Bottoms warns against potential GOP post-election power grab
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts announces a 2025 voter roll review.
- Everton Blair is the newest (and second-youngest) member of Congress.
- The Cook Political Report moves Florida from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican.”
Post-election powers
Keisha Lance Bottoms has a message for Republicans who might be tempted to limit her powers in a lame-duck special session if the Democrat wins the race for governor in November.
“I would hope that the Republican Party wouldn’t be the party of sore losers,” Bottoms told the “Politically Georgia” podcast.
“We are a state that has gotten things done in moderation, and it would be really unfortunate for them to do that on their way out of the door.”
Republicans publicly insist no such plan is in the works, and they express confidence in GOP nominee Rick Jackson in the nationally watched contest. Privately, though, some acknowledge it’s no fantasy.
Georgia flirted with the idea before. Ahead of the 2018 election, then-Gov. Nathan Deal called a rare post-election special session to address Hurricane Michael relief.
With Stacey Abrams locked in a tight race against Brian Kemp, the timing stirred speculation that GOP lawmakers could also clip the wings of an incoming Democratic governor.
Deal eventually rejected the talk, and Kemp’s victory rendered it moot.
But there is precedent. North Carolina Republicans curtailed incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s authority after his narrow 2016 victory.
Wisconsin Republicans used a lame-duck session two years later to weaken incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the state’s newly elected Democratic attorney general. Courts later upheld the overhaul.
The stakes in Georgia could go beyond executive power. Democrats are bracing for a session that could also be used to redraw political boundaries to enact GOP-friendly changes before Bottoms could veto them.
Bottoms predicts Democrats will net the 10 seats needed to recapture the state House, further weakening the GOP.
“I just hope that Republicans would be mature if they lose the House, and that they won’t do anything drastic,” she said.
Things to know
Good morning! The midterms are in 62 days. You have until Oct. 5 to register to vote. Here are three things to know for today:
- Bottoms unveiled a proposal on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Wednesday to let local governments suspend sales tax collections on groceries, Greg Bluestein reports.
- U.S. Department of Transportation officials came to Atlanta last week as part of the federal investigation into MARTA’s safety and security, Sara Gregory reports.
- State officials released results from a citizenship review Tuesday that found about 430 voters who cast ballots at some point over the past 30 years may not be citizens. Georgia currently has nearly 8.2 million registered voters, Caleb Groves reports.
Voter audit
For years, conservative activists have fixated on voter rolls, lodging voter challenges by the thousands to try to cancel registrations they believe are invalid or ripe for fraud. Most of those challenges haven’t gone anywhere.
How founded are those concerns?
Tuesday, the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts announced its review of voter roll data from 2025 found just 0.1% of the state’s then-8-million voter registrations would have allowed someone to vote despite an unverified identity, an invalid registration address or an unverified citizenship status.
“The numbers speak for themselves: 99.9% accuracy,” Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “Strong safeguards. Regular list maintenance. Compliance with the law and national best practices. That’s why Georgians can have confidence when they cast their ballot.”
The findings are another data point undercutting longstanding false claims that noncitizen voting is rampant in elections, made by President Donald Trump and others. Ahead of the midterms, the Trump administration has placed an intense focus on noncitizen voting, despite studies and audits finding such voters to be vanishingly rare.
The audit confirmed the identities of 99.8% of voter records containing REAL ID numbers. But among the scattered incidents of invalid or potentially invalid registrations identified in the audit were voters improperly registered to vote at P.O. boxes and, unusually, hundreds of registrations at a Georgia Department of Corrections facility or county jail.
Checking in on Florida
Georgia is one of four governor’s races the Cook Political Report has listed as a toss-up. But now it appears our neighbor to the south might be getting a little more competitive.
The political prognosticator moved Florida from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican.”
“This is far from an easy race for Democrats, who haven’t won the Governor’s Mansion in more than three decades,” Jessica Taylor wrote. “But Trump carried Florida by 13 points in 2024, putting it roughly in line by presidential margin with other states where statewide Democratic candidates are increasingly competitive this cycle, including Texas and Iowa.”
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Bottoms joins the show to talk about her campaign. She discusses her record as Atlanta mayor and responds to ethics attacks from Jackson.
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.
Blair’s first day
Everton “EJ” Blair Jr. is the newest member of Congress after being sworn in on Tuesday. The Lilburn Democrat said it had the same feeling as a star athlete transferring to a new high school in the middle of the academic year: the new kid no one knows but everyone says they’re happy you’re here.
His office, the space once occupied by predecessor U.S. Rep. David Scott, was bustling with members of his campaign team and his new congressional staff.
Much has been written about how Blair, D-Lilburn, is the first openly gay member of Congress from Georgia, but he is emphasizing his age.
Blair, 34, said he is now the second-youngest member of Congress after Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, age 29. And he wants to help Democrats on the ballot in Georgia and beyond reach younger voters.
“This moment is about generational change and the need for us to build Democratic Party leadership, infrastructure and energy that responds to this moment,” he said. “People are craving better. They want folks who are going to deliver on an agenda that makes a difference, not just today, but tomorrow and for the next decade.”
Today in Washington
- Trump will meet at the White House with executives at companies related to travel.
- The House will vote on legislation that mandates the Supreme Court be composed of nine justices.
- The Senate returns on Sept. 14.
Shoutouts
Happy anniversary:
- Greg and Sheryl Bluestein, celebrating their 19th anniversary.
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
The race for governor could come down to these seven counties.
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.