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Credit: AP

Credit: AP

One of the first to arrive was U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat who has twice been drawn out of her suburban Atlanta district. Now shes competing for a newly drawn majority-Black seat on the western edges of metro Atlanta, where shes heavily favored over several rivals.

She was asked whether her ever-shifting districts could help bolster a case for statewide office if she runs for governor in 2026.

Ive always been asking God to expand my territory, and if hes doing so in this way, Im happy to go wherever I need to go and represent the good citizens of Georgia, McBath said.

Qualifying is always marked by unexpected happenings that could shake up an election year. On Monday, one of the first landed shortly after the proceedings began.

Thats when former U.S. Rep. John Barrow, a moderate Democrat, announced he would challenge Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson, who was appointed to the seat by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022.

Barrow was widely expected to seek a judgeship after his attempt to run for a seat on the states top court was scuttled in a legal ruling.

But some viewed Barrow, the Democratic nominee for secretary of state in 2018, as more likely to compete for an open spot on the state Court of Appeals rather than face an incumbent.

Barrow made clear he would target Pinsons role as state solicitor general handling complex appellate court cases, including litigation involving Georgias anti-abortion law.

We cannot expect Pinson to fight for our interests now that hes been appointed to the only court that can stop what he helped start, he said.

It also marked a new phase in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson in his deep-red seat in west Georgia. Former state Rep. Philip Singleton was one of the first to join the large field competing to succeed him.

Washington is broken, but the country is not, Singleton said, adding that hes not a Spartacus candidate who makes empty promises to the districts conservative base.

Were the only candidate who can actually go and put their money where their mouth is and do those things, he said.

Then there were the dozens of candidates lining up to challenge entrenched incumbents. Some are in for uphill battles. Democrat Elaine Padgett hopes to challenge Republican state Rep. Todd Jones in November. Jones won nearly two-thirds of the vote in 2022 in his Forsyth County-based district.

This is the year because women are on the ballot womens health care, womens rights. We need change in the House, Padgett said. We need to legislate for the majority of Georgia, not the few.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

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In Georgia, Republicans and Democrats line up to run for office - The Atlanta Journal Constitution