As leaves fell off the trees near the basketball court and onto the parking lot at Melvin Drive Park, Team Ruwa Romman staffers brought out a folding table from the trunk of a car and placed it under a tree. Next came boxes of voting material and the t-shirts for canvassers. The shirts resemble the glowing signs of a certain local restaurant chain and are given to any volunteers who sign up to help spread the word. 

Romman, one of a handful of Democratic gubernatorial candidates vying for the 2026 nomination, was canvassing in southwest Atlanta on Saturday afternoon. Romman sat down with The Atlanta Voice moments before the first of several canvassers arrived to begin their shifts. She had already been canvassing in metro Atlanta’s northern suburbs and was back in the SWATS to talk with volunteers about why this part of the city was just as important as any to knock doors in. 

“We want to canvas everywhere,” said Romman, who has plans to be in Athens and Savannah on Sunday. The Athens canvass will take place a day after the Georgia Bulldogs will host the Texas Longhorns in one of the highly anticipated college football games of the season. 

Romman represents west Gwinnett County and can be considered one of the key candidates in her district, but canvassing in the SWATS can be considered a strategic move because of some of the other candidates being more familiar in the state’s largest county. 

“Building a statewide canvassing operation takes a long time,” Romman said. “And we’re just getting started. I think this is how you gain momentum.” 

Erica Wiggins, a tall woman wearing black-frame glasses and her hair in a ponytail, spoke to the group of volunteers, staffers, Romman, and Royce Mann, a candidate for Board of Education Seat 8, about Saturday being her first time canvassing for a candidate. Wiggins, who lives in Fairburn, said she came to the canvassing even to do her part.

A woman who only identified herself as Ann was an experienced canvasser and said she decided to door-knock for Romman after hearing her on a podcast. Two male students from Emory University and Georgia Tech, respectively, were there to support Romman’s campaign and knock doors in the majority Black neighborhood. Neither of the young men was Black. 

“These things grow exponentially,” said Romman of volunteer efforts. “The more we lean into people, the more they will have our back.”

Romman said there have been nearly 1,000 volunteers who have signed up. People like the ones in Melvin Drive Park that afternoon. 

“I remember when we first started, we hit 500 volunteers in 40-plus counties, and now we’re at 1,000. It really goes to show how much energy and excitement there is right now. How much heart and soul there is right now, and the fact that people really do recognize that our state is not being represented by people who live like us.” 

Romman added that she wasn’t just talking about age and race. 

When the subject turned to the 2026 gubernatorial primary, which is scheduled to take place on May 19, Romman smiled. 

“I think primaries are healthy, and a good time for people to organize and talk to voters,” Romman said. “Primaries are an amazing time to consider what is possible.” 

Team Romman, led by Anna, her field director, will continue to grow their canvass base week by week, said Romman. The campaign has only been at it for a month, and the momentum is growing.

“We’re already in four cities,” she said. “Our hope is that come January, we want our organizers fully on board and hired on, and we want a consistent cohort of field leads.”

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