Charlie Bailey, new Dem. chair in Georgia, has big plans for the party

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Charlie Bailey, an attorney and two-time nominee for statewide office, was elected to chair Georgia’s Democratic Party this past weekend, pledging he’ll raise the money to help the party win elections in 2025 and 2026.

Bailey is a former gang crimes prosecutor with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and was widely expected to win the race for party chair. With his history of running big races, he says he’ll be able to council future candidates for office.

“It’s a rather bizarre thing to be a candidate and in particular, the bigger the race the more bizarre the experience,” Bailey said. “So I think I can do a lot to help in candidate recruitment and in counseling and advising candidates.”

Bailey was the Democratic nominee in 2018 for attorney general and in 2022 for lieutenant governor, losing both times to Republicans.

He replaces U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, who stepped down after Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in the Southern swing state which spotlighted discontent with her leadership.

The party voted last year to make the chair position full-time. Williams was serving part-time while handling her duties in Washington and even she supported the change.

“That is more than a full-time job, and we’ve got wonderful people that work here, but you need a principal that is solely focused on that,” Bailey said.

Bailey said the party’s messaging in the upcoming 2026 election and beyond will be focused on working constituents and the financial, safety and education issues that affect most Georgia voters.

“Any election is a choice for those voters about what they want and what they have in the Republicans nationally, and here are a bunch of people that prioritize themselves, their big donors, big corporations and billionaires,” Bailey said. “The American Dream is less attainable now than it was 20 years ago, and the Republican Party has been in charge of this state for 22 years.”

Holding double-digit majorities in both the Georgia house and senate, Republicans have had a largely unchallenged agenda for years. Bailey wants to put more focus on legislative races than in election cycles past, saying in his time as chair, he wants to win back a Democratic majority in the statehouse.

“We’re going to win back the majority, it’s just a matter of time,” he said. “But it is going to take hard work on our part to make sure people understand what we stand for.”

The Democratic party has some bouncing back to do after suffering wide losses at the state and national level in the November 2024 election. Bailey is entering the new role clear-eyed and ready to make corrections.

“If you come off of a loss or a disappointment and you are afraid to look at what you have done, you meaning us, Democrats broadly, the whole family – if you’re afraid to inspect what you’ve done or should’ve done better, then you’re not doing the job,” Bailey said.

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