Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to win Georgia's governor race over Republican Rick Jackson, which would make her the first Black female governor in the state and the nation. Democrat Roy Cooper won North Carolina's Senate race, the first Senate flip of the night.
Democrat and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to win the Georgia gubernatorial race. She would become the first Black female governor in Georgia and in the nation. Bottoms is projected to defeat Republican Rick Jackson for the seat held by term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Democrat Roy Cooper's North Carolina Senate win was the first Senate flip of the night in the 2026 midterms. Cooper will succeed outgoing Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, and his win was the first Senate seat to turn blue in this year's midterms. The result gives Democrats another Senate seat.
It had appeared likely for weeks that the former governor would win the North Carolina race. He held a comfortable poll lead, and Republicans had redirected campaign spending from the state to other battlegrounds.
