Race for Georgia labor commissioner features five-way Democratic primary
In the race for Georgia labor commissioner, five Democratic candidates are vying to challenge Republican incumbent Bárbara Rivera Holmes, who is running unopposed for her first full term.
The labor commissioner handles applications for unemployment insurance, collects and reports on labor market data and manages career centers across the state.
The contest comes as Georgia’s labor market has cooled. The state lost 5,800 net jobs in the 12 months that ended in February, the most recent data available. The unemployment rate inched up to 3.6% in February, according to the Labor Department, though that’s better than the national rate.
Labor commissioner is a role that often flies under the radar unless there is a crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the department was overwhelmed with an unprecedented number of jobless claims, causing payment delays and thrusting it into a critical spotlight.
Questions linger about how the department will manage an economic downturn in the future, as fears rise about the possibility of one. A 2025 report from the left-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute said the department “remains unprepared to handle recession-level demands.”
Here are the candidates:
Democrats
Brett Hulme
Brett Hulme, of Savannah, is a longtime labor advocate and lobbyist.
He is a former president of the Savannah Regional Central Labor Council, a nonprofit that assists unions. He has also served as political director for the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council. Currently, he said he runs his own lobbying firm representing building trade unions in the state.
Hulme said his campaign is a culmination of his efforts “trying to make it better for working people.”
A key issue for him is enforcing the state law against worker misclassification, which he said he helped advance in 2022 in the state Legislature. That’s when a business improperly classifies a person as a contractor rather than an employee to avoid paying overtime, benefits and certain taxes.
He wants the Labor Department to play a more active role in workforce development, saying the state lacks clear pathways into jobs, training and apprenticeships.
Hulme also said he wants to modernize claims processing and improve customer service, so the department is “a lifeline, not an obstacle.”
Jason Moon
Jason Moon, who has residences in Rockdale and Walton counties, said he was an aide to the now deceased U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, his relative. He touted a prior career as a corporate sales executive and work with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
If elected, Moon said he would advocate for a loan program for family farms that are grappling with rising costs, labor uncertainty and development pressure.
Moon proposes expanding the reach of Georgia’s network of career centers by placing computers in libraries across the state. He also wants to encourage employer incentive programs.
“People should have a voice in the success story that they helped create,” he said.
Nikki Porcher
Southwest Atlanta resident Nikki Porcher is a nonprofit leader, U.S. Air Force veteran and former public school educator.
She founded the Atlanta-based nonprofit “Buy From A Black Woman,” which supports businesses owned by Black women through events, funding, educational programs and its online business directory.
Porcher said she’s passionate about helping people access work, navigate systems and build economic stability.
If elected, she said she would advocate for accessible and affordable child care, along with fair pay and safe workplaces. She said she wants to champion small businesses as drivers of workforce growth and provide stronger pathways into jobs for veterans and released inmates returning to society.
“I am the Georgian I am fighting for,” she said. “I am the Georgian who has been unemployed looking for work … a veteran trying to figure out my next move, a parent trying to make sure my son was equipped.”
Michelle ‘Michi’ Sanchez
Gainesville resident Michelle “Michi” Sanchez is a community organizer.
Sanchez said she has held roles with political groups New Georgia Project, CASA in Action, Democratic Party of Georgia and others. She also has a cleaning and organizing business.
She said her drive to become labor commissioner stems from her own personal experiences of unfair labor practices, including wage theft and misclassification.
“I experienced a lot of the things that this office is neglecting to take care of for Georgia workers,” she said.
Sanchez said her campaign is focused on fighting wage theft and prioritizing misclassification enforcement. She wants to create a registry of labor law violators and expand language access so workers can understand and exercise their rights.
Christian Wise Smith
A Sandy Springs-based attorney, Christian Wise Smith previously ran twice for Fulton County district attorney. He also sought the Democratic Party’s nomination for attorney general in 2022.
Smith formerly worked as a Fulton prosecutor, as well as chief of staff for then-Atlanta City Council member Natalyn Archibong. He said he founded a nonprofit called National Social Justice Alliance, which helps teach kids about voting.
Smith’s campaign priorities include modernizing the state’s outdated unemployment system, with the goal to speed up process times to 10 days or fewer.
He said he wants to transform the Labor Department into an “opportunity hub” that connects people to jobs, paid internships and apprenticeships.
He also wants to use the role to advocate for the state to raise its minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which currently applies in Georgia because the Peach State’s minimum wage is lower than the U.S. rate, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Smith, recounting a difficult childhood, said he understands what it means to struggle and fall through cracks in the system. “We cannot prosecute our way out of poverty,” he said. “We need to employ our way there. We need to create opportunities to get there.”
Republican
Bárbara Rivera Holmes
Barbara Rivera Holmes is the current labor commissioner, appointed to the post by Gov. Brian Kemp after the November 2024 death of Commissioner Bruce Thompson. The appointment made Rivera Holmes the first Latina to hold statewide constitutional office in Georgia history.
Rivera Holmes is an Albany resident who previously served as president and CEO of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.
Since taking office, Rivera Holmes said she has launched a strategic plan and is embarking on a major overhaul of the unemployment insurance system, set to go live later this year.
“It’s a platform built in the 1980s,” she said in a legislative budget hearing this year. “It was never designed for today’s volume.”
Rivera Holmes said her campaign priorities include empowering workers and businesses, restoring accountability through faster response times and stronger oversight, and modernizing the department so it “moves at the speed of business,” she said in an interview.
“I’m also focused on ensuring that opportunity doesn’t depend on your ZIP code,” she said. “Every Georgian deserves a path to prosperity.”
About the Author
