ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A two-term Atlanta state senator is hoping to become Georgia’s first Afro-Latino governor in history.

On Monday, Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves announced his candidacy in next year’s wide-open governor’s race.

“I’m running for Governor to make Georgia the number one place to work, start a business, and raise a family,” Esteves said in his campaign launch video.

Esteves, a Columbus native, said he wants to help the people of Georgia as current politicians in the state are backing moves made by President Donald Trump and his administration.

“As extreme politicians in Georgia push Trump’s reckless agenda and rig the system for special interests, Georgians pay the price,” Esteves said.

Esteves and Republican Attorney General Chris Carr are the only announced candidates - so far - in next year’s open 2026 gubernatorial race. Roy Barnes was the state’s last Democratic governor, having lost to Democrat-turned-Republican Sonny Perdue in 2002.

Esteves was elected in 2022 to represent Georgia’s 35th senate district under the gold dome. The district includes portions of Cobb County, the city of Atlanta and Fulton County.

From 2005 to 2007, Esteves was a member of Teach For America; he also worked as an associate for giant law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge from 2010 to 2014.

Before becoming a member of the state Senate, Esteves was a school teacher and later served on the Board of Education for Atlanta Public Schools for almost a decade, leading the board for four years.

According to Esteves, APS “achieved record-breaking” graduation rates during his tenure, as well as provided over $100 million in staff pay increases and stipends.

Esteves was elected treasurer of the Democratic Party of Georgia in 2019, and resigned from the position in 2025.

“Now more than ever, we need to tackle the high cost of living, improve access to health care, protect women’s reproductive freedom, lower housing costs, and invest in schools across the state,” Esteves said.

The man Esteves is seeking to replace, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, is term-limited in 2026, setting up to be the state’s most contested gubernatorial contests in recent memory.

The last time the seat was open was in 2018, in which Kemp, then secretary of state, and state Rep. Stacey Abrams went head to head in a bitterly fought contest. Despite her defeat, Abrams had a brief run as a rising Democratic Party star and was chosen to deliver her party’s response to President Donald Trump’s 2019 state of the union address.

But Kemp handily defeated Abrams in 2022 in his reelection bid, and Abrams’ voting rights group she founded in 2014, New Georgia Project, has since been beset by controversy.

According to his campaign, Esteves and his wife, Ariel, own several small businesses across the state, including an urgent and primary care clinic in the Atlanta area and restaurants in Columbus and Macon.

Esteves and his wife and their children, Jaeden and Zoe, reside in metro Atlanta.

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