(The Center Square) – Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, D-Duluth, said Monday she will seek the 2026 Democratic nomination for governor, entering a crowded field.
Romman is a native of Jordan, and the daughter of Palestinian refugees, she said on her campaign website.
“Now is the time to be brave,” Romman said on her Facebook page. “Republicans have controlled our state for over 20 years and in that time we’ve ranked lower in education, hospitals have shut down, and the minimum wage remains at an abysmal $5.15 an hour. I’m running for governor to raise the minimum wage, reopen hospitals, feed hungry kids, take homes back from corporations and invest in small businesses.”
She was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2022 and is the first Muslim woman elected to the Georgia House. Romman won reelection in 2024.
The governor’s race has attracted a number of high-profile candidates. For the Democrats, former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson, Akhenaten Hotep Amun, Olu Brown, Benjamin Turner and Ocean Zotique are in the race.
Republicans have three state office holders in the race: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Lieutenant Gov. Burt Jones and Attorney General Chris Carr. Other Republicans listed on the Georgia Campaign Finance website are Ben Anderson, Clark Dean, Scott Daniel Ellison, Gregg Rodney Kirkpatrick, Billy Gene Minter II, Leland J. Olinger II, Walter Paschal Reeves II, Takosha Mishel Swan and Kenneth Yasger.
