Jason Esteves looks to break out of crowded Democratic field for governor

COLUMBUS — I met former state Sen. Jason Esteves at the Flying Biscuit Cafe that he owns in Columbus to talk about his Democratic campaign for governor.

As he made his way to the table for our interview, he stopped to check on customers, deliver piles of pancakes, refill water glasses and notice three errant birds flying in the restaurant’s soaring rafters. A massive door that could set the birds free wasn’t opening. A brunch nightmare loomed as he worked to put the door back on its tracks.

Those tasks, along with staffing, payroll, child care, taxes, rent and regulations, are the daily, and even hourly, jobs of a small-business owner that Esteves has become all too familiar with since he and his wife, Ariel, decided to trade their jobs as a lawyer and nurse, respectively, to open two Flying Biscuit locations in the state. Separately, they also own and operate an urgent care business in Atlanta.

The businesses have also given Esteves an insight into the challenges his employees and customers face, putting economic issues at the top of the list of the problems he says he’d tackle if he’s elected governor in 2026.

“People talk about the cost of housing. They talk about the cost of groceries. They complain about the fact that life in this state was cheaper and more affordable just a few years ago,” he said. “And they’re feeling a sense of that loss of hope that so many of us had when we were growing up here.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Esteves checks on customers at his Flying Biscuit restaurant in Columbus during a busy Saturday brunch. Esteves and his wife own a second Flying Biscuit in Macon, along with an urgent care facility in the Atlanta area. (Anna Girzone for the AJC)

Esteves was born in Puerto Rico but moved with his family when he was 2 years old to a modest home when his father, an Army soldier, was stationed at Fort Benning. They lived on the south side of town near the base, with his mom working various jobs around town to help make ends meet, including as a florist at the local Winn-Dixie, which he points out on a drive through Columbus.

“I saw my parents working hard as hell, but I didn’t see their struggle until I was a teenager,” he said.

Esteves, who is Latino and Black, also never knew his world in south Columbus was different from anyone else’s until friends encouraged him to apply to attend Columbus High School, a top-tier magnet school in north Columbus, the wealthier, largely white section of town.

“It was a completely different experience,” he said of getting off the bus at the school for the first time. “You feel like you made it.”

But over time he also realized kids at his old school weren’t getting the same opportunities. “I could see that when I went home from school and talked to my friends about how their day went versus how mine went,” he said.

After graduating from the University of Miami, he became a teacher.

“I had a fire lit under me after teaching,” he said. “I saw kids who were no different than me, and I wanted them to have a similar outcome. I felt that it was unfair that simply because of where they lived, they didn’t have opportunities.”

During law school at Emory University, he saw politics as way to create opportunities for the first time.

“I didn’t think politics was possible until the election of Barack Obama. I was able to see myself in him,” he said. “I thought, ‘OK, maybe I could win, maybe I can do this.’”

Esteves’ campaign for governor now sounds a lot like the Obama campaign of 2008, with a platform built around economic opportunity and a heavy dose of hope.

“If we prioritize our community, prioritize families, we can ensure that people that work hard have more opportunities to thrive,” he said.

To make that happen, he said he would create a fund to incentivize small businesses the same way Gov. Brian Kemp has invested state funds to bring mega plants and large corporations to Georgia. He would also expand Medicaid, work to reduce the cost of housing and child care, and increase spending on education and senior care.

He and his supporters say that’s the right plan to not just win the primary, but also carry the general election. But he’s got a steep climb ahead. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s latest poll of likely Democratic primary voters shows Esteves winning roughly 3% of the vote.

Esteves thinks he can turn that around with shoe leather campaigning.

“Our polls show that when people get to know me, I automatically rise to the top because they want someone who has lived experiences that they have,” he said.

Esteves’ biggest competition at the moment is the former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who had about 40% in the AJC poll. But he has an answer for that, too.

“Whether it’s the former mayor or the former lieutenant governor (Geoff Duncan), I think Democratic voters are going to have to ask whether we want their baggage being the attention,” he said.

Mimi Woodson, a longtime member of the Columbus City Council who recently retired, has known the Esteves family for decades and is supporting Esteves’ campaign.

“When he says he’s going to do something, he’ll do everything in his power to make it come forth,” she said. “And if it doesn’t happen, it’s not that he didn’t try.”

With a field of at least six Democrats and four Republicans, Esteves has his work cut out for him. But he’s not worried yet. And he said he sees a higher purpose to what he’s doing.

“With so many people struggling, there are a lot of reasons to not be hopeful,” he said. “As a leader in the state, I have to do what I can to re-instill that hope. Not just through words, but through action.”