2026 Georgia Election Guide

JACKSON: I am not running because I need the money or care about the title. I am running because opportunity should not depend on the family you were born into, the neighborhood where you grew up, or who you know. I want to bring a business approach to state government: lower costs, create jobs, improve healthcare, strengthen education, and keep every community safe. My test will be simple: Are families better off? Are businesses growing? Are children getting a real chance?

I believe leadership isn’t about speeches or political careers. It’s about identifying problems, demanding results, and holding systems accountable. I believe Georgia needs an outsider — not a career politician — who will cut taxes, lower costs, secure the state, and make government work for the people. As Governor, I will fight to make Georgia the most affordable state in America by freezing property taxes, cutting the state income tax, eliminating wasteful spending, and raising standards in government and education.

BOTTOMS: My family’s roots in Georgia run back to a plantation near Crawfordville. Every generation since has worked for a living in this state. For most of them, hard work in Georgia meant that their children could have a little more security than they did — not necessarily wealth, but the ability to count on a good job, a roof over their heads and a better future for their families.

That promise is at risk for too many Georgians.

I am running for Governor to bring steady, experienced leadership to our state at a time when families and communities are facing real economic uncertainty. I have led through a cyberattack, a global pandemic and a period of civil unrest. I know what it means to make difficult decisions when people are counting on government to deliver.

Today, Georgia’s forestry families are facing another kind of crisis. Mill closures, weaker timber markets and the damage from Hurricane Helene have put enormous pressure on landowners, loggers and rural communities. Hurricane Helene alone caused an estimated $1.28 billion in timber resource losses.

Forestry is people’s livelihoods, family land and generational legacy.

I am running to make sure the state government sees those families, understands what they are facing and works with them to keep Georgia’s working forests working.

JACKSON: Georgia’s foresters have shown incredible resiliency in response to recent mill closures, supply chain challenges, rising input costs, and devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and other natural disasters.

As Governor, I will do everything in my power to ensure the industry is best positioned for long term success. That includes creating more cost-effective capital for foresters. I’ll also promote Georgia wood in construction, expand mass-timber opportunities, encourage innovative wood-based and bio-based products, and use Georgia’s ports to reach more domestic and international customers. We will also support voluntary, market-based ecosystem-service opportunities that reward landowners for the value their forests provide.

Part of the reason I decided to run for governor is because Georgia needs business leadership to take the state to the next level. I know how to create jobs and opportunities. I know how to negotiate great deals, because I’ve done it. Through trade missions, leveling the playing field, and enhancing opportunities for Georgia farmers in domestic and international markets, Georgia farmers will be able to thrive and our products will reach new markets. While I grew up in the projects of Atlanta, I understand the importance of protecting Rural Georgia.

BOTTOMS: Georgia’s forestry sector is at an inflection point.

The immediate challenge is the loss of traditional markets. International Paper closed facilities in Savannah and Riceboro, Georgia-Pacific closed its Cedar Springs mill, and West Fraser permanently closed its Augusta lumber mill. Those closures have contributed to a dramatic reduction in timber demand and put pressure on landowners, loggers, truckers and rural communities.

That comes on top of Hurricane Helene, which damaged 1.47 million acres of Georgia forestland and caused an estimated $1.28 billion in timber resource losses.

But Georgia still has an extraordinary asset: our forests.

We have approximately 24 million acres of forestland, and more than 91 percent is privately owned. The forest industry supported $59.4 billion in economic activity and 177,389 jobs in 2024.

Our opportunity is to build the next generation of markets for Georgia wood — including mass timber, engineered wood, bioproducts, bioenergy and other innovative uses — while strengthening the infrastructure and workforce needed to get that wood to market.

We should also expand opportunities for landowners to benefit from carbon markets and other ecosystem-service markets where appropriate, and make sure smaller landowners can participate.

Georgia has the forests. We have the workforce and infrastructure. We have the ports. Our job is to make sure there is a market for what Georgia’s landowners grow.

JACKSON: As Governor, I will ensure Georgia remains the top state for forestry. I will work with the industry across the entire supply chain – from the family landowner and seedling nursery to the logger, hauler, mill, manufacturer, builder, and exporter.

More than 91 percent of Georgia’s forested acres are privately owned, much of it by families. Those landowners must be able to manage their property, harvest their timber while following proven Best Management Practices, use prescribed fire responsibly, and receive fair treatment when eminent domain is involved. We will also take timber theft, trespass, and poaching seriously.

Forestry is a long-term investment, and state policy should recognize that. I will work for fair and predictable tax treatment of timberland and forestry equipment. We will oppose unnecessary mandates, duplicative local requirements, and regulations that make Georgia wood less competitive. Landowners need strong demand for both small and large-diameter timber. We will explore new innovative markets for small diameter timber. My economic-development team will focus not only on recruiting new forest-product manufacturers, but also on retaining, expanding, and modernizing the mills and facilities we already have.

I want the Georgia Forestry Association and the Center for Forest Competitiveness at the table as we identify bottlenecks, improve logistics, analyze market opportunities, strengthen the forestry workforce, and respond more effectively when a hurricane or plant closure puts an entire community at risk. Working together, we will create new markets. We will attract new investment to rural Georgia. We will grow Georgia’s GDP. And we will make certain that Georgia remains the number-one forestry state in the country.

BOTTOMS: As Governor, my forestry agenda would focus on one central goal: keep Georgia’s working forests working.

First, we need to rebuild demand for Georgia-grown wood. I will work with the forestry industry, Georgia Tech, our universities, economic-development agencies and private-sector partners to accelerate investment in emerging markets such as mass timber, engineered wood, bioproducts and other innovative uses of Georgia wood.

Second, we must keep forestland in forests and in the hands of the families who have stewarded it for generations. That means protecting private property rights, maintaining a strong Conservation Use Value Assessment program, supporting reforestation and ensuring that tax and regulatory policies recognize the long-term nature of forestry.

Third, we need to strengthen the infrastructure that keeps the industry moving — roads, bridges, ports, rail and the trucking workforce. Georgia cannot compete for new forest-products investment if landowners can grow the product but cannot economically get it to market.

Finally, forestry policy cannot be separated from rural economic development. Rural hospitals, schools, housing, broadband and workforce development all matter to whether communities can attract and retain the workers and businesses that support a healthy forestry economy.

Georgia’s forestry industry is already a tremendous economic asset. The state should not simply celebrate being No. 1. We should make the investments necessary to remain there.

MCLAURIN: I’m running for Lieutenant Governor because Georgians want a change in direction after years of economic uncertainty and difficulty facing working families. That change will require an honest assessment of our state’s challenges and a bold vision for the public to deliberate over. I have spent my 8 years in the state legislature sending those messages and would be ideally positioned to continue that work from the bully pulpit of the Lieutenant Governor role.

I have the steady hand needed to govern effectively. My solid working relationships with Republicans enabled me to pass the first statewide regulations on the predatory car booting industry in Georgia history and to put the first-ever million dollars in the budget for research into breakthrough therapies for veterans with post-traumatic stress. I have developed a reputation for holding the Republican Senate majority accountable without being unkind or off-putting to my colleagues. Voters want to know that Democrats are prepared to lead with steadiness and concern for all Georgians.

DOLEZAL: I’m running for Lieutenant Governor because Georgia has become the best state in America to live, work, raise a family, and build a business—and I want to keep it that way. I’m a businessman, not a career politician. I’ve built companies, employed hundreds of Georgians, met payroll, and experienced firsthand how decisions made by government affect the people who actually create jobs.

For eight years, Governor Brian Kemp has demonstrated what conservative leadership can accomplish: lower taxes, balanced budgets, historic investment in infrastructure, and an economy that has made Georgia the number-one state for business. But none of that is guaranteed.

I’m running to protect that legacy and build on it—to continue cutting taxes, defend private property rights, invest in the infrastructure Georgia needs to grow, strengthen rural communities, and make sure government works for our citizens and job creators rather than standing in their way.

Georgia is worth fighting for. I want my four children to inherit a state with more freedom and opportunity than the one we inherited. That means having the courage to lead today so Georgia remains strong for the next generation.

MCLAURIN: I’m aware from my 8 years of service in the General Assembly that Georgia’s forestry industry is one of the shining stars of the state’s industrial portfolio due to its sustainability and critical positioning within the overall economy. I’m aware that timber is a multigenerational investment that requires sensitivity to the economics of producers across that entire timeframe.

From a pure marketing/politics standpoint, I doubt many people in the general public understand the level of sustainability of Georgia forestry. A huge opportunity would be better socializing the public – including conservation-conscious Democratic voters who may not be aware – about this feature of the industry.

I’m committed to helping the forestry industry address challenges with rising costs over the years and have been proud to support the industry’s initiatives in my roles as state representative (2019-2022) and state senator (2023-2026).

DOLEZAL: Georgia’s greatest forestry opportunity is also one of its greatest strengths: we have an abundant renewable resource, generations of forestry expertise, a strong manufacturing base, and private landowners who have responsibly managed forests for decades.

The opportunity is to grow the entire forestry value chain—from timber and traditional wood products to advanced manufacturing, biomass, sustainable building materials, and new markets for Georgia-grown wood—while keeping those jobs and investment here at home.

The challenge is making sure Georgia remains a place where it makes economic sense to own timberland, harvest timber, manufacture forest products, and reinvest for the next generation.

That means addressing transportation and infrastructure costs, workforce shortages, burdensome regulation, taxes, development pressures that can permanently remove working forests from production, and; most importantly, identifying and successfully pursuing new markets. 

As a conservative, I also believe we should resist the idea that protecting our forests requires government to control them. Georgia’s private landowners have been extraordinarily good stewards precisely because healthy forests have economic value.

Our goal should be straightforward: keep forestry profitable, keep land in productive use, expand markets for Georgia timber, and protect the private-property rights that have helped make our forestry industry successful.

MCLAURIN: I would continue to support, within reason, tax incentives that are essential to maintaining multigenerational investments in timber. I would support targeted investment in marketing and economic development to socialize Georgia voters to the value of the industry and promote it nationally and abroad.

DOLEZAL: Keeping Georgia number one starts with recognizing that forestry is both a natural-resource industry and a manufacturing industry. We have to make Georgia competitive at every step from the forest to the finished product.

As Lieutenant Governor, my priorities would include maintaining a competitive tax environment for timberland owners and forest-products businesses; protecting private property rights; opposing unnecessary regulations that increase the cost of managing working forests; and supporting policies that expand markets for Georgia-grown timber.

As Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, I understand that forestry also depends on infrastructure. I will continue prioritizing roads, bridges, freight corridors, and other transportation investments that efficiently connect rural Georgia to mills, manufacturers, ports, and global markets.

I also want Georgia aggressively competing for forest-products manufacturing and the next generation of wood-based industries, particularly in rural communities where these investments can create jobs and strengthen local tax bases.

Finally, we need a skilled workforce and a predictable supply of affordable energy.

Government cannot make Georgia the nation’s leading forestry state. Georgia’s landowners, loggers, foresters, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs did that. Our job is to create the environment where they can keep succeeding.