ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic state Senator Josh McLaurin from Georgia declared on Monday his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 2026. He plans to focus on opposing President Donald Trump’s policies as a central theme of his campaign.
Burt Jones, who is the current Republican lieutenant governor, is anticipated to announce a gubernatorial run next year, with his candidacy expected to be revealed in the upcoming weeks.
McLaurin, representing Sandy Springs, arranged a news conference in Savannah on Monday to emphasize the risks to Georgia’s largest port, which he attributes to Trump’s tariff policies.
“Georgia should be putting up every obstacle possible to Trump’s authoritarian agenda at the state level,” McLaurin said in a statement. “And while we’re at it, the Georgia legislature should be passing widely popular policies that Republicans have been blocking for years — Medicaid expansion, restoration of reproductive freedom, common sense gun safety legislation, and more.”
McLaurin is a onetime roommate of now-Vice President JD Vance when both were students at Yale Law School.
McLaurin was elected to the Georgia House in 2018 and to the state Senate in 2022. He’s frequently spoken out against what he sees as wrongheaded Republican policies, including delivering speeches that he called “Trump Morning News” attacking the Trump administration most days of the 2025 session.
Georgia’s lieutenant governor presides over Senate sessions, but senators decide how much power or influence the official has. Republicans are likely to retain a majority after the 2026 elections, but McLaurin said even if he’s sidelined, the office “will be extremely useful for changing the tone of the Senate’s business and shining more of a light on the extremist policies Republicans increasingly are passing.”
On the Republican side, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery of Vidalia has already announced that he’s running for lieutenant governor. Senate President Pro Tem John Kennedy of Macon and Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch of Dahlonega are also expected to join the GOP field. Other Republicans could run as well, including state Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming.
