Georgia Republicans divided over postelection path forward

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Georgia’s Brian Jack lands key House GOP leadership post.
• Josh McLaurin faces Senate power struggle despite Democratic victories.
• Congress works through Veterans Day as GOP majority wanes.

GOP crossroads

We were struck by how conciliatory the Georgia GOP’s postelection report was. So were plenty of frustrated Republican activists.

The 39-page Georgia GOP briefing documents the party’s election wipeout in painstaking detail and suggests Republicans can find common ground with Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms on grocery tax relief, pre-K funding and rural hospital incentives.

But it goes further. Entire pages are devoted to the incoming Democratic agenda, with headings such as “House Democrats will put affordability first and follow Bottoms’ lead” and “Governor-elect Bottoms will lead with cost-of-living relief.”

President Donald Trump’s name? Not mentioned once.

The document also sketches out potential compromises on healthcare while urging the GOP-controlled Senate to defend Gov. Brian Kemp’s tax cuts, school vouchers and the 2025 civil litigation overhaul.

The measured tone didn’t sit well with some Republican activists still reeling from the party’s historic defeat. Republican National Committeeman Jason Thompson said he would have never approved the language.

“The so-called analysis reads more like AI written, pro-Bottoms, talking points for the Democrats then it does the Republican Party,” Thompson posted on social media. “What an opportunity missed!”

Longtime GOP activist BJ Van Gundy questioned “why in the hell would we be touting what KLB?” Another activist, Dennis Futch, complained there was “no acknowledgment of the real problems or causes and no solutions.”

Others defended the document as a pragmatic road map for divided government, balancing opportunities for compromise with areas where Georgia Senate leaders should hold the line.

It’s another episode in the ongoing drama within the GOP over how to respond to its stunning losses: Work with Democrats where possible, or double-down on conservative policies.

Things to know

Good morning! Georgia’s legislative session starts in 61 days. Here are three things to know for today:

• Tanya Miller rose from a working-class childhood to become Georgia’s next attorney general, David Wickert reports.
• A blue streak of Democratic victories across the once-solidly Republican South last week scrambled the 2028 presidential race. And the shake-up could create an opening for three of Georgia’s most prominent politicians, Greg Bluestein reports.
• The 2026 election season remade more than just Congress and Georgia’s state government — it gave the Fulton County Commission a nearly complete makeover with new faces in five of its seven seats, Reed Williams reports.

Jack’s star rises

House Republicans elected U.S. Rep. Brian Jack, R-Peachtree City, as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee by an overwhelming margin on Tuesday.

“Let’s Win Back the House!” Jack posted on X after the vote.

The vote was 125-53 over Indiana Rep. Rudy Yakym.

In this new role, Jack will lead the Republican Party’s efforts to raise funds and recruit candidates for U.S. House seats as they work to claw their way back to a majority after steep losses in the midterms.

The title also puts Jack in the inner circle of House GOP leadership, making him the only one from the South.

The McLaurin mantra

Democrats may have swept Georgia, but Lt. Gov.-elect Josh McLaurin will still have to work with a GOP-controlled Senate whose leaders aren’t eager to hand his party victories.

WSB commentator Shelley Wynter pressed McLaurin on how he plans to navigate that divide. The exchange is worth a watch.

“I would encourage any Republican elected officials and political operatives to think about Tuesday not as the end but as the beginning,” McLaurin said. “It’s the beginning of a realization that culture wars and MAGA extreme politics drive us into a hole on policy.”

McLaurin said those fights distract from issues such as housing, where he hopes to work with Republicans on legislation to boost construction.

But Wynter pushed further: Would Democrats try to ram their agenda through now that they’ve won?

McLaurin said the campaign trail taught him a lesson:

“Be bold, but don’t try to shove something down someone’s throat if it’s not a popular thing to do. I think Democrats’ mindset is and should be: We have a mandate. We have effectively a majority in the state of Georgia. We’re going to move with purpose. We are going to start moving on our priorities and our initiatives. And we’re going to invite Republicans to be part of a bipartisan coalition.”

Regrets, they have a few

The Georgia GOP’s postelection report may not have diagnosed the reasons for Republicans’ bad election cycle, but that doesn’t mean other Republicans aren’t doing some deep thinking on how the party got here.

State Rep. Steven Sainz, R-St. Marys, wrote an open letter this week to his supporters and constituents about the path forward for Republicans. “While national headwinds played a significant role, our assessment must go deeper,” he wrote.

While he defended the GOP record as one Georgians largely approve of, Sainz also recounted a conversation he’d had with a grocer who said their metric of customers who returned items to the shelves because they can’t afford the entire bill had more than quadrupled recently.

“We shouldn’t focus on reflecting pools,” Sainz wrote. Instead, Republicans should focus on making life more affordable and commit to “Georgia priorities,” not just Republican priorities.

Former GOP state Rep. Ed Lindsey had some reflections of his own, writing a nine-part note to Trump about all of the ways the president had damaged and diminished Georgia Republicans in the last 12 years.

“Bottom line: I trust the Democratic Santa will treat you very well this Christmas because you have been very good for them over the years,” Lindsey wrote.

Correction

Tuesday’s newsletter misspelled Cobb County School Board member-elect Micheal Garza’s name.

Listen up

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Bluestein and Patricia Murphy examine the hurdles facing Bottoms and the tough choices Republicans face as they adjust to life out of power.

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.

In session

Today is Veterans Day, which is a federal holiday. But that’s not stopping both chambers of Congress from working.