Polls paint starkly different pictures of Georgia’s top races
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Georgia foster care providers struggle to meet overwhelming demand.
- Atlanta nonprofit helps shape bipartisan pediatric cancer AI effort.
- Everton Blair joins Financial Services Committee for remainder of U.S. House term.
Diverging polls
Back-to-back releases from conservative-leaning Rasmussen Reports offer strikingly different snapshots of Georgia’s two marquee races.
The latest finds Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson neck-and-neck in the governor’s race, 48-45, with the 3-point gap falling within the poll’s margin of error.
That came a day after Rasmussen showed Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff leading Republican Mike Collins 51%-42%. Both surveys questioned 1,019 likely Georgia voters on Sept. 14.
The crosstabs help explain the 12-point difference between the margins. Jackson narrowly leads independents 43%-41%, while Ossoff easily carries them 51%-34%.
Jackson gets 83% of voters who backed Republican President Donald Trump in 2024 compared with 77% for Collins; Bottoms gets 82% of voters who backed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in that same election compared with 90% for Ossoff.
There’s a gender divide, too. Jackson leads men by 15 points and Bottoms leads women by seven. In the Senate race, Ossoff leads women by 15 points and men by two.
Things to know
Good morning! The midterms are in 47 days. You have 18 days left to register to vote. Here are three things to know for today:
- Federal investigators say they’ve uncovered a new conspiracy to exploit migrant farmworkers in Georgia, further cementing the state’s role as a site of recurring labor violations in agriculture, Lautaro Grinspan reports.
- Dr. Erica Schwartz, in what was billed as her first public appearance since being confirmed as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a healthcare conference on Wednesday that she wanted CDC staff to feel emboldened to speak up when they disagree with her, Tamar Hallerman reports.
- Raphael Bostic is “looking for the next chapter” after stepping down from his post leading the Atlanta Fed, Mirtha Donastorg reports.
University chief
Gov. Brian Kemp spent years reshaping the Board of Regents to help clear the way for former Gov. Sonny Perdue to take over Georgia’s powerful university system.
Now, with Kemp in the final stretch of his tenure, the board has lined up another consequential choice with the governor’s blessing to lead higher education for years to come.
The regents on Wednesday named former Southern Co. chief executive Tom Fanning the sole finalist to succeed Perdue as chancellor, putting him on track to oversee 25 public colleges and universities, roughly 382,000 students and more than 50,000 faculty and staff. His appointment is expected to be finalized next month weeks.
The Board of Regents is separate from the governor’s office. But governors appoint its members to staggered seven-year terms, giving Kemp substantial influence over the board during his eight years in office.
That dynamic was particularly clear during the end of his first term, when Kemp repeatedly reshuffled the board to boost Perdue’s bid.
Fanning is no caretaker waiting for Kemp’s successor to set a new course. The Georgia Tech graduate spent 13 years running Southern Co. and is a national voice on energy and infrastructure security. He has also focused on the intersection of artificial intelligence and the systems that power the economy.
That background offers a clue to his agenda. Fanning told the board he wants to orient the university system toward ensuring graduates enter the workforce with the critical thinking and analytical skills needed to thrive in a rapidly changing economy.
Foster care funding
Last year, the Murphy-Harpst Children’s Center in northwest Georgia received close to 3,000 referrals for children suffering trauma and neglect. They only had 77 beds available.
That’s just a snapshot of what providers say is the need for foster care providers in Georgia. Scott Merritt, Murphy-Harpst’s CEO, says part of the problem is state funding has not kept up with the rising costs of caring for these children.
For example, in the past if a child had a court hearing or a medical appointment, the state would provide or help with the cost of transportation. Now, the state says providers must pay for that. Such trips often involve overtime for staffers, meaning the costs can quickly add up.
“We didn’t get a rate increase last year and they’re not giving us any extra funding to do this,” Merritt said. “It just makes me scratch my head thinking, what kind of business model is this? How do they expect providers to function under this scenario?”
But Merritt is hopeful. Both major party candidates for governor have personal ties to foster care and adoption. Jackson spent time in the foster care system himself as a child, a backstory that has become central to his campaign. And today, a committee of state lawmakers will convene at the Capitol to continue evaluating the escalating costs in Georgia’s foster care system.
Rally time
An Atlanta-based childhood cancer nonprofit helped shape a new bipartisan push in Congress to use artificial intelligence to improve pediatric cancer research and treatment.
Rally Foundation founder Dean Crowe worked with U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on the Ailani Myers AIM to Cure Kids with Cancer Act, introduced this week with Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif., and Mike Kelly, R-Pa.
The bill is named for Ailani Myers, a 10-year-old Rally Kid who was diagnosed just before her 3rd birthday and has endured seven relapses, five clinical trials and two bone marrow transplants.
The measure would strengthen a National Cancer Institute childhood cancer data initiative, create a federal AI coordinator and use the technology to improve data sharing, predictive modeling and clinical trials.
“We need to bring all the pieces together and put the power of AI to work for kids fighting cancer,” Crowe said.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Republican Attorney General Chris Carr weighs in on independent voters, the GOP’s strategy for 2026 and the challenges facing Jackson and Collins. He also discusses license plate readers, social media’s impact on children, AI regulation and what’s next after his term as attorney general.
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.
House leaves early
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson had already canceled the final two weeks of House votes ahead of the midterms, cutting short their time in Washington and extending the recess ahead of the midterm election.
On Wednesday, he announced that he was also canceling votes today. That gave an even earlier start to the recess and allowed Republicans to avoid a difficult vote on a surprise effort by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Massie went rouge by his impeachment legislation, filing it without the knowledge or consent of GOP leadership. He is leaving office at the end of the year after being defeated in the primary by a challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump.
The Senate is still scheduled to be in session for two more weeks, but there are already rumors swirling that the chamber may get an early start on recess as soon as next week.
Members of the House are not due back in Washington until Nov. 9, where they will have a five-week lame duck session.
Today in Washington
- Trump will host a private dinner at the White House.
- The Senate will vote on a Trump nomination and take a procedural vote on legislation to create standards for name, image and likeness contracts in college athletics.
- The House is out until after the midterm elections.
Blair makes his mark
U.S. Rep. Everton Blair, who was elected to complete the remainder of late U.S. Rep. David Scott’s term, will be on the House’s Financial Services Committee during his abbreviated term in office.
The committee is considered a top-tier assignment, although Blair will see limited action given the House is in recess until November and will only have five weeks of votes in Washington after the midterms.
Blair also filed paperwork this week to start a new federal political committee, Building Lasting Alliances for Impact and Results. He said he will use the committee to raise funds to support like-minded candidates in future elections.
The Lilburn Democrat said his short time in office has already taught him that more young, progressive leaders are needed.
“After just three weeks in this Congress, I could tell you firsthand we need to do a lot of things differently,” he said. “And it starts with who is here and who has the capacity to change some of the systems that are not working for us.”
Shoutout
Today’s birthday:
- Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson.
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 Federal Reserve Board voted Wednesday to raise interest rates for the first time since 2023, defying Trump.
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.