Former President Barack Obama’s endorsement of Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms in the Georgia gubernatorial race follows weeks of tightening polls in the battleground state. The Georgia governor’s race is expected to be among the closest of the midterms, and polls point to a competitive contest between Bottoms and Republican health care executive Rick Jackson, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. Georgia has emerged as the newest swing state, having backed Trump in 2024 and former President Joe Biden in 2020.
Democrats are hopeful the national environment will boost their chances in close states like Georgia. Historically, the party in the White House loses seats in the midterms when the president is unpopular, and Trump’s approval has fallen, fueling a favorable national environment for the out-party. But Republicans believe they can hold the seat with a stronger candidate, and the state has backed Republicans in past gubernatorial races despite its leftward trend at the federal level.
Newsweek reached out to Bottoms’ campaign via email and Jackson’s campaign via press contact form for comment. Bottoms’ campaign rolled out Obama's endorsement in a video posted to social media on Thursday. She believes in young people, delivered historic pay raises for police officers, and firefighters and balanced the budget without raising taxes.” He said there is “a lot at stake” in the Georgia election.
Democrats will hope the endorsement gives Bottoms a boost as she faces a tightening race against Jackson, despite national momentum favoring Democrats. A flurry of recent polls show Jackson holding a narrow lead, and the Republican also has a major financial advantage over Bottoms. The race is “very competitive,” Kerin Swint, a political scientist at Kennesaw State University, told Newsweek on Thursday.
His visit is primarily to boost Democratic turnout and provide some excitement,” he said. Obama has been weighing in on competitive races for Democrats ahead of the midterms. He has also endorsed Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson, Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa and Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek.
Bottoms trails in a flurry of recent polls from the Peach State. A Big Data poll gave Jackson a slight lead over Bottoms, 47.6 percent to 45.7 percent among 712 registered voters and 48.8 percent to 46.7 percent among 678 likely voters. It was conducted from September 21 to 23, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
