FBI’s Fulton County raid prompts ACLU attorney to run for state Senate
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Bill would boost lawmakers’ expense accounts to pay for security.
- Rick Jackson and Burt Jones are escalating their TV ad war.
- Jason Esteves rolls out education platform in bid for governor.
Campaign watch
People get into politics for all sorts of reasons. For Rahul Garabadu, it was the FBI raid on Fulton County’s elections office.
The Norcross attorney launched a bid for state Senate this morning, telling us the federal seizure of more than 650 boxes of voting records helped spur his decision.
“The FBI raid was the exact type of intimidation I’ve spent years challenging in court: a blatant attempt to suppress the right to vote,” he said. “Now it’s time to take this fight to the state legislature. We need proven fighters to take on these battles.”
Garabadu is running for the Gwinnett County-based seat now held by Democratic Sen. Nabilah Parkes, who is challenging Insurance Commissioner John King.
He may already be familiar to Capitol regulars. As a voting rights lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union he helped litigate a challenge to Georgia’s 2021 election overhaul and has testified repeatedly before lawmakers on elections legislation.
The son of Indian immigrants, Garabadu graduated from Walton High School before earning degrees from Georgetown University and Harvard Law School.
Things to know
Good morning! Republican Tricia Pridemore announced Tuesday she won’t run for reelection to the Public Service Commission. Her decision follows two statewide defeats for Republicans in PSC races last year. And it means the all-important swing vote on the five-member board will now be a hotly contested open race this year.
Here are three other things to know for today:
- Republican Steven McNeel won a seat in the state Senate on Tuesday after defeating Democrat LaMario Brown in District 18, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports.
- Some Democrats on the Fulton County Commission say Republican Commissioner Bridget Thorne should not be present in closed-door executive sessions to discuss the county’s legal strategy opposing the Trump administration’s raid, the AJC’s Reed Williams reports.
- A bill introduced in the state Legislature would set back an ambitious proposal by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to extend the city’s tax allocation districts, the AJC’s Riley Bunch reports.
Security threats
It usually doesn’t end well whenever state lawmakers try to boost their own pay, especially in an election year. But growing security concerns have prompted a push in the Georgia House to give lawmakers resources to protect themselves and their constituents.
House Bill 1003 would, for the first time, let lawmakers use their expense accounts to pay for security measures. The idea is lawmakers would use the money to hire off-duty police officers to provide security at town hall meetings and other public events.
The bill had a hearing earlier this month. Republican state Rep. Steve Tarvin of Chickamauga, the committee chair, held off on passing it. State Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Powder Springs, has a substitute bill he hopes can get a vote next week and make it out of the House before the crossover deadline.
The bill is inspired by Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch of Sandy Springs, the Legislature’s lone Jewish member. She received a death threat in the mail in 2024. Ariel E. Collazo Ramos was convicted of that crime, and earlier this month a federal judge sentenced him to five years in prison.
“This is not a salary bill,” Wilkerson said. “This is really for us to effectively run our office.”
War of words
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire executive Rick Jackson are trading blows on the airwaves, on social media and on the campaign trail.
And it’s only escalating.
Jackson this morning rolled out two new ads: one highlight his hardscrabble upbringing and another vowing a new crackdown on transgender medical care for minors.
Meanwhile, right-leaning Rasmussen is out with a new poll that shows Jackson with an advantage in the GOP primary. The poll of 1,022 likely Georgia voters found that 22% preferred Jackson with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger behind him at 18%. Jones came in with 16% followed by Attorney General Chris Carr at 10%.
The same poll found U.S. Rep. Mike Collins leading Georgia’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate with 34%. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter was second at 19% followed by Derek Dooley at 11%.
School days
Democrat Jason Esteves is rolling out an education platform anchored by a rewrite of Georgia’s decades-old school funding formula, higher teacher pay and expanded free breakfast and lunch programs.
He pairs those proposals with calls to repeal permissive gun laws, strengthen safe firearm storage requirements and remove cellphones from classrooms.
On higher education, Esteves would make Georgia’s technical colleges tuition-free, expand paid apprenticeships, add needs-based aid to the HOPE scholarship and increase investment in historically Black colleges and universities.
The former state legislator’s agenda builds on a universal child care proposal he unveiled last year. Before he was a senator, Esteves was on the board of education for Atlanta Public Schools.
Under the Gold Dome
It’s Day 20 of the legislative session. Some happenings:
- 7:30 a.m.: Senate Appropriations Committee meets to discuss the state’s amended 2026 budget.
- 8 a.m.: House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee meets to discuss House Bill 947, which would prohibit the purchase of certain food and beverage items with federal supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
- 8:30 a.m.: House Creative Arts and Entertainment Committee meets to discuss House Bill 566, which would regulate the intellectual property rights for the voice and visual likeness of individuals.
- 10 a.m.: House and Senate convene.
- 2 p.m.: House Technology and Infrastructure Innovation Committee meets to discuss House Bill 478, which would require content generated by artificial intelligence to include a disclaimer.
- 2 p.m.: House Special Rules Committee meets to discuss House Bill 1013, which would declare lemon pepper Georgia’s official chicken wing flavor.
- 2:30 p.m.: House Health Committee meets to consider House Bill 1002, which would transfer Medicaid coverage for foster children from managed care to fee-for-service.
- 3 p.m.: House Governmental Affairs Committee meets to discuss House Bill 502, which would provide for preferential treatment for voters accompanied by children 2 years old and younger.
Property tax pushback
A Georgia House committee got an earful Tuesday from local government and schools officials concerned about Speaker Jon Burns’ proposal to eliminate property taxes on primary single-family residences.
The proposal is estimated to cost local governments and schools more than $5 billion in revenue each year. To help fill that hole, the proposal would let them repurpose existing sales taxes or charge “assessments” — fees not based on the value of a property — to help pay for services.
School and government officials said the plan could undermine the stability of funding for services like police and fire protection, trash collection, parks and K-12 education. They asked legislators to find other ways to grant property tax relief.
“Please give us at the local level the ability to meet local needs with local solutions,” Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul asked lawmakers.
One group that liked the proposal? Real estate agents. Betsy Bradfield of the Georgia Association of Realtors said the plan would help keep housing affordable.
She said 1,100 real estate agents plan to visit the Georgia Capitol today “to tell you how much they like this bill and how much they want property tax relief.”
The committee took no action on the bills.
Endorsement watch
Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan just picked up an important ally in Georgia’s Black community as he competes for the Democratic nomination for governor.
The Rev. James “Major” Woodall, the former state president of the Georgia NAACP, endorsed Duncan on Tuesday.
“The moment demands strategy, courage, and a candidate who can win in November. Geoff is that candidate,” Woodall said.
Expect Duncan to deploy Woodall on the campaign trail as he tries to build credibility with Black voters who form the backbone of his new party’s electorate.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast AJC immigration reporter Lautaro Grinspan joins the show to examine the federal government’s push to turn warehouses in Oakwood and Social Circle into large-scale detention facilities.
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 will sign legislation and host a Black History Month reception at the White House.
- The House and Senate are out this week.
- Gov. Brian Kemp and former state Sen. John F. Kennedy, a candidate for lieutenant governor, are among the featured speakers at a summit in Washington focused on overhauling judicial rules.
Jesse Jackson tribute
Remembrances are pouring in for the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died Tuesday after a long career as a pastor and civil rights leader. But it was his political career that arguably had the biggest impact on Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Jackson ran for president twice in the 1980s, the final time in 1988 when he lost the nomination to former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. But Jackson is remembered for his stirring speech to the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta.
“He channeled the moral sensibilities and vocabulary and spiritual power of the Black church onto the national stage,” Warnock, who is also senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, told reporters on Tuesday.
Warnock said it was Jackson that made someone like former President Barack Obama possible. Then he paused.
“He made me possible,” he added.
Shoutouts
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Before you go
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One about his upcoming trip to Georgia, President Donald Trump appeared to forget that he has endorsed Clay Fuller to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress.
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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