Ruwa Romman
Ruwa Romman (Democratic Party) is a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing District 97. She assumed office on January 9, 2023. Her current term ends on January 11, 2027.
Romman (Democratic Party) is running for election for Governor of Georgia. She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on May 19, 2026.[source]
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the May 19, 2026, Democratic primary as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Seven candidates are running in the Democratic Party primary for governor on May 19, 2026. Four candidates—Keisha Bottoms, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, and Michael Thurmond—lead in polling, fundraising, and media coverage ahead of the primary.
Roy Barnes (D) (1998) was the last Democrat elected governor in the state.[1] The Current's Craig Nelson wrote that at a January 8, 2026, forum, "The candidates hoping to help end that ignominious streak ... gained needed exposure outside the capitol Atlanta, even as most voters are still paying no attention to the race and few even know who they are."[2]
Bottoms was the Mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022.[3] She was also a senior adviser to former President Joe Biden (D) and a member of the Atlanta City Council.[4][5] According to her campaign website, Bottoms is running for governor "to deliver for working families and bring steady leadership to Georgia in the midst of uncertainty and chaos coming from Washington."[5]
In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bottoms said her goals as governor would include expanding Medicaid, improving public education, eliminating state income taxes for teachers, offering free technical and community college, and helping small businesses.[6]
Duncan was a Republican lieutenant governor from 2019 to 2023. On August 5, 2025, he announced in an op-ed that he was switching to the Democratic Party, stating, "My decision was centered around my daily struggle to love my neighbor, as a Republican."[7] Duncan told Axios, "And quite honestly, I'm the only Democrat in this race that can beat a Republican because I've got Democrats, independents and disgusted Republicans that will show up and vote for me."[8]
Duncan's campaign website stated, "As governor, Geoff will fight for Georgia families in all 159 counties — bringing down the cost of childcare, healthcare, and housing while ensuring our state rejects extremism and embraces the values of fairness, opportunity, and love thy neighbor."[9]
Esteves was a public school teacher, lawyer, and Georgia state senator.[10] He was also a member of the Atlanta Public Schools school board.[11] Esteves said, "I’m running for Governor to make Georgia the number one place to work, start a business, and raise a family."[12]
Esteves' campaign website said his priorities included lowering the cost of living, expanding access to healthcare, investing in small businesses, increasing public education funding, and overturning Georgia's abortion ban.[13]
Thurmond is a former DeKalb County executive, state representative, state labor commissioner, and interim DeKalb County School district superintendent.[14] In a statement announcing his candidacy, Thurmond said, "I’m running for Governor to fight for working families, protect and expand access to healthcare, and build an education system that creates multiple pathways to success."[15]
Thurmond is running on his public service record. According to his campaign website, "Today, Mike Thurmond is ready to add a new chapter to Georgia’s story as our next governor. At a time of rising costs and declining trust Mike is exactly what our state needs to grow faster, stronger, safer and more equitable."[16]
Olu Brown, Derrick Jackson, and Ruwa Romman are also running.
Biography
Ruwa Romman was born in Amman, Jordan, and, as of 2023, lived in Duluth, Georgia.[17][18] Romman graduated from South Forsyth High School in 2011.[19] She earned a bachelor's degree from Oglethorpe University in 2015 and a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University in 2019. Romman's career experience includes working as a senior consultant with Deloitte, the communications director of CAIR-Georgia, and a development coordinator with Points of Light.[17][19]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Romman was assigned to the following committees:
- Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee
- Information and Audits Committee
- House Interstate Cooperation Committee
2023-2024
Romman was assigned to the following committees:
- Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee
- Information and Audits Committee
- House Interstate Cooperation Committee
Elections
2026
See also: Georgia gubernatorial election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Georgia
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of Georgia on May 19, 2026.
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Georgia
The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for Governor of Georgia on May 19, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Chris Carr | |
 | Clark Dean | |
 | Rick Jackson | |
 | Burt Jones | |
 | Gregg Kirkpatrick | |
| Leland Olinger II | ||
 | Brad Raffensperger | |
| Kenneth Yasger | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[20] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[21] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.
Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.
| Poll | Dates | Bottoms | Brown | Duncan | Esteves | Jackson | Romman | Thurmond | Don't know | Sample size | Margin of error | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | 40 | -- | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 40 | 1000 LV | ± 3.1% | Atlanta Journal-Constitution | |
– | 43 | 2 | 17 | 10 | 2 | -- | 25 | -- | 1513 LV | ± 2.5% | Center for Strong Public Schools | |
– | 38 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 2 | -- | 12 | 36 | 620 LV | ± 3.9% | Keisha Bottoms | |
| Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters. | ||||||||||||
Election campaign finance
The tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. The data is gathered and made available by Transparency USA. Transparency USA tracks loans separately from total contributions. View each candidates’ loan totals, if any, by clicking “View More” in the table below and learn more about this data here.
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Click here to view satellite spending reports filed with the Georgia State Ethics Commission.
Race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[22]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[23][24][25]
| Race ratings: Georgia gubernatorial election, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| 2/10/2026 | 2/3/2026 | 1/27/2026 | 1/20/2026 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter | Toss-up | Toss-up | Toss-up | Toss-up | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Tilt Republican | Tilt Republican | Tilt Republican | Tilt Republican | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Lean Republican | Lean Republican | Lean Republican | Lean Republican | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week. | |||||||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Georgia House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Georgia House of Representatives District 97
Incumbent Ruwa Romman defeated Michael Corbin in the general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 97 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ruwa Romman (D) | 58.8 | 14,536 |
 | Michael Corbin (R) | 41.2 | 10,167 | |
| Total votes: 24,703 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 97
Incumbent Ruwa Romman advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 97 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ruwa Romman | 100.0 | 2,314 |
| Total votes: 2,314 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 97
Michael Corbin advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 97 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michael Corbin | 100.0 | 1,534 |
| Total votes: 1,534 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Romman in this election.
2022
See also: Georgia House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia House of Representatives District 97
Ruwa Romman defeated John Chan in the general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 97 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ruwa Romman (D) | 57.7 | 10,538 |
 | John Chan (R) | 42.3 | 7,729 | |
| Total votes: 18,267 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 97
Ruwa Romman defeated JT Wu in the Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 97 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ruwa Romman | 57.7 | 2,168 |
 | JT Wu | 42.3 | 1,588 | |
| Total votes: 3,756 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 97
John Chan advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 97 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Chan | 100.0 | 3,305 |
| Total votes: 3,305 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Romman's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ruwa Romman has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Ruwa Romman, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 25,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Ruwa Romman to fill out this survey by using the button below.
2024
Ruwa Romman did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released Mar 24, 2022 |
Ruwa Romman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Romman's responses.
| Collapse all
Through a mix of scholarships like HOPE I attended Oglethorpe University and went on to earn my Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown. I have worked to organize our communities for more than a decade helping turn Georgia blue and co-founding the Georgia Volunteer Hub training thousands of volunteers in 2020. I currently work as a senior consultant for a professional services management company assisting government agencies and other stakeholders by advising, implementing, and developing improved strategies to deal with major public policy issues at the local, state, and federal level.
Now, I’m running on a platform focused on fully funding public education, bridging the economic opportunity gap, expanding access to healthcare, and protecting our fundamental right to vote.
The challenges facing Georgia seem overwhelming, but I know that we can face them by working together. It’s time to put public service back into politics. I hope to earn your support!- Uniquely Experienced: I spent more than a decade empowering and mobilizing our communities to make their voices heard working every election cycle since 2014 registering people to vote and empowering them to make their voices heard. That experience, coupled with my Masters in Public Policy and professional working experience make me uniquely qualified for this role.
- Ready on Day One: My unique qualifications mean I'll be ready on day one to address the challenges facing our state head on. I've spent years advocating in Congress and the State Legislature. For. example, I have helped draft and pass legislation like the No Ban Act to address civil rights concerns.
- Community Led. Community Driven: I'm running because my community asked me to run. Since launching our campaign, we focused on what the community wants and needs. We've held listening sessions, virtual live town halls, and focused on direct voter outreach.
Underinvesting in education is one of the biggest threats to our society and a detriment to our community. Here in Georgia, education accounts for 50% of our budget, yet Georgia ranks 38th in the nation and underpays its teachers. We must pass permanent fixes to pay our teachers more and reinvest in our students.
Additionally, we must bridge the economic opportunity gap. A single person with no kids in Gwinnett needs to make almost $17/hr for a living wage. The current federal minimum wage is only $7.25.. That's untenable. It’s why I will champion a minimum wage increase, increase worker protections and empower small businesses.
And, we must expand access to healthcare. Too many of us are one emergency away from financial hardship. Growing up, health insurance was not always guaranteed for my family. We must ensure that every Georgian has access to affordable, quality healthcare, and support small businesses that want to do right by their employees.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Georgia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 28.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 9 to March 29.
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See also
2026 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Governor of Georgia |
Officeholder Georgia House of Representatives District 97 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Axios, "Geoff Duncan: "I'm the only Democrat" who can beat Republican in governor's race," September 16, 2025
- ↑ The Current, "Dems aim to end 27-year gubernatorial losing streak," January 10, 2026
- ↑ The Albany Herald, "Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms talks with farmers during Albany campaign stop," September 24, 2025
- ↑ The Augusta Chronicle, "Who is running for Georgia governor in 2026? These 7 Democrats have entered the race," November 7, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Keisha Bottoms 2026 campaign website, "About Keisha," accessed February 3, 2026
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Keisha Lance Bottoms 'Politically Georgia' candidate forum full interview," December 8, 2025
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "From Republican lt. governor to Democrat: Loving my neighbor is easier now," August 5, 2025
- ↑ Axios, "Geoff Duncan: "I'm the only Democrat" who can beat Republican in governor's race," September 16, 2025
- ↑ Geoff Duncan 2026 campaign website," accessed February 3, 2026
- ↑ Jason Esteves 2026 campaign website, "Meet Jason," accessed February 3, 2026
- ↑ Linkedin, " Jason Esteves," accessed February 3, 2026
- ↑ Associated Press, "Georgia Democrat Jason Esteves says he’s running for governor in 2026," April 21, 2025
- ↑ Jason Esteves 2026 campaign website, "Priorities," accessed February 3, 2026
- ↑ Georgia Recorder, "Former DeKalb County CEO and Georgia labor commissioner launches campaign for governor," August 6, 2025
- ↑ Facebook, "Thurmond on August 6, 2025," accessed February 4, 2026
- ↑ Michael Thurmond 2026 campaign website, "Meet Mike," accessed February 4, 2026
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 13, 2022
- ↑ Georgia General Assembly, "Representative Ruwa Romman," accessed April 13, 2023
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 LinkedIn, "Ruwa Romman," accessed April 13, 2023
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bonnie Rich (R) |
Georgia House of Representatives District 97 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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