By Melita Easters
Georgia WIN List Executive Director
© Georgia WIN List on January 12, 2026
Georgia’s 2026 political landscape is highly competitive and could very well set the stage for a seismic shift in Georgia’s political landscape. Trends indicate a move away from total Republican dominance towards at least shared power with Democrats.
The next two tests of power will be a Jan 20 Special Election for SD 18, followed by a Congressional District 14 Special election in March. Then, the May primary elections will determine which candidates advance to November’s General Election when most of Georgia’s Constitutional offices and all 236 legislative seats will be on the ballot.
With Governor Brian Kemp term limited, the remaining top three “stale, pale & male” Republican statewide constitutional officers are running for Georgia governor in 2026. Never before in the history of modern Georgia politics (going back to the 1940’s,) have all four of the top Constitutional offices been “Open” seats at the same time.
Georgia’s Congressional delegation is on the verge of significant changes as CD 1 & CD 10 Republican incumbents campaign to unseat Senator Jon Ossoff. A special election to replace Republican CD 14 Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned effective January 5, is set for March 10, with qualifying January 12 & 13. Further, CD 13 Congressman David Scott, whose health is failing, now faces his most serious challengers since first elected in 2002.
These highly competitive “top of ticket” contests for open seats combine with ambitious 2026 bids for higher office by currently serving legislators on both sides of the aisle to create Georgia’s most competitive AND expensive ever election season with an unprecedented number of “open” legislative seats.
Following two November 2025 statewide PSC seat FLIPs from red to blue and a December 9 Athens area HD 121 FLIP by Eric Gisler, Democrats have high hopes for 2026! The trend lines for increasing the number of elected women and for a narrowing gap between Republicans and Democrats are headed in a favorable direction as Georgia WIN List recruits and endorses Democratic women candidates for 2026!
Georgia’s shifting trend towards blue took a dramatic leap on January 5, 2021 when United States Senators Jon Ossoff and The Rev. Raphael Warnock won runoff races which FLIPped both of Georgia’s Senate seats from Red to Blue. The re-election of The Rev. Senator Warnock in 2024 re-confirmed a Democrat COULD WIN statewide and the November 2025 Public Service Commission Special Election WINs re-confirmed “Battleground” status for 2026.
Nationwide, in 2026, Senator Ossoff is the only sitting Democratic Senator up for re-election who represents a state President Donald Trump carried in 2024. Senator Ossoff’s closely watched, highly competitive, and outrageously expensive contest will receive national and international attention. The fact North Carolina’s moderate Republican Senator Thom Tillis will not seek re-election for a third term after voting with Democrats on the “Big Beautiful Budget” bill combines with a December 2025 gubernatorial announcement by former Alabama Senator Doug Jones to further pull the spotlight of international attention on the overall 2026 Southern political landscape.
In Georgia, ambitious bids for higher office by currently serving legislators on both sides of the aisle create a record setting number of “OPEN” legislative seats – an estimated two dozen currently. Some insiders predict this number may rise to as many as three dozen by qualifying day.
Traditionally, legislators planning to retire often delay such announcements until just before qualifying, which for 2026 is March 2 to 6. This timeline allows “hand-picked” successors more time to establish a campaign plan because retiring legislators often “pave the way” for a chosen successor. However, the results of several recent special elections clearly demonstate voters do not always vote for “status quo succession planning.”
For the Republican gubernatorial primary, candidates include Lt. Governor Burt Jones, Attorney General Chris Carr, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Lt. Gov. Jones kicked off his campaign with a $10 million “personal loan” to his campaign. Already, “Georgians for Integrity” – a mysterious dark money PAC – has spent $8 million on a campaign to attack Lt. Gov. Jones – a clear signal the campaign will be vitriolic. November 2025 polling indicating 55 percent of Republican voters are “undecided” for governor and this may clear the way for an additional candidate.
The Democratic “big tent” primary also promises to be a highly competitive contest with a mix of candidates which includes sitting legislators, a former Atlanta Mayor, a former DeKalb County Commission Chair, and the former Republican Lt. Governor who has switched parties to become the only leading white candidate in the primary.
Because high dollar donors will focus on the United States Senate race, the Governor’s race and the other three top of ticket constitutional offices, less money will be available on both sides of the aisle for legislative contests. 2026 offers Democrats the greatest opportunities to FLIP seats from RED to BLUE since Republicans first solidified their current trifecta of state power during the 2005 election cycle. Further, current margins of Republican control in both chambers are the most competitive they have been in two decades. In the Georgia Senate, Republicans currently control by a 33-23 margin – the lowest since 2004 and in the House, Republicans hold 99 of 180 seats, the lowest margin since 2005.
Georgia’s 2025-26 political climate is very similar to the 2017-18 political landscape, except far more toxic and divisive both at the national and state level. The enthusiasm generated by December’s 2025 HD 121 WIN for Democrat Eric Gisler in Athens mirrors the enthusiasm following a 2017 special election when WIN List endorsed Jen Jordan shocked Republicans by FLIPping a Senate seat and removing the GOP Senate Supermajority. During 2017 and 2018, WIN List endorsed women candidates FLIPped a record-setting three Senate seats and nine House seats while an additional six “new face” women candidates won in safely Democratic districts.
One difference between the 2017 special elections and 2025 is the fact that due to court orders, maps for much of metro Atlanta area and two other population centers were freshly and very precisely gerrymandered to favor Republicans immediately prior to the 2024 election cycle. By contrast, in 2017, district maps had “aged” and rapid population growth in certain areas created demographic shifts which favored Democrats.
In 2024 and for the 2025 special elections, Republican donors funded newly authorized Leadership PACs established by the Governor, Lt. Gov. and Speaker to focus on protecting House and Senate Legislative majorities. Millions were spent to protect Georgia GOP incumbents from challenges by Democratic candidates who also raised record setting sums. For example, Democrat and WIN List endorsed HD 53 challenger Susie Greenberg set a new record by raising more than $700,000 for a House race in 2024. Yet, she still lost to Republican Rep.Debra Silcox in the heavily gerrymandered district which was the Number One FLIP target for the House Democratic Caucus.
In the 2025 August jungle general primary and September runoff for a Senate Special election to replace the Republican election denier who had been appointed United States Treasurer, the multi-millionaire Republican who emerged victorious spent $750,000 of his own money while special interest groups spent an additional $400,000. Democrat Debra Shigley was outspent three to one, but still managed to receive 40 percent of the votes in both the “Jungle General” primary and runoff for a district where Republicans had previously won with a comfortable 70 to 30 percent margin. Shockingly, voter turnout for the special election runoff was higher than for the jungle general primary.
A recent deep dive into 2024 election data by the New York Times reveals why Georgia is so politically competitive: “(Nationwide,} just nine counties voted more Democratic in each of the presidential elections since 2012 and shifted by a total of more than 25 percentage points. Six of those nine counties surround Atlanta.” Those six Georgia counties and the shift between 2012 and 2024 are: Cobb – +27, Douglas – +28, Fayette – +28, Forsyth – +30, Henry – +33, and Rockdale – +31. The other three counties are in Indiana, Missouri and New Mexico.
“Democrats increased their share of the vote in all three elections in only two majority-Black counties in the entire country, Rockdale and Douglas, both outside Atlanta in Georgia, a hotly contested battleground state.” Article here.
Senate Legal “Brain Drain” Creates Concern
One area of recruitment concern for both parties is the “Legal Brain Drain” created because so many bright attorney legislators are seeking higher office. This is particularly problematic In the 56-member Senate where six attorneys are leaving: four Republican attorneys – Bill Cowsert (Judiciary Committee Vice Chair), John F. Kennedy, Brian Strickland (Judiciary Committtee Chair), and Blake Tillery are seeking higher office as are two Democratic attorneys – Josh McLaurin and Jason Esteves.
The full roster of attorney House members who are seeking higher office is yet to be determined. While several have already announced campaigns for higher office, others are rumored to have plans they will announce later. The leadership of both parties must focus on recruiting well-qualified attorneys for open legislative seats and the Georgia Bar Association is also working to encourage attorneys from both parties to seek elected office. Focused efforts to recruit and train women attorneys as candidates continues to be a high priority for Georgia WIN List.
WIN List Sets Strategic Focus for 2026
Rather than focusing on recruiting and supporting a “record setting number of candidates” in 2026, the Georgia WIN List board will focus on raising “record setting sums” to be spent strategically on endorsed women candidates who will FLIP seats and maximize Democratic Legislative voting power during upcoming policy battles which will shape Georgia’s future.
