Latest news with #DemocraticPartyofGeorgia
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘I'm excited': Charlie Bailey named new chair of Georgia Democratic Party
After a brief power struggle within the Democratic Party of Georgia, former Fulton County prosecutor Charlie Bailey is the new party chair and vows to bring his passion to getting more Democrats elected across the state. Bailey told Channel 2's Richard Elliot that his goal is to go after the base and those so-called 'Soft Republicans,' the Republicans who voted for Gov. Brian Kemp but also voted Sen. Raphael Warnock. Elliot sat down with Bailey on Friday, just a week after the state committee made him the leader of the state Democratic party. 'I'm excited,' he told Elliot. Bailey is from Harris County and spent time in the Fulton County DA's Office prosecuting criminal street gangs. He said Democrats have to earn back trust and credibility with Georgia voters, which is no easy task. 'I mean, it's no secret that the polling in this state and around the country, we're at historic lows in terms of our appeal, but so are Republicans,' Bailey said. TRENDING STORIES: Traffic stop lands GA college student in ICE custody 2 weeks after same thing happened to father GSP trooper pulled from car after landing in creek during chase Buc-ee's announces opening date for new Georgia location Earlier this year, there was a power struggle among the Democratic Party leadership after some defeats. But Baileyt insists they're unified behind one goal. 'We're unified behind the fact that Republican leadership is a disaster for working people in this state and has been for a while,' Bailey said. Bailey is passionate about getting Democrats elected, whether it's flipping the Georgia General Assembly or getting U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff reelected. Ossoff said he's glad for Bailey's support. 'I think he's positioned to do well, and I'm going to work closely with him in order to protect voting rights here in the Peach State to make sure every eligible voter has access to the ballot and continue to move our state forward,' Ossoff said. 'We've got a great party here and a lot of good people in office, but we've got a lot of work and we're hitting the ground running,' Bailey told Elliot. Elliot reached out to the Georgia Republican Party to see if they could make any comment or reaction to Bailey's election as DPG chair. So far, he has not heard back from them.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kemp decision to avoid 2026 Georgia U.S. Senate race scrambles projected field against Ossoff
Gov. Brian Kemp. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder Gov. Brian Kemp announced on Monday that he will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2026, a decision that could have a ripple effect on the re-election campaign for Sen. Jon Ossoff. The Georgia governor announced his decision via social media that he would no longer run in the pivotal 2026 election in which he was seen as the early favorite to challenge Ossoff, who along with U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock won historic 2020 elections for Georgia Democrats. In a move to intensify its efforts to fundraise and campaign for candidates, the Democratic Party of Georgia elected Charlie Bailey as its chair on Saturday as it reenergizes the party's base following setbacks following the 2020 victories. Kemp wrote In a statement posted on X Monday he has decided that running for U.S. Senate is not the right for him. 'I spoke with President Trump and Senate leadership earlier today and expressed my commitment to work alongside them to ensure we have a strong Republican nominee who can win next November, and ultimately be a conservative voice in the US Senate who will put hardworking Georgians first,' Kemp wrote on X. 'I am confident we will be united in that important effort, and I look forward to electing the next generation of leaders up and down the ballot here in the Peach State who will keep our state and nation headed in the right direction in 2026 and beyond,' Kemp said. Political analysts said Kemp's decision not to run for the Senate makes sense since being a low ranking member of that chamber would be a step down from being governor. They suggest that Kemp will reap significant financial rewards for public speaking on behalf of the Republican Party while also keeping his options open for a 2028 run for the White House. Ossoff's U.S. Senate Campaign Manager Ellen Foster released a statement Monday following the Kemp announcement. 'As we've said for the past few months, Sen. Ossoff is well-prepared to defeat any challenger,' Foster wrote. 'As Republicans scramble in the aftermath, our campaign will continue to build insurmountable momentum needed to win next November.' Georgia Republican election strategist Brian Robinson said although Kemp was the top tier candidate in the Senate race, other GOP contenders have the opportunity to prove themselves in the primary to become the top candidate. Robinson said he is not surprised about Kemp's announcement Monday and dismissed the notion that despite high polling favorability ratings that Kemp was not a 'shoe-in' to defeat Ossoff. The Republican senatorial candidate in 2026 will also have the opportunity to raise enough money and build a campaign platform to defeat Ossoff, Robinson said. 'I think (Kemp) would have been miserable if he had won, ' Robinson said. 'I think he had other calculations as well. I think he can go make a lot of money. His network after being (Republican Governors Association chair) this year is going to be absolutely incredible and is worth millions of dollars. He can feather his nest to keep his options open for running in 2028. We don't know what the environment is going to be in 2026 with the White House occupying party always facing headwinds in midterms, and the political environment is one that we can't predict.' Robinson said the Republican crop of candidates will have the opportunity to win over the voters necessary to run a strong campaign against the Democratic incumbent. Charles Bullock, political science professor at the University of Georgia, said the Republican Senate candidate winner next year needs to be a candidate who can compete against Ossoff in November's general election. Bullock agreed with Robinson that Kemp's decision is likely influenced by Kemp's ability to generate significant income and the uncertainty of the political climate in 2026. It is not uncommon for the party in power in the White House to lose ground in the midterm elections, Bullock said. Republicans and Democratic candidates are expected to use Trump-focused messages to build support for their party's candidates this year. Kemp was successful in securing Democratic votes in his 2022 campaign against Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, Bullock said. Bullock said the Ossoff campaign is likely turning 'hand-flips' after Kemp turned down the Senate bid, referencing the same advantages as Robinson to being governor instead of a low ranking U.S. Senator. Bullock said that the Ossoff campaign is most likely hopeful that right wing U.S. Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene emerges as top GOP candidate for Senate. Greene will be able to raise large sums of money for her campaign but he said that Greene's style could be problematic in a statewide race. A Greene staffer declined to comment on her future political aspirations but said she is honored to have the support of Georgians. 'Governor Kemp has been a great governor for the state of Georgia,' Greene said in a statement. 'I wish him and his family well in all their future endeavors.' Savannah Republican U.S. Rep Buddy Carter is another potential candidate who is wellknown in the region but will have to fight for name recognition in Atlanta, Bullock said. 'The Atlanta area is where the bulk of the votes that result from the primary is going to come from and they're going to spend money to get known in the Atlanta area,' Bullock said. 'The same thing for Rep. Mack Collins or Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is probably the best known member of Congress but she is the kind of person that will have a harder time than others holding onto the white college-educated voters, which is decisive in Georgia.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Dems pick former AG candidate Bailey to lead party back to win column
Charlie Bailey, celebrates May 3, 2025, after being elected as chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, replacing Atlanta U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder Charlie Bailey, a former attorney general and lieutenant governor candidate, was elected as chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia Saturday, replacing Atlanta U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams. Bailey becomes the Democratic Party of Georgia's first full-time chair as the party intensifies its efforts to fundraise and campaign for candidates and reenergize a base after setbacks following the 2020 historic elections for U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. President Donald Trump's return to the White House looms large as Georgia Democrats look ahead, which fueled questions about the role of party leadership in winning close elections. Trump's narrow Georgia win played a key role in his return to the White House this year. In Saturday's runoff election to lead Georgia Democrats, Bailey won 53% of the votes, with a margin of 116 votes to 98 votes, over Wendy Davis, a former Rome city commissioner and 2022 candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Bailey was the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2018 and lieutenant governor in 2022. Several top elected Democrats endorsed Bailey, including Ossoff and U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Marietta Democrat who delivered Bailey's nomination speech on Saturday. The new chair said he plans to hit the ground running by raising money for key races this year and in next year's election when Ossoff will be on the ballot. He'll also need to focus on races for state legislative and statewide constitutional seats including governor. Bailey will need to unite progressive and more moderate wings of Georgia's Democratic base to get the party back in the win column. 'I only ask to be judged on my heart and on my work, and I think my work as a lawyer and in politics shows I've got a heart for democratic values,' Bailey said following the election. 'We're going to support all of our people and get as many Democrats elected across the state as humanly possible.' During his campaign for party chair, Bailey has cited his experience as an attorney who represented local officials seeking to stop last-minute rule changes made by the State Election Board that might have prevented the certification of the presidential election. Bailey finished first among a field of party chair candidates that also included Gwinnett County state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, former Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis, Nakita Hemingway of Atlanta, a former Democratic nominee for Agricultural commissioner, and District 1 chairman Jay Jones from coastal Georgia, who finished third in Saturday's election. Bailey said that the state Democratic Party will have to win over voters by following the party's long-held ideals for improving health care, education and the economy inequality. Bailey said Georgia's Republican Party is failing residents because of the closure of rural hospitals after the state GOP's leadership resistance to full Medicaid expansion and lagging public school ratings. 'That is what they have given us, the people of Georgia,' Bailey said. 'Democrats, independents, Republicans, they got full cause to be angry about that, and we're going to make sure that they know what the Republicans have done, the choices they make, and what we stand for.' McBath said Bailey is the right person to lead the party because he knows the ins and outs of politics while also being able to raise the millions of dollars needed for campaigning. 'I'm not going to mince words about what's happening in D.C. right now,' McBath said. 'Our democracy is truly on the line, and it's time that Georgians stand up. It's time that we say enough is enough.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Democrats set to regroup after 2024 election reversals from 2020 wins
Charlie Bailey is the perceived favorite to become the next Democratic Party of Georgia chair because he has experience running in statewide elections and an ability to rally donors. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder (File) The Democratic Party of Georgia is set to elect a new state chair on Saturday to compete against Republican-controlled state and federal governments. A new leader will be selected by the Georgia Democrats to replace Atlanta U.S. Representative Nikema Williams, who resigned in March following internal pressure from key members of her party, including U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, who expressed doubts about her ability to devote sufficient attention to promoting the party's platform. Ossoff plans a bid to retain his Senate seat in 2026 and he expressed his desire for a change in party leadership after the Democrats' poor performance up and down the ballot in last year's election. President Donald Trump's administration's reshaping of the White House agenda looms large in the wake of his return to office, which raises questions about the role of Democratic party leadership in winning close elections. Seven candidates are competing for the Democratic Party of Georgia chair and plan to deliver speeches in Atlanta seeking support for their bid to lead a party that recently enjoyed historical success with two Democratic senators winning the 2020 election as well as the state's pivotal role in putting former President Joe Biden in the White House. The field of candidates hoping to lead Georgia Democrats includes Gwinnett County state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, former Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis and Rome City Councilwoman Wendy Davis, and perceived frontrunner Charley Bailey, a former candidate for attorney general and lieutenant governor. The current party chair Matthew Wilson said Democrats are excited about the state committee meeting on Saturday. He said they have seven great candidates running for chair, a treasurer's race, and other votes to determine key strategies. 'The party is primed to stand up against Republican policies rolling out from Washington, D.C.'The benefit to being a big tent party like the Democratic Party is that we have lots of different voices from all corners of the political spectrum. We've got conservatives, we have moderates, we have liberals, we have progressives, and it is going to be a big job for the new chair to make sure that we are united moving forward in a strategy that centers, again, what matters most, and that's electoral victories,' Wilson said. The 2026 election will include races for the 236-member General Assembly, U.S. Senate as well as constitutional officers including governor after Republican Brian Kemp is ineligible for a third term. University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock said there is a built-in advantage for incumbent state officials since 2023 legislation allows top Georgia lawmakers to set up their own political action committees during the legislative session. Democrats have signaled the importance of the next chair by making it a full-time role, especially with many statewide positions and key Senate races up for grabs in Georgia, Bullock said. The success of Democratic candidates will depend on their ability to coalesce behind a strong candidate and avoid bitter primaries, he said. 'Its potentially going to be a big year in Georgia giving Democrats a shot at winning some of the statewide constitutional offices,'. 'They haven't won an open seat statewide constitutional office in this century.' Bailey is the perceived favorite to become the next party chair because he has experience running in statewide elections and an ability to rally donors by not having certain skeletons that would be easy for Republicans to take advantage of, Bullock said. 'He can learn from the challenges that he had to overcome as a candidate,' Bullock said. ' He is advising others who maybe have not had the kind of scrutiny that a person gets when they start running statewide so he can give advice in terms of here's some things you don't want to say you believe in.' Brian Robinson, a Georgia Republican strategist, said Democratic candidates will need to overcome the perception that Georgia is well-run by Republicans. Democrats could sway voters by taking advantage of national issues such as Trump's poor approval ratings on the economy as he's followed through on plans to impose steep tariffs. A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll found that a majority of registered Georgia voters currently disapprove of Trump's policies on the economy, tariffs, NATO and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. The poll, however, revealed the support for Trump's policies were sharply partisan, with 85% of surveyed Republicans approving compared to 97% of Democrats opposed. 'Republicans in Georgia are going into 2026 with a lot of things out of their control,' Robinson said. They're going to nee focus on the things they can control: get out to vote, raise money, and pick candidates who can win. But we know that there's a headwind for the party in the White House.' 'If Trump's approval rating is the low 40s or high 30s, that's a prime opportunity for Democrats in the state, if they can have discipline to pick good candidates who don't scare the middle, don't scare independents, and can win (support) from some swing voters in the metro Atlanta area,' Robinson said. The big question for 2026 is whether Kemp enters the GOP field of potential challengers to Ossoff's re-election bid. 'Is Brian Kemp heads and tails the best choice for Republicans as the most competitive candidate?' Robinson asked. 'Yes, absolutely and anybody who says different is not a serious person to talk about politics.' 'But that second tier of GOP candidates will become the first tier at that juncture,' Robinson said. 'They will get nominated, and they will have a lot of money behind them from a lot of organizations.' State Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, an Augusta Democrat, said the next party chair needs to be able to work closely with the local parties. 'I think the key is to work with the county parties and make sure you have a good brand name as far as 2026 is concerned,' the Augusta Democrat said. ' I think all of them are basically committed to that.' Sandy Springs Democratic Sen. Josh McLaurin is optimistic about the party having a groundswell of support for officials fighting for party ideals. 'They want to see energy, the Democratic base does, from its leadership, because what we don't want is to treat this like it's just normal politics, like the Trump deportations and the tariffs and all of this is just kind of business as usual,' McLaurin said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State senator announces bid for head of Democratic Party of Georgia
At the end of March, U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams announced her resignation from her position as head of the Democratic Party of Georgia. Now, with the state chapter of the Democratic Party announcing their election schedule for a new party head, a state senator from Gwinnett County is throwing her name in the running. Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes announced her candidacy for chair of the DPG on Friday morning. 'This election cycle is absolutely critical for Georgians – and we need to do everything we can to elect Democrats who will fight for working families and the middle class up and down the ballot, including re-electing Jon Ossoff to the Senate. We won in 2020 and 2022 by energizing our base while also appealing to new voters, and we can do it again,' Islam Parkes said in a statement. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: MLK assassination 57 years later: How the King family will remember the civil rights icon today Sine Die: 3 things to know about the end of Georgia legislative session 8 Georgia candidates are seeking 2 seats on a commission that regulates utilities She closed off her announcement by saying she's 'not afraid of a tough fight,' when it comes to close elections, referring to the current political state of affairs in Georgia and Washington. Ahead of the party election in May, the DPG will hold several in-person, regional candidate forums. Dates for the forums have yet to be announced but a schedule is expected sometime next week. DPG elections are expected to be held on May 3 in Atlanta. A unity fundraiser will be held in mid-May, according to a statement from Democratic Party of Georgia Interim Chair Matthew Wilson. 'Georgia Democrats are laser-focused on holding Republicans accountable at the ballot box this year and next for all the harm they've caused hardworking Georgia families,' Wilson said. 'We're wasting no time filling these vacancies because the stakes couldn't be higher, and every Georgian sick and tired of being sick and tired will be working together to defeat Republicans in 2026.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
