Emails show back‑and‑forth over latest Rick Jackson ad
Today’s newsletter highlights
- Pete Buttigieg rallies supporters for Shawn Harris.
- Nabilah Parkes abruptly resigns her state Senate seat.
- The Georgia Senate wants to make sexual harassment settlements involving state lawmakers public.
Email chain
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has spent weeks saying lots of bad things about Rick Jackson, his Republican rival for governor. That’s what made Jackson’s latest TV spot so potent.
The ad features a narrator accusing Jones of “lying” about Jackson — before cutting to a short clip of Jones from December praising him as a “good friend” and applauding his work on foster care.
The moment came before Jackson’s surprise February entry into the governor’s race turned him into Jones’ top threat. But newly obtained documents show the praise wasn’t just off-the-cuff.
An email chain obtained by the AJC reveals the monthslong back-and-forth that produced the clip now featured in Jackson’s attack ad.
It began with a September message from a Jackson aide asking Jones to help promote a foster care tax credit championed by Jackson timed for end-of-year charitable donations. It came around the same time a mysterious group began pummeling Jones with attack ads.
The back-and-forth stretched for weeks as the aide, who is not a campaign staffer, discussed messaging and logistics.
By late November, the Jackson team sent over a draft script for Jones to record. One line read: “We’re incredibly grateful for his heart and his leadership. Thank you, Rick, for all you do for Georgia.”
Jackson’s campaign now says the footage underscores a simple point: Jones once praised Jackson before turning on him in the heat of the campaign.
“No matter how hard his campaign tries, they can’t erase the fact that Burt Jones liked and admired Rick Jackson until Rick started beating him in the governor’s race,” the campaign said in a statement.
Jones said he was proud to support the foster care initiative and efforts to help “our most vulnerable.” But he said the ad reveals how far Jackson is willing to go for political gain.
“Rick Jackson just showed us he’s willing to do anything to get a vote, even using vulnerable foster children as a political prop to garner support,” Jones said. “That’s not a political move — that’s abhorrent, disgusting and tells you everything you need to know about Rick Jackson’s character. He should be ashamed.”
Things to know
Good morning! We’re 64 days away from the primary for the U.S. Senate, governor and other offices. Here are three other things to know for today:
- A House budget proposal would pay for a literacy coach in every elementary school in Georgia. The AJC’s Martha Dalton writes Fulton County could be a model for how to use them.
- Polling shows former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is likely to win a spot in a runoff for the Democratic nomination for governor. Greg Bluestein writes about how the rest of the candidates are fighting for second place.
- The Atlanta Citizen Review Board completed its first investigation of an officer-involved shooting in five years, the AJC’s Samantha Hogan reports.
Pete’s pitch
There are plenty of big-name Democrats who would love to help Shawn Harris flip the deep-red northwest Georgia seat once held by Marjorie Taylor Greene that’s up for grabs next month.
But the retired U.S. Army officer is picking his spots carefully to avoid giving his Republican opponent, Clay Fuller, an opening to paint him as another national Democrat.
On Saturday, his campaign brought in former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — a military veteran and onetime presidential hopeful who could make another White House run in 2028.
“We know an uphill fight when we see one, but I believe this district can turn heads all around the country and all around the world,” Buttigieg told a packed audience in Rome.
He told the crowd there’s “no such thing as a permanently red district or town” and argued that Trump-era politics could trigger unexpected swings.
“I’m preaching the simple and obvious fact — it doesn’t have to be this way. You are so much more powerful than they want you to believe in Washington.”
October surprise?
The Georgia Senate wants to make sexual harassment settlements involving state lawmakers public, just in time for the 2026 midterms.
On Crossover Day, the Senate amended a bill about mug shots and police body camera footage to make these settlements public. It would apply to “a claim of sexual harassment, discriminatory harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.” The bill also contains this crucial sentence: “This subsection shall be applied retroactively.”
The Senate passed the bill unanimously. The U.S. House, meanwhile, overwhelmingly voted to shelve a similar proposal.
“Let’s be better than they are,” said state Sen. Randy Robertson, the Cataula Republican who sponsored the amendment. “Let us be willing to have ourselves looked at.”
Back in 2018, then-state Sen. David Shafer’s bid for lieutenant governor was shadowed by such a complaint. A 58-page confidential investigatory report obtained by the AJC raised doubts about claims from a veteran lobbyist that she was persistently sexually harassed by the Republican.
Every state legislative seat is on the ballot this year, along with at least 10 current or former state lawmakers running for statewide office. Could this bill, if it becomes law, give some of them something to worry about?
Sticking around
Young Democrats frustrated by former President Joe Biden’s disastrous reelection campaign have been pushing for generational change among the party’s elder officials. But some of the party’s longest serving members are not heeding that call.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn announced last week he would seek an 18th term in office, which, if elected, would make him the longest-serving South Carolinian in the House.
Clyburn, 85, represents South Carolina’s lone Democratic district. He’s considered the favorite to win reelection. That’s not the case for Georgia U.S. Rep. David Scott, 80, whose bid for a 13th term is complicated by multiple strong challengers.
It’s difficult to compare the two. Scott has missed time in Congress because of health issues. He filed to run for reelection in a wheelchair. Clyburn hasn’t had those issues.
Parkes’ parting shot
First, Nabilah Parkes shocked fellow Democrats by abandoning a bid for insurance commissioner to join the competitive race for lieutenant governor.
Then on Friday she abruptly announced she was resigning her Senate seat, triggering a special election in the Gwinnett-based district that complicates an already crowded race to succeed her.
Parkes stepped down in a blistering letter to Gov. Brian Kemp, saying the Legislature is a “place where good ideas go to die.”
It caused a kerfuffle in her caucus, since her departure deprives Democrats of a vote in the final weeks of the session, which is set to end April 2.
Her Democratic opponent, state Sen. Josh McLaurin, said the decision is “the type of purely political move that undermines trust with voters.”
The ripple effects don’t stop there. Kemp must now set a special election — forcing the trio of Democrats already running to succeed Parkes next year to decide whether to jump into the suddenly accelerated contest.
As for Parkes, she rejected McLaurin’s criticism, saying it unfairly cast her as impulsive.
“It takes an amazing level of entitlement to try and suggest that as a woman I don’t have every right as a man to be in this race,” she said.
Under the Gold Dome
It’s Day 32 of the legislative session. Some happenings:
- 10 a.m.: House convenes.
- 10 a.m.: Senate convenes. They’re scheduled to vote on House Bill 1000, which would provide a one-time income tax credit of up to $500 to certain taxpayers.
- 1 p.m.: Senate Public Safety Committee meets to discuss House Bill 1409, which would require firefighters and animal service workers to report suspected cases of child abuse.
- 1:30 p.m.: House Judiciary Committee meets to discuss Senate Bill 552, which would ban public schools from preventing students from meeting in clubs based on political, philosophical, ideological or other content of the speech.
- 2 p.m.: House Special Rules Committee meets to discuss House Resolution 1662, which would recognize the leadership of President Donald Trump, commend the courage of the U.S. armed forces and acknowledge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
- 2 p.m.: House Regulated Industries Committee meets to discuss Senate Bill 254, which would authorize licensed retail dealers in distilled spirits to sell consumable hemp products.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast we answer questions from the listener mailbag, including why members of Congress don’t have to live in the districts they represent.
You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on 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.
DHS shutdown
The partial government shutdown affecting agencies within the Department of Homeland Security has now reached the one-month mark. Employees missed their first full paycheck last week.
The biggest effects are within the Transportation Security Administration, where employees are calling off work or quitting to find other jobs.
The AJC’s Emma Hurt and Charles Minshew reported on Friday that wait times at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport were well above the year-to-date average during the week of March 6-12. The airport’s website displayed wait times of up to 60 minutes, but actual wait times had exceeded that.
Federal Emergency Management Agency workers are also going unpaid during the shutdown, and expected severe weather this week is likely to impose new demands on its resources.
But there is no end to the shutdown in sight. Senate Democrats continue to use the filibuster to block progress on a House-passed bill that would fully fund all DHS agencies because the measure does not have policy changes for immigration enforcement.
Republicans have refused to accept Democrats’ alternative proposal to provide new funding for all agencies within DHS except U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
Noteworthy
- Republican Attorney General Chris Carr’s campaign for governor unveiled its “159 County Coalition” today — a grassroots network of 403 supporters across the state. You can read the list here.
- Georgia Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte endorsed Rob Adkerson in the race for Georgia’s 11th Congressional District. He praised Adkerson as a “conservative fighter who can get to work on Day 1.”
Today in Washington
- The president will have lunch at the White House with members of the Kennedy Center Board and sign legislation alongside Vice President JD Vance. He will then meet with George Glass, the U.S. ambassador to Japan.
- The House postponed votes until Tuesday.
- The Senate has a vote scheduled on a Trump nomination, but it could be postponed because of severe weather forecast.
Shoutouts
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
Before you go
After the NBA canceled the Atlanta Hawks’ Magic City promotion, AJC food critic Monti Carlo reviewed the iconic strip club’s famous lemon pepper chicken wings.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider information 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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