Lance Bottoms Surging At The Percect Time(for her).

Is Former Atlanta Mayor Keshia Lance Bottoms about to win the Democratic Primary for Governor without a runoff? She’s surging in the polls at a time when every candidate dreams of surging in the polls. Submitted for your approval: a timeline of news and polling.

Item 1, AJC, 4/20/26: Can Keisha Lance Bottoms avoid overtime in the Georgia race for governor?

Keisha Lance Bottoms insists the Democratic race for governor isn’t the “forgotten contest,” even as the Republican side has been consumed by a nearly nine-figure ad war.

But the more pressing question for the Democratic front-runner may not be who she faces in a runoff. It may be whether she can avoid one at all.

Item 2, AJC, 4/22/26: Democratic Party memo argues Georgia’s political momentum is shifting left.

The memo comes as a poll obtained by the AJC suggests former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is tightening her grip on the Democratic field.

The survey of likely Democratic voters from Education Reform Now Advocacy shows Bottoms at 42%, ahead of former DeKalb County chief executive Michael Thurmond at 12%, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan at 8% and former state Sen. Jason Esteves at 6%. About one-third remain undecided.

Item 3, 5/01/26: InsiderAdvantage Gubernatorial Survey: Bottoms edges over 50%; Jackson, Jones nearly even.

Democrat Results: 

Clearly, Mayor Lance Bottoms is trending upward as many Democratic primary voters are rallying to her campaign. Perhaps they reason that the fall campaign will be expensive, so why spend an extra month on a runoff when the Mayor is likely to win anyway?

Something to watch as Advanced In-Person voting continues: A friend knows the wife of a prominent Democratic former elected official. The wife recently said, “If Duncan has a chance to make the runoff, I’ll vote for him. If not, I’m crossing over to vote for Raffensperger.” She implied that many of her friends would do the same. Duncan appears to be fading, and there are early indications that some Dems are crossing over to vote in the GOP primaries. If this is what is happening, it simultaneously helps KLB and Raffensperger.