloria Tyson69, Columbus · hosted Bottoms at her child care centerAJC · May 2026
It was tough during COVID, and she led during those times. And I’m confident she is the leader that Georgia needs at this moment.
Andrea BooneLongtime Atlanta City Council memberAJC · May 2026
Keisha Lance Bottoms is the leader Georgia needs and is focused on lowering costs for working people across the state.
Tatishka ThomasAFGE District 5 national vice president · RiverdaleAFGE · May 2026

May 29, 2020

The ads say she let Atlanta burn. Here's what she said that night.

Protests after George Floyd's killing turned destructive in Atlanta. That night she held a press conference and told the crowds to go home.

Go home.

"If you care about this city, then go home."

Watch her speechMay 29, 2020 · CBS News Mayor Bottoms: "Go home" YouTube ↗
"This is not a protest. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. This is chaos."
May 29, 2020
"You are disgracing our city, you are disgracing the life of George Floyd."
May 29, 2020
"So when you burn down this city, you're burning down our community."
After noting that more than half of metro Atlanta's business owners are minority business owners

What she did

She set a curfew and stood with T.I. and Killer Mike to urge crowds to go home. In 2018 she had already started a 30% raise for Atlanta police.

What happened to crime

Murders rose across the country in 2020, nearly 30%, the largest one-year increase ever recorded.

About the ads

The Jackson campaign pays for these ads. One of the Atlantans in its "Disaster" ad ran for lieutenant governor as a Republican this year.

Follow the money

He can outspend us. He can't outvote us.

$111M

of his own money that billionaire Rick Jackson put into winning the Republican nomination. That's a Georgia record.

  • The old record was about $23 million, set by Kelly Loeffler in 2020.
  • Nearly $10 to $1. As of mid-September, his side had spent about $76 million on TV airtime to about $8 million for her side.
  • "I'll spend whatever it takes to win this race." Rick Jackson, in his own campaign ad.
  • One debate. He agreed to the Oct. 6 town hall and turned down two others.
1 person, 1 vote

Your vote counts exactly as much as his.

"No matter if you are a billionaire or a gazillionaire, you still get one vote."
Keisha Lance Bottoms

Go vote

Make your plan to vote.

Four steps. Five minutes.

Check your registration

Registration for this election closed Oct. 5. Make sure you're on the list, and find your polling place and sample ballot.

Open Georgia's My Voter Page ↗

Pick your day

During early voting you can use any early voting site in your county. On Election Day, go to your assigned polling place.

  • Oct 13–30Early voting, Monday to FridayHours vary by county.
  • Sat, Oct 17Saturday early votingStatewide.
  • Sun, Oct 18Sunday votingOnly in counties that offer it.
  • Fri, Oct 23Last day to request an absentee ballotIt must be received by 7pm on Nov 3.
  • Sat, Oct 24Saturday early votingStatewide.
  • Sun, Oct 25Sunday votingOnly in counties that offer it.
  • Oct 31–Nov 2No early votingEarly voting ends Friday, Oct 30.
  • Tue, Nov 3Election Day, 7am–7pmIf you're in line by 7pm, you can vote.

Find early voting sites and hours ↗

Bring a photo ID

Any one of these works for voting in person:

  • Georgia driver's license, even if expired
  • Georgia ID card, or a free Voter ID card from your county registrar or DDS
  • U.S. passport
  • U.S. military or tribal photo ID
  • Government employee photo ID
  • Student ID from a Georgia public college or university
  • Any other valid state or federal government photo ID

Need a ride?

Churches across Georgia are giving free rides to the polls during early voting, regardless of political affiliation.

Request a ride

Independents for Georgia

Do you need a ride to the polls?

We work with churches across Georgia to help registered voters get to the polls, regardless of political affiliation. You do not need to be an Independent or belong to a church to request assistance.

Your information will never be bought, sold, or provided to any political party. We use it only to arrange your ride, sharing necessary details with the coordinators and drivers assisting you. Your vote is private. We will never ask whom you plan to vote for or how you voted. Read our privacy policy.

Your voice matters. Your vote is your choice.

When would you like to vote?

Early voting runs October 13–30, 2026. Available dates and hours depend on your county’s voting schedule and volunteer availability. Tap your preferred early-voting date.

Early voting Sunday, some counties

Preferred time

Please allow up to four hours for transportation and voting, although your trip may take less time.

Your contact information

How should we contact you?

About your ride

Do you need a return ride?

Optional. Please do not include medical diagnoses.

Submitting this form requests a ride; it does not confirm one. A coordinator will contact you to confirm availability, your pickup time, and your voting location.

Receipts

Check every fact. We'll wait.

Each numbered ✓ on this page points here. Every source says who published it, when, and what it confirms.

  • Their own wordsWe quote the candidates exactly, from video, transcripts, and their published plans.
  • Named sourcesEvery fact links to a news report, an official record, a government page, or a candidate's own published plan or bio. No anonymous sites.
  • The limits, tooWhen a number has a catch, we say so right next to it.

History and the race

  1. Georgia has never had a Black governor or a woman governor. No Black woman has ever been elected governor of any state.

    Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers · Mar 19, 2026

    "No woman has ever served as governor in Georgia and no Black woman has served as governor in the United States."

    CAWP: 2026 governor outlook ↗CAWP press release, May 20, 2026 ↗theGrio, Sept 28, 2026 ↗

  2. Keisha Lance Bottoms is the Democratic nominee. Rick Jackson is the Republican nominee.

    Georgia Secretary of State · AJC · May 20 and June 16, 2026

    Bottoms won the May 19 primary outright with 56.23%. Jackson beat Burt Jones in the June 16 runoff, 52.64% to 47.36%.

    Official primary results ↗Official runoff results ↗AJC ↗

  3. The Oct. 6 town hall is the only debate. Jackson declined the 11Alive and Atlanta Press Club debates.

    Axios Atlanta · Oct 6, 2026

    The Atlanta News First town hall is "the only confirmed showdown." Jackson declined 11Alive (Sept. 22) and the Atlanta Press Club (Oct. 12).

    Axios ↗

  4. What the candidates said at the Oct. 6 debate

    Atlanta News First · Oct 10, 2026

    Full transcript. Bottoms called Medicaid expansion a "day one priority" and said, "I want to eliminate state income taxes for our teachers." Jackson: "my focus is creating jobs."

    Read the transcript ↗

Health care

  1. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "And so on this issue, I don't see political party lines."

    CBS News, CBS Mornings · Nov 14, 2025

    She also said she sees "a financial crisis for Americans" as the ACA tax credits expire.

    CBS News ↗

  2. Health care costs were among her complaints when she resigned.

    CBS News Atlanta · Nov 21, 2025

    CBS reports her statement said GOP leadership had refused to work on health care costs. Her last day in Congress was Jan. 5, 2026.

    CBS News Atlanta ↗

  3. About 400,000 fewer Georgians have marketplace coverage than last fall, roughly 30%.

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Oct 2, 2026

    Citing the state insurance commissioner: about 900,000 Georgians had marketplace coverage in early September 2026, down from about 1.3 million in fall 2025. Spring-to-spring counts put the drop at 350,000–370,000. Dropping a marketplace plan isn't the same as becoming uninsured, and no survey has measured how many of these Georgians are now uninsured.

    AJC ↗GPB ↗ACASignups ↗

  4. Bottoms's health plan: Medicaid expansion, premium help, Rx Savings Board

    Keisha Lance Bottoms campaign, CARE Plan · Apr 13, 2026

    Expand Medicaid up to 138% of the poverty line and end Pathways; "targeted state premium support"; a Georgia Rx Savings Board that "sets fair payment limits for what the state will pay."

    CARE Plan ↗

  5. 138% of the poverty line is about $22,000 a year for one person.

    The Current GA · Sept 14, 2026

    Bottoms would fully expand Medicaid to Georgians earning up to about $22,000 a year for a single-person household.

    The Current ↗

  6. Jackson's "intelligent Medicaid expansion"

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Sept 2026

    Goes beyond Pathways but stops short of full expansion; keeps work requirements; uses Medicaid money to help some keep private coverage. Who qualifies and the cost are unresolved, and it needs federal approval.

    AJC ↗Georgia Recorder ↗

  7. Jackson: drug pricing, and no tax on tips

    WABE · Sept 8, 2026

    His plan rollout called for price transparency, going after fraud and waste, and bulk purchasing to lower drug costs. It also called for eliminating the tax on tips.

    WABE ↗

  8. Bottoms: "I will not have the power unilaterally to expand Medicaid."

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Jul 31, 2026

    Medicaid expansion needs the General Assembly.

    AJC ↗

  9. 12.0% of Georgians were uninsured in 2024, second-highest after Texas.

    U.S. Census Bureau, ACSBR-024 · Sept 2025

    Appendix Table 2: Georgia 12.0%, Texas 16.7%. It's the latest state data; the 2025 state survey is delayed.

    Census report (PDF) ↗

  10. Georgia Pathways: under 3,500 full-year-equivalent enrollees in its first 15 months, against 25,000+ projected

    U.S. Government Accountability Office · Sept 3, 2025 · WRDW · Aug 19, 2026

    GAO: "actual full year equivalent enrollment was under 3,500 individuals during the first 15 months of enrollment," against a projection of more than 25,000. From October 2020 through March 2025, total spending was $80.3 million, of which $54.2 million was administrative. WRDW: the program now covers just over 18,500 people.

    GAO ↗WRDW ↗

Paychecks and her plan

  1. Economic stability is one of five key social determinants of health.

    U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2030

    Lists Economic Stability as one of five domains of the social determinants of health.

    Healthy People 2030 ↗

  2. Bottoms on a $15 living wage

    Atlanta News First transcript · Oct 10, 2026 · AJC · Oct 7, 2026

    At the Oct. 6 debate she pointed to Atlanta's $15 pay for city workers, said "that living wage should be applied across this state," and said she would "strongly encourage private employers to follow suit." It isn't on her written Issues page. (The city's $15 wage passed in 2017, before she was mayor.)

    Transcript ↗AJC ↗

  3. Jackson focuses on jobs and training for trades paying "$25 an hour or more."

    FOX 5 Atlanta · Oct 2026

    At the debate he focused on training in trades for jobs paying "$25 an hour or more" and did not address the minimum wage.

    FOX 5 ↗

  4. Jackson's Action Plan

    Rick Jackson campaign

    His web page: "Cut the state income tax in half within 4 years." "Freeze property taxes immediately." "Freeze tuition, room, and board at public colleges and technical schools." Job recruitment and training. No minimum wage increase is listed.

    Jackson Action Plan ↗

  5. Georgia's minimum wage is $5.15. The federal $7.25 hasn't changed since July 24, 2009.

    U.S. Department of Labor

    Employers covered by federal law must pay at least $7.25, which took effect July 24, 2009.

    State minimum wages ↗Federal history ↗

  6. Her promises: teachers' income tax, Medicaid, free tech and community college, childcare, housing, Rural Care First, small business, data centers, voting

    Keisha Lance Bottoms campaign, Issues page · read Oct 11, 2026

    Lists each of these as a campaign promise.

    Her issues page ↗

  7. $60,000 starting pay for teachers

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Aug 27, 2026

    Both candidates say they'll raise teacher pay. Bottoms proposes $60,000 starting pay.

    AJC ↗

  8. The state pay scale starts new teachers at $43,592. A pre-K seat for every 4-year-old whose family wants one.

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Oct 5, 2026

    "The state's starting salary for a new teacher this year is $43,592." Many districts add a local supplement. Bottoms would expand lottery-funded Pre-K, which served 54% of 4-year-olds in 2025, to every 4-year-old who wants to attend.

    AJC ↗

  9. Local grocery tax relief

    Bottoms campaign plan · Sept 2026 · Georgia Recorder · Sept 13, 2026

    Cities and counties could suspend or end local sales taxes on groceries. A one-time $250 million Local Tax Relief Stabilization Fund would partly offset losses above 5% of a community's local sales tax, for one budget cycle. Georgia already exempts most groceries from its 4% state sales tax.

    Her plan (PDF) ↗AJC ↗Georgia Recorder via Rough Draft ↗

Her record

  1. Fulton County magistrate judge, from about 2002

    Rough Draft Atlanta · Oct 17, 2008 · Georgia Trend · Dec 31, 2019

    She served as a part-time magistrate judge. (She ran for Superior Court in 2008 and lost.)

    Rough Draft ↗Georgia Trend ↗

  2. Atlanta City Council, District 11, 2010 to 2018

    AJC · Feb 9, 2018 · Atlanta Tribune · Jan 3, 2018

    Elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013. Sworn in as Atlanta's 60th mayor in January 2018.

    AJC ↗Atlanta Tribune ↗

  3. She co-sponsored the 2011 pension reform. It passed unanimously.

    Patch · Jun 17, 2011 · The Bond Buyer · Jul 6, 2011

    Patch lists Bottoms as a sponsor. The Bond Buyer: a "$1.5 billion unfunded pension liability," with savings of $270M+ projected over 10 years.

    Patch ↗Bond Buyer ↗

  4. 30% raise for Atlanta police over three years

    AJC · Oct 1, 2018 · Rough Draft Atlanta · Oct 16, 2018

    Mayor Bottoms announced the raise. The City Council approved it unanimously.

    AJC ↗Rough Draft ↗

  5. Open Checkbook put $2.1 billion of city spending online

    GovTech · Sept 4, 2018

    Atlanta launched its transparency portal on the mayor's deadline.

    GovTech ↗

  6. About $596 million committed to affordable housing, 7,000+ homes by October 2021

    HUD · Jun 2019 · SaportaReport · Nov 30, 2021

    Her goal was $1 billion and 20,000 homes by 2026. By October 2021: about $596 million committed and more than 7,000 homes.

    HUD ↗SaportaReport ↗

  7. Georgia Trend's 2020 Georgian of the Year

    Georgia Trend · Dec 31, 2019

    The magazine named Mayor Bottoms its 2020 Georgian of the Year.

    Georgia Trend ↗

  8. Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement, 2022–2023

    The White House (archived) · Jun 15, 2022

    President Biden announced her appointment. She served until February 2023.

    White House archive ↗

  9. "First Atlanta mayor to have served in all three branches of government"

    Her official bio, as republished by the White House and the U.S. House

    This line comes from her own bio. We attribute it to her bio, not as our finding.

    House bio (PDF) ↗White House ↗

May 2020 and the ads

  1. Her May 29, 2020 remarks: "Go home."

    CBS News video · AJC full text · WABE transcript · May 29–30, 2020

    Watch the speech and read every word. Right before "when you burn down this city," she said more than 50% of metro Atlanta's business owners are minority business owners. She said "minority," not "Black."

    Video: CBS News ↗Video: 11Alive ↗Full text: AJC ↗Transcript: WABE ↗

  2. Jackson's ads say she "let Atlanta burn."

    Capital B Atlanta · Apr 29, 2026

    Reports the Jackson campaign's ads, including the "let Atlanta burn" line.

    Capital B ↗

  3. She set a curfew and stood with T.I. and Killer Mike.

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Oct 2026

    During the late-May 2020 protests she imposed a curfew and, with T.I. and Killer Mike, urged crowds to disperse.

    AJC ↗

  4. U.S. murders rose nearly 30% in 2020, the largest one-year increase on record.

    NPR, on FBI data · Sept 27, 2021

    Murders rose "nearly 30 percent," "the largest single-year increase ever recorded."

    NPR ↗CDC ↗

  5. A resident in the "Disaster" ad ran for lieutenant governor as a Republican.

    Atlanta News First · Sept 11, 2026

    Reports on the Jackson "Disaster" ad and who appears in it.

    Atlanta News First ↗

The money

  1. Jackson put $111 million of his own money into the primary. Both candidates' quotes.

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Jul 2, 2026

    He gave his campaign $111 million and spent $108 million. Jackson's ad: "I'll spend whatever it takes to win this race." Bottoms: "No matter if you are a billionaire or a gazillionaire, you still get one vote."

    AJC ↗

  2. Rick Jackson is a billionaire.

    Forbes real-time estimate · read Oct 11, 2026

    Forbes estimates his net worth at $1 billion.

    Forbes ↗

  3. The previous Georgia self-funding high was about $23 million.

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · Oct 26, 2020

    Kelly Loeffler put about $23 million of her own money into her 2020 Senate race.

    AJC ↗

  4. About $76 million vs. about $8 million in TV airtime

    AJC, with AdImpact data · Sept 17, 2026

    Jackson's side had spent about $76 million on airtime to about $8 million for Bottoms's side. Spending has continued since; we'll update this figure.

    AJC ↗

How to vote

  1. Early voting Oct 13–30. Election Day Nov 3, 7am–7pm. Registration closed Oct 5. Absentee requests by Oct 23.

    Georgia.gov · Georgia Secretary of State

    Early voting runs Tue, Oct 13 (Mon, Oct 12 is a state holiday) through Fri, Oct 30, with Saturday voting Oct 17 and 24 and Sunday voting where counties offer it. On Election Day, vote at your assigned polling place, 7am to 7pm. During early voting, any early voting site in your county works.

    Vote early in person ↗Registration deadline ↗State holidays ↗2026 general election ↗Election Day ↗Absentee deadline ↗Secretary of State ↗

  2. Accepted photo IDs for voting in person

    Georgia Secretary of State · Georgia DDS · O.C.G.A. 21-2-417

    Includes a Georgia driver's license even if expired, a free Voter ID card, and a Georgia public college student ID.

    Secretary of State ↗DDS Voter ID ↗

What Georgians say

  1. Jacqueline Knight, retired schoolteacher · Houston County: “She’s for not just one segment of the population. She’s for everybody.”

    WGXA (Macon) · Aug 27, 2025

    Said at Bottoms’ campaign stop in Middle Georgia. WGXA describes her as a Houston County resident and retired schoolteacher.

    WGXA ↗

  2. Andre Dickens, Mayor of Atlanta: “I watched her do the hardest version of this job in one of the hardest years in the history of the United States.”

    theGrio · Sept 1, 2026

    Said at the virtual “Men for Keisha” rally. Dickens succeeded Bottoms as mayor.

    theGrio ↗AJC ↗

  3. Rodney Bryant, former Atlanta police chief: “Keisha was a leading voice to ensure Atlanta officers had the resources they needed.”

    FOX 5 Atlanta · Oct 5, 2026

    From his statement endorsing Bottoms, one of more than 30 law enforcement officials who did. He served as police chief under her.

    FOX 5 ↗Full statement ↗

  4. Gloria Tyson, 69, Columbus · hosted Bottoms at her child care center: “I follow you and what you did as mayor of Atlanta. That was a super job.”

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · May 16, 2026

    Said to Bottoms during her visit to Tyson’s child care center in Columbus.

    AJC ↗

  5. Andrea Boone, longtime Atlanta City Council member: “It was tough during COVID, and she led during those times. And I’m confident she is the leader that Georgia needs at this moment.”

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution · May 16, 2026

    Boone has endorsed Bottoms. She was speaking about Bottoms’ leadership as mayor during the pandemic.

    AJC ↗

  6. Tatishka Thomas, AFGE District 5 national vice president · Riverdale: “Keisha Lance Bottoms is the leader Georgia needs and is focused on lowering costs for working people across the state.”

    American Federation of Government Employees · May 7, 2026

    From the federal workers’ union’s endorsement, issued in Riverdale, Ga.

    AFGE ↗