Georgia wildfires are the latest test for Gov. Brian Kemp
Today’s newsletter highlights
- Test your knowledge with our news quiz.
- Kemp signs law in response to First Liberty scandal.
- Andrew Clyde backs bill that would deport more immigrants.
In the fire
Georgia governors have always had to worry about droughts, particularly their impact on the state’s $91 billion agriculture industry. Now you can add a new worry to the list: wildfires.
Once mostly associated with Mediterranean climates of western states like California and Oregon, wildfires have become an increasing risk in the South. This week, metro Atlanta residents woke up to smoky skies and hazardous air quality as about 35,000 acres have burned in South Georgia in the past week. Most of that has been rural land. But the Highway 82 fire in Brantley County has destroyed dozens of homes and is threatening about 1,000 others.
Gov. Brian Kemp has already declared a state of emergency. And in a sign of just how serious the situation has become, he is taking a timeout from campaigning for U.S. Senate hopeful Derek Dooley to travel to South Georgia today to evaluate the damage. His tour comes at a particularly busy time of year for the governor, who has less than 20 days to evaluate hundreds of bills that the state Legislature sent to his desk earlier this month.
Compounding the problem are the millions of dead trees scattered throughout the state from Hurricane Helene in 2024, leaving ample fuel to feed fires. Fittingly, Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper on Friday announced he was giving farmers more time to apply for block grant to help cover their losses from the hurricane.
“Many communities still rebuilding from Hurricane Helene are now under direct threat by the wildfires,” Kemp noted on X in a post praising Harper and his staff for supporting “farmers as they focus on keeping their families safe right now.”
Friday news quiz
Good morning! How closely did you follow the news this week? Find out by taking our quiz. You’ll find the answers at the end of the newsletter.
In her new memoir published this week, Democratic candidate for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms recounts her heartbreak after a key political figure endorsed her rival during her 2018 campaign for mayor of Atlanta. Who was it?
- A) Former Mayor Andrew Young
- B) Former Gov. Roy Barnes
- C) Former state Sen. Jason Carter
- D) Former Mayor Shirley Franklin
Atlanta joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over what policy decision?
- A) Withholding funding from cities that have diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
- B) The purchase of two warehouses with plans to turn them into immigrant detention facilities.
- C) Funding cuts for research grants at public universities.
- D) Repealing the greenhouse gas endangerment finding, which established that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health.
Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall appeared in a campaign ad this week along with what famous Atlanta rapper?
- A) Lil Jon
- B) Lil Baby
- C) T.I.
- D) Gucci Mane
Two insurance companies sued an Atlanta-based architecture firm, trying to avoid paying damages over what disaster?
- A) North Georgia wildfires in 2025 that damaged dozens of homes.
- B) The collapse of a gangway on Sapelo Island.
- C) Hurricane Helene that destroyed property in 2024.
- D) Three tornadoes that hit central Georgia in February.
First Liberty
Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged Brant Frost IV in connection with a $140 million Ponzi scheme that duped conservative investors. Now, Kemp has signed a law aimed at helping some of them get their money back.
Kemp signed Senate Bill 284 on Wednesday. It empowers the state’s securities commissioner — also known as the secretary of state — to order investments be repaid directly to investors. Previously, the best the state could do was make the fraudsters pay a fine to the state.
“This law provides the teeth we need to demand justice and ensures that those who seek to defraud our citizens will face the full weight of the law,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.
It was one of three laws Kemp signed on Wednesday. The governor has 18 days left to act on about 357 bills that lawmakers sent to his desk this year. He can either sign them, veto them or let them become law without his signature.
Health focus
Democratic candidate for governor Jason Esteves is trying to make health care a defining issue in his campaign.
The former state senator rolled out a broad agenda this morning that includes Medicaid expansion, capping costs for medications such as insulin and inhalers, eliminating sales taxes on diapers, formula and menstrual products, and creating a state board to scrutinize prescription drug prices.
Esteves also zeroes in on some of Georgia’s most stubborn health care challenges. He proposes increasing oversight of pharmacy benefit managers, requiring insurers to more reliably reimburse rural hospitals, and limiting AI-only insurance denials by requiring human review of medical decisions. (A bill is on Kemp’s desk that would address that last concern.)
The plan also includes incentives to recruit doctors, nurses and other providers to underserved communities.
Immigration status
U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, facing a strong challenge from former Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon in the Republican primary next month, has introduced legislation that would make more than 1 million people eligible for deportation.
The bill would terminate the temporary protected status designation, meaning those who have it would no longer be “lawfully present” in the United States. About 1.3 million people from 17 countries had that status as of last year, according to the advocacy group National Immigration Forum.
“Unfortunately, there has never been anything temporary about Temporary Protected Status,” Clyde said in a news release. “TPS has been weaponized and abused for decades, turning a so-called ‘temporary’ protection into permanent amnesty.”
The bill comes after the House voted last week to extend temporary protected status protections to Haitian immigrants until 2029.
DNC pitch
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Georgia Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey made their pitch to Democratic Party officials on Thursday in hopes they will award the 2028 convention to the city.
Riley Bunch and Greg Bluestein report that this summer’s FIFA World Cup games factored heavily into the case made for Atlanta. But Bailey also focused on Georgia’s stature as a swing state that could help decide the presidential election.
“What we have in Georgia is the ultimate battleground in our country,” Bailey said. “We talk about winning back faith and winning back trust from voters. Those voters are here.”
The city is among five finalists to host the convention, which is scheduled for Aug. 7-10 in 2028.
Listen up
There is no “Politically Georgia” podcast today. We’ll be back on Monday.
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.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump will participate in the Republican National Committee’s spring retreat in Palm Beach, Florida.
- The House and Senate are done for the week.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthdays
- Georgia House Majority Leader Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Mulberry.
- Caroline Womack, a lobbyist with Capital Public Affairs and Womack Government Affairs.
- Bert Hummel, chair of the State Disciplinary Review Board for the Georgia Bar.
Upcoming birthdays:
- State Rep. Dewey McClain, D-Lawrenceville (Saturday).
- Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (Saturday).
- State Rep. Chris Erwin, R-Homer (Sunday).
- State Rep. Bill Hitchens, R-Rincon (Sunday).
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
Answers to today’s news quiz:
- D) Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. Bottoms wrote that Franklin “could hurt my feelings but she could not stop me from becoming mayor.”
- A) Withholding funds from cities that enact DEI policies. The city has joined more than a dozen other cities and counties in the lawsuit.
- B) Lil Baby. The rapper praised Schwall for his fairness as a judge.
- B) The collapse of a gangway on Sapelo Island. The companies argue their policies don’t cover professional failures of the architecture firm.
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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