Why some Georgia candidates for governor are fighting for second place
Today’s newsletter highlights
- Buddy Carter presses to suspend Georgia primaries for redistricting.
- Brian Kemp signs 34 bills, trimming his backlog with days left to act on this year’s legislation.
- As Democrats line up behind two Georgia Supreme Court challengers, Republicans counter with their own cash.
Grind it out
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is well aware of his third-place standing in the Republican polls for governor. And he’s acting like it doesn’t matter.
At a Smyrna Rotary meeting on Tuesday — the Republican candidate has made a habit of going to chamber meetings and Rotary clubs — he leaned into his low-key, detail-heavy pitch.
He framed his campaign around affordability, public safety and what he called a return to “the ABCs” in education. He renewed calls to cap property taxes and exempt new hires from state income taxes if they move to Georgia from another state.
At 14% in the AJC’s latest poll, Raffensperger is well behind front-runners Rick Jackson, a healthcare executive, and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. But his strategy is clear: grind it out, target persuadable suburban voters and bet that a fractured field exhausted by the Jackson-Jones slugfest leaves him an opening.
“There’s still a big lane,” he said in an interview after his speech. “We’re reaching people. We’ve got great media out there. It’s very positive. Just talk to people about my vision. The positive things I’m going to do as their next governor, make sure Georgia is affordable and safe.”
Democrats scrapping for second place behind former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are waging a similar fight.
Former state Sen. Jason Esteves’ campaign is circulating a new memo today casting him as the only Democrat with late momentum, a serious paid-media operation and the grassroots network to force a runoff.
The memo argues Esteves has roughly tripled his support since the last AJC poll, where he registered 8% in that survey, and said he would outspend his rivals on broadcast and streaming in the closing stretch.
It’s dismissive of former DeKalb chief executive Michael Thurmond’s “under-the-radar campaign” and pans former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan’s “deep credibility issues” as a former Republican.
“Jason is hitting his stride,” it argues, “just as his opponents are losing ground.”
Things to know
Good morning! Here are three things to know for today
- Georgia’s midterm voters have one thing in common: they can’t decide who to vote for, writes Greg Bluestein.
- The new AJC poll shows most Republicans still don’t like Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. But he has solidified support among likely Democratic primary voters, Tia Mitchell reports.
- Georgia midwives say the state is sidelining them, the AJC’s Riley Bunch reports.
Where the sidewalk ends
Amy Johnson was jogging in Vidalia when she tripped on an uneven sidewalk. She sued the city over injuries to her face and shoulder. The Court of Appeals denied her claim, and the state Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take the case.
But the justices want to make sure local governments don’t get the wrong idea.
“Cities have long had a duty to keep their streets and sidewalks safe for ordinary travel,” Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson wrote.
Pinson wanted to clarify that because the Court of Appeals had sided with the city, in part, because it said the court “never held that a passive failure to maintain a sidewalk would be a basis for [municipal] liability.”
Pinson said that’s wrong. He said the court declined to take the case for other reasons. But he wanted to make sure that point was clear. The other eight justices all agreed with him.
Signed
Gov. Brian Kemp has six days left to decide whether to sign or veto bills the state Legislature sent him this year. Tuesday, Kemp lightened the load a little by signing 34 bills.
They included:
- House Bill 466: Designates the marsh tacky horse as the official Georgia heritage horse breed.
- House Bill 659: Expands a service cancelable loan program to include optometrists.
- House Bill 1230: Bans flying drones over prisons and jails.
- House Bill 1193: Provides funding for literacy coaches in every elementary school.
- House Bill 1009: Bans students from using cellphones in high school.
- House Bill 1284: Allows for the awarding of high school diplomas to students who are at the end of their lives.
- Senate Bill 150: Extends a program letting some retired teachers return to the classroom.
- Senate Bill 523: Requires schools and colleges to consider antisemitism in the same manner as discrimination based on religion.
- Senate Bill 444: Bans health insurance companies from using artificial intelligence as the sole reason to not provide coverage.
- House Bill 1118: Provides three weeks of paid maternity leave to state workers.
Fire with fire
As Democrats rally behind Georgia Supreme Court challengers Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, GOP forces are answering with money of their own.
Kemp’s leadership committee made an initial $175,000 ad buy Tuesday to support Presiding Justice Sarah Warren, who is seeking another term on the state’s highest court.
She and Justice Charlie Bethel face Democratic-backed challengers in nominally nonpartisan races that are looking increasingly partisan.
So much for sleepy court races.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast we’re breaking down the latest AJC poll of the Democratic race for governor.
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.
Campaign Trail
Some recent developments:
- 314 Action Fund, a political committee that aims to get more scientists in elected offices, announced a $300,000 ad buy to support state Rep. Jasmine Clark’s campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 13th Congressional District. Clark is a microbiology lecturer at Emory. The ad, titled “Truth,” will air on TV and streaming channels in the Atlanta market.
- Esteves, who was the chair of the Atlanta School Board before becoming a state senator, has been endorsed by the PAC for Georgia’s Youth in the Democratic primary for governor.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump host an event at the White House honoring military mothers. Later, they will participate in a reception for the Trust for the National Mall.
- The House and Senate are out this week.
- U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, will visit a health clinic in Stone Mountain to highlight Medicaid cuts.
Team player?
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons Island, is continuing his public pressure campaign on fellow GOP state officials to suspend Georgia’s primary elections to redraw congressional boundaries after the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision weakened the Voting Rights Act.
“We need to suspend the House races and go ahead and redistrict so that Georgians would be represented in the next two years by people who represent their values. Georgia is a Republican state,” he told Newsmax. “We need to remember that.”
Carter is also on the primary ballot in the U.S. Senate race, where polls show he is trailing U.S. Rep. Mike Collins. His calls echo demands from conservative activists demanding new maps now.
Georgia is already a week and a half into early voting for the state’s primary elections, and Kemp earlier this week ruled out redrawing Congressional maps for the 2026 elections. But he indicated that the lines should be redrawn for the 2028 election cycle.
Despite Kemp’s declaration, Carter has continued his calls for a special session, including in an earlier AJC column, saying Georgia may be the linchpin in Republicans’ keeping the U.S. House in GOP control.
“We could pick up two to three seats in the state of Georgia,” Carter told Newsmax.
Currently, Republicans have nine of Georgia’s congressional seats while Democrats have four. Democrats are also expected to hold the 13th Congressional District, which is vacant after the death of U.S. Rep. David Scott last month.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthday:
- Maxwell Ackermann, a faithful reader of this newsletter who is starting at Georgia State University College of Law in the fall.
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
Kemp on Tuesday signed a bill banning high schoolers from using cellphones during the school day and paying to put literacy coaches in every elementary school. Kemp and House Speaker Jon Burns hope the measures will improve academic performance.
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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