Georgia becomes a magnet for White House hopefuls
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- New AJC poll reveals a neck-and-neck governor’s race.
- Jon Ossoff makes a return trip to the West Coast on Monday.
- Rick Jackson walks a tightrope on Donald Trump ahead of Saturday visit.
The Georgia circuit
Georgia is quickly becoming a must-stop for politicians who have occupied the White House. And for a few who might want the keys someday.
President Donald Trump is returning to Georgia on Saturday and former President Barack Obama is headed to Atlanta next Wednesday. But the next generation of potential White House contenders is getting in on the action, too.
Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is headed to metro Atlanta on Saturday for a get-out-the-vote push with U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, congressional candidate Jasmine Clark and down-ballot Democrats.
It’s the latest stop in a nationwide tour that’s taken Buttigieg to 37 states since he left the Biden administration.
“I look forward to being back in Georgia to campaign with candidates who continue to prove there’s no such thing as a permanently red state or district,” Buttigieg told us.
And former Vice President Kamala Harris is adding another Atlanta stop to her schedule next week.
She was already set to headline the Fulton County Democrats’ Oct. 30 fundraising gala. Now she’s also teaming up with the NAACP for an Oct. 29 event with the civil rights organization’s president, Derrick Johnson.
Let’s also not forget that U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, another potential White House aspirant, has built in Georgia stops along with a slate of visits to key battleground states.
The immediate goal is energizing voters ahead of the midterms. But with the 2028 presidential race looming, the parade of political heavyweights carries weight beyond November.
Things to know
Good morning! The midterms are two weeks away. Early voting runs through Oct. 30. Here are three things to know for today:
- Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson chairs a Christian child-placing agency that requires prospective foster families to affirm marriage is only between one man and one woman. Some advocates worry that could influence his policies if he is elected governor, Tamar Hallerman reports.
- Democrats and Republicans are pouring millions of dollars into Georgia’s open attorney general’s seat. The race is a dead heat, according to the AJC poll, David Wickert reports.
- The Georgia National Fair ended Sunday. More than half a million people visited. Joe Kovac Jr. reports both political parties tried to corral potential voters ahead of the midterms.
Mirror candidates
Just how different are Keisha Lance Bottoms and Rick Jackson? The latest AJC poll shows the two candidates for governor locked in a dead heat. Greg Bluestein has all the details here.
But a closer look at the polling shows how the candidates are opposites in nearly every way.
- Jackson leads with male voters, while female voters show a preference for Bottoms.
- More than 88% of Black voters are with Bottoms. Nearly 67% of white voters are with Jackson.
- Majorities between the ages of 18 and 44 support Bottoms. Voters older than 65 are with Jackson. (Middle aged voters between 45 and 64 are split evenly between the two.)
There’s not a lot of room for improvement for either candidate. Less than 8% of voters say they are undecided.
No show
Jackson showed up for Trump’s rally Friday, walking a carefully calibrated political tightrope. He praised the president for his work on foster care but shelved his old promise to be Trump’s “favorite governor.”
When Trump returns to Georgia on Saturday, Jackson won’t be there. Instead, he’s holding his own rally in Cherokee County, where his campaign says he’ll be “serving as a force multiplier” by rallying Republicans to turn out.
It’s another sign of Jackson’s balancing act. Trump remains popular with the GOP base, but the latest AJC poll shows 55% of Georgia voters give him negative reviews, including independents by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
Jackson needs those Trump loyalists to show up in November. But with swing voters souring on the president, he may have decided the best place to be Saturday is anywhere but onstage by his side.
Democrats aren’t giving him a free pass. Party spokesperson Jake Strickland said boasting of being a “force multiplier” for Trump will backfire.
“It’s beyond clear that Slick Rick is a Trump-obsessed billionaire who will do anything to suck up to the president,” Strickland said. “He will never be able to run away from his long record of fighting for Trump over what’s in the best interest of Georgia families.”
Going back to Cali
Ossoff made a return trip to the West Coast on Monday, fundraising not only for himself, but for Democrats in Georgia and Senate candidates across the country.
Deadline reported that tickets for one Los Angeles fundraiser started at $3,500 and went all the way up to $25,000 for those listed on the host committee.
A second L.A. fundraiser Monday, first reported by Politico, had a more modest entry fee starting at $250 a head. That event was hosted by a who’s who of Hollywood executives. Ossoff was last in California in September when he headlined a joint fundraiser with Texas Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Bluestein and Patricia Murphy break down our new AJC poll, including Democratic enthusiasm, undecided independent voters and Trump’s declining approval rating in Georgia. They also share their takeaways from Trump’s rally in Dalton, where Jackson and Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins took noticeably different approaches to the president.
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.
Pulling back
It’s no secret that Ossoff has a massive cash and polling advantage over Collins. But Politico reports that the increasingly lopsided U.S. Senate race means that both parties, not just Republicans, appear to be pulling money out of Georgia. Now the dynamic is affecting other Senate races across the country.
“Georgia was expected to be one of the cycle’s most expensive and preeminent battlegrounds — now some of the biggest outside spenders are pulling back and turning their attention to more competitive races in redder territory,” they write.
The Senate Leadership Fund, Republicans’ top Senate super PAC, did not spend on broadcast television in the state last week — the first week they were off air in the race, according to tracking firm AdImpact. Neither did Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC.
Today in Washington
- Trump and Vice President JD Vance will make a joint announcement. Then Trump will travel to Greenville, North Carolina, where he will speak at a campaign rally.
- The House and Senate are out of session until after the midterm elections.
Shoutout
Today’s birthday:
- Former Vice President Kamala Harris.
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
We told you last week that Chuck Williams is leaving WRBL to become editor and publisher of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. For his final episode of “Sunday Conversations,” Williams talked to former state Rep. Calvin Smyre, the longest serving member of the Georgia House, whom Williams called “the single most historic influential figure” he covered in nearly three decades in Columbus journalism.
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.