2026 Georgia gubernatorial election

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2026 Georgia gubernatorial election
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Party Republican Democratic
Incumbent Governor

Brian Kemp
Republican



The 2026 Georgia gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Georgia. Incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp is term-limited and cannot seek election to a third consecutive term. [1]

Contents

Background

Georgia is currently a swing state at the federal level (with two Democratic senators and having voted very close to the nation as a whole in Donald Trump's 2024 win i.e voting for Trump by 2.2 percent) but it has maintained a Republican lean at the state level, with Republicans holding all state-wide seats in the 2022 midterms in which Governor Brian Kemp was re-elected in a rematch against Democrat Stacey Abrams by a 7.5 percent margin and with 53.4 percent of the vote, [2] improving upon his 1.3-point victory against her four years earlier. Republicans also control both houses of the Georgia Legislature.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Endorsements

Chris Carr
Local officials
  • 53 county sheriffs [11]
Burt Jones
Executive branch officials

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Chris
Carr		Burt
Jones		Undecided
20/20 Insight [13] September 25–28, 2023245 (LV)± 6.3%9%18%73%

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of June 30, 2025
CandidateRaisedSpentCash on hand
Chris Carr (R)$3,439,652$770,793$2,668,859
Burt Jones (R)N/AN/AN/A
Source: Georgia Campaign Finance Commission [14]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Publicly expressed interest

Potential

Declined

Endorsements

Keisha Lance Bottoms
State legislators
Local officials
Labor unions
Jason Esteves
State legislators
Local officials
Organizations
Declined to endorse
State legislators

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of June 30, 2025
CandidateRaisedSpentCash on hand
Keisha Lance Bottoms (D)$1,125,668$32,973$1,092,695
Olujimi Brown (D)$32,869$16,648$16,221
Jason Esteves (D)$1,178,320$214,563$963,757
Derrick Jackson (D)$88,211$29,877$58,334
Source: Georgia Campaign Finance Commission [14]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Derrick
Jackson		Geoff
Duncan		Jason
Esteves		Keisha Lance
Bottoms		Michael
Thurmond		Olujimi
Brown		Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D) [28] [A] September 15–16, 2025620 (LV)–2%9%4%38%12%1%36%
Hypothetical polling
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Stacey
Abrams		OtherUndecided
20/20 Insight [13] September 25–28, 2023247 (LV)± 6.2%52%34%14%

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [29] TossupSeptember 11, 2025
Inside Elections [30] Tilt RAugust 28, 2025
Sabato's Crystal Ball [31] Lean RSeptember 4, 2025
Race to the WH [32] TossupSeptember 11, 2025

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

Partisan clients

  1. ↑ Poll sponsored by Bottoms's campaign

See also

References

  1. ↑ Van Brimmer, Adam (January 15, 2023). "Kemp inauguration: Governor's bid for higher office begins. Will it be Senate? President?". Savannah Morning News . Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  2. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (March 16, 2023). "Abrams says she will 'likely run again.' That doesn't excite some Democrats". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . ISSN   1539-7459 . Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  3. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (November 21, 2024). "Georgia AG Chris Carr launches GOP campaign for governor, kicking off 2026 race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  4. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (September 13, 2025). "Clark Dean preps outsider-themed GOP run for Georgia governor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . ISSN   1539-7459. Archived from the original on September 13, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
  5. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (July 8, 2025). "Burt Jones enters Georgia governor's race with Trump-aligned platform". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  6. ↑ Lupiani, Joyce; Tuman, Lindsay (September 17, 2025). "Brad Raffensperger announces run for Georgia governor". WAGA-TV . Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Patrick (November 2, 2023). "Southern, out, and electable: Sexual identity is not the deciding factor". Christian Science Monitor . Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  8. ↑ Amy, Jeff (July 29, 2025). "Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene won't run for governor in 2026". Associated Press . Retrieved July 29, 2025.
  9. ↑ Solender, Andrew (December 12, 2024). "GOP Rep. Ciscomani passes on run for Arizona governor". Axios . Retrieved December 12, 2024. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) is not considering a run for Senate or governor and his 'focused on and happy serving [Northeast] GA in the House,' a spokesperson said.
  10. ↑ Daughtry, Will (February 6, 2025). "Amid primary challenge, Rep. Andrew Clyde talks 2026 reelection bid". WDUN-FM . Retrieved February 17, 2025.
  11. ↑ Press (September 24, 2025). "53 Sheriffs Endorse Chris Carr for Governor". The Georgia Virtue. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  12. ↑ Wendler, Jacob (August 11, 2025). "Trump endorses Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for Georgia governor". Politico . Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  13. 1 2 "20-20 Insight, LLC - Poll of Georgia Likely Voters" (PDF). DocumentCloud . September 29, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  14. 1 2 "Search for Candidates/Campaign Committees". Georgia Campaign Finance Commission.
  15. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (May 20, 2025). "Bottoms enters race for Georgia governor with pledge to fight Trumpism". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . ISSN   1539-7459 . Retrieved May 20, 2025.
  16. ↑ Poole, Shelia (August 29, 2024). "Impact Church's former pastor, Olu Brown, announces bid for Georgia governor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  17. ↑ Schneider, Elena. "Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan runs for Georgia governor — as a Democrat". Politico . Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  18. 1 2 3 Amy, Jeff (April 21, 2025). "Georgia Democrat Jason Esteves says he's running for governor in 2026". Associated Press . Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  19. ↑ Mitchell, Tia (June 3, 2025). "State Rep. Derrick Jackson is latest Democrat to launch bid for governor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  20. ↑ Darnell, Tim (August 6, 2025). "Michael Thurmond announces 2026 Georgia governor's bid". WANF . Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  21. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (April 24, 2025). "Stacey Abrams considers third run for governor as some Georgia Democrats move on". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  22. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (August 20, 2025). "How to take on Trump? Georgia Democrats face the test in governor's race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  23. ↑ Bluestein, Greg; Mitchell, Tia; Murphy, Patricia; Beam, Adam (April 24, 2025). "Republican Bill Cowsert launches campaign for Georgia attorney general". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  24. ↑ "Rep. Lucy McBath says she will not campaign for governor". WXIA-TV . July 16, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  25. 1 2 3 Jarrett, Kim (August 14, 2025). "Big endorsements a year before Georgia's gubernatorial election". The Center Square . Retrieved September 11, 2025.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Darnell, Tim (May 29, 2025). "Esteves picks up 18 Atlanta endorsements in Democratic governor's primary". WANF . Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  27. ↑ Bluestein, Greg; Mitchell, Tia; Murphy, Patricia; Beam, Adam. "Latino Victory Fund backs Jason Esteves in Democratic primary for governor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved August 5, 2025.
  28. ↑ Bluestein, Greg; Mitchell, Tia; Murphy, Patricia; Beam, Adam (September 25, 2025). "Bottoms up? Poll shows why name recognition matters in governor's race". Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  29. ↑ "2026 CPR Governor Race ratings". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  30. ↑ "Gubernatorial Ratings". Inside Elections . Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  31. ↑ "2026 Governor". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  32. ↑ "Governor Forecast - 2026-2026". Race to the WH. Retrieved June 30, 2025.

Official campaign websites

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