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Four days left to vote early!
Election Day for the May 19 midterm primary is a week from today, and you’ve got until Friday to vote early. This week’s Voter Voice, Lysa Moore, plans to advance vote, but she’s still making a few final ballot decisions. You’ll hear from her at the end of the newsletter.
If you’re still trying to figure out your own ballot, don’t fret — we’ve got you covered. Check out our choose-your-own-adventure style ballot explainer, where we break down the Democratic, Republican, and nonpartisan ballot options.
We’ve also brought back the popular Build Your Ballot tool so many of you have come to rely on.
🔵🔴 Here’s our handy ballot breakdown
Early voting: Democratic primary voters are outpacing Republicans
As of Monday night, the Secretary of State’s Election Data Hub shows that Georgia voters are still choosing Democratic ballots by a 10-point margin in the midterm primary. Fully 54.3% of Georgians have voted Democrat, compared with only 44.2% opting to vote Republican. (The remaining 1.5% pulled a nonpartisan ballot.)
Early voting turnout so far is at 7.3%, or 533,700 voters.
Voters ages 60 to 74 have been turning out at the highest rates, as the following chart shows. Young folks under age 40 are lagging – but hey y’all, there’s still time to vote!
Women voters are outpacing men by 55.9% to 43.9% — a 12 point margin. That tracks with the gender ratio in Georgia’s Nov. 5, 2024 election, where women outvoted men by 55.6% to 44.2%.
Fulton Commission chair contenders faced off in Candidate Jeopardy!
Did you know the Fulton County Commission oversees a budget that’s bigger than the city of Atlanta’s? To help Fulton voters decide on their next commission chair, Atlanta Civic Circle and Capital B Atlanta co-hosted a Jeopardy! style forum with incumbent Robb Pitts and challengers Mo Ivory and Marvin Arrington, Jr.
Here’s Capital B Atlanta’s report.
Sports-betting super PAC makes big wager on Georgia legislative races
The sports-betting industry — which has been trying to legalize gambling on sports in the Peach State for years — is the top independent spender so far in Georgia’s 2026 election cycle, outside of political party and leadership committees.
DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics and Bet365 have formed a super PAC, Win for America, that has poured $9.5 million into state legislative races on both sides of the aisle, according to the latest state campaign finance disclosures.
Win for American’s Republican arm, American Conservative Fund Action Georgia, has spent over $7.3 million to promote various GOP state house and senate candidates. Its Democratic arm, American Future, has spent over $2.2 million on Democratic legislative races.
As long as PACs (political action committees) don’t coordinate directly with a campaign, they can spend unlimitedly to promote or oppose political candidates. It’s perfectly legal, thanks to the US Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United ruling in 2010, which says that in American politics, money = speech.
Stay tuned for our full story later this week.
Atlanta mayor signs firefighter union contract
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens finally signed a collective bargaining agreement between the city and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) Local 134 on Monday, over a year after the Atlanta City Council approved the city’s first-ever contract with the firefighter union.
Newly elected IAFF Local 134 president Alvin Rashad attended the mayor’s private signing ceremony at the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. The event was closed to the public and invitation-only for the press. Atlanta Civic Circle’s request for admission was ignored by the mayor’s press office.
Stonecrest PepsiCo workers join Teamsters
Over 30 PepsiCo sales representatives in Stonecrest have voted to unionize with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 528, according to the union.The workers are seeking “fair wages, stronger workplace protections, and respect,” the Teamsters said in an announcement.
“We felt that we couldn’t put our trust in the company, so we came together as a team to help everyone understand the benefits of joining the union,” said one of the newly unionized PepsiCo workers, Alfred Kitchens, in the announcement. “We are excited to go on to fight for a strong Teamsters contract.”
VOTER VOICES
Lysa Moore
Occupation: community engagement manager for a local nonprofit and a community advocate
Neighborhood: Gresham Park (DeKalb County)
Political affiliation: Democrat
Age: 39
The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
ACC: Have you voted?
Lysa Moore: I have not. I plan to vote early.
What are your top issues this year?
I think I’m more focused on people. I’m really interested in candidates who are willing to push us forward, as it relates to education and equity, and doing what is going to be best for our communities on the ground. Who has demonstrated a willingness to do the hard work?
What races are you most paying attention to?
Governor – and I’m going with Jason Esteves. I see this position as being so vital as to what is happening here in Georgia, and the other Democratic candidates have not shown themselves to be willing to do something different going forward.
What about downballot races?
I have not yet decided who I’m voting for the state Senate. I’ll probably vote for Saira Draper, but I’m considering the alternative [Nadine Thomas].
For [DeKalb] County Commission, Nicole Massiah is the incumbent [in District 3]. I am likely going to be voting for [Keyanna Jones] Moore.
That’s because of how Massiah has handled data centers. I’ve been to commission meetings, and I’m not a fan of how she’s moved in those settings. I feel like she’s been too vague about where she stands, and it’s given too much leeway to the idea that this could be good for the county. I’m not interested in the middle ground around data centers. I’m interested in a hard no.
I’m still undecided for PSC [Public Service Commission] District 5. I need to find out more about the candidates. [For Democrats, it’s a three-way contest between Craig Cupid, Sheila Edwards and Angelia Pressley. -Ed.]
What do you wish elected officials understood about your life?
I spend a lot of time advocating on an educational level for families who don’t have a lot. I think that there is a [false] assumption that these families are the exception, and not the rule, right now.
I wish my leaders understood that on the ground, their individual decisions are having deep impacts on people’s daily lives – not from a theoretical standpoint, but from an ‘I might not eat if you make this decision. We may have to move, if you make this decision.’ I wish our leaders would be more thoughtful about how their decisions impact our lives.
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. We’re proud that ACC’s election coverage is free for everyone — but it’s not free to produce.
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