Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson were projected to win massive victories in their races for seats on Georgia’s Public Service Commission on Tuesday, with 20-point margins over incumbent Republicans on the five-member utility board.
The rare statewide wins came as Democrats also romped to victory in elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere, raising hopes of a “blue wave” in next year’s congressional midterms.
Georgia is a crucial swing state in presidential elections, breaking for President Donald Trump last year after Joe Biden’s narrow victory in 2020.
The Democrats’ campaigns for spots on the utility commission, which regulates telecommunications and power companies, focused on affordability and criticized incumbent Republican commissioners Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols for approving rate hikes.
“We can bring clean, reliable, and affordable energy to Georgia,” Hubbard said at a campaign event last week, according to the Macon Telegraph. “We can put money back in your pockets, not the pockets of utility executives.”
Calling Hubbard and Johnson socialists and devotees of “DEI,” Republicans sounded the alarm last month that energized Democrats could pull off an upset in the off-year election. They were right to worry.
Nichols conceded in a social media post on Tuesday evening.
“Congratulations to Dr. Alicia Johnson for her well-fought victory tonight,” he wrote. “I pray your experience on the PSC will be as meaningful as mine. Godspeed to you.”
National Democrats cast their victories in Tuesday’s elections as a repudiation of President Donald Trump, whose favorability has reached new lows amid stubborn inflation and a government shutdown in Washington.
“Johnson and Hubbard won tonight’s Georgia Public Service Commissioner race by focusing on the issue that matters most to Georgians: lowering costs,” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “This victory is a direct response to Trump’s cost-raising agenda that is squeezing pocketbooks in Georgia and across the country.”