Million dollar mystery: Who paid for ad attacking Burt Jones?
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Test your political knowledge with our weekly news quiz.
- U.S. Senate candidates back a ban on congressional lawmakers trading stocks.
- Georgia could get $20 million in taxes from a big lottery jackpot.
Mystery ad
A group called Georgians for Integrity spent roughly $1 million on a 30-second ad attacking Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the early front-runner among Republicans in the race for governor. But the intrigue is less about the content of the ad than who paid for it.
Whoever is behind this has covered their tracks remarkably well. The paper trail appears to wind from Delaware to Utah to a post office box in Atlanta. One campaign finance expert told us she’s never seen the roots of an ad so thoroughly concealed.
We’ve cast a wide net and still can’t figure out who did it. The campaigns of Jones’ top Republican rivals — Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — both insist they’re not involved. Their allies have both pointed fingers at each other. Some others have speculated about deep-pocketed outside donors stepping in.
Democrats aren’t claiming credit, either. Even former Gov. Roy Barnes, who some speculated might be involved, said he’s not behind it.
The ad accuses Jones of leveraging his office for personal gain, a charge he’s flatly rejected. Jones’ camp brushed off the ad’s timing, which lands just as many voters tune out for the holidays. His spokeswoman Kayla Lott blamed both rivals for “throwing Hail Marys.”
“Brad Raffensperger and Chris Carr — two proud Never-Trumpers — can’t gain traction because they’re wrong on virtually every issue Republican voters care about,” she said. “Let them burn through their cash; we’ll stay focused on delivering common-sense solutions that actually move Georgia forward.”
Friday news quiz
Good morning! Things are supposed to slow down in December, but you would never know that from this week’s news cycle. See how much you can remember with our weekly news quiz. You’ll find the answers at the end of this newsletter.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is on an international trip this week. Where did he go and why?
- A) South Korea to visit Hyundai’s headquarters.
- B) Germany for a European trade conference.
- C) Brazil to meet with forestry industry officials.
- D) Panama to visit the country’s canal and examine its operations.
Democrat Akbar Ali won a special election for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives this week. What was unique about his election?
- A) He raised and spent no money, relying solely on door-to-door campaigning.
- B) At 21, he might be the youngest person ever elected to the Georgia General Assembly.
- C) He was endorsed by the district’s Republican state senator.
- D) The election set a record for the lowest turnout in 40 years.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week. What was he protesting?
- A) Transportation Security Administration agents briefly detained him before a flight home to Georgia.
- B) Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents blocked him from visiting a detention facility.
- C) The department has repeatedly ignored requests for information from Ossoff’s office.
- D) The Federal Emergency Management Agency canceled a $1 million grant to bolster security at the Valdosta Regional Airport.
Rusty Paul, the former chair of the Georgia Republican Party, won a fourth term as Sandy Springs’ mayor this week. Who did he partially credit for his landslide victory?
- A) Democratic voters.
- B) Donald Trump.
- C) Stacey Abrams.
- D) Raphael Warnock.
Stock trades
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff has been one of the Senate’s most vocal champions of banning lawmakers from trading individual stocks — an idea that has hovered over Capitol Hill for years amid recurring ethical concerns.
Now, the three major Republicans who want to challenge him for reelection next year are lining up behind it.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons Island, said through an aide that he “agrees there need to be safeguards against insider training.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, co-sponsored the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would ban members of Congress, their spouses and children from owning, buying or selling individual stocks, securities or futures.
Former football coach Derek Dooley endorsed the idea in a September commenary. This week, he called it “a common sense and a necessary first step to ending business as usual in Washington.”
Payday
A Mega Millions ticket sold in Newnan last month fetched the biggest payday in Georgia history for one lucky lottery player. It could also net a windfall for Georgia’s government.
Georgia is estimated to collect more than $20 million in taxes from the $980 million jackpot, Georgia Lottery Corporation President and CEO Gretchen Corbin told lawmakers this week.
The winning ticket was sold last month at a Publix in Newnan, about a 40-minute drive southwest of Atlanta. But Corbin said lottery officials are still waiting for the winner to come forward. Lottery winners have 180 days from the time of the drawing to validate their prize.
Last year, a New Jersey resident waited nine months before claiming a $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot. (New Jersey players have one year to claim lottery winnings).
And sometimes the unthinkable happens. A $197.5 million Mega Millions ticket sold in California expired last year after no one came forward to claim it.
Show your cards
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins’ campaign has dismissed a complaint involving him and his top aide as a “bogus referral” from the U.S. House Committee on Ethics.
Now Democrats are asking: if it’s so baseless, why not share what’s in it?
“He doesn’t have to wait for the ethics commission to come out with their report,” said Charlie Bailey, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “If he’s asking voters to trust him that it’s bogus, tell the voters what it is.”
Bailey added: “It’s a matter of respect for the voters. If it’s nothing, show everyone it’s nothing and then we can move on.”
Joan Curtis, an Athens retiree active in the left-leaning Indivisible movement, echoed the call.
“He needs to tell us what’s going on. We don’t know anything about it, and it makes us wonder what happed.”
Collins’ campaign declined comment on the complaint, which the House Committee on Ethics said involves Collins and his top aide Brandon Phillips.
The committee said in a brief notice it needs more time to evaluate the complaint and will announce its course of action by Jan. 5.
Schumer’s future
A new nationwide Emerson College poll suggests Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is becoming a political liability for Democrats heading into the 2026 midterms — and Georgia voters are squarely in that camp.
The survey, released by Consensus Strategies, found majorities in every state tested — even deep-blue California, Massachusetts and New York — say Schumer should step down as Democratic leader. Voters across the board rate his job performance and leadership strength far below other national Democrats.
More than half of Georgia voters say Schumer should step aside, including 36% who say he should do so immediately.
About 52% say he’s not the best person to lead Democrats into 2026.
And while most Georgians say Schumer won’t influence their vote next year, roughly one-third say he makes them less likely to back Democratic candidates.
The findings are consistent with the broader trend: in every state and in the national sample, voters say Schumer hurts Democrats more than he helps.
The poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters nationally and 1,000 voters each in eight states, including Georgia, from Nov. 18–21.
Delayed
Sentencing for the man who pleaded guilty to directing fake emergency calls to members of Congress was delayed Thursday.
Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to sentence Thomasz Szabo, a Romanian man, to four years and nine months in prison for his participation in the scheme. The hoax calls targeted dozens of elected officials including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, and took place between December 2023 and January 2024.
Listen up
There is no “Politically Georgia” podcast today. We’ll be back on Monday to answer questions from the listener mailbag.
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Pipe bomb arrest
The FBI on Thursday announced it had arrested a man accused of planting two pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic parties’ offices in Washington hours before the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The suspect is Brian J. Cole Jr., 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia. The Associated Press reported that the FBI has not yet announced a possible motive or if the pipe bombs had any connection to the Capitol breach hours later.
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Cassville Republican who is leading a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, released a statement praising the news.
“The FBI’s arrest of the alleged January 6 pipe bomber is a tremendous breakthrough in a mystery that has haunted the country for nearly five years,” he said.
Today in Washington
Happenings:
- President Donald Trump will attend the World Cup draw and then return to the White House for a concert by soloist Andrea Bocelli.
- The House and Senate are done for the week.
Shoutout
Today’s birthday:
- Edward Lindsey, former state House majority whip who is now a partner with the Dentons law firm.
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
Answers to this week’s news quiz
- D) Panama. The Panama Canal is essential to the economic success of Georgia’s ports at Brunswick and Savannah.
- B) At 21, Akbar Ali might be the youngest person ever elected to the Georgia state Legislature. It’s hard to know for sure, but we couldn’t find anyone younger than 22.
- B) Immigration and Customs Enforcement blocked Ossoff from visiting a detention facility. Ossoff says it’s illegal to keep him out.
- A) Democratic voters. Paul was endorsed by Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch, whose district includes much of the city.
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.
