Georgia Democrat Lucy McBath says she's exploring a 2026 run for governor

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is completing his second term and can't run again. On the Republican side, Attorney General Chris Carr is already running for governor in 2026 and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is widely expected to run.

Other Democrats who have been exploring a run include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves and former DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Michael Thurmond. Democrat Stacey Abrams, who ran and lost to Kemp in 2018 and 2022, has not closed the door on a third run.

McBath first won election to Congress in 2018, ousting Republican U.S. Rep Karen Handel to seize a seat in Atlanta's northern suburbs once held by Newt Gingrich. When Republicans redrew electoral districts after the 2020 Census, McBath jumped into a primary race against fellow Democrat Carolyn Bordeaux, beating her handily and winning election. Then after a court ordered another round of redistricting after finding African American votes were diluted, McBath shifted to a district Republicans drew on the western side of Atlanta.

Those moves mean McBath has represented a much larger number of voters than the typical member of Congress, which could make her a stronger statewide candidate.

McBath, like Abrams, would be bidding to become the first Black female governor of an American state. While that remains a difficult hurdle to cross, McBath is likely to have advantages as a Black woman in a Democratic primary in Georgia, where Black women are the backbone of the party.

But McBath also tries to cultivate bipartisan appeal, especially with suburban swing voters. She was one of four Georgia Democrats earlier this year who voted for the Laken Riley Act, named for a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed last year by a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally. The law was the first that President Donald Trump signed in his second term and makes it easier to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crimes.

“Georgians deserve a Governor who understands what’s at stake — because they’ve lived it,” McBath said in a statement Thursday. “As a mom and breast cancer survivor, I’ve seen firsthand how regular people are too often left out of the political process. I look forward to continuing this conversation with my neighbors and fellow Georgians.”

The 64-year-old McBath rose to prominence as a gun control advocate after her 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed in 2012 by a white man who was angry over the loud music the Black teenager and his friends were playing at a Jacksonville, Florida, gas station. McBath, a former flight attendant, has had her political career heavily backed by billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

She touts her support of a 2022 law that toughens background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keeps firearms from more domestic violence offenders and helps states enact red flag laws making it easier for authorities to take weapons from people judged dangerous.

McBath led a group of survivors and family members of victims of gun violence who spoke in a prime-time slot at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.