Southern Queer Newsroom
Note: the author is personal friends with each of the candidates that are being discussed in this article. Despite this, the author is taking extra precaution not to come across as biased or serve as a campaign website for any of the individuals being discussed.
Georgia's legislature has been a hotspot of anti-trans legislation for several years. The efforts made by politicians in 2025 to persecute transgender Georgians has spawned and strengthened efforts to defend trans people, especially trans youth, of which this website is one of them. Legislative advocacy has been a part of multiple activists' strategies, and now several of them are looking to become a part of the legislature directly. While trans and nonbinary candidates have run before, like Bentley Hudgins in 2022 (who now serves as state director of HRC), this year there are at least three candidates trying to make their voices heard under the Gold Dome.
Challenging the Establishment
Aaron Baker, a Jewish trans woman and democratic socialist, has launched a campaign in North Fulton County against Democratic incumbent Esther Panitch, another Jewish woman who is generally regarded as a fairly mainstream Democrat. Baker has been advocating for trans rights for several years, including during the fight against the bill that would ban trans youth from accessing almost any gender-affirming care in 2023. That bill later passed and there is currently a bill (SB 30) to remove the grandfather clause for those already on puberty blockers.
Baker is running on a progressive platform – affordable housing, ending Right to Work and defending unions, and ensuring bodily autonomy – but is doing so without the official support of the Atlanta chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, although she has a lot of support among rank and file members. Progressive activists and PACs are also lining up behind her.
In addition to her campaign, she has a fairly large following on her Instagram and runs the websites GAFastTrack, which uses AI to simplify legislation so anyone can understand what a bill is meant to do, and GAFastMoney, which tracks contributions to political candidates by amount, industry, and affiliation.
In Gwinnett County, two trans women have also decided to take a crack at running for the General Assembly. Robin McCoy has launched a campaign against incumbent state senator Sheikh Rahman in District 5, which is one of the most diverse state senate districts in Georgia. It has also had some of the worst turnout in the state for years – in 2024, while other state senate districts in Gwinnett County had over 80,000 votes cast, less than 48,000 were cast in District 5 according to Ballotpedia. This may be partially due to a high immigrant and non-citizen population, especially in House District 98 (represented by Rep. Marvin Lim and fully contained within Senate District 5), which has very low turnout compared to its neighbors. However, because of how strategically vital Gwinnett County is for broader statewide elections, McCoy decided that was not good enough and launched her campaign in response.
Like Baker, McCoy is running on a progressive platform, including Medicaid expansion, introducing a Tenant Bill of Rights, and expanding public transit. The race has attracted some interest from individual members of both the Georgia Working Families Party and Atlanta DSA, along with the Gwinnett County Young Democrats. Both Baker's and McCoy's primary elections are set for May 5.
New Year Surprises
Two state representatives have been charged with unemployment fraud since the year began, with Rep. Karen Bennett having resigned her seat and Rep. Henderson being suspended by the governor. Bennett recently pleaded guilty to making false statements. Meanwhile, Augusta Democrat Rep. Heffner has resigned from the House due to no longer meeting residency requirements. As Heffner was one of three constant anti-trans votes among House Democrats, this will likely be a small relief to Georgia activists. However, that leaves three safe Democratic seats open that, due to the timing, will need to be filled before the May primaries.
Audrey Lux is hopping on the opportunity now that Bennett has vacated her seat, and if elected would be the first transgender Georgian in the General Assembly. A former forester and legislative aide to Rep. Jasmine Clark (D-Lilburn), she co-founded Indivisible Gwinnett and has been active in advocacy and protest circles through all of 2025. Like Baker and McCoy, Lux is campaigning on affordability, civil rights, and transportation. While originally not planning a run for the seat at all, and initially waiting for a progressive candidate to announce after Bennett resigned, that absence led her to try to fill in a gap she believes shouldn't last the entirety of session.
Three other candidates have seized on the opportunity and qualified to run. Ikenna Ugwumadu, chief of staff to state senator Randal Mangham (D-Stone Mountain), Kelly Kautz, an attorney, former mayor of Snellville, and a former Republican, and Venola Mason, an education consultant, will also be on the March 10 ballot. Lux and Kautz are both white Gwinnettians, while Ugwumadu and Mason are Black DeKalb residents. All other candidates' websites come across as either mainstream Democrats or conservative.
Lux's candidacy comes at an important time. Because the special election is on March 10, a win without going to a runoff would give HD-94 representation in the House and the ability to vote on legislation. However, they would not be able to introduce legislation beyond resolutions because Crossover Day would have already passed. If Lux were to win outright, she would not only be the first transgender Georgian in the legislature, but would have an active vote and voice against anti-trans legislation that the General Assembly may try to pass. With bans on gender-affirming care for minors and gender-affirming care being covered by state employee health insurance plans still live, missing this chance (or having to go to a runoff election) would deprive trans Georgians of a strong voice for civil rights.
That does not mean it would be easy. The March 10 special election is just the start. If no candidate gets 50% of the vote outright (which is likely in a 4-way race), the special runoff election would be set for April 7, which is after the end of legislative session. The primary for general elections is May 19, and any runoffs for the primaries would be June 16. All of that is before the November general elections and possible December runoffs, although that would not matter much in a safe Democratic seat.
Frankly, none of these candidates have an easy pathway to victory. But they represent a growing strength and resistance among trans Georgians and trans Americans more broadly that will hopefully continue to inspire others to keep fighting.