Atlanta, Georgia — Georgia’s 2026 midterm election marks a historic moment for the state, reflecting the growing political participation and leadership of communities that have long fought for representation and equal access to the democratic process. With the election of Keisha Lance Bottoms as Georgia’s first black woman governor, alongside the election of 14 AAPI leaders to Georgia Congress, this election represents a significant milestone in the state’s history.
“In a state and on land where Black people were enslaved, where Jim Crow was law, and where a fire was lit that sent generations marching and organizing for the right to vote, yesterday Georgia elected its first Black woman governor.” said Murtaza Khwaja, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta. “That weight belongs to every person who did that work before it was safe or popular. On behalf of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, I congratulate Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms. Lasting change comes when communities build power together, across race and across generations, and our job now is to keep building. We hope her administration will focus on expanding access to the ballot and advancing policies that are more inclusive of everyone who calls Georgia home.”
Georgia’s AAPI and immigrant communities turned out in historic numbers in the 2026 midterm election. More than 4.1 million Georgians voted, setting a new midterm record. Compared to 2022, early voting rose 63% among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters and 105% among Latine voters, according to Emory University political scientist Bernard Fraga’s analysis of state data.
That surge reflects years of year-round organizing. This election season, Advancing Justice-Atlanta staff and volunteers knocked on 45,000 doors in AAPI and immigrant neighborhoods and trained over 50 Election Protection volunteers who supported voters at 15 polling locations across Gwinnett, Fulton, Cobb, and DeKalb counties in 13 languages.
AAPI representation in Georgia also reached a significant milestone, with 14 Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders elected to Georgia congress. Their victories reflect the growing civic participation and leadership of Georgia’s diverse AAPI communities and the importance of ensuring that elected leadership reflects the communities it serves. The Georgia General Assembly’s bipartisan AAPI Caucus, one of the largest AAPI caucus in the country, will continue to play an important role in bringing AAPI perspective and priorities into state policy making.
“Our communities showed up in record numbers, and with that record turnout, Georgia’s leadership is now more reflective of all the people that call it home,” said Khwaja. “This didn’t happen overnight. It is the result of years of organizing, knocking on doors, and making sure every voter could get help in their own language. Our work is about more than Election Day. It is about making sure our communities have a voice in the decisions that shape their lives and the power to lead.”
Representation must be matched by action. Advancing Justice-Atlanta will work with newly elected leaders to protect immigrant families from unlawful enforcement by ICE and other federal agencies, clear the naturalization backlog, expand language access, and defend the voting rights of every eligible Georgian, including naturalized citizens. The organization will continue organizing so that AAPI, immigrants, and communities of color are heard in policy decisions long after the votes are counted.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice-Atlanta) is the first nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in Georgia and the Southeast.
