Liberal voters- who should you vote for in the Democratic primary for Governor?

As opposed to Trump’s statements about being overwhelmingly popular when he was elected President, even then almost half (49%) of voters disapproved of him then. Now, Trump’s disapproval rating has reached new heights- 59% disapprove (https://www.cnn.com/polling/approval/trump-cnn-poll-of-polls ). 

This self-destruction of Donald Trump… over the Iran war, immigration and the economy… is a key reason why we have more candidates than usual for the Democratic nomination for Governor. The Democrats have a real chance to win for the first time since Roy Barnes lost to Republican Sonny Perdue in 2002.

The two leading candidates and their polling numbers are: former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (35%), and former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan (13%).  Former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, former Georgia State Senator Jason Esteves, State Representative Derrick Jackson, Amanda Duffy and former pastor Olujimi Brown are also running. But none are receiving much support, per the latest polling which also indicates that  39% of Democratic voters are undecided, a significant factor (https://emersoncollegepolling.com/georgia-2026-poll-senator-ossoff-starts-re-election-near-50-and-outpaces-gop-field/ ). This column will address front runners.

Keisha Lance Bottoms is well-known to Georgians due to her tenure as Atlanta’s Mayor. A native of Atlanta, she is also the choice of blackGeorgians, with nearly half (48%) supporting her in the primary. Rick Jackson, the leader in the GOP primary due to his planned expenditure of $50 million of his fortune to buy the election, has decided she will be his Democratic competition. He has started to send out pamphlets attacking her as soft on crime and immigration.

During her service as Mayor (2018 until 2022), Bottoms successfully encouraged business development. She was known for supporting theLGBTQ community and civil rights, while opposing obvious ICE extremism. She also condemned rioting in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police. Bottoms was on the more progressive side of the pandemic debate, endorsing closing businesses and wearingmasks as opposed to more libertarian GOP politicians like Governor Kemp.

Geoff Duncan, former Lt. Governor from 2019 until 2022, is running a distant second in the race. A Georgia Tech grad and former basketballplayer, Duncan is a moderate who has pushed Georgia’s emergence in the field of technology, something he continues to advocate for today (https://www.duncanforgeorgia.com/issues/economy/ ).

In November 2020, Trump falsely advocated that he had won the Presidential election in Georgia and elsewhere. Duncan had the courage to criticize him for repeatedly attempting to steal that election.

Eyeing a run at Governor and being fully aware of the rightward MAGA turn in the GOP, he became a Democrat in 2025… after announcing in 2024 that he would be supporting Kamala Harris (https://www.gpb.org/news/2025/09/16/republican-turned-democrat-geoff-duncan-running-for-governor ). Last year, the Georgia Republican Party expelled him, a purely ceremonial gesture.

Duncan clearly is much more moderate than the GOP when it comes to food stamps (SNAP), healthcare and Medicaid. He was against the Trump cuts contained in the Big Beautiful Bill, which also increased the deficit by trillions of dollars while cutting SNAP. On Medicaid, he declares “there is no other option” other than expansion (https://www.duncanforgeorgia.com/issues/healthcare/). Georgia has the third most uninsured in the nation and Kemp has refused federal money for expansion.

On immigration he wants enforcement of our laws and the deportation of criminals, while creating a path to citizenship for long time USresident who are undocumented. He also wants us to be inclusive in our state hiring practices.

Consistent with his courageous stand after the 2020 insurrection and the attempt to steal the election by MAGA supporters, Duncan wantsconstructive reforms to promote democracy (https://www.duncanforgeorgia.com/issues/democracy/ ). For example, the end of partisan gerrymandering.

On gun control, Duncan advocates for background checks and red flag laws to identify those who should not own guns, such as criminals, the mentally ill and substance abusers. However, since running for office, he has deemphasized this issue.

The Republican candidates are busy attacking each other, hurting all of them. Both Democratic candidates support relatively moderate/liberal policies. The question that Democrats should be asking themselves is “who has a better chance of defeating a Republican in the Gubernatorial election?”