Democrat Josh McLaurin beat Republican fellow state Sen. Greg Dolezal in the race for Georgia lieutenant governor.
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He was leading by 11 percentage points when the Associated Press called the race around 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
“I have the deepest gratitude to the voters of Georgia for putting their faith in me tonight to be Georgia’s 14th Lieutenant Governor,” McLaurin posted on Instagram. “To the hundreds of supporters and volunteers who made this possible, my commitment is to stay laser focused on the issues we ran on: cost of living, civil and human rights, and a sustainable future for young people. We did it. But the more important thing is that there’s so much work left to do. God bless Georgia, and thank you.”
McLaurin is an attorney from Sandy Springs and served in the Senate district which includes portions of Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Roswell, Sandy Springs and a small part of northeast Atlanta.
In the Georgia Senate, he was secretary of the Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee and on the Economic Development and Tourism Committee as well as the Retirement and Transportation Committees.
He previously flipped a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives in 2018 covering a portion of Atlanta north of the perimeter.
McLaurin pointed to his experience working broadly with Democrats and Republicans at the Georgia legislature as a sign he’d be an efficient leader as lieutenant governor, as well as his experience as a lawyer.
In the Atlanta Press Club debate against Dolezal, McLaurin said he’d look toward improving economic conditions through expanding housing and better market-based housing solutions and taxing wealthy individuals and businesses.
“We shouldn’t be taxing working people like we are, we shouldn’t be taxing legacy residents in communities; we should be taxing the oligarchs and the billionaires who can afford to pay, and that’s what he [Dolezal] has no vision or ambition to do,” McLaurin said.
McLaurin in several debates during this campaign cycle pointed to his ability to work with Georgia Republicans to pass policies, and in the October Atlanta Press Club debate argued that Dolezal is a continuation of President Donald Trump’s politics and described him as divisive among his own party.
“He has committed to the most extreme MAGA impulses that Donald Trump has brought to Georgia, and the reason that other Georgia Republicans, including elected officials, some of whom will be voting for me this year, is because Greg is too dangerous even for their Republican politics,” McLaurin said.
McLaurin was criticized by his Democrat primary opponent Nabilah Parkes for having too close a relationship to Republicans, which she argued causes McLaurin to waver on Democrat goals in the legislature. But McLaurin contends he criticizes Georgia Republicans, yet still maintains their respect.
McLaurin beat fellow Democratic state Sen. Nabilah Parkes in the primary in May.
What will the lieutenant governor do in office?
The lieutenant governor is the second-highest office in the Georgia executive branch under the governor. They’re also president of the Senate, and are massively influential over the lifecycle of legislation.
The lieutenant governor has power over a few major steps in the process of turning a bill into law.
They choose what bills go to which committees, and where bills are first read, debated, tweaked and passed on to the Senate as a whole. The lieutenant governor also chooses which politicians lead those committees.
If a lieutenant governor doesn’t like a bill, they could assign it to a committee unlikely to pass the bill, ultimately killing the effort.
After exiting a committee, a bill goes to the Rules Committee, which must pass it to go for a vote in front of the whole Senate. The lieutenant governor is also the person who gets to call the bill for a vote.
That means the lieutenant governor has a lot of say over which bills become laws each year and which do not progress.
Throughout the journey of a bill to become law, the lieutenant governor in Georgia has influence over major checkpoints and can shape and drive the policies coming out of the Georgia Gold Dome.
McLaurin will succeed Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor.
This story is available through a news partnership with WABE, Atlanta’s National Public Radio affiliate.
