Democrat Michael Thurmond launches 2026 run for Georgia governor

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Democrat Michael Thurmond launches 2026 run for Georgia governor

2025-08-06 22:39 Last Updated At：22:41

ATLANTA (AP) — Democrat Michael Thurmond on Wednesday announced his 2026 bid for Georgia governor, seeking to add the state's top office to the long list of positions he has held.

Thurmond said in an interview Tuesday that he's “going to fight for the people of Georgia every day," but also pitching himself as someone who can bridge racial and political divides to become the first Democrat to win the state's top office in 28 years.

Thurmond promised to be a leader who “will focus on the everyday issues that most Georgians are concerned about — i.e. the cost of groceries or rent or paying the mortgage, access to health care and quite frankly ending divisiveness that has prevented us from progressing more in this state.”

The 72-year-old Thurmond joins a Democratic field that already includes state Sen. Jason Esteves, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and others who are seeking their party's nomination in an attempt to succeed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who can't run again after two terms.

Thurmond is one of only three Black people to win election to statewide office in Georgia, serving three terms as labor commissioner after first winning election in 1998. He was also the first Black state legislator from his hometown of Athens since Reconstruction when elected in 1986. Like all the other currently declared Democratic candidates, Thurmond is now seeking to become Georgia’s first Black governor.

When Thurmond tried to run for Senate in 2010, he lost badly to incumbent Republican Johnny Isakson, running significantly behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roy Barnes that year.

Thurmond most recently served two terms as the elected CEO of DeKalb County, an Atlanta suburb that had $150 million in the bank when he left office. Before that, he was credited with stabilizing the DeKalb County school system as interim superintendent, after its accreditation agency threatened to strip its seal of approval, citing financial mismanagement, school board dysfunction and nepotism. Thurmond also oversaw welfare reform as director of Georgia's Division of Family and Children Services in the mid-1990s, after he gave up his state House seat to make an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1992. Thurmond is a lawyer and he has written multiple books on Georgia history.

“I bring a record of service and accomplishment,” he said. “I, throughout my career, never shied away from taking on tough jobs.”

Both Bottoms and Esteves have showcased plans to oppose what they see as wrongheaded policies put forth by President Donald Trump, appealing to Democratic partisans who are fearful and angry. Thurmond says he too is a fighter, but frames it differently.

“It’s not fighting Trump,” he said. “I’m going to fight for Georgia residents.”

Some Democrats are also calling for a generational turnover in leadership, a trend that's clearly apparent among the primary opponents of longtime U.S. Rep. David Scott. After more than four decades in politics, Thurmond said he believes a track record of success will be more important.

“The number one concern of the Democrats I talked to is that they want a candidate who can win,” he said.

Thurmond is the youngest of nine children born to a sharecropper. He was class president of Athens' all-Black high school when it was consolidated with the historically all-white high school in 1970. Thurmond has said that until then he knew few white people, but as co-student body president, had to learn how to deal with others. He said part of his path to victory is to pursue the “better angels" of voters in the same way that got him elected labor commissioner.

This story has been corrected to show Thurmond was first elected labor commissioner in 1998, not 2010.

Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.

The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.

The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.

St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.

Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.