Bottoms projected to make history as Georgia's first Black woman governor

Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to win Georgia's governor's race, knocking off Republican Rick Jackson, according to calls from Decision Desk HQ and CNN. The Democrat and former Atlanta mayor makes history on multiple fronts with the win.

She becomes Georgia's first Black governor and its first woman governor. She's also the first Black woman elected governor in United States history — a barrier that had never fallen before in any state.

Bottoms takes over from Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who was term-limited and couldn't run again. Her victory hands Democrats the Georgia governorship for the first time in more than two decades.

Georgia wasn't the only seat moving. Democrat Roy Cooper won North Carolina's US Senate race, beating Republican Michael Whatley and flipping a Republican-held seat — the state's first Democratic Senate win since 2008, per the Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ. Whatley, a former RNC chairman, had President Donald Trump's endorsement.

Republicans held serve elsewhere in the Senate, keeping seats in Florida, Kentucky and Wyoming. Ashley Moody won Florida's special election over Democratic state lawmaker Angie Nixon, holding the remainder of Marco Rubio's term, while Andy Barr beat Charles Booker in Kentucky and Harriet Hageman prevailed in Wyoming, according to AP and Fox News Decision Desk projections.

Down in the House, Democrat Jamie Ager is set to beat Republican Jennifer Balkcom in North Carolina's 11th District — the night's first House seat flip, CNN projected. The seat was held by Republican Representative Chuck Edwards, who pulled his reelection bid in August after a House Ethics Committee investigation recommended he be censured. Democrats also posted projected wins in Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, with early returns showing big leads for incumbents Cory Booker, Jack Reed and Ed Markey.