Burt Jones wants to make Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge cool again
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Georgia Republicans visit the White House.
- State Supreme Court weighs equitable caregiver law.
- Construction workers file complaint against local labor union.
Tax pledge
Decades ago, Grover Norquist’s pledge never to raise taxes was an influential litmus test for Republican politicians. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones wants to make it fashionable again.
Jones became the first 2026 gubernatorial candidate in Georgia to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a promise used by Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform to oppose all tax increases.
He inked it in Gainesville on Tuesday during a legislative hearing on eliminating the state’s income tax, saying that Georgians “deserve a governor who will fight to let them keep more of what they earn.”
Hundreds of Republicans have signed the pledge since Norquist introduced it in 1986 with President Ronald Reagan’s blessing. But its influence has faded as lawmakers voted to raise the debt ceiling and gas taxes to fund infrastructure. Only 15 of Georgia’s 236 lawmakers have signed today.
Could Jones’ signature prompt a run on Republican signers in Georgia? “I would encourage each and every one of y’all to sign,” he told his Senate colleagues.
In this race, Jones is making his vow to phase out the income tax a central theme of his campaign even as some worry how the state would replace the roughly $19 billion in revenue the collections bring in each year.
His top Republican rivals have also committed to slash taxes.
Attorney General Chris Carr promised to ensure Georgia has the lowest tax burden of any Southeastern state, and his campaign said he also plans to sign the pledge.
“Chris Carr is the only candidate with a plan to lower income and property taxes,” said Carr spokeswoman Julia Mazzone.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger signed the same Norquist pledge during previous campaigns, and a spokesman said he intends to sign it again.
Don’t expect any Democrats to join them. But several are rolling out their own proposals for steep reductions aimed at middle class Georgians.
Things to know
Good morning! Gov. Brian Kemp today officially announced he’ll be traveling to South Korea for an economic development trip weeks after an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant near Savannah. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported the trip through an open records request.
Here are three other things to know for today:
- Planned Parenthood Southeast’s board has hired a law firm to investigate allegations that the abortion-rights group’s executive leadership is not fully supportive of their stance on reproductive rights, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports.
- MARTA leaders say the transit agency will look completely different by next April, when a half dozen long awaited projects are set to be completed, the AJC’s Sara Gregory reports.
- A judge ruled the homeowners association for a luxury Buckhead townhome community must stop shirking its responsibility to maintain one of the most historically significant African American cemeteries in metro Atlanta, the AJC’s Rosie Manins reports.
More texts
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel withdrew his nomination Tuesday after Politico revealed a trove of offensive text messages he had sent to a group of Republican colleagues.
In one message, Paul Ingrassia, 30, wrote that he had a “Nazi streak.” He also made a series of racist remarks and wrote that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.”
Ingrassia had planned to continue with his scheduled nomination hearing Thursday. But a handful of GOP senators, including Majority Leader John Thune, called on the White House to withdraw his nomination.
Before Ingrassia announced he would withdraw, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., told the AJC that Republicans should oppose him. “For me, the question of this moment is not who he is, but who are the Senate Republicans? Where’s the limbo bar that’s too low for them to disfigure themselves into something unrecognizable, just to pass the worst people that Donald Trump can put up?”
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said, “I am disgusted, but I regret to say I’m not surprised,” and called on the Senate to reject him.
Ingrassia initially said he had no recollection of the text messages. He wrote on social media Tuesday that he will remain in his current position as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security and “continue to Make America Great Again!”
White House trek
Since President Donald Trump returned to office, a steady stream of GOP candidates for federal and statewide offices have made a pilgrimage to the White House. Now, rank-and-file state legislators are getting in on the act.
On Tuesday, more than 70 Georgia Republican lawmakers trekked to Washington for the White House State Leadership Conference.
The speakers included Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, a former Georgia congressman; Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, a former Georgia U.S. senator; Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Alex Meyer, the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Second swing
The state Supreme Court in February said it had “serious concerns” about Georgia’s equitable caregiver law. Now, the court has another chance to strike it down.
The law, passed in 2019, lets people seek custody of children even if they are not the legal guardian or related by blood. Lawmakers had envisioned scenarios of a stepparent seeking custody. But the law has prompted thorny disputes among same-sex couples with children.
The court heard arguments on Tuesday in a dispute between two women. One woman had a child through a sperm donor during their relationship. But she ended up leaving the state and taking the child with her. A lower court awarded the woman who was not the biological mother custody rights under Georgia’s equitable caregiver law.
The biological mother wants to terminate her former partner’s rights. David DeLugas, attorney for the biological mother, told the court that state lawmakers “created a mess, a mess that your honors are obligated by your role to straighten out.
Attorney I. William Drought III, who represents the woman who did not give birth, said the biological mother waived her rights to “exclusive parenthood.” But the justices had a lot of questions about that, including whether the mother knew what her rights were and if she knowingly agreed to waive them.
Labor complaint
Four Georgia construction workers have filed a federal complaint against a local labor union, accusing its leadership of retaliating against them for resigning their membership.
The workers were members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 926. The construction company they worked for had exclusively hired union members. But after that arrangement ended, the workers resigned from the union.
Now, the workers say the union’s leadership is threatening them with fines, which the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation argues is illegal. A call to the union was not returned on Tuesday.
“They cannot have internal union discipline against people who are not currently union members,” said Patrick Semmens, the foundation’s vice president.
The foundation has 17 attorneys who handle more than 200 cases a year. But Semmens said the case is “one of our more unusual situations” — especially in Georgia. Georgia is a right to work state, meaning state law prohibits requiring employees to join a labor union or pay dues as a condition of employment.
The complaint was filed with the National Labor Relations Board, which has not had a quorum for much of this year after President Donald Trump fired one of its members. But Semmens said most cases settle before reaching the board for a vote.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux explains her call for Democrats to move beyond identity politics and focus on a unifying message for a diverse electorate. Then A’shanti Gholar, president and CEO of Emerge, discusses training and supporting women candidates nationwide, including several in Georgia.
You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia for free an Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump meets at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
- The House is out for the week.
- The Senate is in session and expected to take yet another vote on the government funding bill passed by the House.
Holding the floor
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon is the latest Democrat to deliver a marathon floor speech in protest of President Donald Trump’s policies.
Merkley’s speech is at 12 hours and counting as of 6:21 a.m. He followed in the footsteps of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, the New Jersey Democrat who broke the record for the longest floor speech when he spoke for more than 25 hours in April.
Merkley began speaking at 6:21 p.m. At one point, he read excerpts from the book “How Democracies Die” and had various visual aids.
One poster read, “Ring the alarm bells: authoritarianism is here now.” Another said, “Trump is violating free speech and free press.”
“I’m holding the Senate floor to protest Trump’s grave threats to democracy,” Merkley posted on social media as his speech began. “We cannot pretend this is normal.”
Shoutout
Today’s birthday:
- Fitzgerald Mayor Jason Holt.
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
Before you go
Twenty-eight Georgia sheriffs have endorsed U.S. Rep. Mike Collins’ Senate campaign. Collins is a Republican from Jackson.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
This story has been updated to reflect there are 236 state lawmakers in Georgia.
About the Authors
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
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