Andrew Young breaks down in tears over Keisha Lance Bottoms' historic win

Civil rights leader Andrew Young broke down in tears on Wednesday as he talked about Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming the first Black woman elected governor in the United States.

"I think Coretta King is smiling. My first wife, Jean Young, and my daughter, both died of cancer. But they share this victory," said Andrew Young, former U.N. ambassador and Atlanta mayor.

CBS News called the governor's race for Bottoms on Tuesday night. She defeated Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire who spent more than $200 million of his own money on the race. Bottoms is the first Democrat elected governor of Georgia since 1998.

Young sat down with CBS News Atlanta the day after the election. He worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Young said he spent the early 1960s in Mississippi, where he taught Black people to read and write so they could pass literacy tests and register to vote.

Jean Childs Young died of cancer in 1994. The couple's daughter, Lisa Young Alston, died in March 2025.

Young said he has known Bottoms since she was a child.

"I knew her when she was a little girl in public school and everybody talked about how smart she was," said Young.

He said he raised the idea of a woman governor at church a couple of Sundays before the election.

"New York has a female governor. New Jersey has a female governor. Virginia has a female governor. Why not Georgia?" asked Young.

Young said he thought Bottoms faced a long shot because of how much money went into the race. He said he stayed up until 4 a.m. watching the results.

Young said the win belongs to the women who marched with him in Selma, Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia.

"It means it was worth it for them," said Young.

One of those women was Bottoms' aunt, Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson, a leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Young said he knows what she would say about her niece's win.

"Well, she'd say this was worth my risking my life for that," said Young.

Young said he did not take ads that featured Black Georgians speaking out against Bottoms at face value.

Before the primary, Young backed former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond for governor. Thurmond served three terms as Georgia's labor commissioner. Bottoms won the democratic primary outright in May with about 56 percent of the vote. Thurmond finished second with about 13 percent.

Asked how he came around to Bottoms, Young did not speak on the endorsement. Instead, he praised Thurmond.

"No, I still think that Mike Thurmond is one of the best scholars in Georgia on Georgia politics," said Young.

Young said Thurmond would have made a strong governor.

"There's no question that he was qualified to be governor," said Young.

He said Thurmond and other democratic leaders will stand behind the new governor.

"He will be a big help to Keisha, as will all of us," said Young.

Young knows what it takes to run for governor in Georgia. He ran in 1990 and lost to Zell Miller. He said Stacey Abrams, who also ran for governor, would have been a great governor.

Young said he hopes the election brings the two parties closer together.

"I hope that there will be a time of reconciliation when instead of the parties being pitted against each other, they will find a way to work together," said Young.

He said the win is bigger than one party.

"So, it's not a partisan victory. It's a victory of love and vision and faith over anger and bitterness and insecurity," said Young.

Bottoms will take office in January. She will succeed Gov. Brian Kemp, who could not run again because of term limits.