The race for Georgia Governor is heating, with former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, hitting nearly $1 million raised for her gubernatorial race.
Bottoms announced Wednesday she has raised $900,000, and loaned herself $200,000, bringing her funds to $1.1 million, which matches Democratic rival, state Sen. Jason Esteves, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Esteves recently announced his campaign had raised $1.1 million — without loans, it’s worth noting — since entering the Governor’s race in April.
All Georgia candidates are required to submit campaign finance disclosures for the period covering financial activity from April through June. The General Election is in November 2026.
Bottoms told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she has secured financial support from nearly 7,100 donors in just 41 days. Bottoms’ totals are self-reported — her official finance reports have not yet been filed, but should be publicly available within the next week.
If whoever the Democratic nominee ends up being wins the General Election, it would be the first time in more than 20 years that a Democrat has been Governor in the Peach State.
An Atlanta native, Bottoms was elected Mayor in 2017 and completed her term in January 2022.
Bottoms then spent a short time working as a CNN political commentator, before joining the Biden administration in 2022 as a senior adviser and the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement until 2023, according to The Sun.
Former President Joe Biden then appointed Bottoms to the President’s Export Council in July of 2023, a national advisory committee on international trade in the U.S., before she was ultimately fired by President Donald Trump when he took office in January 2025.
Bottoms’ Democratic rival, Esteves, has earned endorsements from prominent legislative figures, city officials, and community leaders.
Joining the Democratic field is state Rep. Derrick Jackson, and speculation continues about former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, who remains a potential high-profile entrant.
On the Republican side, Attorney General Chris Carr has brought in at least $2 million since launching his campaign in November, according to a January press release from his campaign.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is expected to declare his candidacy soon, and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger are also reportedly considering entering the contest.
