Georgia lieutenant governor candidates 2026: Who’s running

Three Democrats and seven Republicans are competing to become Georgia’s next lieutenant governor.

Seven of the 10 candidates have served in the General Assembly, including six senators who are seeking a promotion to lead that chamber. With current Lt. Gov. Burt Jones running for governor, and a host of legislators vying to replace him, election-year politics colored the Senate’s actions on taxes, elections and other issues in the recent legislative session.

In addition to presiding over the Senate, the lieutenant governor serves as the state’s second in command, assuming the duties of governor if he or she is unable to perform them.

Here’s a look at the candidates:

Democrats

Josh McLaurin

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

McLaurin spent four years in the state House of Representatives before winning election in the north Fulton County-based Senate District 14 in 2022. He’s a Sandy Springs attorney whose practice focuses on business litigation and aviation law.

In the Senate, McLaurin has often accused Republicans of bowing to the demands of President Donald Trump. He gained national attention two years ago when he revealed his law school roommate and now Vice President JD Vance had wondered if Trump were “America’s Hitler.”

If elected, McLaurin says he’ll address rising costs by spending more on working families, push to expand Medicaid, protect the rights of workers to organize and fight to make homes more affordable.

Nabilah Parkes

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

A former Democratic Party operative, Parkes won election to Senate District 7 in Gwinnett County in 2022. She launched a campaign for insurance commissioner in January, but switched to the lieutenant governor’s race in March, when she resigned her Senate post.

The daughter of working-class immigrants from Bangladesh, Parkes was the first Muslim woman elected to the Senate. She was among the more progressive members of the chamber’s Democratic caucus, appealing to Democrats who want a more confrontational style.

Parkes has supported efforts to expand Medicaid and cap insurance prices. If elected, she says she’ll “lower drug costs, make healthcare more affordable, fund our schools, expand Medicaid, and protect our freedoms.”

Richard Wright

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Wright is an Atlanta certified public accountant who has not held elected office. He previously ran for mayor of Atlanta in 2021.

Wright describes himself as a “moderate Democrat for change.” He cites his understanding of corporate and tax law, his experience as a business owner and service as chief financial officer for a nonprofit as qualifications to become lieutenant governor.

If elected, Wright says he would seek to expand Medicaid, legalize recreational cannabis use and create new small-business tax credits. He also would seek to expand manufacturing in rural Georgia and workforce housing.

Republicans

David Clark

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Clark is a Buford real estate broker and Army veteran who deployed to Afghanistan. He has represented state House District 100 since 2015.

Clark earned a reputation as a thorn in the side of House Republican leaders. In 2020, he tried unsuccessfully to replace then-House Speaker David Ralston. The next year, Ralston banished him from the chamber for two days when Clark refused to be tested for COVID-19 in violation of House rules.

If elected, Clark says he will eliminate the state income tax and local property taxes. He also wants to prevent foreign governments like China from buying Georgia farmland and other assets and to defend parental rights in the classroom.

Greg Dolezal

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Dolezal is a partner in a technology company who was elected in 2018 to serve Forsyth County-based Senate District 27. Two years later, he joined a group of senators who sought to help Trump overturn the presidential election.

Dolezal chairs the transportation committee and is vice chair of appropriations. He also serves on a committee investigating Fani Willis, questioning the Fulton County district attorney under oath last December. His campaign ads have highlighted Willis and portrayed Muslims terrorizing white Georgians.

Dolezal sponsored legislation that bans transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams, as well as the creation of Georgia Promise Scholarships, which have primarily benefited students at private schools.

Steve Gooch

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Gooch has represented Senate District 51 in North Georgia since 2011. He owns an environmental services company and is a former member of the State Transportation Board. He also served as Lumpkin County’s sole commissioner.

In the Senate, he served as majority leader until he stepped down from the post last year to run for lieutenant governor.

If elected, Gooch says he’ll target violent criminals with a “one strike and you’re out” law, deport “every single illegal immigrant” and “bring Trump’s America First agenda to Georgia.” He also wants to eliminate the state income tax and overhaul property taxes, so seniors and veterans are not “taxed out of their homes.”

John Kennedy

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Kennedy is a Macon attorney who represented Senate District 18 from 2015 until he resigned in December. He previously served as president pro tempore, presiding over the Senate when the lieutenant governor was not able.

Kennedy helped shepherd Gov. Brian Kemp’s civil lawsuit overhaul last year. He also chaired the administrative affairs committee and served on appropriations and other committees.

If elected, Kennedy says he’ll work to create jobs in manufacturing, agriculture and other industries. He also pledges to help educate students “to find a rewarding career, not indoctrinating them with radical political ideologies,” and to improve public safety by dismantling gangs, recruiting and retaining police officers and strengthening laws.

Brenda Nelson-Porter

Credit: Courtesy of Nelson-Porter campaign

Porter is a Newnan resident and owner of a technology consulting and research firm. She has not held elected office, but she did run a write-in campaign for secretary of state in 2022.

If elected, Nelson-Porter says she’ll seek election efficiency audits in all Georgia counties, review policies on caring for nursing home patients, improve home-based caregiving and respite care, and evaluate the reliability of technical schools. She also wants to ensure any high school honors graduate can attend the first year of college at no cost and reincorporate cursive handwriting instruction in middle schools.

Takosha Swan

Credit: Courtesy of Swan campaign

Swan is a Conyers resident and business consultant who has not held elected office. She is an Army veteran who deployed to Iraq and previously served on the State Veterans Service Board.

Swan says she supports eliminating property taxes for seniors, expanding trade and skill programs in schools, and providing tax relief on everyday necessities like gas and groceries. She says she would create “citizen councils” to give Georgians “a direct voice in shaping legislation” at the Capitol.

Swan says she is running “to restore access, accountability and trust in state government.”

Blake Tillery

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Tillery is a Vidalia attorney who has served Senate District 19 in South Georgia since 2017. As chairman of the appropriations committee, he’s helped balance the state’s $38.5 billion budget.

Tillery led the Senate’s recent effort to eliminate the individual income tax. He called for phasing out the state’s largest source of income by 2032 and partially paying for it by eliminating “corporate welfare.” The bill lawmakers passed was more modest but still provided substantial tax relief.

If elected, Tillery says he’ll continue to try to eliminate the tax. He also pledges to fight illegal immigration, to be tough on criminals, to support free speech and gun rights and to combat “divisive and woke ideologies.”

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