ATLANTA – Georgia Democrat Charlie Bailey is giving up his bid for attorney general to run instead for lieutenant governor.
Bailey, a former prosecutor who lost the 2018 attorney general’s race to Republican Chris Carr, said he was persuaded to run for lieutenant governor by Democratic Party leaders.
“All of the issues this team has fought for can be advanced by leading the Georgia Senate as lieutenant governor,” Bailey wrote on his campaign website.
“We can fight together for regular people against powerful forces by ensuring that we provide health-care access for working Georgians by finally expanding Medicaid. We can make sure that we fully fund our schools, reduce our class sizes, and pay our teachers more. We can make sure our law enforcement officers are at least paid a living wage so that thousands aren’t living below the poverty line.”
Bailey also called for funding the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab, which has long been plagued with backlogs for ballistics tests and sexual assault kits.
Bailey’s entrance into the lieutenant governor’s races further crowds the Democratic field while at least for now leaving state Sen. Jen Jordan of Atlanta the sole Democrat challenging Carr’s reelection bid this year.
Other Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor include Bryan Miller of Watkinsville, grandson of the late Gov. and U.S. Sen. Zell Miller; state Rep. Renitta Shannon of Decatur; and Georgia Reps. Erick Allen of Smyrna and Derrick Jackson of Tyrone.
Republicans running for lieutenant governor include Georgia Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller of Gainesville, state Sen. Burt Jones of Jackson and Savannah activist Jeanne Seaver.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.