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NGA CAN's Progressive Picks: Statewide Races in the May 19 Georgia Democratic Primary
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
About These Voter Guides
North Georgia Community Action Network (NGA CAN) is built on a simple principle: democracy works when everyone participates, and it works better when ordinary people—not billionaires and corporations—drive the decisions that affect our lives.
Our membership is genuinely diverse. We have leftists and progressives, Democrats and Independents, libertarians and anarchists, and yes, even some Republicans. We have people who disagree on plenty of things.
What unites us is not a single ideology, but shared commitments:
Transparency in government. We believe decisions that affect our communities should be made in public, with input from the people they affect.
Real access to democracy. We fight for voting rights, fair elections, and an end to gerrymandering and voter suppression.
Civic engagement. We believe ordinary people should have a seat at the table—in city council meetings, school board meetings, county commissions, and state legislatures.
People over billionaires. We oppose the consolidation of power in the hands of wealthy individuals and corporations that can buy elections, block affordable housing, raise utility rates, and dodge accountability.
We Are Unapologetically Progressive
Our voter guides are assembled by NGA CAN using publicly available candidate information, endorsements, and platforms. They reflect our research into who will advance these shared values in the races we cover.
We are unapologetically progressive in these guides. That is intentional, not accidental. NGA CAN was founded on progressive, common-sense values—the belief that government should work for working people, that public services matter, that the environment is worth protecting, that everyone deserves healthcare and a decent wage. Our guides reflect that perspective.
This does not mean candidates who aren't our top pick are "bad." Politics is not binary. A candidate might excel on government transparency but disagree with us on healthcare policy. Another might prioritize environmental protection differently than we do. Our guides are written for people whose north star is progressivism—but we respect that your north star might point somewhere else entirely.
How to Use These Guides
These guides are tools for thinking, not commands for voting. We research candidates' stated positions, endorsements, track records, and willingness to be accountable. We share what we find.
You should:
Read the information critically
Research candidates on your own
Attend candidate forums and debates
Talk to your neighbors about who they support and why
Vote according to your values, not ours
Our Endorsements
Coming May 16, NGA CAN will announce formal endorsements for select races chosen by our vetted members in their specific districts and counties. Those endorsements go further—they represent not just research, but active member deliberation and democratic decision-making within our organization.
These guides are the research foundation for those endorsements. They are as honest as we can make them about candidates' positions and priorities.
The guides are biased toward progressivism. That's the point. If you're looking for an unbiased, neutral guide, this isn't it. We're transparent about who we are and what we value. From there, you decide what matters to you.
Voting Information
Election Day:Â May 19, 2026, 7 AM to 7 PM
Early Voting:Â April 27 through May 15, 2026 (location varies by county)
Check your registration and sample ballot:Â https://mvp.sos.ga.gov
Find your polling location:Â https://mvp.sos.ga.gov
These guides were prepared by North Georgia Community Action Network (NGA CAN) and reflect publicly available information as of May 7, 2026.
Statewide Races (All Democratic Primaries)
Governor
MOST PROGRESSIVE CHOICE: Jason Esteves
Jason Esteves is the most substantively progressive Democrat running for governor. While Keisha Lance Bottoms leads in polling at 39%, Esteves brings both a more comprehensive progressive platform AND the only willingness to challenge the frontrunner on her record.
Esteves' Progressive Platform:
Esteves' priorities include lowering the cost of living, expanding healthcare access, investing in small businesses, increasing public education funding, and overturning Georgia's abortion ban. More specifically:
Cannabis Legalization - uncommon for statewide candidates
Housing Justice - opposes private equity buying single-family homes
Minimum Wage - $15/hour indexed to cost of living (automatic increases with inflation)
Universal Pre-K in first term, working toward universal affordable childcare by 2035
Abortion Rights - explicitly committed to overturning Georgia's six-week ban
Endorsements from Progressive Infrastructure:
Esteves is endorsed by Georgia Equality, Georgia Conservation Voters, labor unions (Workers United Southern Region, UNITE HERE Local 23, AFSCME Local 1644, Federation of Public Service Employees, Teamsters Local 528), and State Senator Nan Orrock. These are the organizations that define Georgia progressivism.
Willingness to Fight:
Only Esteves has been willing to attack the other candidates. He has specifically criticized Bottoms for not seeking reelection as mayor and Duncan for supporting bills allowing guns to be carried more widely. Amber Nicole Thurman's mother (the woman who died in 2022 after taking abortion pills) serves as his surrogate.
This matters: Bottoms, Duncan, and Thurmond conducted a "noncombative" debate where they barely criticized each other. Esteves is the only candidate willing to hold the frontrunner accountable.
Why Not Bottoms?
Keisha Lance Bottoms is the frontrunner with strong name recognition and Biden's endorsement. She would be a formidable general election candidate against a Republican. However, her record as Atlanta Mayor has legitimate progressive critiques: Esteves has attacked her for how she managed crime, disorder, and the COVID pandemic as mayor before her surprise decision not to seek a second term.
For a progressive primary choice prioritizing substantive policy and demonstrated commitment to fighting for those policies, Esteves is the stronger pick.
Secretary of State
MOST PROGRESSIVE CHOICES: Adrian Consonery Jr. OR Dana Barrett
Four Democrats are running: Cam Ashling, Dana Barrett, Adrian Consonery Jr., and Penny Brown Reynolds. Two candidates stand out as strong progressive choices for different reasons.
Adrian Consonery Jr. - Voting Rights Advocate
At 26, Consonery is the youngest candidate and brings authentic voting rights expertise. His own vote was challenged in 2020, sparking a commitment to ensuring every Georgian can cast their ballot freely and fairly. He has worked on voter advocacy for five or more years across multiple states. His platform includes modernizing voter ID verification, launching voter awareness campaigns, and promoting ranked-choice voting to save taxpayer money. He founded Lyfeline Initiative, a nonprofit focused on community development and vocational rehabilitation.
Consonery's focus on preventing voter disenfranchisement and expanding access aligns with progressive voting rights priorities.
Dana Barrett - Election Security and Structural Defense
Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett brings government experience and a fierce anti-Trump stance. She was one of two commissioners who voted against appointing Republican nominees to the Fulton County Board of Elections, defying a lower court order and labeling them far-right "extremists." The Georgia Court of Appeals sided with her and the county, overturning the contempt ruling.
Barrett's platform centers on structural election reforms: reinstate the Secretary of State as chair of the State Election Board to prevent county-level takeovers, secure elections against Trump administration interference, and protect voting rights. She is endorsed by Georgia Equality and the AFL-CIO.
The Choice:
Both are strong progressive choices. Consonery emphasizes voter access and disenfranchisement prevention. Barrett emphasizes structural election defense and opposing Trump's attempts to control Georgia elections.
Vote for Adrian Consonery Jr. OR Dana Barrett for Secretary of State, based on which aspect of election justice matters most to you: voting access or election security infrastructure.
Attorney General
MOST PROGRESSIVE CHOICE: Tanya Miller
Tanya Miller, Robert Trammell, and Herbert Adams Jr. are the three Democratic candidates.
Miller is a lawyer from Fulton County. The Attorney General prosecutes violent crime across the state and represents the state in legal matters. Miller's law background and progressive bar association connections make her the stronger choice. The specific details on all candidates are limited in public coverage, but Miller's background as a practicing attorney offers concrete qualifications.
State School Superintendent
MOST PROGRESSIVE CHOICE: Lydia Powell, Ed.D.
Three Democrats are running: Anton Anthony, Lydia Powell, and Otha Thornton.
Lydia Powell, Assistant Principal, Henry County
Powell brings 26 years of education experience, including 11 years in leadership. As an assistant principal at Hampton High School, she works directly with students and teachers every day. Her platform explicitly prioritizes:
Expanding access to early learning (critical for working families and school readiness)
Increasing support for teachers, including mental health services (teacher burnout is a crisis; this addresses root causes)
Strengthening rural communities (rural Georgia schools are systematically underfunded)
Powell's platform does not mention vouchers, education savings accounts, or private school subsidies. She focuses on strengthening public schools. Given that Richard Woods (Republican incumbent) has allowed third-grade reading proficiency to drop to 35%, public education is in crisis—and Powell's focus on basic infrastructure (teacher support, early learning, rural funding) is the right response.
NGA CAN has previously interviewed Lydia Powell. For more information, visit:Â https://www.ngacan.org/post/meet-lydia-powell-running-to-transform-georgia-s-schools-from-the-top
Commissioner of Agriculture: Sedrick Rowe OR Katherine Juhan-Arnold (Both Strong Choices)
Two Democrats are running: Sedrick Rowe and Katherine Juhan-Arnold. Both bring legitimate progressive priorities to the Agriculture Commissioner position—but they emphasize different axes of agricultural progressivism.
Sedrick K. Rowe - Material Improvement & Farmer Support
Rowe is a first-generation organic farmer with direct policy experience through testimony and advocacy on young farmer issues and service on a USDA advisory committee. His platform emphasizes material improvements through state action:
Streamline disaster aid delivery and modernize the food system
Reduce farmer costs through agricultural technology and bioscience innovation
Connect local farms directly to school lunchrooms (addressing food access through procurement)
Address food deserts through direct state action
Rowe's approach prioritizes getting resources to struggling farmers and hungry families through active state intervention and modernization.
Katherine E. Juhan-Arnold - Environmental Protection & Land Stewardship
Juhan-Arnold founded and runs Baby Katie's Pharm & Kitchen, a nonprofit directly connecting farmers with markets and families with fresh, locally grown food. Her platform emphasizes environmental regulation and long-term sustainability:
Market access for farmers and food access for consumers
Land protection and sustainable forestry
Agricultural innovation grounded in responsible practices
Impact screening for large developments and data centers to protect agricultural land
Consumer protection
Juhan-Arnold's approach prioritizes protecting Georgia's agricultural land from development and ensuring farming practices support long-term environmental health.
NGA CAN Profile on Katherin E. Juhan-Arnold:Â https://www.ngacan.org/post/meet-katherine-e-juhan-arnold-running-for-georgia-commissioner-of-agriculture
The Choice:
If your priority is material improvement and farmer support through modernization and direct state action, Rowe's approach may align better with your values. If your priority is environmental protection, land stewardship, and preventing corporate takeover of agricultural land, Juhan-Arnold's approach may align better.
Neither candidate has strong endorsements from major Democratic or progressive organizations listed in available sources, and detailed policy comparisons are limited. This is genuinely a "pick your priority axis" choice.
Vote for Sedrick Rowe OR Katherine Juhan-Arnold for Commissioner of Agriculture, based on whether you prioritize farmer support/modernization or land protection/sustainability.
Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner
MOST PROGRESSIVE CHOICE: DeAndre Mathis
Five Democrats are running: Clarence Blalock, Thomas Dean, Ambuj Jain, DeAndre Mathis, and Keisha Sean Waites.
DeAndre Mathis
Among the limited public information available, Mathis stands out for explicitly framing insurance regulation through a racial justice lens. Insurance redlining—the practice of denying or overcharging insurance in minority neighborhoods—is a form of systemic racism that drains wealth from Black communities. An Insurance Commissioner who understands this issue from a justice perspective (not just a technical/regulatory perspective) will prioritize enforcement against discrimination.
Lieutenant Governor: Nabilah Parkes (Most Progressive Choice)
Nabilah Parkes is the most progressive choice in the Lieutenant Governor primary. While Josh McLaurin leads in fundraising and endorsements from state legislators, Parkes brings a record of being among the more progressive members of the Democratic caucus in the state Senate.
Background and Record:
Parkes is the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, a first-generation college graduate, and a product of Georgia public schools. She served in the Georgia Senate (District 7, Gwinnett County) from 2023-2026 and is described as having been "among the more progressive members of the Democratic caucus," advocating for a more confrontational style against Republican control.
Her platform focuses on:
Expanding Medicaid
Capping insurance prices
Lowering drug costs
Funding schools
Protecting voting rights and freedoms
Fighting for working Georgians
Why Parkes Over McLaurin:
While McLaurin has legislative experience and strong colleague support, his comments in recent debates suggesting that Parkes and Wright "wouldn't be respected" by Republicans if elected reflect a problematic assumption that Democrats must accommodate Republicans rather than fight them. Parkes' record demonstrates she was willing to be a progressive voice in the Senate without seeking Republican approval.
Labor Commissioner: Michelle Sánchez (Most Progressive Choice)
Michelle "Michi" Sánchez is the most progressive choice in the Labor Commissioner primary. She brings grassroots organizing experience, personal experience with wage theft and worker misclassification, and an aggressive enforcement platform focused on protecting low-wage workers.
Background and Platform:
Sánchez is a community organizer with experience at New Georgia Project, CASA in Action, and the Democratic Party of Georgia. She also runs her own cleaning and organizing business—work that exposed her directly to the labor issues she now campaigns to address.
Her platform centers on:
Fighting wage theft through aggressive enforcement and expanded investigation
Enforcing misclassification laws (companies improperly classifying workers as contractors to avoid overtime, benefits, and taxes)
Creating a registry of labor law violators so workers can identify bad employers
Expanding language access so immigrant workers understand and can exercise their rights
Why Sánchez:
While Brett Hulme has strong union backing and expertise in misclassification enforcement, and Nikki Porcher focuses on small business support and workforce pathways, Sánchez brings the most aggressive enforcement platform combined with lived experience. She represents the interests of low-wage and immigrant workers most vulnerable to exploitation.
A Final Disclaimer
NGA CAN creates voter guides to help our community make informed progressive choices in elections where multiple candidates are running. This guide reflects research into candidates' stated platforms, endorsements from labor unions, environmental organizations, civil rights groups, and other progressive allies, as well as candidates' records in public service where available. Voters should conduct their own research and vote according to their values.