James_Jan-Feb_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 85
iling for the 2026
elections will
not occur until
March, nonetheless numerous
hats have been
thrown into multiple rings. In some
rings, the ground is covered with
ball caps, fedoras, berets, visors and
other head coverings.
Last November’s special election
for two seats on the utility-regulating
state Public Service Commission
sounded a wake-up call for Republicans and inspired Democrats. The
defeat of the Republican incumbents
is at least partially due to the skewed
electorate. With many cities choosing mayors and other officials, urban
voters had an incentive to go to the
polls that was lacking in rural areas
where Republicans are concentrated.
While some GOP campaign professionals saw the threat to their candidates, no one anticipated a 26-point
blowout by Democrats Paul Hubbard
and Alicia Johnson.
A U.S. Senate primary &
multi-candidate governor contests
Popular incumbents dissuade primary challenges and that continues
to be the situation for Democrat U.S.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, who raised $12 million during the third quarter of 2025.
The array of Republicans hoping
to replace him numbers nine with
three having realistic chances of
SEN. JON OSSOFF–D
REP. MIKE COLLINS–R
REP. BUDDY CARTER–R
DEREK DOOLEY–R
securing the nomination. Polling this
early often reflects little more than
name recognition secured through
previous activities. U.S. Rep. Mike
Collins, who has received coverage
in the Atlanta media market where
most primary votes will be cast,
leads surveys of Republican voters.
Savannah U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter
has the most money on hand, $3.9
million and places second. Former
football coach Derek Dooley raised
the most money in the third quarter
($1.9) million and is in third place.
More than a third of those surveyed
did not even venture a guess as to a
preferred GOP candidate.
In the gubernatorial sweepstakes, both parties have seven
announced candidates. Leading
the GOP pack are three statewide
officeholders: Lt. Gov. Burt Jones,
Attorney General Chris Carr and
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Jones has the coveted Trump
endorsement. Raffensperger’s pushback against Trump’s 2020 demand
that he find 11,780 votes so that
he could win Georgia might make
him the favorite among anti-Trump
Republicans and independents. As a
harbinger of how vitriolic this contest could become, negative attack
ads on the well-funded Jones arrived
with the Thanksgiving turkeys.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, former Atlanta mayor
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