Iran war emerges as major issue in U.S. Senate race

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Voting is underway in the special election runoff for Georgia’s 13th Congressional District.
• Donald Trump’s bid to curb grocery prices is drawing pushback from Georgia cattle producers.
• John Albers is calling for improvements after abuses of Flock Safety’s license plate cameras.

Iran divide

Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins addresses the VFW Hall in Acworth on Monday. (Greg Bluestein/AJC)

Georgia’s U.S. Senate race features plenty of familiar partisan contrasts between U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. But few are as stark, or potentially as consequential, as their stances on the war against Iran.

Ossoff says President Donald Trump and his allies “lied the nation into a war they know not how to end or how to win.” Collins, the GOP nominee, is standing by Trump’s handling of the conflict.

That was clear on Monday night when Collins outlined his veterans platform at the VFW Hall in Acworth, which included pledges to expand healthcare benefits and drug treatment options. Collins made clear afterward he unequivocally backs Trump’s foreign policy.

“I trust this administration. President Trump has done a phenomenal job in making sure that our generation, the next generation of Americans, don’t have to put up with an Islamic terrorist regime that has been killing us for 47 years, and make sure they don’t have the capability to get a nuclear weapon,” Collins said.

Asked whether he sees a pathway out of the conflict, Collins again deferred to Trump.

“I believe that the president has the right pulse on this, and he is making the right decisions,” he said. “And at the end of the day, he’ll make sure that we’re victorious in what we’re doing.”

Ossoff has also ratcheted up his criticism about a war he opposed from the outset. After Trump launched the attacks alongside Israel on Feb. 28, Ossoff called it a “regime change war-of-choice.”

Nearly six months in, there’s still no end in sight to the conflict. Trump is leaning harder on economic pressure, with more sanctions and fresh warnings to countries that keep doing business with Iran.

The fallout is hitting beyond the battlefield, too, with disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz adding more pressure to energy prices.

Last weekend in Atlanta, Ossoff went further in his critiques of the conflict, accusing Trump and his Republican allies of “promising peace and giving us war.”

“They drained our stockpiles to achieve nothing. Iran still has its uranium. Hormuz is still closed, and it was all lies,” he said, adding: “There’s something uniquely despicable about lying a nation into war, treating citizens as fools and those who serve as pawns.”

Things to know

An election worker places a vote-by-mail ballot into a secure bin at the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office during the Florida primary election in Doral, Florida, last week. (Lynne Sladky/AP)

Good morning! The midterms are in 70 days. You have 41 days left to register to vote. Here are three things to know for today:

• Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson assured a nervous attendee at a recent rally that Gov. Brian Kemp will call up the Georgia National Guard to monitor the midterm elections in November, Greg Bluestein reports.
• In a move that has the state’s top judges butting heads, the Georgia Supreme Court has decided it will no longer take most murder appeals, transferring that work to the Georgia Court of Appeals, Rosie Manins reports.
• The U.S. Supreme Court in a ruling Monday cleared the way for a Trump executive order restricting mail-in voting to take effect.

Ad surge

Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (left) and Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

A bunch of new political ads are out this morning.

Ossoff is sharpening his attacks on Collins over an ongoing House Ethics Committee probe into his office. The 30-second ad strings together news clips about allegations that Collins’ former chief of staff Brandon Phillips hired his girlfriend as a paid intern for a no-show job and that he misused taxpayer dollars.

It also features scathing criticism from conservative commentator Erick Erickson, warning of Collins’ baggage.

Collins has dismissed the probe as a “nothing burger” and predicted he’ll be cleared.

Collins swung back with his first TV ad of the general election cycle, a contrast spot that says Ossoff “talks a good game, but all he’s delivered is higher prices and unaffordable healthcare.”

Collins said at a stop last night that the ad will pay dividends for his campaign.

“Ossoff’s had a free pass for over a year. Nobody’s touched him on anything,” Collins said. “We’re beginning to hit him. We’re beginning to tell people what the differences are between the two of us.”

Not to be outdone, Jackson released three new television ads this morning. Two of them target Democratic nominee for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ record, while a third 60-second spot tells of Jackson’s backstory.

Beef with Trump

Cows are fenced in before being displayed at a cattle auction in Hermosillo, Sonora state, Mexico, last July. (Fernando Llano/AP)

Trump’s bid to tame grocery prices is drawing pushback from Georgia agriculture officials and cattle producers.

Trump announced Friday that the U.S. would temporarily allow up to 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef, roughly 661 million pounds, over 90 days without triggering higher tariffs. Trump says the imported beef will be sold at 25% below current market prices.

The reaction from cattle country has been fierce. Republican Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said he has heard “serious concerns” from Georgia producers and warned that “increasing our reliance on imported food is not a long-term solution” to affordability.

He pointed to the underlying problem: The U.S. cattle herd is the smallest it has been in 75 years.

Cook County Probate Judge Chase Daughtrey, whose family has kept a cattle herd, was even sharper: “This move by President Trump essentially requires U.S. cattlemen to dig their own grave.”

They’re hardly alone. Republican senators from major cattle-producing states have balked, too.

The Georgia Cattlemen’s Association has warned the move could disrupt cattle markets just as many producers prepare to sell their calves.

And Bottoms seized on the backlash, calling Trump’s plan “reckless” and challenging Jackson to join her in opposing it.

“I stand with Georgia producers against Donald Trump’s reckless plan to flood the market with imported beef,” she said.

Election Day, again

From left, Everton Blair and Marcye Scott. (Melissa Golden; Courtesy of Marcye Scott)

The stakes don’t seem too high in today’s special election runoff in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District between Everton Blair and Marcye Scott. After all, the winner will only be in office for a few months to finish the remainder of the late-U.S. Rep. David Scott’s term before giving way to whoever wins a full term in November.

But a stacked Congressional schedule — with Republicans clinging to a thin majority — means whoever wins Tuesday will have plenty of opportunities to make an impact. Consider Congress’ to-do list:

• Government shutdown. The federal government is funded through Sept. 30. The House and Senate have passed bills to push that deadline to December. It means we could be facing a potential government shutdown through the holidays.
• The farm bill. The massive spending package for agriculture and nutrition programs will expire Sept. 30. Agriculture is Georgia’s largest industry.
• National defense. The National Defense Authorization Act hasn’t passed yet. The bill could include a proposal to keep open the Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon in Augusta.
• National security. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, expired earlier this year. The bill allows the U.S. to spy on noncitizens outside of the United States.

Campaign watch

People bow their heads in prayer during a rally for Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson at The Bibb Mill Event Center in Columbus on Thursday. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Jackson is scheduled to speak at the Georgia Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual Victory Dinner on Sept. 14.

The Georgia Faith & Freedom Coalition is affiliated with the national Faith & Freedom Coalition founded by Georgia-based Ralph Reed. The group has proven to be a grassroots powerhouse, deploying canvassers for candidates and creating partnerships with churches and other conservative organizations.

Other scheduled speakers for the event include:

• Collins
• State Sen. Greg Dolezal, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor.
• U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, the Cassville Republican who is not seeking reelection.
• U.S. Rep. Rick McCormick, R-Suwanee.
• State Sen. Brian Strickland, the GOP nominee for attorney general.

Camera concerns

State Sen. John Albers, seen here applauding Gov. Brian Kemp's State of the State address at the state Capitol in 2025. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Republican state Sen. John Albers is calling for improvements after abuses of Flock Safety’s license plate cameras. But he couldn’t resist including a shot at Bottoms while doing it.

Albers, chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, wrote an opinion essay this week saying he’s happy with how the company has responded to the concerns before adding: “Short-term fixes alone are not enough.”

“We know what can happen when law and order break down,” Albers wrote. “Georgians have no desire to return to the unrest and destruction we witnessed in 2020, when law enforcement was called to restore order under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.”

That seems to us as a reference to the unrest during Bottoms’ tenure as mayor, the circumstances of which have become a big part of Jackson’s campaign against her.

As for the Flock cameras, Albers noted he’s on a task force with the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police to study the issue.

He’s promised “thoughtful long-term recommendations for the General Assembly when we return in January.” And he is set to discuss his plans at the Capitol today.

Listen up

Democratic nominee for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms, left, and Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson. (Arvin Temkar and Jason Getz/AJC)

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell and Patricia Murphy dig into the increasingly personal race for governor after Bottoms confronted Jackson over attack ads involving her husband.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, YouTube 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

• Trump has no public events on his schedule.
• The House returns on Monday.
• The Senate is in recess until Sept. 14.
• U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams will host an event highlighting the $437,000 in federal funds she obtained to improve campus safety at Spelman College.