Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, has announced endorsements from 32 current and former Georgia law enforcement officials. She faces Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire businessman, in November's general election — two months after Jackson locked up the backing of 104 sheriffs. The law-enforcement vote is fast becoming the most contested ground in the governor's race.
Bottoms' campaign said the 32-member coalition includes sheriffs, district attorneys, solicitors general, and former law-enforcement leaders. Named endorsers include former Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant and DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston. Bryant said in the campaign's announcement that Bottoms was "a leading voice to ensure Atlanta officers had the resources they needed" during her mayoral tenure, citing police pay increases, funding for police training, and the establishment of a Buckhead precinct.
Bryant said in the campaign's announcement: "Keisha was a leading voice to ensure Atlanta officers had the resources they needed and I'm honored to join the coalition supporting her." Bottoms said her priorities as governor would include helping agencies recruit and retain officers and addressing evidence-testing backlogs. It is her first systematic pitch on public safety — during the Democratic primary debates, rivals repeatedly attacked her record as Atlanta mayor from 2018 to 2022, a period marked by Black Lives Matter unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jackson, a self-made billionaire who defeated Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a contentious Republican runoff, has leaned hard into the law-enforcement contrast. Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman, the immediate past president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, said: "I trust Rick Jackson because he understands what it takes to protect our communities. I trust Rick to make the tough decisions and make sure law enforcement has the support and resources we need to do our jobs." More stinging for Bottoms' camp: two Democratic sheriffs — Lowndes County's Ashley Paulk and Dooly County's Craig Peavy — crossed party lines in August to endorse Jackson, saying "public safety is more important than political affiliations."
Jackson holds a commanding money advantage: through June 30 he had outraised and outspent Bottoms 20 to 1. One bright spot for Bottoms in the donor data: attorneys from 22 Am Law 200 firms donated to her campaign, against four firms for Jackson, according to an analysis of donations through the end of June. But Bottoms' "law-enforcement card" is designed to blunt her opponent's traditional edge on crime and shift the November debate from her mayoral record to the question of who will better resource the police. Both campaigns are chasing the same voters: suburban moderates worried about community safety.