A former state representative who switched parties over Georgia’s school voucher plan is joining the race for Georgia School Superintendent as a Republican.
Former Democrat Mesha Mainor became the state legislature’s first Black Republican woman when she joined the GOP in 2023 following friction over her full-throated support of a proposed voucher bill that passed with her support. The program, which began this year, allows some parents to receive $6,500 in state funds from their local school district if they take their child out of public school and place them into private school or educate them at home.
“I’m running to give parents a voice, protect our children, and make Georgia the number one place to educate a child no matter where the child lives,” Mainor said in a statement announcing her candidacy. “Excellence in Georgia’s classrooms will no longer be a vision. Together with the phenomenal teachers of Georgia in every classroom, school administrators, all school staff, and policy leaders — Georgia will be the number one state to live, work, and educate.”
Kemp signed the controversial voucher bill last April, and Mainor lost her seat the following November, receiving only 16% of the vote in her heavily Democratic district. Mainor and other voucher supporters say they help children in low-performing districts attain a good education that would otherwise be out of reach. Opponents say the program shuffles state dollars into private institutions with little oversight or quality control.
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