(The Center Square) – Qualifying for Georgia’s May 19 primaries ended Friday, setting up contests for some of the state’s top offices.
Elections will be held for governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. Senate and four U.S. House seats vacated by resignations. Qualifying did not yield any major surprises, since most candidates announced their intentions long before paying the qualifying fee.
Rick Jackson waited until the last day of qualifying to make his candidacy for governor official after entering an already crowded primary last month.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Attorney General Chris Carr, Clark Howard Dean, Gregg Kirkpatrick, Ken Yasger and Thomas Williams round out the field. Jones has the endorsement from President Donald Trump, but Jackson is actively courting the president in his campaign blitz, calling himself a “Trump-supporting conservative outsider” in a social media post.
Seven Democrats are in the May 19 primary. Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan switched from the Republican Party and is running for the state’s top job. Also in the race are former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former state senator Jason Esteves, former state representative Derrick Jackson, former Georgia labor commissioner Michael Thurmond, Amanda Duffy, and Olu Brown.
Four current or former Republican Georgia senators are vying for Jones’ job. Greg Dolezal, Steve Gooch, John Kennedy and Blake Tillery are running along with Brenda Lynn Nelson-Porter, David Timothy Clark and Takosha Misheal Swan. Democrats in the race are state Sens. Josh McLaurin and Nabilah Parkes, and Richard Wright.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff does not have a Democratic challenger, but five Republicans want to take him on in the November election. U.S Congressmen Buddy Carter and Mike Collins are leaving their posts to run for Senate. Former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley is also in the race and has Gov. Brian Kemp’s endorsement. Also in the Republican primary are Jonathan McCollum and John Francis Coyne III.
Eleven of the Republican candidates in the March 10 special election to replace former 14th District U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have qualified for the May 19 primary. They are former state senator Colton Moore, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit prosecutor Clay Fuller, James Edward Tully Jr., Brian Stover, Nicky Lama, Eric Brad Cunningham, Reagan Christane Box, Star Black, Thomas Gray and Beau Brown. Only one Democrat, Shawn Harris, qualified.
A former Greene challenger is running for the U.S. House District 11 seat. U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk is not seeking reelection.
Dr. John Cowan Jr., who challenged Greene in 2020 and lost in a runoff, is seeking Loudermilk’s post. Also running is Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, who is leaving the commission to run for the office. Other candidates in the Republican party are Robert Allen Adkerson, William Brown, Lisa Anne Carlquist, Uloma Stacy Kama and Chris Mora.
Democrats seeking the District 11 post are Barry Wolfert and Chris Harden.
Candidates for all of the offices are listed on the Secretary of State’s website.
