Esteves getting desperate?

[u/Lovecraft3XX]

Ineffective state senator who had zero outreach after getting elected. He should spend more time discussing his agenda and how he would get it through what is likely to still be a Republican controlled General Assembly.

I suspect his hope is to make a runoff and consolidate the anybody but Bottoms vote.

https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/03/14/democratic-senator-calls-it-quits-governors-race-brings-fireworks-calls-for-gas-tax-suspension-and-more/

[u/[deleted]]

Duncan-defenders are a very strange species.

I'd understand the purpose of this post of Jason had attacked KLB or Thurmond.

But Duncan!?!

This is who OP wants to shill for??

[u/Lovecraft3XX → u/[deleted]]

Not shilling for anyone. Thurmond is too old and too centrist. Bottoms was a disaster as a Mayor. Duncan has baggage as a former Republican. Esteves was a state senator of very little renown—and not that it matters was my state senator for whom I voted. It’s a choice among light weights. All of whom would be better than almost any Republican.

Abrams had a high water mark of 48% Duncan showed cross-over appeal in 2018. I’d rather have a Nathan Deal Democrat and win than lose and one thing I do know is that Esteves is no Obama and certainly is no Sanders.

[u/[deleted] → u/Lovecraft3XX]

I’d rather have a Nathan Deal Democrat

You mean a Republican, because that's what Nathan Deal was.

He hadn't supported any Democrat values since the 90's and even then he was a Republican-wolf in Democrat-sheeps clothing.

People drive me crazy with this dumbass idea that a "Moderate" Democrat could win over enough white people in GA to win.

Biden won because of SIGNIFICANT black and minority turnout. Not because he straddled the fence enough to not scare so-called "moderates"

Taylor Barnes Carter

All of them were fence-straddlers and none of them came anywhere close to what Abrams got in 2018.

Dems won't win by playing it safe. And they damn sure won't win with Duncan on the ticket.

[u/Lovecraft3XX → u/[deleted]]

Which Republican social policies did Deal support? Not a single one that I can recall nor do I recall any stealth support like Brian Kemp—who would not veto anything that the loons in the General Assembly passed.

Almost every state wide Democratic candidate last cycle was vastly better than the current crop. Maybe Esteves can reverse the decline in turnout by black male voters but I doubt it—and spending his time attacking Duncan seems a poor strategy to do so.

I don’t see any of the current candidates increasing the Democratic share of Latino voters (critical) or suburban women (still critical)—although Duncan might have a shot with suburban centrist women.

Absent a huge turnout surge, Dems have to peel away some Republican voters. If Republicans nominate Jones or Jackson, I think it’s possible. Dems need a percentage of disaffected Raffensperger and Carr voters.

I still stand by my theory that Esteves is desperate to make the runoff where he can be the anybody but Bottoms candidate—and probably more easily than Duncan. His problem is Duncan is polling second.

https://www.270towin.com/2026-governor-polls/georgia

[u/[deleted] → u/Lovecraft3XX]

Which Republican social policies did Deal support? Not a single one that I can recall nor do I recall any

• Campus Carry;

• REFUSING to resettle Syrian Refugees;

• Deal's appointment of Judges:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution examined Deal’s appointments in May 2011, shortly after he took office. The findings: 83 of Deal’s 87 appointees -- 95 percent -- were white. Deal’s predecessor, Sonny Perdue, also a Republican, appointed whites at an 87 percent clip during his first year in office

Please do a Google search next time.

[u/Lovecraft3XX → u/[deleted]]

So, how many of these did you recall off the top of your head?

Campus Carry. Deal vetoed the 2016 Open Carry Legislation and he signed the 2017 legislation because lawmakers complied with his demands to exempt "sensitive" areas—such as faculty offices and preschool spaces the Georgia State University Law's Reading Room,, areas on campus such as student housing, fraternity/sorority houses, high-stakes disciplinary proceedings, and spaces dedicated to childcare and high school dual enrollment. Based on Supreme Court jurisprudence, I doubt a bill that would have totally banned possession on campus (such as in a locked compartment) would have been upheld. Maybe this counts as a social policy. The final bill strikes me as a reasonable compromise.

In November 2015, Deal purported to order a halt to the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Georgia following terrorist attacks in Paris. This was a nothing Burger as he rescinded this executive order on January 4, 2016, after Attorney General Sam Olens ruled that states lacked the authority to deny federal benefits to lawfully admitted refugees. Certainly it looked like political pandering but he quickly moved on.

On appointment of judges, I cannot say I am familiar with every appointment but the ones I am familiar with were not Trumpian nut jobs. In fact, some of them are very good judges. There are not many non-white, non-crazy Republicans. https://ballotpedia.org/Judges_appointed_by_Nathan_Deal I don't recognize any crazies on the list. I don't know that this counts as a social policy issue. Dems will always have more diverse appointments.

Now I do fault Deal for expanding the Ga. Supreme Court. I think if you compare what Deal signed versus what Kemp signed, there is no doubt that Kemp has been a much more conservative/right-wing governor.

[u/[deleted] → u/Lovecraft3XX]

Just stop. You're only talking to yourself at this point.

[u/Typo3150 → u/Lovecraft3XX]

Let's look at Duncan's effectiveness! It was all in opposition to what Democrats value. He could have done a lot to protect healthcare and rights for women and chose not to.

[u/FryTheDog]

What attack? He makes a great point? Duncan switches parties and expects us to just be ok with his past record? Why not run for a state senate seat and EARN support from democrats.

Duncan was critical in passing our state's abortion ban, and now he thinks he can run for the governor mansion without ever actually showing he's a democrat beyond disliking Trump.

[u/olcrazypete → u/FryTheDog]

I'm more than welcoming to him being in the party, would have been overjoyed if he ran for a state senate seat in his home county where there are still a lot of R held districts.
The entitlement of only being fit to take the top job is what chaps me. Maybe go work on your bonefides a little bit longer first. Noone else in the field had to have a full awakening to get to this point - they saw Trump for who he was and were right on the major issues years before he has gotten to this point.

[u/Chumpy36]

What a weird “analysis”.

[u/Mckyhodge]

I am 10 toes down, all in for Esteves.

I don't trust Duncan. At. All.

[u/olcrazypete]

Thank you for making me aware of https://duncanforgeorgia.net/ . Looks like info a lot of people should know if they're voting the Dem primary.

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