The race for governor in Georgia is turning into a high-profile showdown between the Democratic nominee, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and the Republican nominee, billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson.
Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is term-limited, which means this is the state’s first open governor’s race in years. If Bottoms wins, she would be the first Democrat elected governor of Georgia since 1998. She would also be the first Black woman elected governor in US history.
Both candidates have competing visions for some of the state’s biggest issues, from healthcare to data centers to taxes. Here’s everything you need to know.
Healthcare
Georgia is one of only 10 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid, the federal program that gives states money to provide health coverage to low-income residents. Now, the costs of that refusal to expand have become impossible to ignore as rural hospitals close and the rate of uninsured Georgians skyrockets.
Bottoms has made expanding Medicaid the centerpiece of her campaign, traveling to Statesboro, Jesup, Woodbine, Brunswick, and Richmond Hill as part of her “Southeast Georgia Health Care Tour.” During the tour, residents described driving over an hour to give birth, struggling to reach hospitals during emergencies without reliable transportation, and coping with staffing shortages at local hospitals.
Jackson has repeatedly said he opposes full Medicaid expansion and prefers solutions that come from the private sector. Just this week, reporting in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that Jackson’s company has a major financial stake in a struggling hospital in Alabama—another state that hasn’t expanded Medicaid.
Taken together, the two campaigns offer voters a stark choice on healthcare: expand coverage through Medicaid or stick with a patchwork of work requirements and private fixes.
Campaign spending
This is shaping up to be one of the most expensive governor’s races in Georgia history. Jackson, largely self-funding, spent more than $100 million of his own money to win a competitive Republican primary runoff against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. This has raised questions about the role of money in politics, including accusations from Jones that Jackson is trying to buy people’s votes.
Data centers
Georgia has become one of the biggest hubs for data center construction—and that growth has increasingly led to backlash from residents. Communities across the state have raised concerns about strained water supplies, light pollution, and rising utility bills.
Bottoms has proposed a temporary pause on new data center construction while the state gathers more information. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to separate fact from fiction,” she said recently.
“And we don’t have enough facts on data centers to make an informed decision on how we move forward. We need a pause.”
In contrast, Jackson, who is invested in a data center in Texas, has expressed support for the projects. He has said they make economic sense in more remote parts in the state and could help eliminate property taxes. However, he has said local communities should have ultimate control over whether or not a data center could be built there.
Affordability and the economy
Both candidates are placing affordability at the center of their campaigns. Bottoms has emphasized lowering costs for working families, supporting small businesses, and targeting corporate landlords.
She has also tied the affordability crisis to policies pushed by President Donald Trump, such as his support for tariffs and the Iran war. Bottoms has campaigned alongside Sen. Jon Ossoff (D), who is up for re-election, on the same theme, and her campaign has worked to tie Jackson to Trump, warning voters that Jackson has pledged to run Georgia in lockstep with the president.
Jackson has pitched himself as an outsider businessman who can cut costs through efficiency rather than government expansion. His plan includes freezing property taxes, cutting the state income tax, and eliminating what he calls wasteful government spending, including through the use of artificial intelligence. “Georgia needs an outsider — not a career politician — who will cut taxes, lower costs, secure the state, and make government work for the people,” he has said.
Taxes
Jackson has proposed cutting the state income tax in half, freezing tuition at public colleges and technical schools, and ending state diversity initiatives, alongside broader spending cuts. Bottoms has not proposed comparable across-the-board tax cuts, instead focusing her tax-relief message narrowly, including, most notably, her pledge to eliminate the state income tax for teachers.
