Former mayor Hardie Davis is looking to start a new career as chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia.
Davis is running against five other candidates currently seeking the position listed on the state party website. The election is May 3 and will be decided by state party committee members, who are distributed across Georgia’s counties.
The state party recently voted to convert the chair to a paid, full-time position after drawing criticism for failing to deliver a Georgia victory for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Matthew Wilson, interim state party chair, said the new chair will “lead our party, stronger and more unified than ever, to Democratic wins up and down the ballot in 2026 and beyond.”
Davis served in the state House and Senate for a combined eight years before Augusta elected him mayor for two terms starting in 2015. He lent his support to a 2022 campaign against Herschel Walker for U.S. Senate as well as to Michael Bloomberg for president before the primary in 2019.
A pastor and engineer, Davis has a pending State Ethics Commission fine that had a balance of $14,900 as of a month ago.
Who else is running?
The other five announced candidates are campaigning openly on social media. They are:
- Jay Jones, a former vice-chair of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners who unseated a 20-year Republican incumbent. Jones’ website said his platform includes rebuilding trust with Black voters and in rural areas.
- Wendy Davis, a former Rome city commissioner and 2022 congressional candidate who works as a political strategist. She is a Ph.D. candidate in American Politics and served as campaign manager for Max Cleland and Sanford Bishop.
- Nabilah Islam Parkes, the first Muslim woman and first south Asian woman elected to the Georgia Senate. She sponsored legislation eliminating sales taxes on diapers and school supplies. The party needs “bold leadership who won’t back down from a fight,” she said.
- Jamie Allen, a senior policy advisor for the Georgia General Assembly’s minority house caucus since January. He previously served as a regional organizer for the state party and as an HIV prevention coordinator for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
- Charlie Bailey, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022 and for attorney general in 2018. A “political operative,” he’s been endorsed by former Gov. Roy Barnes, fundraised for Democratic candidates and worked on the campaigns of Doug Haines, Mark Taylor and James Marlow.
Ahead of the election, the candidates are slated to appear at candidate forums in Albany, Cobb County, Stephens County and Statesboro.
