The race for Georgia’s next lieutenant governor is down to four candidates after both primaries went to June 16 runoffs.
State Sen. Josh McLaurin and former state Sen. Nabilah Parkes will face off in the Democratic primary, while state Sens. John Kennedy and Greg Dolezal made it into the Republican runoff.
Headed into election night, 10 Georgians were running for lieutenant governor this year — seven Republicans and three Democrats.
Who’s in the Democratic runoff?
McLaurin is an attorney from Sandy Springs. He serves in the state Senate covering District 14, which includes portions of Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Roswell, Sandy Springs and a small part of northeast Atlanta.
Before the Senate, McLaurin flipped a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives in 2018 in District 51 covering a portion of Atlanta north of the perimeter.
McLaurin points to his experience working broadly with Democrats and Republicans at the Georgia legislature as a sign he’d be an efficient leader as lieutenant governor.
McLaurin said he criticizes Georgia Republicans, but still maintains their respect.
“They trust me, because they know that I’m there to do the work and that I won’t back down — And that’s why, because I have Republicans respect, I’ve passed legislation,” McLaurin said in an Atlanta Press Club debate last month. “I got the first million dollars for veterans for PTSD in the state budget. I get regulated car booting, all because I could work with them and hold them accountable at the same time.”
Parkes is a consultant and former state senator from Duluth. She’s campaigned on issues such as strengthening Medicaid, addressing the cost of living, eliminating the sales tax on menstrual products, diapers, strollers and car seats, and bringing back the school tax holiday.
In this race, Parkes highlighted her background as the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, a public school student and first-generation college graduate and her work as a senator in her pitch for how she will defend working class Georgians at the state legislature.
She resigned from her position in the Senate to focus on her campaign earlier this spring.
Parkes said her campaign would confront Georgia Republicans head-on, and criticized McLaurin for working so closely with Republican legislators.
“I’ve been putting together a real campaign to take take on these Republicans head on so that we can have a democratic Lieutenant Governor that can shape the agenda for the working class and lower the cost of living and protect our fundamental freedoms, like a woman’s right to choose, our voting rights and expand Medicaid in the state of Georgia,” Parkes said in the Atlanta Press Club debate.
Who’s in the Republican runoff?
Kennedy is a longtime state senator, serving Macon under the Georgia gold dome from 2015 to 2025. He served as the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate — the role under lieutenant governor — from 2023 until he left the office to run for lieutenant governor in 2025.
Kennedy points to his experience working in the Senate and collaborating with fellow legislators as evidence he will be a successful lieutenant governor.
“It’s also elected by all the senators,” Kennedy said of being the President Pro Tempore. “And I was elected to that position because of the way that I deal with people — I deal with people in a collaborative way of trying to get the best ideas.”
Dolezal is a state senator serving the district around Cumming. He’s a member of the Georgia Freedom Caucus, a state chapter of a national organization focusing on promoting ultra-conservative policies at the state level.
Dolezal points to his wins in the Georgia legislature as demonstrations of his conservative policy chops.
“I led on school choice, banned DEI mandates, and wrote the Riley Gaines act to keep men out of women’s sports — and when Fani Willis went after President Trump, I stood up and went after her,” Dolezal said during the Atlanta Press Club debates this spring.
Dolezal came under criticism during the lieutenant governor race for a video advertisement he released depicting Muslims terrorizing white Georgia residents, declaring he would “keep Georgia sharia free.” Legislators like Ruwa Romman said the commercial is Islamophobic.
When asked what differentiates him from other candidates in the race, Dolezal said he would stem money going to corporate special interests.
“I would not entertain the idea of taking money out of the pockets of hard working Georgians to give it to special interests,” Dolezal said. “We have billions and billions of dollars of special interest carve outs in our current tax code, it makes it hard, if not impossible, for us to eliminate the income tax.”
What does a lieutenant governor do?
It’s the second-highest office in the Georgia executive branch under the governor — they take over should anything happen to the governor.
Charles Bullock, professor of political science at the University of Georgia, said lieutenant governor is a massively influential role in the Georgia General Assembly because of their power over committees in the Senate.
“All legislation is assigned to a committee,” Bullock said. “So a bill is introduced, it’s assigned to a committee.”
Committees are where politicians debate, tweak and rewrite bills, hear expert and public feedback, and then vote on whether to advance the bill. Bullock said if a committee chair doesn’t like a bill, it may not ever get discussed.
And, he said the lieutenant governor also gets to decide who those committee chairs are and which bills go to which committees.
“If the lieutenant governor is at full strength, then probably the committee chair is going to defer to what the lieutenant governor wants them to do. And if the lieutenant governor is not supportive of my idea, it may be assigned to the committee and never be heard of again,” Bullock said.
Which he said does happen.
Lastly, Bullock said the position is a big deal in Georgia because a lot of lieutenant governors go on to run for governor or other higher offices — as Georgians have seen in the 2026 election season with Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is running for governor.
