Latino Victory Fund backs Jason Esteves in Democratic primary for governor

Published On: August 17, 2025

State Senator Jason Esteves would become Georgia’s first Black governor if he wins the governor’s contest the following year. Additionally, he would be the first Latino governor.

A nationwide Latino organization is supporting his candidacy as he runs against former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and other candidates in Georgia’s Democratic primary.

Esteves was formally endorsed this morning by the Latino Victory Fund, a division of the progressive group that was established by actress Eva Longoria and activist Henry R. Munoz III.

Along with the endorsement is political support, which includes a commitment to provide resources like consultants and contractors to aid with campaign operations.

In reference to the state’s shifting demographics and incredibly close margins in presidential elections, Latino Victory President Katharine Pichardo stated that Georgia is viewed as a significant political prize. We will be making significant investments to support his success since he would undoubtedly be one of our most well-known Latino executives in the nation.

Esteves’ family relocated to Georgia from Puerto Rico when he was two years old. He has talked about the confusion that comes with being raised in a Latino household with African heritage. He claimed that he didn’t come across Black and Latino folks like me until he was in college.

He has been active in the Black and Hispanic communities in Atlanta for a long time, serving in both the state Legislature’s Black and Hispanic caucuses. And as a Puerto Rican who grew up in Georgia, he penned an opinion piece for the AJC last year condemning the comments made by a comic at a Donald Trump campaign event who likened Puerto Rico to a floating island of trash.

Things to know

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Three things to be aware of today are as follows:

A Fulton County grand jury declined to indict a former Atlanta police officer involved in a 2023 roadside encounter that left a church deacon dead, the AJC s

Shaddi Abusaid and Jozsef Papp report

.
The percentage of students chronically absent from Georgia schools fell to its lowest level since before the pandemic, the

AJC s Cassidy Alexander reports

.
Gov. Brian Kemp s backing of Derek Dooley in one of the country s most competitive U.S. Senate races is another gamble on a handpicked political newcomer,

Greg Bluestein writes

.

Back to school

Photo credit: Courtesy

There will probably be a ton of new digital advertisements promoting Republican-backed education funding for parents who are sending their kids back to school this week throughout Georgia.

Up to $50,000 is being spent on customized digital advertisements for each Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives by Georgia’s Future, the outside political organization affiliated with House Speaker Jon Burns.

The advertisements highlight recent education expenditures that was crafted by the Republican majority, including teacher salaries, reading initiatives, and grants for school safety.

To dominate the Georgia House, 91 seats are required. After losing a net of two seats in the 2024 elections, Republicans now have 100 of them. In order to take control of the chamber before the next round of redistricting, Democrats are aiming to flip a few more seats next year.

As these new advertisements demonstrate, Republicans are already resisting. We were shown an advertisement for state representative Deborah Silcox, a Republican from Sandy Springs who won her district in north Fulton County by fewer than 4 percentage points in 2024.

Payback

Credit: AJC file image

When the Republican-controlled state legislature overturned Cobb County Democrats to alter the district lines for local offices, they were furious.

Republicans are now upset because Democrats appointed two new members to the county election board without consulting them.

After receiving approval from the Democrats in the delegation, Cobb County delegation chair David Wilkerson, a Democrat from Powder Springs, filed the appointments. Republicans claimed they were taken by surprise when the delegation decided not to have a public hearing to examine the appointments.

Voting in the Capitol is open to the public. State Representative Jordan Ridley, a Republican from Woodstock, stated, “Now you want to set up appointments in a backroom deal that nobody knew about until after the fact.”

According to Wilkerson, the delegation is not required by law to convene a hearing. If Republicans agreed to give the county’s redistricting decisions back to a majority of the local delegation, he added, he would review the board nominations.

According to Wilkerson, they chuckled. When the electorate has declared that you are now in charge of making decisions, you can’t expect Democrats to seek for your permission if you keep changing the rules. And we did just that.

GOP Ossoff mailers

Sarah Peacock of the AJC is credited.

We told youlast weekthat One Nation, a super PAC connected to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, plans to spend $5 million on Georgia s airwaves to hitU.S. Sen. Jon Ossofffor his recent vote against Republicans $3.4 trillion tax and spending bill.

The team is currently expanding the campaign with mailers. Tipsters from across the Atlanta suburbs have sent us three separate mailers they ve received from One Nation in the last week alone, all echoing the group srecent TV adhitting Ossoff for his vote against the bill. Senator Ossoff voted to raise the cost of living, but why? A mailer inquires.

Republicans are trying to link Ossoff to the problem, but he is actively campaigning on the same vote, telling his audiences that the GOP tax and spending cut bill will soon result in Medicaid cuts for tens of thousands of Georgians, a massive immigration detention system, nursing home closures, and severe cuts to federal research grants.

What s happening to our country right now should chill us to the bone, Ossoff said at a rally in Savannah last month.

It s still early days in Georgia, but One Nation racked up several wins in the 2024 cycle, spending tens of millions of dollars against incumbent Democratic senators in Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, who all lost their races to Republican challengers.

Hate warning

Credit: Adam Beam/AJC

The last U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council warned on Monday of an unprecedented wave of discrimination because we have made it socially acceptable to hate.

Mich le Taylor wasappointed by former President Joe Bidenafter President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the council during his first term, citing what he said was the body s bias against Israel. Trump again withdrew the U.S. from the council at the start of his second term.

On Monday, Taylor who lives in Atlanta s Ansley Park neighborhood told the Atlanta Rotary Club that antisemitism at the Human Rights Council is very real. But she argued that U.S. engagement really matters at the 47-member body.

As the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Taylor urged Atlanta s civic and business leaders to not become desensitized to hate a message she said included herself.

In my Jewish community, we re really susceptible to people who are expressing pro-Palestinian views, for example, on college campuses. And they think it is OK to suppress their freedom of speech, she said. So, I challenge all of us to not be susceptible.

It s official

Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC

David Perdue, the former Georgia U.S. senator and newly approved U.S. ambassador to China, has been formally accepted for his job by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In a post on social media, Perdue reported that he recently presented his diplomatic credentials to the Chinese leader, a ceremonial final step to becoming America s top envoy to the Asian nation.

I am proud to represent President Trump and the American people as U.S. Ambassador, and I am focused on implementing President Trump s foreign policy in China,Perdue wrote.

City Hall

Thomas Worthy is a familiar face in the Georgia Capitol and a power broker in the state s health care circles. Now he s aiming for an open Atlanta City Council seat.

Worthy announced this week he s seeking the District 7 post held byretiringCouncil member Howard Shook.

Worthy is the chief public policy officer at Piedmont Healthcare and a former chairman of the MARTA board. He was deputy executive counsel in former Gov. Nathan Deal s administration.

Listen up

Today on thePolitically Georgiapodcast Patricia Murphy and Tia Mitchell discuss Derek Dooley sofficial entryto the GOP primary for a U.S. Senate seat. Then Greg Bluestein talks to the AJC s Tamar Hallerman about the newest season of the AJC s award-winning podcast series,Breakdown.

You can listen and subscribe to the show for free atApple Podcasts,Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us [email protected] give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Trump today

President Donald Trump willsign an executive ordercreating a task force to oversee the 2028 summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Shoutouts

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Today s birthdays:

State Rep. Rob Leverett, R-Elberton.
Georgia Tech President ngel Cabrera.

Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There s a form for that.Click hereto submit the shoutouts. It s not just birthdays. We re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.

Before you go

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

State leaderslaunched a new programthis week aiming to help low-income homeowners put solar panels on their roofs for free.

That ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info [email protected],[email protected],[email protected]@ajc.com.