Overview

• Sterling, a longtime aide and former chief operating officer to Brad Raffensperger, filed Tuesday and announced his candidacy Thursday.
• He is joined in the Republican primary by Kelvin King, who backs hand-counting, and state Rep. Tim Fleming, who is raising funds.
• Democrat Adrian Consonery Jr. has filed to raise money, setting up an early cross-party field for the 2026 contest.
• Sterling rose to prominence by publicly defending Georgia’s 2020 results and warning against threats to election workers.
• The race centers on how to implement voting without QR-coded printouts next summer, with disputes over scanner accuracy and hand-marked ballots already surfacing.