Josh Tolbert defeated Bobby Mehan in the runoff for the Republican nomination for the District 5 seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission.
Tolbert will face Democrat Shelia Edwards and Libertarian Thomas Blooming in November.
Neither Mehan nor Tolbert received 50% of the vote in last month’s primary, forcing the runoff.
The commission regulates utilities, including final say over how Georgia Power makes electricity and how much it charges. Rising power bills have been a central focus of the campaign, after frustration over six bill increases in a three-year period helped two Democrats upset the Republican incumbents in last year’s commission election.
Data centers have also been a central issue. The commission has no say over data center projects being approved or built. But it has approved large amounts of new power generation in the last two years to serve a spike in demand that Georgia Power is predicting, mostly from data centers. Critics have questioned whether that demand will really materialize, and raised concerns that ordinary customers could end up paying for new infrastructure that’s built to serve data centers.
2026 Georgia Midterm Elections
Stay in the know with WABE’s 2026 Georgia Midterm Election page, where you can find the latest election news, important dates, voting locations, candidate info, results and more.
Both Mehan and Tolbert have said the commission could do more to protect residential and small business customers from data center costs.
Tolbert emphasized his experience as an engineer in the energy field, arguing the commission needs a “nerd” in the room.
“It seems that Georgians share our perspective that if we’re making energy decisions, technical competence on the Public Service Commission and experience about energy is valuable,” he told WABE.
The race between Tolbert, Edwards and Blooming is one of two seats on the commission on the ballot in November. Democrat Peter Hubbard, who won last year’s election for a one-year term in District 3, will face Republican Fitz Johnson — a rematch of last year’s contest, but this time for a full six-year term.
While seats on the commission are divided into districts where the commissioners are required to live, the elections are statewide, so all registered Georgia voters can vote in both races.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story listed the incorrect party in the headline. Tolbert won the Republican nomination.
