Keisha Lance Bottoms making Medicaid expansion a priority after historic Georgia win

Speaking to supporters at her Cascade Road campaign office Wednesday, Keisha Lance Bottoms basked in her victory as Georgia's governor-elect.

"Y'all. It feels good to be a winner ... This win is for all of us. So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," Bottoms said.

Bottoms said working with state lawmakers across the aisle will be crucial in her first 100 days, particularly on broadening access to health care.

"I truly believe that this is an issue we can get bipartisan support with. I know that there are many Republican leaders who support Medicaid expansion," Bottoms said.

She noted other Republican-led states that have expanded Medicaid and could serve as examples.

"And given that there are even more people expected to drop their coverage under the ACA, we know that the need for access to health care is going to be even greater. So I'm an optimist. I think it will get done," she said.

Bottoms' win is historic on several fronts. She will become Georgia's first Black governor and first female governor, as well as the first Black woman to serve as governor in the country. She is also the first Democrat elected Georgia's governor since 1998.

Tanisha Cameron worked on Bottoms' campaign for governor.

"We're ecstatic, and it's because Keisha went across the state talking to voters everywhere about her plans to expand Medicaid, to invest in education and to stand up to [President Donald] Trump. And she really didn't take a single voter for granted," Cameron said.

Volunteers for Bottoms' campaign said it was rewarding to see several other Black women win key offices alongside her. State Rep. Tanya Miller, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, defeated state Sen. Brian Strickland in the race for attorney general. In another high-profile race, Penny Brown Reynolds, a former Fulton County State Court judge, defeated state Rep. Tim Fleming in the race for secretary of state.

"This time, people were educated about the need to vote from the top to the bottom. Don't stop at Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms. Go all the way through," Sue Ross said.

"It's absolutely, what do they call, 'just due' when we worked so hard," said Lisa Baker, another volunteer for Bottoms' campaign. "When we've carried so much. When we've always come to the aid or to the rescue of other folks, of other situations that we finally get a chance to show everybody why people rely on us so much."

To voters who did not vote for her, Bottoms said she is here to serve all Georgians.