‘I Know What It’s Like’: Nikki Porcher wants to be your Labor Commissioner

The race for Georgia’s next labor commissioner is on the ballot for the upcoming midterm election, and Nikki Porcher, a newcomer to statewide politics, wants to be the woman who wins that particular race. 

Porcher is among five Democrats running for the position against the current Georgia Labor Commissioner, Barbara Rivera Holmes, who was appointed to that office by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on April 4, 2025. 

Porcher dropped by The Atlanta Voice building on Friday morning to talk about campaigning across the state, what makes her the best candidate for the job, and running against competitors who have unsuccessfully run for other offices and now want to run for labor commissioner.

Born in New Jersey, Porcher (pronounced por-shay) first visited Georgia as a middle school student during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Aboard a church bus, Porcher and some of her classmates traveled south to see what all the fuss was about. Though impressed by the trip, she didn’t return to Georgia again until she was in the United States Air Force and stationed in Middle Georgia at Robins Air Force Base. 

From an eight-year career in the military to motherhood, to starting a successful business, Buy From A Black Woman, Porcher believes she has what it takes to be labor commissioner despite never holding a political office or having run a political campaign.

“So often when we have our candidates, they are from the ‘I see it and I know how to fix it” group and not from the ‘I’ve been in it, I’ve solved those problems, and I want to fix it for everyone else” group. I’ve been unemployed in Georgia, a veteran in Georgia, a school teacher in Georgia, and a single parent raising a Black son in Georgia.” 

Current Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michael Thurmond and the late Al Scott were the only Black men to hold the office over the past 40 years. There has never been a Black woman elected labor commissioner. Porcher, who was deployed during her tour of duty to Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, believes there’s room for change in the labor commissioner’s office.

“The strongest person who can win against the current Republican labor commissioner is me,” Porcher said. “The workforce is women, Black women, minority, so if we are saying we want these people supported, we need to have someone who actually supports these people.” 

Porcher acknowledged that current Georgia Labor Commissioner Barbara Rivera Holmes, a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, checks both of those boxes, minority and female, but she was appointed. Georgia voters did not decide who their labor commissioner is. This election will provide that opportunity.

“Now it’s time for Georgia to actually elect one,” Porcher said. “I can earn the voters’ trust by showing my track record, by letting them know that we have been blindly trusting these people, and it hasn’t been working. It’s time to trust somebody where it does work.” 

Porcher told the Atlanta Voice that she has campaigned in 40 counties since September. “We’re not just saying vote for us, or blindly trust us, we’re showing up to where they are,” she said. “We don’t want them to trust us just because we’re saying we’re the best candidate.”

The price of gas and food has been an issue she has heard from voters.

“I know what it’s like to be on the other side of people giving you false claims and false promises,” Porcher said. “I’m not sitting here saying I have all of the answers.”

The early voting period in Georgia is two weeks old, and election day is Tuesday, May 19. Porcher said early voting is more important now than ever because of changes to voting rights laws by the United States Supreme Court. 

Porcher said being informed gives voters a chance to research who is running for the different offices. “You have a lot of people who run as a hobby,” she said. For example, Democratic Labor Commissioner candidate Christian Wise Smith lost a primary election for Fulton County District Attorney to current Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis by 60,000-plus votes in 2024.

Asked what she wants Georgia voters to know about her as a candidate that they might not learn from her campaign website or social media, Porcher said she would like them to know she is one of them.

“In a country where we are dealing with attacks on voting rights, there is a Black woman who decided to put herself and her family, and her life on the line to ensure that working Georgians have a person who supports them as they work for Georgia, that’s a very bold and audacious thing,” Porcher said. “I know what it’s like.”

The post ‘I Know What It’s Like’: Nikki Porcher wants to be your Labor Commissioner appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.