Esteves finishes second in race for Democratic gubernatorial nod

The Jason Esteves election night watch party didn’t feel like a typical gathering of election night hopefuls pulling for their candidate.

It felt like a family reunion. Kids playing basketball, family units gathered around picnic tables, jokes being told, followed by the sounds of joyful laughter, all happening at Scofflaw Brewing Co in West Midtown.

Esteves, who entered the May 19 Democratic primary for governor of Georgia in April 2025, fell short Tuesday night, losing the nomination to former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Bottoms secured more than 55% of the vote, clearing the threshold needed to avoid a runoff and advance to the November general election.

The candidate addressed his supporters before the race was called, acknowledging a close contest while urging confidence.

“This race is too close to call, with many votes that are left uncounted, but I know that the wait may sometimes feel scary, but we must remain confident that our election process, as we wait for results, will play out in our favor,” Esteves told the crowd. “This campaign has received a broad base of support all across Georgia from voters who are excited about a new generation of leadership.”

Despite the loss, Esteves entered the night with momentum. Standing before the packed room, he spoke to the vision that had animated his campaign from the start.

“Look around you. This is what a multi-generational, multi-racial coalition looks like,” he said. “People have coalesced around a message and a campaign that restores hope, that stays focused on the issues that people care about the most, that believes that if we invest in ourselves and invest in our families, we can build a better Georgia for all of us.”

Daniel Blackman, a friend of the candidate who attended the watch party, said his focus was already fixed on November.

“I’m really just looking forward to November,” Blackman said. “This is a huge moment for Democrats to get behind whoever our nominee is, and we’ve got to be very intentional about making sure we do the work over the next several months to turn this state in the right direction.”

Christopher Bruce, deputy executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said the issues driving Democratic voters in the primary would remain central regardless of who emerged as the nominee.

“Georgians care about what they care about: health care, infrastructure, education, and all the other litmus test issues,” Bruce said. “If you’re not catching that with everyone in a moderate manner, you may have a problem.”

Esteves platform centered on cost of living, education, and reproductive rights. He pledged historic investments in Georgia schools from early childhood through adulthood, including expanding pre-K to all three- and four-year-olds, making technical college tuition-free, and increasing teachers’ pay. He campaigned explicitly on repealing Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, arguing that women’s healthcare decisions belong to patients and their doctors, not politicians.

In a crowded Democratic field, Esteves argued that his background positioned him to build the broad coalition Democrats would need to end a 27-year losing streak in the governor’s race. Tuesday, that argument was not enough to overtake Bottoms, who was well-known across the state and was the only Black woman candidate for governor at a time when Black women are the bedrock of Democratic support in Georgia.

Esteves closed his remarks to supporters with a note of personal gratitude, honoring family members in the room and invoking his late mother.

“My parents instill the values that I’ve taken with me all along my life,” he said, “and I am so grateful to my parents, but especially to my mom, for the journey that I’ve been on to lead my community better than how I found it.”

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