Rick Jackson, Burt Jones trade attacks as GOP race for governor intensifies
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- House bill aims to support grieving families of stillborn children.
- Brian Kemp increases his revenue estimate to balance the budget.
- Marjorie Taylor Greene talks about her faith.
Attack politics
The Republican race for governor is getting nastier. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire Rick Jackson are increasingly slugging it out like it’s a two-man contest.
Jones and Jackson are trading blows as if Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger aren’t even in the race.
Since Jackson entered the contest — and began courting the MAGA base with an uncompromising embrace of President Donald Trump’s agenda — Jones has shifted almost all of his fire in that direction.
Jackson’s ads, paid for by his personal fortune, are everywhere. So is his message: he’s the outsider who’ll be Trump’s favorite governor.
Jones doesn’t want that narrative to settle. He’s launched a media counteroffensive, also largely funded by his personal wealth, to remind voters he secured Trump’s endorsement months ago.
Allies are pushing legislation that would bar candidates for governor from running if they have a financial interest in state contracts — a not-so-subtle swipe at Jackson, whose health care companies have done more than $900 million in business with the state. And Jones’ social media feed suggests an even sharper edge is coming.
Jackson is fighting back. He scored a major legal victory last week when he convinced a federal judge to order a leadership committee controlled by Jones to stop spending money on his campaign, potentially neutralizing what had been a fundraising advantage.
Things to know
Good morning! Insurance Commissioner John King is backing Republican Jim Kingston’s bid for the coastal Georgia U.S. House seat held by outgoing U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter. King said he’s backing Kingston “because I know he’ll get things done for Georgians in Congress.”
Here are three other things to know for today:
- State Rep. Carl Gilliard and other lawmakers commemorated the first Black legislators in Georgia history and formally launched plans for a new monument on the statehouse grounds in their memory, Greg Bluestein reports.
- State lawmakers approved a $43.7 billion amended budget on Wednesday that aims to return $2 billion to taxpayers. Some families could potentially receive checks totaling $1,000 or more, the AJC’s David Wickert reports.
- Georgia could soon become the second state to create a license plate notifying first responders someone inside the vehicle has autism spectrum disorder, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports.
Grieving support
New laws can be expensive. But Georgia lawmakers rarely let money get in the way of a good bill.
This week, the House Public and Community Health Committee advanced a plan aimed at putting perinatal bereavement devices in every Georgia hospital. These specialized cooling systems allow families of stillborn children to keep them in their rooms for up to 72 hours, giving parents more time to grieve.
Many hospitals already have these devices. But about 50 don’t, according to state Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners. House Bill 1250 would create a grant program at the Department of Public Health to pay for them.
But while the bill creates the grants, it doesn’t fund them. Lawmakers would have to do that separately through the budget. It’s not a lot of money. Hilton estimates it would cost about $300,000 to put one device in every hospital that needs one.
The bill, if it becomes law, would stay on the books until at July 1, 2029. If it doesn’t have funding by then, the law would be automatically repealed. But the money wouldn’t have to come from the state. A provision says private donations could also be used.
The bill is named in honor of Daniel Waters, who was stillborn in April 2023. Ashley Waters, Daniel’s mother, testified she only had a few hours to hold her son because the hospital did not have one of these devices. She’s since started a nonprofit whose mission is to donate these devices to hospitals.
Money tree
What do state lawmakers do when they don’t have enough to pay for everything? They ask the governor for money.
Gov. Brian Kemp delivered on Tuesday. And in a big way.
The governor revised his revenue estimate to give lawmakers an additional $1.4 billion to spend. The decision means Georgia’s vaunted savings account will shrink. But it allows the Legislature and Kemp to keep some of their most important — and expensive — priorities intact.
Among them:
- $1.2 billion for an income tax rebate. Single filers will get $250. Heads of household get $375. Married couples filing jointly will get $500.
- $850 million for property tax relief. The money will flow through local governments. The average homeowner will get $500.
- $409 million for a new forensic mental health hospital.
- $325 million for a needs-based college scholarship program.
Kemp said his decision to increase the revenue estimate “allows us to make these essential, one-time investments while maintaining the proposed income tax reductions for this fiscal year.”
Under the Gold Dome
It’s Day 25 of the legislative session. Some happenings:
- 8 a.m.: House Banks and Banking Committee meets to discuss House Bill 1112, which would require rounding the total price of goods or services when paying with cash.
- 9 a.m.: House convenes. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on four bills related to insurance.
- 10 a.m.: Senate convenes. Members are scheduled to vote on a bill that would empower the state to withhold driver’s licenses from chronically absent students.
- 1 p.m.: House Education Committee meets to discuss House Bill 1402, which would require vision and hearing screenings for all public school students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through third grade.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast we break down President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, including the political implications for Georgia. Then the AJC’s Savannah bureau chief — Adam Van Brimmer — joins the show to talk about the race in Georgia’s 1st Congressional District to replace U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who is running for the Senate.
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.
Endorsement watch
We’re 82 days away from the primary for state and federal races across Georgia. Campaigns are rushing to line up support. Here’s a roundup of the latest endorsements:
- Republican state Sen. Brian Strickland’s campaign for attorney general nabbed the support of 75 sheriffs — nearly half of all the sheriffs in the state. Take a look at the full list here.
- Jonathan Bonner, a former U.S. House candidate who is now running for a state legislative seat, is endorsing Democrat Everton Blair’s bid for Congress. He’s competing to oust Democratic U.S. Rep. David Scott in the primary.
- Woodstock Mayor Michael Caldwell is among about a dozen prominent local officials who backed Rob Adkerson’s bid for the open 11th Congressional District seat. Others include state Sen. Jason Dickerson; former state Reps. Wes Cantrell and Steve Stancil; and former Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers.
- End Citizens United, the left-leaning advocacy organization known for spending heavily to support its preferred candidates, has backed former Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves in Georgia’s race for governor.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump will receive an intelligence briefing and take meetings at the White House.
- The House is done for the week.
- The Senate will vote on more of Trump’s nominations.
Politics and religion
Former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hasn’t granted media interviews since she stepped down from Congress last month. Most of her public comments have come via her still active social media accounts.
But she decided this week to participate in a different kind of interview, talking about her faith and her shifting political outlook on a podcast hosted by a Texas church that she frequents.
The pastors of Anchor Church in McKinney asked Greene about her spiritual foundation. She was raised Catholic but left the church because of concerns about how leaders handled the sex scandals. She talked about being so upset that she cried on the House floor when, during her first term in office, Democrats passed a bill expanding access to abortion.
But the most interesting moments came when Greene spoke of her split with President Donald Trump after being one of his most loyal allies. She said she has been angered not just by his criticism but about the way Washington works and the influence money has in politics.
She said she has relied on her faith to get to a place of peace and acceptance.
“We have to — in our faith in God and who he is — put all of that at his feet,” she said. “That’s really what it’s all about. And I think that was the hardest lesson I had to learn in Congress. I went in like, ‘I’m going to do it all.’ And then I found out I can’t do anything. It’s him who does it.”
Shoutouts
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Before you go
Georgia has about 250 FBI agents across the state. Lautaro Grinspan reports more of them are helping enforce deportation work despite a huge increase in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s budget.
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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