Democrats battling for lieutenant governor spar over ability to flip seat, work with GOP majority

The Democratic contest to be the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor went from a relatively quiet race to one of the most spirited on the May ballot after one candidate joined the race at the last minute.  

Three candidates are battling it out at a time when Democrats are feeling optimistic about their chances of flipping control of statewide seats, although a Democratic lieutenant governor would likely preside over a GOP-controlled Senate and face the possibility of having their powers stripped from them. 

As the presiding officer of the state Senate, the lieutenant governor is responsible for assigning bills to committees and calling legislation to the floor for a vote. The lieutenant governor also plays a key role in influencing public opinion over policy decisions through the bully pulpit.

The likelihood of a Democratic lieutenant governor having to work with a Republican majority in the chamber – and who would be the most effective in that scenario  – has become a defining issue of the primary race so far. 

Whoever wins during the May primary election will face one of seven Republican candidates in the November general election.

Josh McLaurin, a 38-year-old attorney and state senator from Sandy Springs, said he plans to make healthcare more affordable by expanding Medicaid, restrict corporate ownership of housing stock and repeal Georgia’s six-week abortion ban. But he also sees the role as one that plays a key part in informing constituents about Democratic priorities and successes. 

“When Republicans pass legislation that’s unpopular or they try to roll back people’s rights, the six-week abortion ban being a good example, it doesn’t necessarily translate to Republicans losing in the ballot box unless Democrats are able to convincingly explain what state Republicans are up to,” McLaurin said in a phone interview.

“I think I would be the Democrats’ best messenger in this primary,” he added.

Nabilah Parkes, a 36-year-old consultant and former state senator from Duluth, also said she plans to expand Medicaid, lower the cost of living and work to protect Georgians’ voting rights. She had previously announced a bid for insurance commissioner before suddenly switching to the lieutenant governor’s race near the end of qualifying week.

She highlighted her background as a daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, a product of public schools and a first-generation college graduate and her work in the state Senate, arguing that she would be the best candidate to fight for working class Georgians.

“My lived experiences have informed my work and so hardworking Georgians can trust that I will fight for them every day because I’m living the struggles that they have lived through,” she said in a phone interview.

Richard Wright, a 49-year-old certified public accountant and business owner, said he plans to focus on expanding Medicaid, increasing access to early learning opportunities and supporting small businesses.

Though the other two candidates in the race both have experience serving as state lawmakers, Wright has cast himself as a political outsider who can “change the tone in the Georgia Senate.” He argues he has the ability to build the relationships needed to succeed under the Gold Dome.

“A lot of people have a wall up, but the wall comes down when they see there’s a human, there’s a person that they’re talking to, not a politician full of talking points,” he said in a phone interview.

On the fundraising side, McLaurin has far outpaced the other two candidates, accumulating more than $300,000 as of January for a campaign he launched a year ago. Parkes had raised over $55,000 for her insurance commissioner bid, but has not yet filed her campaign disclosures in the lieutenant governor’s race. Wright had raised more than $28,000 as of his last filing. The last day to file new campaign spending reports is Thursday. 

The candidates also exchanged barbs during an Atlanta Press Club debate Sunday, with McLaurin criticizing Parkes for abruptly resigning from her position as a state senator to focus on her campaign for lieutenant governor less than 10 legislative days before the end of the 2026 session.

“Your constituents in District 7 lacked representation for the entire duration of the legislative session after that, including the busiest day of the year,” McLaurin said. He also accused her of being absent from the campaign trail.

“Democracy is more than raising money and spending it on digital ads or spending it on mail,” he said. “Democracy means showing up in person.”

Campaign video targeting ‘sharia law’ draws a new candidate to Georgia’s lieutenant governor race

But Parkes — who said she was motivated to join the race by the release of a campaign ad from Republican state senator and lieutenant governor candidate Greg Dolezal depicting AI-generated Muslims terrorizing white Georgia residents — criticized McLaurin’s campaign skills, accusing him of running “a state House campaign for lieutenant governor.”

“Frankly, you don’t have the horsepower to take down a Greg Dolezal or Blake Tillery in a general election,” she said, referencing another candidate running on the Republican side. “So that is why I’m standing before you today.”

Parkes also took a swing at comments McLaurin made during the debate that she and Wright “wouldn’t be respected” by Republicans in the state Senate if they were to be elected.

“What we saw on that debate stage wasn’t just out of touch, it was offensive,” she said in a press release after the debate, noting that both she and Wright are people of color.

But in an interview, McLaurin said his comments were about experience and relationship-building.

Wright “lacks the experience inside the Capitol, and I don’t know if his candidacy would be taken seriously by the people he’d have to work with,” he said. 

He also highlighted the endorsements he’d received from his fellow state legislators, saying “I’ve got at least 17 Senate colleagues who have endorsed me in this race, and the reason that they’ve done that is [Parkes] has, candidly, been very difficult to work with, and I know for a fact that Republicans feel the same way.”

Early voting for the state primary election is already underway, and election day is set for May 19. You can rewatch the full recording of this year’s Democratic lieutenant governor debate on the Atlanta Press Club’s YouTube channel.