Retired pastor running for Georgia governor

Key Points:

• Olu Brown, former pastor at Impact United Methodist Church near Atlanta and now a church consultant, is running for governor in Georgia.
• The Democratic primary election is May 19, and Brown is a longshot to win the nomination.
• Brown believes his successful run as pastor of one of the largest churches in Georgia has sharpened the same skills he would need to lead the state.

By most measures, retired United Methodist pastor Olu Brown’s run to become the governor of Georgia is a longshot.

His poll numbers are low. He has raised far less money than most other Democratic competitors, all but one of whom are veteran politicians with more visibility than Brown.

Still, he is all in. The gubernatorial primary election is May 19; early voting started April 27.

“I’m an outsider,” said Brown, 48. “When we started Impact United Methodist Church in 2007, we were number zero out of more than 800 churches,” he said of the Atlanta church. “When I retired 15 years later, it was the largest United Methodist congregation in the state of Georgia, and one of the fastest growing in the country.

“So, we’ve got a base across this state, and they’re going to show up to vote for me,” he said. “We knew the polling and the fundraising would not indicate what career politicians with current donor bases would reflect.”

Brown heads a consulting firm, Culverhouse, LLC, which works with churches to develop “robust strategies for large-scale program activations, operational efficiency and forward-thinking leadership development.”

His opponents in the May Democratic primary election are Keisha Lance Bottoms, former mayor of Atlanta; Amanda Duffy, who describes herself as a “local neurodivergent working class mom;” Geoff Duncan, former lieutenant governor of Georgia; Jason Esteves, a former state senator; Derrick Jackson, a state representative; and Mike Thurmond, former Georgia labor commissioner.

The Republican primary candidates for governor are Chris Carr, Georgia attorney general; Clark Dean, a businessman; Rick Jackson, a health care executive; Burt Jones, Georgia lieutenant governor; Gregg Kirkpatrick, an entrepreneur; Leland “Jake” Olinger II, a Republican; Brad Raffensperger, Georgia secretary of state; and Kenneth Yasger, an Army veteran.

Brian Kemp, Georgia’s current Republican governor, is completing his second term and ineligible to run again.

Brown took a short break from campaigning for an interview with United Methodist News.

Why are you in the race to be the next governor of Georgia?

Being a public servant as an elected official has been a dream my entire life. I grew up in Texas and had a wonderful experience of community advocates and community leaders shaping my mindset around community service. I went to undergrad in Texas and then came to Georgia to go to seminary at (United Methodist-related Gammon Theological Seminary).

At that time, the plan was to go back to Texas, serve in the Texas Annual Conference and run for political office. But I got an opportunity of a lifetime, a full-time appointment at a local United Methodist church there for five and a half years. Then we planted Impact Church. A couple of decades went by, but after I retired from pastoral ministry three and a half years ago, I went back to the dream of running for office.

I believe that the race for governor and the position was the best fit for me as it relates to starting a church that connected to all of Georgia, being able to support (metropolitan areas) as well as rural and smaller towns. It’s been my vision to build a better Georgia for everyone, one that’s fairer, equal and just for all Georgians.

How do the skills it takes to run a large church translate to holding public office as governor of Georgia?

Well, it translates directly because whether it’s the local church or politics, it’s all about people. You can’t govern from a bubble. You’ll lose the support of your base. As a clergy person, it’s been about showing up. It’s been about listening. It’s been about dealing with complex challenges and issues. We had a large staff (at Impact). We had a multimillion-dollar budget. We’ve worked in development, we’ve worked in community, and those are everything that a governor needs to be able to do.

I really think my clergy background gives me a better skill set than even most career politicians, who look at politics from a one-dimensional standpoint, as opposed to someone coming in who’s had to work with so many diverse groups of people and get things done.

What are your plans if you don’t get the nomination to run for governor?

I have a small business, which is coaching and consulting leaders across the country, and that’s both laypeople and clergypersons. I would continue that work. For me, being an elected official isn’t necessarily a step in a different direction. It’s a continuation in the direction I’ve gone my whole life.

What are the issues you’re running on?

One, affordability and accessibility of health care. As a small business owner, we buy our health care on the exchange, and at the beginning of this year, our health care premium monthly is more than our mortgage. We’re finding that’s the case with a lot of Georgians. At the beginning of this year, over 200,000 Georgians left the health care rolls, and they just simply don’t have health insurance. So, we’re fighting to reduce the cost of health care.

Secondly, we’re fighting to make sure every kid in Georgia gets an excellent education and make sure our teachers are paid more. So, we’re proposing educator pay raises.

Number three, we’re fighting for affordability and home ownership and doing some very creative ideas around taking former retail spaces, former industrial and warehouse spaces, and transforming those into quality first-time home ownership opportunities — and providing those specific benefits for health care workers, first responders and first-time home buyers.

And we’re fighting to make sure we protect the rights of all Georgians, but specifically women who have been disproportionately marginalized. As governor, I want to make sure women are protected as it relates to bodily autonomy, as it relates to education, equality employment and also entrepreneurship access. So those are some of the key things that we’re fighting for.

Do you have a strategy for dealing with the Trump administration as governor?

My whole career has been about courageous leadership. We were one of the first congregations, long before disaffiliation, to stand and say we believe and stand with the members and our brothers and sisters who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I’ve got a history of standing for civil rights. I’ve got a history of standing for the rights of women. I have a history of standing for people in same-sex relationships. I have a history of standing up for marginalized communities and kids and their opportunities.

So, for me, it’s not about proving what I’ll do as it relates to Donald Trump and this era of his leadership. It’s simply being who I’ve always been, standing up to the bullies, speaking truth to power and not being afraid to take risks for what’s right.

Patterson is a UM News reporter in Nashville, Tennessee. Contact him at 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.