For the first time in 22 years, Democrats were able to pick off two state-level races for the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) over their GOP incumbent opponents.

Peter Hubbard and Dr. Alicia Johnson bested their opponents, Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols, by a 63-37% margin.

The Georgia Democratic Party was extremely organized late in this race. An additional $3 million cash influx allowed them to galvanize support around continued rate increases and overall disdain for utilities. A typical Georgia Power residential customer pays on average more than $175 a month, including taxes.

“Affordability is front and center in voters’ minds, and today, they overwhelmingly said they’re tired of subsidizing corporate interests at the expense of their families,” Hubbard said. “As I serve out my first term on the Public Service Commission, I will work tirelessly to lower utility costs, to bring more clean, reliable energy resources to this state, and to refocus the Commission’s work on the public interest.”

On Election Night, Echols noted that, “The Democrats, really, I think, did a good job focusing everything on that power bill.”

SREA is continuing to unpack much of the data, but even early on, there are a handful of takeaways that make this election cycle unique:

• The most obvious take away - these seats had been punted numerous times due to ongoing litigation with the Public Service Commission, which is how we ended up with off-year elections. There were also a handful of significant municipal elections that helped drive turnout in some of the Peach State’s most populated communities, most notably the Mayoral Race in the City of Atlanta in Fulton County, which is the most populous Democratic county in the state (most Republican voters live in unincorporated counties).
• Republican early voting numbers were some of the lowest Georgia has seen in a decade which can be attributed to several factors, including significant Republican apathy due to the government shutdown, lack of organization, inflation, and quite frankly from this Georgian’s point-of-view - a lot of in-fighting on populist issues the administration ran on, but have not been adequately addressed to the desires of the base.
• The Republican candidates also attempted to tout a three-year freeze in base rates enacted in July in an attempt to flip the cost argument, which undeniably fell on deaf ears in this race.

Both of the newly elected commissioners will take office at the beginning of 2026, but, according to the PSC court case, Commissioner Hubbard will have to run again later in the year. Ousted Commissioner Fitz Johnson has already stated his intent to challenge Hubbard again in 2026:

“We knew the odds were against us with local elections driving Democratic turnout in an off-year election. What I want Georgians to hear from me tonight is that I intend to reclaim this seat in 2026. The work I’ve done with my colleagues on the Public Service Commission has helped to move Georgia forward with a vision to keep energy prices below the national average. We have maintained resiliency of our grid and reliability for consumers. Voters have chosen a different direction in this election but I’m certain the underlying policies offered by the Democrats do not reflect the preferences of the majority of Georgians. I’m incredibly grateful to Governor and First Lady Kemp, to the voters and grassroots leaders who supported our campaign and to my friends and colleagues on the commission.”

Dr. Alicia Johnson will serve a full six-year term and will be up for re-election in 2031.

These statewide races are already being seen as a potential indicator of 2026 Georgia voter sentiment, implying that a Democratic breakthrough could give momentum for the Democratic Party of Georgia’s attempt to reclaim traction heading into a very competitive high-profile election year with US Senator Jon Ossoff (D) campaigning for another term and an open race for Governor.