The Georgia Public Commission (PSC) will have two new commissioners in 2026 after voters elected Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson, ousting incumbents Fitz Johnson in District 3 and Tim Echols in District 2, respectively.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State Office, Hubard won 62.91 percent of the vote while Alicia Johnson won 37.09 percent, with a total of 1,558,588 ballots reportedly cast in the race. Similarly, Johnson won 62.71 percent of the vote while Echols won 37.29 percent, with a total of 1,560,821 ballots cast in the race.
The races, though not garnering national attention the way the gubernatorial races in Virginia or New Jersey did nor the mayoral race for New York City which saw a historic win for Zohran Mandani, did see themselves elevated to higher status than normal. That’s partly due to the very structure of the PSC elections being heavily disputed in recent years.
Though each PSC commissioner represents a single district, and representatives must reside in their district, elections are held statewide — a fact that was at the center of much public debate and recent lawsuits, which delayed elections. Critics argued that electing officials statewide to represent specific districts was a diluted representation of these districts, citing the Voting Rights Act and dilution of the Black vote generally concentrated in specific areas around the state.
A lower court initially found the critics’ claim to be valid. Years of legal battles, dating back to 2020, took place. Ultimately, the 11th U.S. The Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that statewide elections would be upheld for the commission.
Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols were up for reelection in 2022, but due to the ongoing legal battles at the time, a federal judge blocked the holding of those elections until the legal matters were settled. A Georgia House Bill (HB1312) later formally scheduled those races for this year. That same HB also rescheduled Tricia Prodemore’s election, which was supposed to take place last year, for 2026 to help stagger the elections of the members of the commission. Commissioners Shaw and McDonald, the last two commissioners, were originally up for reelection in 2026 and are now up for reelection in 2028. Commissioner terms are historically for six years.
Unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State Office show that 21.9 percent of eligible Georgia voters voted in the election cycle this year.
Click below to explore how voters cast their votes in the two PSC districts, despite the elections being statewide.
Below is a map for Public Service Commission District 3, showing how its residents voted. Note: elections are statewide, and this map is only for informative purposes.
Two Georgia Power puppets put out, three to go.