Georgia GOP distances itself from fringe group’s offensive post

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• A dramatically different Congress awaits.
• Even Georgia lobbyists are rebranding after Democrats’ sweep.
• Abortion emerges as an early flashpoint for Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Splinter group

You might have seen a wildly offensive post from a group calling itself the “Georgia College Republicans” attacking a prominent Sikh Republican official as a devil worshipper.

But there’s a catch: The group behind the post is a far-right splinter group that isn’t recognized by the Georgia GOP.

The attack targeted Harmeet Dhillon, a top Justice Department official, and came from a rival organization whose social media accounts have featured a string of inflammatory posts. Its website features photos of a fringe former party official.

The party-recognized organization is the Georgia Association of College Republicans, a distinction Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon made clear.

That group praised Dhillon for her “tireless” service. And Dhillon amplified its response, drawing a sharp distinction between the legitimate organization and what she called “incel groyper losers.”

Things to know

Good morning! Georgia’s legislative session starts in 63 days. Here are three things to know:

• A missing memory card discovered in southwest Georgia could cost Democrats a seat in the state House and narrow their newly won majority before they even take power, Greg Bluestein and David Wickert report.
• Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock reveled in the Democratic sweep on Sunday at the spiritual home of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after a generational victory for the party and Black women, Caleb Groves reports.
• Now that Democrats will soon be in charge of much of state government, they’re poised to take aim at one of their longtime policy goals: making more people eligible for Medicaid, the government-funded health insurance program, Riley Bunch and Tamar Hallerman write.

Whirlwind day

Bottoms started her Sunday on national television and ended it getting a shoutout from Usher.

In between came a warning to fellow Democrats and a visit to one of Georgia’s most storied churches.

Bottoms started with an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” where she said she hopes to find “reasonable” voices in President Donald Trump’s administration willing to work with her.

She said she was “willing and open to have those conversations,” but also ready to “push back and fight back when necessary.”

In a New York Times podcast released Sunday, Bottoms offered a warning to Democrats celebrating their sweeping victories: Winning was only the beginning. Now comes the hard part of delivering.

“We better keep listening to the people and delivering for the people, being upfront with the people about what we can do, what we’ve tried to do, what we’ve fallen short on,” Bottoms said. “And if we don’t listen and if we don’t deliver, then shame on all of us.”

She also stopped by Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Warnock welcomed her to a rousing reception.

And then came a very different kind of celebration. Bottoms capped her night at the Usher and Chris Brown concert, where Usher singled her out from the stage as the camera panned to her box.

“That’s history right here,” he said as the crowd erupted.

Old hat

Black women won seven statewide constitutional executive offices on Tuesday. But it wasn’t a clean sweep.

Democrat Josh McLaurin, a white man, won the lieutenant governor’s race. People on social media are just figuring this out, and they’ve got jokes. Franklin Leonard, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, posted a photo of McLaurin and his Black women colleagues with the caption: “Josh McLaurin is gonna be a whole new man by the end of his first term. Just watch.”

But the dynamic won’t be anything new for McLaurin. In the state Senate, McLaurin was the only white man in the Democratic caucus — something Georgia politicos were quick to point out.

“Y’all, who do you think Josh is surrounded by now?” posted Ruwa Romman, a state representative who was just elected to the state Senate.

“Touche,” Leonard replied.

Changing landscape

You know Georgia’s political landscape has changed when even the Gold Dome lobbyists are rebranding.

Jay Morgan, a former Georgia GOP executive director and one of the state’s most prominent lobbyists, is relaunching his firm after last week’s Democratic sweep.

The longtime Republican insider is rebranding his J.L. Morgan Company as Georgia Advantage alongside his partner Charlotte Davis.

“Last Tuesday’s election results sent one clear message — Georgia is changing,” Morgan wrote in a memo to clients. “So is the way business gets done under the Gold Dome.”

Morgan, whose firm has been around since 1997, emphasized that he and his team had been building relationships with Democrats well before Election Day.

“On their behalf, we were talking to both sides of the aisle before November 3, 2026, and we will continue to have the right voices and resources supporting their goals,” he wrote.

There’s a broader scramble underway among lobbyists and business interests to adjust to a new political reality, with Democrats preparing to take control of the Governor’s Mansion and state House for the first time in decades.

As Morgan put it, “We see where Georgia is going. And we know how to help our clients get there in 2027 and beyond.”

First flashpoint

Bottoms held her first Capitol news conference Friday to announce her transition leadership team and to take questions from reporters about what’s ahead.

Bottoms focused on the cost-of-living issues she said she heard about from voters all across the state, along with assuring Georgians who did not support her in the election that she will work for them in office.

But a question on abortion showed the limits of what conservatives will be willing to work with the new governor on.

On abortion, Bottoms said she plans to consult with House and Senate leaders and move forward with changes to the state’s six-week ban as soon as feasible.

“If we see a pathway to do something about it this session, then we’re going to take that opportunity,” she said. “And it may not be this session. If it’s not this session, then we’re going to take that first opportunity that we have.”

But Cole Muzio, president of the conservative Frontline Policy Council, made it clear his group will oppose Bottoms on the issue.

“This is not an area where we can compromise or work with the Governor-elect,” he wrote on social media. “There are plenty of other areas, but not this one.”

Republicans have a slim, but important, two-seat majority in the state Senate. It could vote down an abortion bill from Bottoms.

But they would do so knowing that their colleague, state Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, just lost his election to Democrat Darcy Castro, who made Setzler’s role in sponsoring in the six-week ban a key focus of her campaign.

Listen up

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Greg Bluestein, Patricia Murphy and Tia Mitchell unpack the forces behind Georgia’s political shake-up, the GOP’s uncertain future and the new balance of power at the state Capitol and in Washington.

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.

They’re back

The Congress that left Washington five weeks ago is going to be a much different body come January when Democrats take the majority in the U.S. House and Senate.

That makes for an interesting and possibly messy lame duck session that begins today. The to-do list is a lengthy one, with government funding running out on Dec. 11 and the National Defense Authorization Act still on the table.

Newly elected House members, including Georgia. Reps.-elect Jasmine Clark, John Cowan, Houston Gaines and Jim Kingston, are in Washington for orientation. Cowan, Gaines and Kingston will join fellow House Republicans when the meet behind closed doors this week to select who will lead them now that Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will step down as GOP leader once they move to the minority.