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Georgia Democratic Representative Lucy McBath announced an exploratory committee that would examine the possibility of her running for Governor of Georgia in the 2026 contest.
McBath worked as a staffer at Everytown for Gun Safety, a leading gun control organization, for five years before the group backed her 2018 congressional campaign. The organization has spent a total of $9 million electing and reelecting McBath to her seat over the past seven years.
“Georgians deserve a governor who understands what’s at stake, because they’ve lived it,” McBath said on Wednesday about her possible campaign. “As a mom and breast cancer survivor, I’ve seen firsthand how regular people are too often left out of the political process.”
McBath entered politics in 2012 after her son was fatally shot at a gas station during an argument about loud music. She has backed various gun control measures, such as legislation to increase funding for the ATF, to restart the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention recently closed by President Donald Trump, and to ban gas-operated semiautomatic firearms.
Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp is term limited and cannot seek reelection, with candidates such as Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr also mulling a run.
Republicans have controlled most state offices in recent years. McBath would be the first Democrat elected as chief executive of Georgia in over two decades. Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff will be running for reelection in 2026 and Kemp may run against him.
Georgia is ranked one of the top states in the country for the manufacturing of firearms, with firms such as Daniel Defense, Glock, and Remington maintaining presences in the state.
Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia House Democrat who lost twice in her bids to become Governor of Georgia amid claims of voter suppression, said last year that she may run a third time, telling local media “I look at all the opportunities, and I evaluate how I can best serve.”
