Palestinian-American Ruwa Romman enters the Georgia governor’s race

A Georgia state House member who advocated for Palestinians at the 2024 Democratic National Convention is entering the state’s race for governor.

Ruwa Romman announced her 2026 bid for governor, saying Democrats need a clearer vision and greater focus on organizing voters.

She’s at least the eighth Democrat to seek the office.

Romman, 32, was elected to the state House in 2022, representing a district in suburban Atlanta’s Gwinnett County. Among her goals are to raise Georgia’s minimum wage, reopen closed hospitals and force corporations to divest single-family houses they have purchased. She promises “a new kind of politics” that offers a “vision for the future” that will attract voters.

Romman last year was part of an uncommitted movement that withheld support from Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention because of opposition to President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Born in Jordan and the granddaughter of Palestinian refugees, Romman was proposed as a speaker at the convention. She was never allowed to address the gathering but released the text of a speech that endorsed Harris while saying said she wanted the parties to “reach a ceasefire, end the killing of Palestinians, free all the Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and to begin the difficult work of building a path to collective peace and safety.”

An observant Muslim who wears a headscarf, Romman said her Palestinian heritage is not a liability.

“My identity is a positive because you know that because of my background, I am not going to back down from a fight,” she said. “I have seen oppression firsthand.”

She pushed back against a bill that defined antisemitism in state law, saying it could stifle criticism of the government of Israel.