Nabilah Parkes, an ambitious young progressive politician, was looking for a way out of the state Senate, a place so divisive and hostile it sometimes seems like feeding time at the zoo.
Parkes, who once embraced the label “Georgia’s AOC” after gaining support from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, had zeroed in on running for state insurance commissioner this year.
Now, no budding pol ever said: “I want to be insurance commissioner when I grow up” — other than perhaps John Oxendine, the former insurance chief who loved to rush to emergencies in his state-issued car and who ended up going to prison for fraud.
Still, being insurance commissioner is a statewide gig with a real full-time salary.
But when it came time to qualify to run for that job this month, Parkes suddenly pulled a last-minute switcheroo. She decided to run for lieutenant governor instead.
The move cheesed off many fellow Dems, who grumbled she might be screwing up a chance for them to win a statewide seat.
Then, she quit her Senate seat while the Legislature was still in session so she could go out and raise money. That caused even more ire.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Parkes said she changed her plans because of an obnoxious and idiotic ad engineered by Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal, who is running in the GOP primary for lieutenant governor.
Dolezal is also an aspiring pol looking for a job promotion, but is stuck in a crowded primary where the front-runner is a fellow named “Undecided.”
So Dolezal had a brainchild: Attack Sharia law, the moral and religious code of Islam. The threat of forcing red-blooded Americans to live under strict Muslim rules scares ‘em.
Regular political ads focusing on “kitchen-table issues” typically go in one ear and out the other. Dolezal figured he needed to grab voters by the ear and pull them toward his more-MAGA-than-thou campaign.
So he fiddled with AI to conjure up images of pushy, and armed, Muslims forcing their medieval ways on suburban USA. One scene had a robed man stopping a blond woman from driving.
Another had a masked Muslim warrior barging into a man’s kitchen and splattering his “Happy Easter” cake with a sword.
Oh, the humanity.
The publicity-hungry Dolezal was roundly criticized, even by some Republicans. Somehow, he forgot MAGA warriors are supposed to punch down at transgender people.
But I suppose he wants to ensure women aren’t forced to wear hijabs in Hahira.
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
While many saw red because of the ad, Parkes saw opportunity. It gave her a cause and, importantly, a cause to raise money.
Parkes said she took the ad personally. She was first elected in 2022 as Nabilah Islam and, after getting married, went as Nabilah Islam Parkes. Until this year. She said the name switch is for family reasons, not because the old surname might hurt a statewide bid.
While leaving the Senate last week she took a swipe at the chamber. “Unfortunately, the Legislature, under this Republican leadership, is a place where good ideas go to die,” she said.
Leaving early lets her raise campaign money for the May primary. Legislators are forbidden from raising money while in session.
State Sen. Josh McLaurin, a dutiful lib who seemed to be a shoo-in as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, wasn’t happy.
He put out a statement saying this was “the type of purely political move that undermines trust with voters.”
McLaurin added that “real fighters don’t act impulsively … and they don’t run away,” that every Democratic vote is needed at this time of the session.
McLaurin noted that he was able to convince the GOP majority this week to reconsider draconian wording in a bill aimed at illegal drugs. “This is why it’s important to stay and finish the job,” he told me.
Parkes fired back, saying McLaurin was being “misogynistic” in calling her move impulsive.
She said he has “an amazing level of entitlement to try and suggest that, as a woman, I don’t have every right as a man to be in this race.”
I don’t know about “entitlement.” I saw one candidate call another a “quitter.” But terms like “misogynistic” and “entitlement” do register with some lefty voters. Several Democratic legislators decried her “Trump-like tactics” for savaging her primary opponent in 2022.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Parkes said her goal is to stop Dolezal. “We cannot have someone like that shape the future of the state,” she told me. “Muslims are just as Georgian as Greg Dolezal.”
Dolezal is facing fellow Sens. Blake Tillery and Steve Gooch, state Rep. David Clark, as well as former state Sen. John Kennedy, who resigned in December to run full time and raise money.
Parkes admitted the job of Lite Guv was a “bigger platform” than insurance commissioner. She said “primaries are a healthy part of democracy” and she didn’t think McLaurin, who is supported by almost every elected Democratic official, was catching fire with the populace.
“We need someone to run statewide and not a statehouse campaign,” she said.
Some liberal Dems are unhappy with Parkes.
State Rep. Ruwa Romman, who is also a Muslim woman, is running for Parkes’ open seat. However, Parkes sudden skedaddle has made it harder for Romman, who now will have to run in a special election to fill out this year’s term and then again for the open term starting next year.
You know, needless drama.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
“All I know is I don’t have a state senator,” said Romman, who is not particularly close to Parkes.
Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson said Parkes has “proven she’s not a team player.”
“None of us in the Senate are lacking in ambition, but there’s a way to do things,” Jackson said. “She made a choice to abrogate her responsibilities.”
Now the voters will decide.
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