A look at the elections for Georgia’s Public Service Commission

By

Joseph Brusgard
Image of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia.

Georgia is holding a special election for two of five seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission on November 4, 2025. The primary is June 17, 2025, and a primary runoff (if necessary) will be held on July 15, 2025. A general runoff is on December 2, 2025.

The Georgia Public Service Commission is in charge of regulating the state’s utility services. Georgia Recorder’s Amber Roldan wrote, “[t]he commissioners’ decisions and outcomes directly affect how much people in Georgia pay for necessary utility services. Their website says that ‘very few governmental agencies have as much impact on peoples’ lives as the PSC.’”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mark Niesse wrote that this was the first election “following three years of canceled races and a court battle over the legality of statewide voting that has elected only one Black candidate to the board.”

Elections for the body were originally supposed to be held in 2022. However, the election was canceled after United States District Court judge Steven Grimberg ruled on August 5, 2022, that the Commission’s statewide elections reduced the power of black voters, and that the scheduled 2022 general election should not be held using that system. In November 2023, the 11th Circuit ruled that Georgia could again hold at-large elections for seats on the public service commission. In March 2024, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) said the elections would not be held as a result of pending challenges to the 11th Circuit’s ruling. In January 2025, Judge William M. Ray II dismissed the case, allowing elections to proceed.

Two districts are up for election. While the position is elected statewide, candidates must live in the district they are running in.

District 2 covers the eastern part of the state and includes the cities of Athens and Savannah. Three candidates are running in the partisan primaries:

  • In the Democratic primary, Alicia Johnson is running unopposed. She is a doctor and has experience working in healthcare.
  • In the Republican primary, incumbent Tim Echols (R) and Lee Muns (R) are running. Echols has been the incumbent since 2011, and Munn is a business owner.

District 3 covers much of the Atlanta metropolitan area, including Fulton County and DeKalb County, where the city itself is located. Five candidates are running in the partisan primaries:

On May 16, an Atlanta resident challenged Blackman’s candidacy over residency requirements. On May 27, a judge ruled Blackman had not proven his residency requirements, and the following day, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Blackman would be removed from the ballot. Blackman has since appealed the decision and remains on the ballot, while his case is set to go to trial on June 10th.