Democratic Sen. Jason Esteves launches bid for Ga. governor
ATLANTA, Ga. - A two-term Atlanta state senator is hoping to become Georgia’s first Afro-Latino governor in history.
On Monday, state Sen. Jason Esteves announced his candidacy in next year’s wide-open governor’s race.
“I’m running for governor to make Georgia the number one place to work, start a business, and raise a family,” Esteves said in his campaign launch video.
Esteves, a Columbus native, said he wants to help the people of Georgia as current politicians in the state are backing moves made by President Donald Trump and his istration.
The 41-year-old state senator, also a lawyer and business owner, remains largely unknown outside his state Senate district, which includes parts of Fulton and Cobb counties. An early announcement could help him to raise money and increase his visibility.
He’s likely to emphasize his biography, including his young children and his past service as a public school teacher. Esteves has also served as treasurer of the state Democratic Party, giving him a network among Democratic activists.
In a video announcing his candidacy, Esteves sounded a note of opposition to Republican President Donald Trump while saying he would emphasize lowering the cost of living, including housing costs, as well as expanding health care, restoring abortion rights and increasing funding for schools.
“As extreme politicians in Georgia push Trump’s reckless agenda and rig the system for special interests, Georgians pay the price,” he said.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has said she plans to run for governor as a Democrat, but has not yet filed papers to create a campaign. Former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has also expressed interest, and two-time nominee Stacey Abrams could yet choose to run again.
On the Republican side, Attorney General Chris Carr announced his run for governor last year and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is expected to announce his candidacy soon.
Former state Sen. Jason Carter, Democrats’ 2014 nominee and grandson of the late former President Jimmy Carter, said he has no plans to seek the 2026 nomination because of his wife’s cancer diagnosis. Kate Carter has glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The couple has two teenage sons.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath announced on March 31 that she was suspending her exploratory bid for governor in 2026, saying she needed to focus on her husband Curtis’ health after complications from cancer surgery. The four-term member of Congress, best known as a gun control advocate, had filed papers on March 5 to raise money for governor.
SEE THE CAMPAIGN VIDEO
From 2005 to 2007, Esteves was a member of Teach For America; he also worked as an associate for giant law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge from 2010 to 2014.
Before becoming a member of the state Senate, Esteves was a school teacher and later served on the Board of Education for Atlanta Public Schools for almost a decade, leading the board for four years.
According to the state senator, APS “achieved record-breaking” graduation rates during his tenure, as well as provided over $100 million in staff pay increases and stipends.
Esteves was elected treasurer of the Democratic Party of Georgia in 2019, and resigned from the position in 2025.
“Now more than ever, we need to tackle the high cost of living, improve access to health care, protect women’s reproductive freedom, lower housing costs, and invest in schools across the state,” Esteves said.
MORE FROM NEWS 12
Trump 2.0: Latest on the istration
- Trump istration sues Maine over trans athletes in girls sports
- Biden alleges Trump has ‘taken a hatchet’ to Social Security
- Immigration attorney says DHS told her to self-deport, despite U.S. citizenship
- Trump istration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard over campus activism
- Trump considers pausing his auto tariffs as the world economy endures whiplash
The man Esteves is seeking to replace, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, is term-limited in 2026, setting up to be the state’s most contested gubernatorial contests in recent memory.
The last time the seat was open was in 2018, in which Kemp, then secretary of state, and state Rep. Stacey Abrams went head to head in a bitterly fought contest. Despite her defeat, Abrams had a brief run as a rising Democratic Party star and was chosen to deliver her party’s response to President Donald Trump’s 2019 state of the union address.
But Kemp handily defeated Abrams in 2022 in his reelection bid, and Abrams’ voting rights group she founded in 2014, New Georgia Project, has since been beset by controversy.
According to his campaign, Esteves and his wife, Ariel, own several small businesses across the state, including an urgent and primary care clinic in the Atlanta area and restaurants in Columbus and Macon.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
