Two Democrats and two Republicans are competing in the June 16 runoff to become Georgia’s next lieutenant governor.
All of the candidates are current or former 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
Josh 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
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.”
Republicans
Greg Dolezal
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
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 in 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.
John Kennedy
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
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.
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