Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks in Morrow, Georgia, on October 28.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
This year’s midterm election is likely to change history as several gubernatorial candidates from the Midwest to the South are vying to become their states’ first female governors.
Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms is running to become not only the state’s first female governor, but the first Black female governor in the nation.
“I wake up as a Black woman every day, so it’s no surprise to me that I’m capable and I’m qualified and I’m able,” Bottoms told CNN. “But if it’s representation for other people who may not have thought that it was possible, then it’s all worth it.”
Bottoms is locked in a tight race with Republican Rick Jackson in a race that has taken center stage.
Minnesota is also set to elect its first woman governor, with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in a strong position in her race with Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth. Tennessee is in the same spot, with Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn leading over Democrat Jerri Green.
Ohio could also join the list, if Democrat Amy Acton prevails over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. Although the state briefly had an interim female governor nearly 30 years ago, it has yet to elect a woman to the office.
