Georgia Is Governed Different Now
There's a moment happening in Georgia that doesn't get talked about the way it should.
Across this state — from Buckhead to Bainbridge, from the ATL airport corridor to the farm towns of South Georgia — Black men and women are sitting in the mayor's seat. Running city halls. Signing ordinances. Setting budgets. Making decisions that shape daily life for hundreds of thousands of people.
Some of these mayors represent cities of 500,000. Some govern towns of 3,000. All of them are making history.
This is the new power map of Georgia. And it's time we knew all their names.
METRO ATLANTA
Andre Dickens — Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia
The 61st Mayor of Atlanta. Born and raised in Atlanta. First in his family to attend college. Chemical engineering degree from Georgia Tech — the first Black Tech alumnus ever elected mayor of Atlanta. Master of Public Administration from Georgia State. Re-elected in November 2025 by a commanding margin.
Dickens took office in January 2022 with a mandate: fix the city's surging violent crime, address homelessness, and accelerate economic opportunity for Atlanta's working-class Black residents. By his re-election, Atlanta had seen significant reductions in homicides, major investments in affordable housing, and an expansion of youth programming. He is one of the most consequential mayors in Atlanta history — still in only his second term.
Atlanta. Population: 530,000+. One of America's ten largest cities.
Vince R. Williams — Mayor of Union City, Georgia
The 20th Mayor of Union City. First elected to the Union City Council in 2007. Became mayor in May 2013. One of the most recognized municipal leaders in the state — has served on the Georgia Municipal Association board and as Immediate Past President of the National League of Cities. A graduate of Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee.
Mayor Williams has championed economic development in the Camp Creek corridor, improved public safety, and positioned Union City as a model for small-city governance. Under his leadership, Union City was recognized as Georgia's Fastest Growing City in 2023 and attracted major employers including Amazon, Walmart eCommerce, and Proctor & Gamble. Re-elected continuously since 2013.
Union City. Population: 25,000+. Fulton County.
Bianca Motley Broom — Mayor of College Park, Georgia
The first African American and first woman ever elected mayor of College Park — in a city that is 150 years old. Elected in a runoff in December 2019. An attorney and former magistrate court judge. In 2025, she was sworn in as President of the Georgia Municipal Association, making her one of the most powerful municipal leaders in the entire state.
Mayor Motley Broom has navigated the enormous challenge of governing one of the most commercially significant corridors in the South — College Park sits at the doorstep of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She has focused on economic revitalization, quality-of-life improvements, and ensuring residents benefit from the city's commercial boom.
College Park. Population: 16,000+. Clayton and Fulton Counties.
Carmalitha Gumbs — Mayor of South Fulton, Georgia
The first woman ever elected mayor of South Fulton — and only the third mayor in the city's history. Elected in December 2025 with nearly 60% of the vote. A longtime city council member who represented her district for eight years before making her mayoral run.
South Fulton, incorporated in 2017, is one of the youngest cities in Georgia and one of the largest majority-Black cities in the nation. Mayor Gumbs takes the helm at a critical moment — tasked with building on the city's young infrastructure while restoring public trust after a period of administrative turbulence. She stepped in ready.
South Fulton. Population: 115,000+. Fulton County.
Gwen Webb Ellison — Mayor of Forest Park, Georgia
A Forest Park native, business owner, and civil rights history marker. Gwen Webb Ellison was one of the first two students to integrate Forest Park High School. She attended the historic W.A. Fountain High School before integration. Decades later, she returned to lead the city that once tried to keep her out of its schools. In 2024 she earned an Honorary Doctorate in Christian Leadership and also received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award under President Joe Biden.
Mayor Ellison is a deeply rooted community leader whose story carries the full weight of Georgia's civil rights arc — from a child integrating a school system to a woman running the city hall. Forest Park sits just south of Atlanta near the airport and is a diverse, working-class community. Her election represents the complete arc of progress.
Forest Park. Population: 20,000+. Clayton County.
Donya Sartor — Mayor of Jonesboro, Georgia
The first Black mayor of Jonesboro, Georgia — the county seat of Clayton County. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Her social media says it best: "First Black Mayor for Jonesboro (#herstory)." She is the 16th mayor in the city's history and the first who looks like the majority of Clayton County's residents.
Jonesboro is the historic seat of a county that has undergone one of the most dramatic demographic transformations in the South over the past two decades — from a predominantly white suburb to a majority-Black, majority-minority county with one of the most diverse school districts in America. Mayor Sartor's election reflects and affirms that transformation.
Jonesboro. Population: 5,000+. Clayton County.
Shameka Reynolds — Mayor of Lithonia, Georgia
Second-term mayor of the City of Lithonia. A businesswoman and community servant — co-owner of Tri-Cities Funeral Home, carrying on her grandparents' legacy of service and excellence. She ran unopposed in 2023 for her second term, a testament to how the community views her leadership. She was serving and leading even while battling health challenges during her re-election campaign.
Lithonia is a small city in DeKalb County with a big cultural footprint — the community of Stonecrest was carved from surrounding DeKalb County, and Lithonia sits at the heart of what has become one of metro Atlanta's most dynamic Black suburban corridors. Mayor Reynolds governs with the kind of steady hand that small cities need most.
Lithonia. Population: 2,500+. DeKalb County.
SOUTH GEORGIA FIRSTS
This next group requires a separate moment of recognition. These are mayors of smaller Georgia cities — but small doesn't mean inconsequential. These women are firsts. In many cases, the first Black person, the first woman, or both, to ever hold the title of mayor in their community. That is generational.
Sylvia Washington — Mayor of Bainbridge, Georgia
The first Black mayor and first female mayor of Bainbridge, Georgia. Bainbridge is the county seat of Decatur County in Southwest Georgia, about 40 miles north of the Florida state line. Mayor Washington's election represented a historic breakthrough in a region of Georgia where Black political representation at the mayoral level has been limited. Her community celebrated with the kind of joy that only comes when a barrier that's stood for generations finally falls.
Bainbridge. Population: 14,000+. Decatur County.
Teresa Thomas-Smith — Mayor of Palmetto, Georgia
The first Black mayor and first female mayor of Palmetto, Georgia. Palmetto sits in Fulton County — the same county as Atlanta, though worlds away in character. A small, tight-knit community where city hall is personal. Mayor Thomas-Smith's election as a first-ever dual barrier-breaker speaks to how the entire Fulton County corridor is shifting politically and demographically.
Palmetto. Population: 5,000+. Fulton County.
Rashida Taylor — Mayor of Metter, Georgia
The first female mayor of Metter, Georgia since 1974. Metter is the county seat of Candler County in East-Central Georgia. More than 50 years passed between female mayors in this city. Mayor Taylor's election ended that gap and positioned a new generation of leadership in a community that needed a fresh perspective.
Metter. Population: 4,000+. Candler County.
Ann Tarpley — Mayor of Hampton, Georgia
The first Black mayor and first female mayor of Hampton, Georgia. Hampton sits in Henry County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the entire state of Georgia. As the Atlanta metro footprint expands south, Hampton has been growing rapidly. Mayor Tarpley's historic election positions a Black woman at the helm of a city whose future is being written right now.
Hampton. Population: 10,000+. Henry County.
Arlisha Williams — Mayor of Cairo, Georgia
The first female mayor in the history of Cairo, Georgia. Cairo (pronounced KAY-ro by locals) is the county seat of Grady County in Southwest Georgia. Mayor Williams took office in January 2026 after a campaign centered on accountability, community empowerment, and economic revitalization. Her swearing-in was historic in the most literal sense — no woman had ever held this title before her. The city also made history by appointing Councilwoman Annette Higdon as Mayor Pro Tem simultaneously, marking the first all-female leadership team at Cairo City Hall.
Cairo. Population: 10,000+. Grady County.
Twynette Reynolds — Mayor of Donalsonville, Georgia
The first female mayor in the history of Donalsonville, Georgia. Donalsonville is the county seat of Seminole County in the far southwest corner of Georgia, near the Florida and Alabama borders. Mayor Reynolds' election broke a barrier that had stood since the city's founding. In communities this size, a mayoral election is personal — you know the candidates, you know the history, and you understand exactly what a first means.
Donalsonville. Population: 2,500+. Seminole County.
Lillie Ann Brown — Mayor of Swainsboro, Georgia
The first Black mayor and first female mayor of Swainsboro, Georgia. Swainsboro is the county seat of Emanuel County in East Georgia. Mayor Lillie Ann Brown's election represents the kind of dual barrier-breaking that still carries enormous weight in Deep South Georgia — where the history is long, the memory is clear, and the meaning of a "first" is not lost on anyone who lives there.
Swainsboro. Population: 7,000+. Emanuel County.
What the Map Is Saying
Look at this list and understand what it represents.
These are not anomalies. This is a pattern. A shift. Black Georgia — urban, suburban, rural, metro and deep South — is electing Black leadership at a rate and geographic breadth that has no historical precedent in this state.
From Atlanta's 530,000 residents to Donalsonville's 2,500. From a DeKalb County bedroom community to a Seminole County county seat near the Florida line. From a Georgia Tech engineer running a global city to a funeral home owner running an uncontested re-election in a small DeKalb municipality.
The scale is different. The stakes are different. But the commitment is the same: to show up, do the work, and govern well.
We celebrate the big names. We should know all the names.
Georgia is being governed different. And the people doing the governing look like us.
— Brandon Johnson
