taylorvilledailynews.com: https://taylorvilledailynews.com/local-news/srn-us-news/056e2048a69aad110fe3b84fa347887f

Speaker: —
Subject: GA-LEG-S35-ESTEVES
Source: GDELT news · original
Published: Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Democratic voters are also considering who should lead the party’s effort to win the governor’s office for the first time since 1998. The candidates include Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor; Geoff Duncan, a Republican-turned-Democrat who served as lieutenant governor; Jason Esteves, a former state senator; and Mike Thurmond, a former state labor commissioner.

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ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia is preparing for a blockbuster primary on Tuesday as Republicans look for a challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and choose between several candidates in a high-spending slugfest for the party&#8217;s nomination for governor.
In the Senate race, Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter are playing up their conservative records on Capitol Hill, while former college football coach Derek Dooley pitches himself as a political outsider.
The governor&#8217;s race has been transformed by healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson, who has spent more than twice as much as any other primary candidate in Georgia history. He&#8217;s facing off against fellow Republicans Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump; Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state; and Chris Carr, the state attorney general.
Democratic voters are also considering who should lead the party&#8217;s effort to win the governor&#8217;s office for the first time since 1998. The candidates include Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor; Geoff Duncan, a Republican-turned-Democrat who served as lieutenant governor; Jason Esteves, a former state senator; and Mike Thurmond, a former state labor commissioner.
It&#8217;s possible that none of these races could be settled on Tuesday if no candidates win a majority of the vote. Top two finishers would advance to a June 16 runoff.
Ossoff faces no opposition among Democrats as he seeks reelection by positioning himself as a staunch critic of Trump. He&#8217;s the only senator from his party running for reelection in a state that Trump won in 2024, making his campaign among the most closely watched in the country as Democrats try to retake control of the chamber.
The senator has raised almost $60 million this cycle, dwarfing potential Republican rivals. He’s taken aim at the president and his sons for personal business dealings. Ossoff calls political corruption a bipartisan problem and has pushed legislation to ban members of Congress from making individual stock trades.
Meanwhile, the Republican primary has been a test of fealty to the president. Collins, who represents a district east of Atlanta, and Carter, who represents a district anchored by Savannah, are playing up their conservative records on Capitol Hill. Dooley, the son of the late University of Georgia coach Vince Dooley, says he would back Trump’s agenda without being steeped in Washington politics.
Carter has attacked Collins over a pending House ethics investigation examining whether the representative abused taxpayer funds by paying the girlfriend of a top aide for work she allegedly didn&#8217;t perform. Collins denies wrongdoing.
“If taxpayers can’t trust you to properly steward their money, how can they trust you to be a U.S. senator?” Carter asked Collins in a primary debate.
“Buddy,” Collins shot back, “I can tell through the voice that you know how the polling is going out there.”
Collins, who has deep ties with grassroots con

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