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HomeAtlanta Neighborhoods GuideMichael Thurmond officially enters the Georgia governor's race with a moderate approach

Michael Thurmond officially enters the Georgia governor’s race with a moderate approach

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Michael Thurmond officially enters the Georgia governor’s race with a moderate approach
Michael Thurmond

Photograph courtesy of Michael Thurmond

For more than a year, Michael Thurmond traveled across the state giving dozens of talks to groups of Georgians with barely a mention of his plan to run for governor in the 2026 election. He talked instead about the book he’d written about the life of James Oglethorpe, the British nobleman who’d founded Georgia as an abolitionist colony even though he’d once been an officer in England’s Royal African Slave Company.

And so, some of the people in Thurmond’s audiences might have been surprised to see the news that Thurmond has officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor. He joins a field of candidates already in full campaign mode, including former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Senator Jason Esteves, and state Representative Derrick Jackson.

As he told me when I accompanied him to an appearance in front of the Carrollton Kiwanis Club last spring, Thurmond believed that touring the state giving talks on his book allowed him to introduce himself to groups made up of various political leanings that might never have given him a forum to speak if he was coming as a declared candidate for governor.

In deep-red Carrollton, for instance, Thurmond won a round of applause when he answered a question about whether he was thinking about running for governor:

“I don’t know if [in] the politics of today there’s a place for somebody who wants to build consensus, who’s more concerned about getting things done than they are about partisan politics . . . What’s wrong today is that we’re putting partisanship in front of the people . . . everything is black or white, Republican or Democrat. Sometimes the best answer is not ‘or’ but ‘and.’  So, if Georgia can have an ‘and‘ governor, I might be your guy.”

Thurmond wants to chart a middle course in his campaign, emphasizing inclusivity, respect for political differences, and a commitment to coalition building that may be attractive to voters looking for a more moderate, sensible approach to politics. But in these times of divisiveness, it remains to be seen if voters on either side really want to embrace a campaign with a vision of bringing people together. Some Democratic voters are angry that their elected officials aren’t doing enough to fight back against the policies of the Trump presidency.

University of Georgia political science professor Audrey Haynes thinks building the kind of bridges Thurmond’s talks about could be a risky strategy.  But she adds that it may be just what voters exhausted by political dogfights are looking for. “We have this wide gulf from partisanship and polarization,” Haynes says. “Our congress has people in it that don’t talk to each other. Our state legislature, which has been a place where you could talk to each other, has been kind of creeping in that direction, too.”

“Is that really what we want? It’s really hard to imagine the United States of America or even our state living up to all our principals,” she says.

In the meantime, Thurmond has some serious catching up to do in his fundraising effort. Bottoms and Esteves both launched their campaigns more than two months ago and each has already built a campaign war chest of more than $1 million, which is just a drop in the bucket compared to what this race will end up costing.

Esteves and Bottoms have been actively recruiting high-profile endorsements for their candidacies, although Bottoms’s controversial tenure as mayor has handicapped her efforts to attract support from Atlanta city leaders. Instead, Esteves has picked up the support of Atlanta city council president Doug Shipman and at least 17 other city council members, Atlanta-area state senators and representatives, and most members of the Atlanta school board (of which Esteves was once president). Just days ago, Esteves picked up the support of an important national fundraising organization: the Latino Victory Fund. They’re energized by the idea that if Esteves wins the governor’s mansion he will not only be Georgia’s first Black governor, but first Latino governor as well.

Bottoms hopes her chances for the nomination will be buoyed by the support of Black women voters, who have rallied to her side in the past. DeKalb County, the largest Democratic stronghold in the state, holds a treasure trove of Black votes. But as CEO of the county for eight years, Thurmond will fight fiercely to win those votes.

Jackson, who launched his campaign in June, served in the military for 20 years, has worked in corporate positions, and been a state representative in District 68 (Union City and Tyrone) for five terms. Nevertheless, he’s seen by many observers as a longshot candidate for governor.

Thurmond says he enters the race full of optimism. “We had an amazing kickoff [this week]. We saw incredible enthusiasm from a broad coalition of people, and our first 24 hours of fundraising exceeded expectations.”

Thurmond’s campaign website features the now obligatory video introducing him to voters. It features an original high-energy, gospel-tinged song with a lyrical refrain aimed at ramping up excitement among his supporters:  “We’ve got our boots on the ground to elect Mike Thurmond governor!”

Now that he’s officially joined the race with Estevez and Bottoms, it’s likely that the Democratic gubernatorial contest will be one of the most fascinating contests to watch in 2026.

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