Michi Sánchez

Michelle Sánchez (Democratic Party) (also known as Michi) ran for election for Georgia Commissioner of Labor. She lost in the Democratic primary runoff on June 16, 2026.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My name is Michelle Sánchez, but everyone calls me Michi. I'm a mother, a small business owner, and a daughter of war refugees my mother fled Nicaragua, my father came from El Salvador raised right here in Georgia.

I cofounded Georgia Familias Unidas to protect immigrant poultry workers when no one in power was showing up for them. I've spent over a decade organizing across Georgia with groups like Progressive Turnout Project, CASA in Action, and Poder Latinx, and served as Latinx Outreach Director for the Democratic Party of Georgia during the 2021 Senate Runoffs.

I know what it means to have your wages stolen because it happened to me. I was misclassified, exploited, and harassed by an employer, and I discovered firsthand that Georgia has almost no protections to help workers fight back. That experience is what brought me to this race.

More than $450 million is stolen from Georgia workers every year. The Labor Commissioner has the power to go after it. I intend to use every bit of it.

I am Michi Sánchez, and I'm running to make Georgia work for the people who build it.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Georgia workers are being robbed, and the Labor Commissioner has the power to stop it.

More than $450 million is stolen from Georgia workers every year through wage theft alone. I know this not just as a statistic but as lived experience — I had my own wages stolen, was misclassified by an employer, and discovered firsthand how little protection Georgia workers have. The Labor Commissioner's office has the statutory authority to pursue wage theft aggressively, hold employers accountable, and make workers whole. That authority has been neglected for too long. I am running to use every tool this office has to fight for the workers who build this state and deserve to keep what they earn.A Labor Commissioner who looks like Georgia's workforce changes everything.

Georgia's workers are Black, brown, immigrant, and working class and they've never had a Labor Commissioner who reflects their lives or speaks their language. I am the daughter of Central American war refugees, a bilingual organizer, and someone who has personally experienced the exploitation this office exists to prevent. Language access, immigrant worker protections, and enforcement in the industries where abuse runs deepest are not niche issues they are exactly what this office should be doing. When the person in that chair has lived the struggle, the fight is personal. For me, it already is.The Labor Commissioner's office belongs to Georgia's workers and I will give it back to them.

For too long this office has been a rubber stamp for the status quo, failing to enforce laws already on the books and leaving workers without recourse. I am running to transform it into an office that is visible, aggressive, and accountable to the people it was created to serve. That means publishing enforcement data publicly, prioritizing industries where abuse is most concentrated, and showing up in communities that have never seen a Labor Commissioner walk through their door. This office has real power. I intend to use all of it.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Worker protection and economic justice are the heart of everything I do. Wage theft, misclassification, and immigrant worker exploitation are not abstract issues to me they are my lived experience.

I am passionate about language access and immigrant worker rights. When workers are afraid to report abuse because no one speaks their language or they fear their status, exploitation becomes a business model. That has to end.

I care about clean energy jobs but only if they are good jobs with real wages and real protections for workers of color.

And underneath it all is a passion for dignity. Every policy position I hold comes back to one conviction: every worker deserves to be treated with dignity. That belief is rooted in my faith and prove

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

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