Georgia House Republicans spend big to defend majority
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- The NRA’s bus tour comes to Savannah.
- Barack Obama appears in new ads for Keisha Lance Bottoms.
- U.S. Senate Democrats are deploying 100 election observers, including in Georgia.
Million-dollar blitz
Georgia Republicans have a $1.2 million answer to Democrats hoping to flip the state House, with a new TV blitz aimed at protecting vulnerable incumbents while putting Democrats on defense.
House Speaker Jon Burns and his GOP caucus say they’re pouring resources into every competitive race.
The latest salvo is a two-week ad campaign launching Thursday in the Atlanta and Macon markets, the first broadcast buy of its kind for the caucus. The ad highlights Republican-backed laws that cut income taxes and suspended the gas tax, while touting the GOP majority as a “backstop” to thwart the Democrats’ agenda.
The stakes are enormous. Democrats need a net gain of 10 seats to seize control of the House for the first time in more than two decades.
They’re targeting GOP-held districts across Atlanta’s suburbs and beyond, hoping a strong showing from U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and backlash against President Donald Trump help them break through.
But Burns has built a year-round political operation to protect his majority. And Republicans want to make clear they’re not simply playing defense.
“Like they do every cycle, Democrats claim this is their year to take the Georgia House,” said Carmen Bergman, executive director of the Georgia House Republican Caucus.
“But House Republicans have worked nonstop for two years, in addition to decades of good governance, to defend and strengthen the majority.”
Things to know
Good morning! The midterms are in 19 days. Here are three things to know for today:
- Top Democrats and Republicans agree on one thing heading into November: Georgians should vote as if Donald Trump is on the ballot, writes Greg Bluestein.
- Hispanic voters helped Trump flip Georgia in 2024. In the AJC’s latest voter voices series, four Hispanic voters share how they are feeling heading into the midterms.
- Ossoff raised $33 million over the last three months, giving the Georgia Democrat a massive financial advantage as he heads into the final stretch of his reelection campaign with $26 million in the bank, Bluestein reports.
Obama’s return?
Former President Barack Obama is doubling down on his support for Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms. But it’s still not clear whether he’ll return to Georgia for a campaign rally.
A week after formally endorsing the former Atlanta mayor, Obama is lending his voice to a new round of digital and radio ads urging Georgians to vote early.
“There is a lot at stake in this election, Georgia. Make your voice heard and vote for Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor,” Obama says in the new spots.
No Georgia visit has been announced, even as Obama prepares to campaign for Democrats in Michigan and Ohio later this month.
He has a history of late-campaign appearances in Georgia, however. He held rallies for Stacey Abrams and Raphael Warnock in 2022 and a joint appearance with Kamala Harris in 2024.
NRA roadshow
The National Rifle Association’s national bus tour is coming to Savannah today as the gun-rights group hopes to encourage people to vote in the midterms.
Today’s stop is the first of two planned for Georgia, with the bus also scheduled to roll into Athens on Saturday for No. 1 ranked Georgia’s football game against Auburn.
The “2026 Gun Bus Battleground Tour” began in August with plans to make 63 stops in 13 states.
“If we lose pro-gun majorities in Congress and the statehouses, the incredible gains we have made can be wiped out by the stroke of a pen,” said Doug Hamlin, the NRA’s executive vice president and CEO.
Election observers
U.S. Senate Democrats plan to deploy 100 staffers to serve as election observers in nine states, including Georgia.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Alex Padilla of California jointly announced the effort on Wednesday. They said that the staffers have been trained and will document any attempts to interfere in the counting of ballots or intimidation of voters or election workers.
Earlier this year, the duo announced the creation of this program. They said Tuesday that their goal is to provide guardrails against what they perceive as threats posed by Trump.
“Donald Trump is trying to steal the election — but Democrats and the American people won’t let him,” Schumer said in a news release. “Our elections are free and secure, but we cannot take that for granted.
Georgia is among the states chosen for observation because of the expectation that the Senate race between incumbent Ossoff and GOP challenger Mike Collins, as well as other contests on the ballot, could be close.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Greg Bluestein and Patricia Murphy break down the biggest moments of Tuesday’s U.S. Senate debate, then look at the challenge Donald Trump’s return to Georgia creates for Rick 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.
Local news
Political observers in Southwest Georgia know Chuck Williams well as the area’s longtime political reporter. If a candidate for office traveled anywhere within 100 miles of Columbus, they likely made a point to stop to talk to Williams, if he wasn’t out on the trail finding them first.
Williams worked for more than three decades on various beats at The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and, in 2018, made the jump to television to work for WRBL News 3. He has become such a local legend over the years that the Columbus Clingstones minor league baseball team had a “Chuck Williams Bobblehead Night” this summer.
While he may sound like someone who would be ready for retirement, he isn’t. In fact, the self-described “newspaper guy” announced Wednesday that he will soon head back to the Ledger-Enquirer, this time as editor and publisher.
“This is not about leaving WRBL; this is about going home to my journalistic roots,” Williams said on WRBL’s evening news.
Today in Washington
- Trump has no public events on his schedule.
- The House and Senate are out until after the midterm elections.
Soccer spotlight
U.S. Rep. Brian Jack got a front-row seat to a different kind of World Cup on Wednesday as the 2026 Cerebral Palsy World Cup kicked off at the new U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayette County.
The Georgia Republican gave a special shoutout to Harris County native Jacob Crumbley, a starter who was named U.S. Soccer’s 2024 male cerebral palsy player of the year.
The tournament is the first major international competition at the sprawling new soccer complex and features men’s and women’s teams from around the globe.
The U.S. men’s team defeated Canada in a 7-0 rout.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthday:
- Ines Owens, legislative and communications director for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Transitions:
- Andrew Isenhour, communications director to Gov. Brian Kemp, will soon depart for a senior adviser role at Georgia Power for president and CEO Kim Greene.
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 Georgia Ports Authority’s ever-expanding operations along the Savannah River have been given the all clear for its biggest project to date.
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.