U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath has announced that she is suspending her exploratory bid for Georgia governor in 2026, citing her husband’s ongoing health challenges following recent cancer surgery.
In a statement, McBath said she is stepping back from campaign considerations to prioritize time with her husband, Curtis. “I’m so grateful for everyone who has stood by my family as we undergo this arduous period,” she said. “I will be spending some time focusing on my husband’s health, and I cannot make a decision to run for governor or not at this moment.”
The four-term congresswoman had filed paperwork on March 5 to begin raising money for a potential run, raising speculation that she would seek to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
While McBath is pausing her gubernatorial ambitions for now, her spokesperson Jake Orvis emphasized that she is not ruling out a run entirely and will remain in Congress.
McBath rose to national prominence as a gun control advocate after the 2012 shooting death of her 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, in a racially charged incident in Florida. Her advocacy propelled her to Congress in 2018, when she flipped a historically Republican seat in Atlanta’s northern suburbs.
Following Republican-led redistricting after the 2020 Census and again after a court-ordered map redraw, McBath successfully navigated multiple competitive races, building name recognition across a wide swath of the state — a potential advantage in a future statewide contest.
If she were to run, McBath, 64, would be among the candidates vying to become the nation’s first Black female governor, a distinction previously sought by Democrat Stacey Abrams in 2018 and 2022.
On the Republican side, Attorney General Chris Carr has already entered the race, and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is considered a likely contender. Other Democrats weighing bids include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves, and former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.
McBath most recently spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, leading a group of gun violence survivors and family members in a primetime address.
