(Georgia Recorder) — The big election news this week came out of northwest Georgia, where voters whittled down the long list of candidates who are hoping to replace former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
That race is now set for an April 7 runoff, but state legislative races also remain unsettled and are heading to their own runoffs.
But it’s not just additions going on in the state Legislature – we’ve got late-breaking news about an unexpected subtraction.
State Sen. Nabilah Parkes, a Duluth Democrat, announced on Friday that she is stepping down from her office to focus on her recently announced run for lieutenant governor ahead of May’s primary election.
And speaking of the upcoming primary, blows were landed in Atlanta when Democratic candidates for governor squared off in a forum as the race heats up on both sides.
Finally, could Gov. Brian Kemp provide some relief at the pump following the U.S. and Israeli led attacks on Iran? Stay tuned on that one.
Nabilah Parkes resigns from state Senate
Sen. Nabilah Parkes resigned from the state Senate Friday, less than a month before the end of the 2026 Legislative session, citing frustration with Republican leadership.
In a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp formally announcing her departure, she wrote that “the legislature continues to be a place where good ideas go to die, and where extremists continue to attack our freedoms.”
The announcement comes just over a week after the Duluth Democrat officially qualified for the lieutenant governor’s race, a surprise switch from her previously announced campaign for insurance commissioner.
“I can best serve the people of Georgia now by devoting my full attention to winning the election for lieutenant governor,” she continued.
Her withdrawal from the state Legislature will also enable her to fundraise for her race, as lawmakers are prohibited from accepting campaign funds during the session.
Her main Democratic opponent, state Sen. Josh McLaurin of Sandy Springs, criticized her decision to step down from her seat.
“Her resignation will leave her constituents in Gwinnett County unrepresented and decrease Democratic voting power during the biggest fights of the year at the end of the legislative session,” McLaurin said in a statement.
He also called her decision “the type of purely political move that undermines trust with voters.”
A two-term legislator, Parkes was first elected in 2022, and became the first Muslim woman to join the chamber.
This year’s Legislative session is set to end April 2.
Intraparty attacks escalate in race for governor as May primaries loom
The race for Georgia’s next governor seemed to heat up after candidates officially qualified to run in early March.
About an hour and a half into a forum hosted this week by New Birth Missionary Baptist Church for the Democratic candidates for governor, former state Sen. Jason Esteves unleashed a bristling attack on the debate stage on former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who served as a Republican and is now running for governor as a Democrat. Esteves accused Duncan of making Georgia less safe by supporting legislation that legalized carrying firearms without a permit.
Esteves also said that he was glad Duncan has since changed his mind, but that “you don’t join a church and then the next month say you’re going to be senior pastor without having done the work.”
Duncan pounced back, saying that Esteves “must have woke up this morning and realized he’s still at 3% in the polls after 18 months of doing this,” and that Democrats don’t “need people up here to throw partisan cheap shots to get out of single digits.”
“I’m not doing this because I want to pad my resume and act like I’m just going to be governor for a few years — stop at the school board or stop at the state Senate just long enough to watch the paint dry. I want to solve your problems. I want to win this race, and I want to beat the Republicans worse than you do,” Duncan said.
Esteves said that “this is not personal, cheap shots. This is literally talking about records.”
The following day, his campaign launched an attack website, duncanforgeorgia.net, featuring social media posts and news coverage from the time Duncan served as a Republican lieutenant governor that portrayed Duncan as an “extremist” for “overseeing the passage of Georgia’s voter suppression law, deadly abortion ban, and extreme gun laws.”
The Duncan campaign said in a statement Friday that support for his campaign is growing because Democrats across Georgia see him as their best opportunity at flipping the governor’s seat from red to blue.
“He will stay focused on standing up to Trump and bringing down costs for Georgians, not tearing Democrats down when we need to build a coalition to win in November,” said campaign spokesperson Morgan Hopkins.
On the Republican side, attacks between health care executive Rick Jackson and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the two apparent frontrunners who are virtually tied in a recent poll, also escalated. After Jackson filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones, the two candidates traded jabs on social media and campaign ads, with Jackson posting a video of Jones calling him a “good friend” and thanking him for “his leadership and his friendship” shortly before Jackson released an ad calling Jones a “stone-cold liar.”
In a video posted to social media, Jones responded to the “lawsuit from my newfound friend, slick Rick Jackson,” by saying that they welcome the legal challenge as an opportunity to discuss “his business dealings and some of his dark money groups.”
Democratic lawmakers push for Kemp to suspend the state’s gas tax
Democrats in the state Legislature are calling on Gov. Brian Kemp to temporarily suspend the state’s gas tax to provide relief for Georgians struggling with escalating fuel prices.
Gas prices across the U.S. spiked this week in response to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, rising from just above $70 a barrel in the days before the U.S. and Israel’s Feb. 28 attack on Iran to nearly $120 per barrel early Monday.
By Friday, the average price for a gallon of gas in Georgia was $3.47, according to AAA, slightly below the national average of $3.63 per gallon.
Sen. Nikki Merritt, a Grayson Democrat, said the rising prices were unaffordable for Georgia’s families, and publicly called on Kemp, a Republican, to suspend the gas tax in a speech from the Senate floor Monday.
“Our attention right now should be taking care of people right here at home in the United States, protecting household budgets, stabilizing costs and ensuring families can afford basic necessities,” she said. “Georgia should not be bearing the cost of the financial fallout of poorly planned national policies.”
The state’s gas tax is 33 cents per gallon.
“Gas prices have risen over 60 cents per gallon in the last two weeks, and it’s time for us at the state legislature to act and deliver immediate relief for working families,” Rep. Akbar Ali, a Lawrenceville Democrat, said in a statement.
Kemp previously suspended the fuel tax in 2024 due to Hurricane Helene, and in 2023 after declaring a state of emergency due to high levels of inflation under then-President Joe Biden. But on Tuesday, the governor said he is waiting to see how markets react before rushing to make changes, and that the spike in oil prices “potentially could be a short term blip.”
“It’s going to be interesting to see how markets around the world adjust to what’s happening in Iran,” Kemp told reporters. “I think you’ll see markets start to shift and use different trade routes that will be very effective.”
Georgia’s 14th congressional race goes to a runoff
The 14th District race will be settled on April 7 with a runoff between Democrat Shawn Harris, a farmer and retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army, and Clay Fuller, a former district attorney and lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard who was endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Harris ended the night with 43,241 votes, good for 37% of the vote, and Fuller got 40,388 votes, or about 35%. It’s worth noting that the Democratic vote was split between three candidates while the Republican vote was split a dozen ways.
Harris is the underdog in the race but is expressing confidence and hitting the campaign trail in the hopes of winning over moderates and conservatives.
On Saturday, he’s scheduled to appear in Dallas alongside former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for a discussion of “service and leadership,” according to the Harris campaign. Buttigieg, who served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, endorsed Harris ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Fuller is also planning campaign stops around the district, including a meet and greet Saturday at the Paulding Civic Center.
Legislative race updates
While voters in northwest Georgia were selecting their next representative in Washington, others across the state were choosing their representatives in the state Legislature, who could help shape state policy for years to come.
The three legislative races held Tuesday also ended up in runoffs. Here’s who made the cut.
Senate District 53:
In Senate District 53, Republican Lanny Thomas led the pack in a four-way race with 38.7% of the vote, not enough to secure an outright win. Democrat John Bentley “Jack” Zibluk came in second with just under 27% of the vote.
The seat opened up when former Trenton Republican Sen. Colton Moore stepped down to run for Greene’s seat in Congress. Moore was a far-right lawmaker who often voted no on bills supported by his party. He earned the ire of party leaders on more than one occasion.
Thomas was previously the mayor of Trion as well as a public school educator and coach. Zibluk is a professor of communication.
House District 94:
In House District 94, which includes portions of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, four Democrats faced off to represent the district formerly held by Democrat Karen Bennett.
DeKalb County education consultant Venola Mason was at the top of the heap with just over 44% of the vote, and former Snellville Mayor Kelly Kautz took second place with around 23%.
In an email, Mason said her past service in the community makes her the best candidate. She said she previously served in positions including PTA president and HOA board member.
“That record of service is what motivates my campaign. I’m running to strengthen our public schools, expand economic opportunity, and ensure families have access to affordable healthcare,” she said. “I’m grateful for the support our campaign has received so far and look forward to continuing conversations with voters across the district as we move toward the April 7 runoff.”
Bennett resigned shortly before she was indicted for unemployment fraud. She has since pleaded guilty.
House District 130:
The voters of House District 130 in Richmond County selected a former Democratic state lawmaker and a Republican minister as their top two candidates to replace resigned former representative Lynn Heffner, a Democrat.
Democrat Sheila Clark Nelson was at the top of the list with about 33.5% of the vote, followed by Republican Thomas McAdams with just over 20%.
Nelson previously represented the area from 2017 until 2023, when she stepped down to care for her ailing mother.
“The election is about who will fight hardest for working families, who will reflect our shared values, and who has the experience to deliver real results,” she said on social media. “I’m ready to bring my energy, my proven legislative experience, and my commitment to service to the Georgia General Assembly.”
McAdams is running as a Christian family man.
“This runoff will come before you know it! The stakes are high and the margins are so slim,” he said on social media.
