Gubernatorial candidate Michael Thurmond isn’t a fan of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act or its anticipated cuts next year to social safety net programs many Black Georgians rely on to pay bills.
The 72-year-old former DeKalb County CEO spoke with Capital B Atlanta on Monday after officially launching his bid last week to become the next governor of Georgia. He’s joined a growing field of Democratic contenders that includes state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Thurmond said the Black vote is “critical” to helping Democrats win in November 2026, but Black votes alone won’t be enough to defeat whoever Republicans choose to be GOP Gov. Brian Kemp’s successor.
“In order for us to win, we’re going to have to build a coalition of the willing,” Thurmond told Capital B Atlanta. “We will have to attract other people who are angry and frustrated with what is unfolding in Washington, D.C., and unify ourselves here in Georgia.”
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Attorney General Chris Carr and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones are the only GOP contenders who have entered the governor’s race so far. Jones received Trump’s digital endorsement Monday night, possibly boosting his chances of becoming the party’s nominee next year.
Thurmond said he gives Democrats the best chance to beat the Republican nominee because he’s the only candidate in the Democratic field who has won a statewide office race before.
The veteran civil rights attorney and Athens native made history in 1998 when Georgia voters chose him to be their next labor commissioner. He went on to win two additional terms before running an unsuccessful 2010 U.S. Senate campaign. He served as interim superintendent of DeKalb County Schools from 2013 to 2015, and won the race to become the county’s CEO two years later.
“I believe that voters will put accomplishments ahead of promises,” Thurmond said. “I have a record of having won three statewide races and a long-standing commitment of advocating for working families in our state. I’m convinced that I can build a winning majority.”
Thurmond’s plan to improve the lives of Black Georgians includes using the state’s anticipated $14 billion to 16 billion budget surplus to help fill the social safety net funding gaps Trump’s budget bill is expected to leave in the state’s Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Housing and Urban Development rental assistance programs.
In July, Kemp’s state budget office director, Richard Dunn, sent a memo to state agency leaders warning them he doesn’t plan to add funding to most of their budget coffers to make up for Trump’s federal cuts. He advised them to tighten their belts instead.
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Thurmond also plans to revamp the state’s K-12 education system and set aside funds to help promote and support individuals who want to attend technical colleges, participate in apprenticeship programs, or join the military so they can secure better-paying jobs.
“We’re living in a 21st century economy now, and if you think about the jobs that are being created right now, skills are equally as important as degrees,” Thurmond said. “We have to build on that to educate parents and students to the many opportunities that exist now, and we have to have an education system that supports it and encourages young people to pursue their dreams, not just through liberal arts education, but through wherever and however they can find it.”
Thurmond’s plan to address the state’s affordable housing crisis includes partnering with local governments to support construction of more single- and multifamily homes. He said he supports discouraging institutional investors from acquiring too many single-family houses in metro Atlanta, but isn’t sure passing a state law, such as HB 555, is the best way to go about it.
“I’ve not studied the legislation, but I’m open to advocacy by those who are pushing it,” Thurmond said.
Some of Atlanta’s elected leaders told Capital B Atlanta in June that they factored in anticipated cuts to federal funding while developing the city’s latest fiscal year budget.
Atlanta City Council members said they put more funding in the budget to account for a tariff-related economic downturn and Big Beautiful Bill cuts.
“The budget is trying to grapple with the potential that some federal money is going to go away,” Council President Doug Shipman told Capital B Atlanta previously.
