ATLANTA – A cybersecurity executive from Cobb County is seeking the Democratic nomination for Georgia secretary of state.
Michael Owens announced his candidacy Wednesday, vowing to make protecting voting rights a top priority. The Biden administration is suing Georgia over a controversial election law the Republican-led General Assembly passed last March, arguing it creates obstacles that target low-income minority voters.
“Our democracy is under attack,” Owens states on his campaign website. “We must act now to stop the chaos, corruption, and voter suppression that are undermining fair and free elections.”
The North Carolina native served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps before earning a bachelor’s degree in technology and a master’s degree in business at Georgia Tech.
Owens has held leadership roles in some of the largest technology companies, including Atlanta-based Equifax and Cisco Systems.
Owens also has been active in politics, serving as chairman of the Cobb County Democratic Party from 2016 until 2019. He ran twice for Georgia’s 13th Congressional District seat, losing to incumbent U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, in the 2014 and 2020 Democratic primaries.
Two other Democrats also are running for secretary of state: Georgia Rep. Bee Nguyen of DeKalb County and Manswell Peterson, a former police officer and former college professor from Albany.
On the Republican side, incumbent Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is being challenged by two candidates who have criticized him for refusing to back former President Donald Trump’s allegations of voter fraud in Georgia in last year’s presidential election.
Trump has endorsed U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Greensboro, in next May’s GOP primary. Also seeking the Republican nomination for secretary of state is former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.