Democrats pressure state GOP to oust adviser over social media posts
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Colton Moore bashes Brian Kemp over immigration response.
- Georgia OKs digital driver’s licenses for age restricted purchases.
- Erica-Denise Solomon backs Roger Bruce in state Senate runoff.
Pushback
Democrats are raising the heat on a Georgia Republican Party “special adviser” with a history of xenophobic and hateful social media posts.
Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Charlie Bailey escalated the pressure this week, calling it “despicable” that Brad Barnes remains affiliated with the state GOP.
Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon appointed Barnes to the unpaid advisory post last month to help the party leverage technology to reach new voters. But Barnes, a former state House candidate, has amplified white nationalist content and made an antisemitic remark about Mexico’s Jewish president.
“Will Burt Jones, Chris Carr, Brad Raffensperger, Mike Collins, Buddy Carter, and Derek Dooley condemn Barnes’ hate and call for his resignation — or can Georgians assume from Republicans’ deafening silence that they condone it?” Bailey said.
Most Georgia Republican leaders have stayed quiet about the revelations. One key exception: GOP National Committeeman Jason Thompson, who publicly called for Barnes’ removal.
“It’s easy to stay quiet and not rock the boat in politics, but we are called to lead,” Thompson posted on X.
Brandon Cory Goldberg, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia’s Jewish Council, said the lack of widespread GOP response is troubling.
“The hypocrisy of Georgia Republicans paying lip service to supporting the Jewish community while condoning antisemitism within their own ranks is stunning,” he said.
Things to know
Good morning! This is the last newsletter of the week. We hope you enjoy the Thanksgiving break. Please know we are grateful for your readership. We’ll be back on Monday. In the meantime, be sure and check AJC.com for updates.
Now, here are three things to know for today:
- Former state House Appropriations Committee Chair Terry England had pushed for a new Level I trauma center in Gainesville. He ended up being the center’s first patient, AJC politics columnist Patricia Murphy writes.
- The AJC’s Joe Kovac writes about how retiring Mercer University President Bill Underwood expanded the private school at a time when small and midsized institutions navigated declining enrollment.
- A state authority that oversees and manages a widely used database of Georgia’s real estate records said it recently suffered a sophisticated ransomware attack, the AJC’s Zachary Hansen reports.
Moore’s strategy
Republican state Sen. Colton Moore hasn’t yet announced an expected campaign for U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s seat. But he’s already signaling that bashing Gov. Brian Kemp will be a key part of his strategy in the deep-red northwest Georgia district.
The far-right Trenton lawmaker slammed Kemp for pushing to streamline visas for high-skilled foreign workers after hundreds of Korean nationals at the massive Hyundai Metaplant near Savannah were swept up in a massive federal immigration raid.
“We as Georgia taxpayers subsidized this plant — supposed to be for Georgia jobs, but instead Koreans were on the field,” he told the right wing One America News outlet. “And our governor is out here saying, ‘maybe we need to revise our visas so we can have these people train up Georgians and they’ll know how to work. No, that’s absolute nonsense.”
Hyundai Motor Co. Chief Executive José Muñoz said a White House official apologized for the raid.
And President Donald Trump has tried to reassure foreign firms that the U.S. still values their investment and workforce.
Campaign clash
An outside political group backing Attorney General Chris Carr’s campaign for governor has paid for a scathing billboard targeting rival Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
“Burt Jones’ $10 Billion Family Project,” declares the sign erected near a proposed medical and data center complex backed by Jones and his family that has prompted scrutiny. Jones has dismissed Carr’s criticism, saying he is “grasping at straws because he’s stuck in a distant third place."
The billboard highlights the intensity of the Republican primary for governor. A political group calling itself Georgians for Integrity has booked a six-figure media buy in metro Atlanta for next week — and it’s already generating buzz in the race.
Details are scarce. The group hasn’t indicated its message yet, only that the spending is tied to the heated contest for the state’s top office.
Digital ID
You can’t use your digital Georgia driver’s license to vote. But now you can use it to buy beer.
The Georgia Department of Driver Services says it’s now legal to use a digital driver’s license to make age restricted purchases. Retailers, however, don’t have to accept it. So you better check before heading to the store.
Georgia DDS Commissioner Angelique B. McClendon called it “a secure, convenient new option” to prove your age.
Georgia has offered digital driver’s licenses since 2023. More than 500,000 people now have them on their phones. But law enforcement agencies won’t be required to accept them during traffic stops until July 1, 2027.
That’s according to a new law signed by Gov. Brian Kemp this year, sponsored by state Rep. Houston Gaines, an Athens Republican now hoping to succeed U.S. Rep. Mike Collins in Congress.
Your thoughts
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, helped force President Donald Trump to sign a law to release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019. In turn, Trump threatened to back a primary challenger to Greene, prompting her to leave Congress.
We asked you to weigh in on who won this feud. Here’s a sampling of responses:
- Doug Abramson: “Only time and history will tell what was behind Greene’s resignation. To me, the almost undiscussed question is why she resigned rather than just fulfilling her two year commitment to the voters in her district? Announcing her decision to not seek re-election would be understandable, or even predictable. Quitting mid-term, requiring a special election and leaving her District unrepresented is not understandable. constituent-centric or savvy.”
- Myra Blackmon: “I still believe she won. She is money-grubbing. This ensures her pension for life — on top of the millions she has made trading stocks while in Congress — and now can pursue any avenue she chooses. If Trump were going to end her career, he could have done it weeks ago. MTG beat him in the long run.”
- Chris Harrell: “Neither won, especially not the people who would tend to back both of these elected representatives. I am one of the losers who backs both, most of the time.”
- Former state Rep. Mitchell Kaye: “She won and Trump lost? Not even close! Then why is she resigning? If the Epstein files had anything damaging on Trump don’t you think [Joe] Biden would have released them during or before the campaign?”
Campaign watch
Erica-Denise Solomon, the Democrat who finished fourth in last week’s special state Senate election, is backing former state Rep. Roger Bruce in next month’s runoff.
Bruce finished second behind former Cobb County School Board member Jaha Howard. The two of them will face each other in the Dec. 16 election.
Solomon, a first-time candidate, captured more than 17% of the vote to finish just behind Republican Josh Tolbert. Solomon said she made her decision after speaking with Bruce, who spent more than two decades in the Georgia House and did not seek reelection last year.
In a social media post, Bruce promised to sponsor legislation that was important to Solomon.
“You’re a woman and you know more about women’s issues than I do,” Bruce said. “The job is for me to listen the job is for me to hear what you have to say and understand.”
Election audit
A review of more than 1,580,000 ballot images from this months’ elections found just 14 discrepancies, according to results of an audit announced by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office.
“This audit proves that our elections faithfully reflect the will of Georgia voters,” said Raffensperger, who is a Republican candidate for governor.
The audit, conducted by Enhanced Voting, scrutinized the outcome of 1,032 races on ballots across the state for the Nov. 4 elections. That included statewide special elections for two seats on the Public Service Commission.
Most of the discrepancies were from hand-marked paper ballots. The company’s report said those hand-marked ballot inconsistencies could be attributed to human interpretation differences or image quality issues.
The audit used optical character recognition technology to read the text of ballot images to verify that scanner tabulation matched printed candidate selections on ballots cast.
The state’s voting system uses a combination of touchscreens and printers to create a paper ballot for in-person voting. Some voters return absentee ballots, which are filled in by hand and then scanned.
Critics of Georgia’s voting system say it remains vulnerable to potential hacks or malware that could change results.
The review comes after a hand-counted risk-limiting audit of the Public Service Commission District 2 contest.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast we break down how affordability has become the defining issue of the 2026 governor’s race.
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
Happenings:
- President Donald Trump is in Florida and will spend the rest of the week at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
- The House and Senate are out all week for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthdays:
- State Rep. Kimberly Alexander, D-Hiram.
- State Rep. Robert Dickey, R-Musella.
Upcoming birthday:
- State Rep. Lynn Heffner, D-Augusta (Thursday)
Noteworthy:
- Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry is the new president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
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
Remember, we’re taking the rest of the week off. This newsletter will return to your inboxes on Monday.
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.
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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