Bottoms taps Tyler Perry for her Georgia transition team

Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) has tapped media mogul Tyler Perry to join her gubernatorial transition team, she announced Friday.

In an Atlanta press conference , Bottoms outlined her plans for the governor’s mansion — including who would lead her transition team, which she dubbed “Georgia’s Promise.” The governor-elect described Perry, whom she named a “co-chair” of the group, as an “entertainment mogul who is also a huge philanthropic part of our Georgia community.”

The announcement came after the former Atlanta mayor defeated Republican healthcare executive Rick Jackson in Georgia’s competitive gubernatorial race by more than 8 points, according to Decision Desk HQ , The Hill’s nonpartisan election forecasting partner.

The “Madea” creator began his entertainment career in Atlanta , and his production company, Tyler Perry Studios, is based in the city. Bottoms previously worked as an executive producer on one of Perry’s shows, Netflix’s “Miss Governor” — a political comedy that ran for one season and ended in 2025, according to film database IMDB .

Bottoms’s transition team included a lineup of prominent Georgia figures — including Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, former Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer, nonprofit leader Michelle Nunn and Delta Air Lines executive Richard Cox, among others.

Election handicapper Cook Political Report had rated the race as a “toss-up” in late October. In its final rating , a day before Election Day, Sabato’s Crystal Ball changed the contest from a “toss-up” to “leans Democratic.”

Bottoms will become Georgia’s first Democratic governor since Roy Barnes left office in 2003, adding to the blue wave on Election Day. Before Barnes’s departure from the governor’s mansion, Democrats had held the Peach State’s highest office for more than a century.