This week: Candidate qualifying

This week: Candidate qualifying for congressional, statewide, and county races.

Georgia’s 2026 elections will determine state leaders from the governor to Congress, as well as local legislators, judges and district attorneys. 

Candidates have until Friday to get their names on the ballot for the May 19 primary elections, which is also when nonpartisan judicial races will be decided. Elections for the partisan races – including a US Senate seat and all 14 Georgia congressional races – will be decided Nov. 3.

That means we’ll know by Friday who’s actually running for what office – and who’s dropped out of some heavily contested races. For example, one Democratic candidate for governor, Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-Duluth), decided last week to run for state Senate District 7 instead, since Sen. Nabilah Parkes (D-Duluth), is now running for insurance commissioner.

To get on the May 19 ballot, candidates must file an affidavit by March 6 declaring they meet age, residency and other requirements with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office – along with a fee that ranges from $400 for state legislative races to $6,900 to run for a spot on the Georgia Supreme Court.

• US Senator or Representative: $5,220
• Governor: $5,550
• Lieutenant Governor: $3,048
• Secretary of State: $3,859
• Attorney General: $4,475
• State School Superintendent: $3,998
• Agriculture Commissioner: $3,780 
• Insurance Commissioner: $3,912 
• Labor Commissioner: $3,930
• Public Service Commissioner: $3,935
• State Senator or Representative: $400
• Georgia Supreme Court justice: $6,900
• Georgia Court of Appeals judge: $6,831
• Superior Court judge: $4,344 
• District Attorney: $3,974

Qualifying fees for local elected offices, other than superior court judges and district attorneys, are set by Georgia’s 159 county elections offices. For instance, it costs $1,950 for Fulton County Commission candidates to qualify and $3,600 to run for Fulton Commission chair.

You’ve got until April 20 to register to vote for the May 19 primary and judicial election. Here are other key election dates: 

• March 2: First day to request absentee ballot for May primary/judicial election
• March 6: Secretary of State posts names of qualifying party candidates
• April 27 to May 15: Advance voting begins for May 19 election
• May 8: Last day to request absentee by mail ballot for May 19 election
• May 19: Election Day for primary and nonpartisan judicial races
• June 16: Runoff elections, if needed 

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Races to watch

Georgia’s upcoming congressional midterms are big news, as Democrats nationally seek to flip both the US Senate and US House on Nov. 3. Statewide offices, starting with the governor, are also in focus, since most are open seats with no Republican incumbent seeking reelection.

Since Republican Gov. Brian Kemp can’t run again after two terms, the open gubernatorial seat has drawn a crowded field for both the Democratic and Republican primaries on May 19. We’ll see who qualifies by week’s end, but here’s who has been out campaigning and fundraising.

Here are the likely Democratic gubernatorial candidates:

• Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Atlanta mayor and public engagement advisor for the Biden administration. 
• Olu Brown, a pastor and founder of Impact United Methodist Church in East Point.  
• Geoff Duncan, the state’s former lieutenant governor and, until last year, a Republican. He was also a pro baseball player for the Florida Marlins. 
• Jason Esteves, a lawyer, former Atlanta state senator, and former chair of the Atlanta Board of Education.  
• Derrick Jackson, the state representative for Tyrone, Ga., is a retired naval officer and former GE marketing manager. 
• Michael Thurmond, the former DeKalb County CEO and a former Georgia labor commissioner. He’s also an author and attorney. 

And here are the likely Republican candidates for governor: 

• Chris Carr, Georgia’s incumbent attorney general and a former commissioner for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. He also served as chief of staff for former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. 
• Clark Dean, an executive at Transwestern, a national commercial real estate firm.
• Rick Jackson, billionaire founder and CEO of Jackson Healthcare, a healthcare staffing firm based in Alpharetta. 
• Burt Jones, Georgia’s incumbent lieutenant governor and a former state senator for Milledgeville. 
• Gregg Kirkpatrick, a medical biotech entrepreneur. The Woodstock resident ran for state senate in 2024.
• Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s current secretary of state and former CEO of engineering design firm Tendon Systems. 
• Leland “Jake” Olinger, a Locust Grove resident who previously ran for a Macon state senate seat.
• Ken Yasger, an Army Ranger veteran and Georgia Army National Guard member who lives in Tybee Island. He previously ran for Congress in 2020, then state senate in 2022. 

Atlanta Civic Circle will also be watching key down-ballot races, like those for two Public Service Commission seats, three Fulton County Commission seats plus the chair, and competitive state House and Senate races that are competitive – whether from primary challenges, open seats, or swing districts in the general election. 

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Friday is Crossover Day for Georgia Legislature

Friday is also Crossover Day for the Georgia legislative session, which marks Day 28 of the annual 40-day session. That’s the last day for bills in either the state House of Representatives or Senate to win a vote from the full chamber and ‘cross over’ to the other chamber before April 2, when the session ends.

Many of the legislative session’s most important outcomes are shaped on Crossover Day, as lawmakers vote on bills late into the evening. Bills that fail to cross over are dead for the session – unless language from them gets shunted into live bills, in what are known as zombie bills. 

We’ll be keeping an eye on important civil liberties and affordable housing bills to see which ones make it past Crossover Day on March 6. For a full rundown on the legislation we’re watching this session, click here. 

Want to get involved? The ACLU of Georgia is organizing an advocacy day at the State Capitol on March 6 for community members to speak with their elected officials about bills that the group warns would restrict access to the ballot box, censor what students can learn, and punish people for protesting. You can still register for the ACLU of Georgia’s First Amendment group from 12 pm to 4 pm, or its evening First Amendment and voting rights groups from 5 pm to 9 pm.

The State Capitol is located downtown at 206 Washington Street, SW. Here are parking instructions, or just take MARTA to the GSU station. Remember that you’ll need a picture ID to enter the Capitol building. 

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Today’s Democracy Digest was written by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon and edited by Meredith Hobbs. As always, thank you for reading and supporting local journalism.