A.M. ATL: Party lines

Morning, y’all! We have a majestic hawk that presides over the neighborhood, perching on mailboxes and backyard swing sets and showing off its gorgeous feathers. From time to time, we also get to see it at its least majestic: scuttling across the front yard on little chicken legs while slurping down a worm. No one’s picture-perfect all the time.

Let’s get to it.

ATLANTA WON’T PRIVATIZE AIRPORT SECURITY

Remember the 76-day partial government shutdown at the beginning of the year that led to TSA security lines so long they snaked around parts of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport you didn’t even know existed?

If you flew during the worst of it, it’s probably hard to forget.

• That debacle led the Atlanta City Council to request a study exploring whether it would be a good idea to privatize airport security, and the results are in: No.
• The monthslong third-party study found “no need” to do so, city of Atlanta officials said. It concluded any savings in a transition would be “negligible,” and transitioning Atlanta’s estimated 1,300 TSA employees posed an “operational risk.”
• Leaders also spoke with TSA representatives, local union leaders, Delta Air Lines and other airports to come to the decision.
• About 20 airports have private companies handling security screening under the Transportation Security Administration’s Screening Partnership Program. Only 4.2% of U.S. travelers pass through security at such airports, the study found.

🔎 READ MORE: TSA jobs have become an economic tool for upwardly mobile families around Atlanta

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GEORGIA DEMS EYE MEDICAID EXPANSION

Georgia’s incoming Democratic leadership is bullish on plans to expand access to Medicaid, the government-funded health insurance program, and they’re hoping to make it a bipartisan effort.

• “The need for healthcare transcends party lines. It transcends geographical lines,” Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms said after last week’s midterms. “I truly believe that this is an issue we can get bipartisan support with.”
• Lt. Gov.-elect Josh McLaurin told the AJC he is confident efforts to reduce healthcare costs will draw a “strong bipartisan coalition.”
• They’ll need some bipartisanship to get it done. Democrats will have a brand-new majority in the state House next year, but Republicans will hold a narrow, two-seat majority in the Senate.

What Medicaid expansion could look like

• Georgia is one of 10 states that did not expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
• Mounting pressure on the state’s rural healthcare system is making the crisis worse.
• Polling shows expansion is increasingly popular with Georgia voters.
• An expansion would cover adults with incomes making up to 138% of the federal poverty level, or roughly $22,000 per year for an individual.

🔎 READ MORE: Some GOP lawmakers show signs of support

THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY

$562 million

That’s how much was spent on political advertising in Georgia during the 2026 midterm elections.

• Republicans and GOP-aligned interests spent about $373 million in the state.
• Democratic campaigns and aligned groups spent about $178 million.
• Georgia was the fifth-spendiest state in the U.S. this election season.
• In fact, groups spent more money in 2026 than they did during the 2024 presidential election.

🔎 READ MORE: How those numbers compare to national stats

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

🚫 The Georgia GOP is distancing itself from a racist social media post by a fringe group called “Georgia College Republicans” attacking prominent Sikh Republican official Harmeet Dhillon. Georgia’s GOP Chair pointed out the party-recognized organization is the Georgia Association of College Republicans.

🐘 After decades of broad political control over the state, Georgia Republicans are facing a hard reset. The AJC politics team collected the thoughts of several GOP leaders on what went wrong and where the party goes next. Read for free here

NEWS BITES

Teenager Blades Brown becomes youngest PGA Tour winner in 95 years

With a name like that, he was bound to be a champion at something. Nominative determinism at work.

Food writing, erotica, ‘grit lit’ on tap at Atlanta’s 2026 Letters Festival

“Grit lit” is a term for Southern literature. The other genres … you probably know.

Actress, socialite and gardening trendsetter C.Z. Guest’s stylish wardrobe on display at SCAD FASH

I saw this exhibit and was overcome with nearly violent wardrobe and monogram envy. (Also, “gardening trendsetter” is peak life goals.)

Expert tips for making great sweet potato casserole

No one will know you scraped off the burned marshmallows and tried again.

ON THIS DATE

Nov. 10, 1989

It’s official! Wall will stay open. The Berlin Wall was the symbol of an era: a 103-mile stretch of fortified concrete and steel. The astonishing events of the past 24 hours have rendered it obsolete. What we saw today was unthinkable only a day ago: an all-night party in the streets of Berlin, East and West; vast crowds of people flowing freely back and forth, for the first time in 28 years. By the Brandenburg Gate, young men and women clambered up on the wall itself, to shake hands and cheer — imagining, together, a formerly unimaginable future.