Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for December 12, 2025

On December 13, 1636, the Massachusetts Bay Colony General Court organized three regiments of militia to guard against attacks by the Pequot Indians. That day is recognized as the birth of the National Guard.

Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the Constitution on December 12, 1787.

President George Washington died at Mount Vernon on December 14, 1799. Here’s an article about the nation’s mourning for our first President.

The Congress, in session at the capital of Philadelphia when Washington’s death was announced, immediately adjourned. The House of Representatives assembled the next day and resolved to shroud the Speaker’s chair in black and have members wear black during the remainder of the session. On December 23, John Marshall speaking for the joint committee of both houses, presented five points that became the foundation for the United States’ first “state” funeral. Resolutions structured mourning events around public commemorations that fostered unity and a sense of national identity among grieving Americans.

Echols County, Georgia was created by the Georgia General Assembly on December 13, 1858.

President William McKinley addressed the Georgia General Assembly on December 14, 1898.

Guglielmo Marconi completed the first transatlantic radio transmission from Cornwall, England to Newfoundland on December 12, 1901.

On December 14, 1939, a parade was held through downtown Atlanta with stars from Gone With the Wind and the Junior League held a ball that night. The next day, December 15, 1939, Gone With the Wind held its world premiere at Loew’s Grand Theater in Atlanta.

Dickey Betts, guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, was born on December 12, 1943.

Jimmy Carter announced he would run for President of the United States on December 12, 1974.

Former Georgia Governor Ellis Arnall died on December 13, 1992. Arnall served in the State House, as Speaker, Attorney General, and in 1942 at the age of 35, was elected Governor.

Arnall also led the fight to outlaw the poll tax and the white primary, and is noted for making Georgia the first state to allow 18-year-olds to vote. He is further remembered for his role in obtaining a new state constitution for Georgia in 1945.

The United States Supreme Court released its decision in Bush v. Gore on December 12, 2000, stopping manual recounts of contested ballots in Florida.

Al Gore conceded the presidential election to George W. Bush on December 13, 2000.

On December 14, 2020, early voting began for the January 5, 2021 Runoff elections in which incumbent United States Senator David Perdue lost his seat and gave away the GOP Senate majority to Democrat Jon Ossoff.

Lowndes County will celebrate their Bicentennial this month, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners invites the community to celebrate 200 years of history, community, and progress. The official birthday of Lowndes County is Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, and the county will commemorate the occasion with a special Bicentennial Birthday Bash on the Historic Lowndes County Courthouse Lawn, 100 E. Central Ave.

“This free, family-friendly event is open to all residents and visitors,” the county press release said. “Community members are encouraged to bring family and friends as we honor our rich past and look toward an exciting future together.”

“Celebrating 200 years is an extraordinary milestone for Lowndes County. Our bicentennial is not only a reflection of where we’ve come from, but a celebration of the people, partnerships, and progress that have shaped our community over two centuries. We are honored to share this moment with our citizens and look forward to the continued growth and success of Lowndes County for generations to come,” said Bill Slaughter, chairman of Lowndes County Board of Commissioners.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #12.10.25.01, calling a Special Election to fill the vacancy in the 18th State Senate District, which was created when State Senator John F. Kennedy (R-Macon) resigned his seat to run for Lieutenant Governor. The Special Election will be held Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

Forsyth Mayor Eric Wilson announced he will resign in order to run for the Senate seat vacated by Kennedy, according to 13WMAZ.

“I have answered the call to serve our community as a paramedic, in business, and as a public servant. I am now ready to answer the call again by earning the trust and support of the people of District 18 to serve as your State Senator,” Wilson wrote in a post on social media. “I’m ready to bring real-world experience, common sense, and our conservative values to the State Senate—to fight for the families, communities, small businesses, and values that make Middle Georgia strong.”

The seat opened after Senator John F. Kennedy resigned on Tuesday. Kennedy said it had been an honor to represent Central Georgia for 11 years.

He had represented Georgia State Senate District 18, which includes parts of Crawford, Monroe, Peach, Upson, Bibb and Houston County.

Kennedy is now running to become Georgia’s next lieutenant governor, while Wilson will campaign for the vacant Senate seat.

Wilson, a longtime Forsyth resident, said he will be stepping down next week.

Wilson has served as mayor of the Forsyth since November 2015. Before then, he served on the Forsyth City Council for six years.

Democratic former Vice President Kamala Harris will speak in Macon, according to the Macon Telegraph.

After Harris’ sold out international book tour about her memoir, “107 DAYS,” she added 18 new dates including a stop in Macon, according to a news release.

“During these special events, (Harris) will share her powerful and timely message about what it will take to move forward, especially for those feeling disheartened and disconnected from the political process,” the news release said.

Harris will chat about her book at Macon City Auditorium on Feb. 11.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster.com.

Meet and greet tickets will include a photo with Harris and a signed copy of “107 DAYS.” The event was made in partnership with a local Books-A-Million.

It’s one of two stops in Georgia; the other is Feb. 6 in Savannah.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed prosecutions against the Trump defendants, according to the AJC.

In a brief, one-page order, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed the sprawling racketeering case first brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis more than two years ago.

Now, nearly five years after local prosecutors first launched their investigation of Trump, it ends with four plea deals from defendants and zero convictions from a jury. It’s highly unlikely any of the evidence compiled by Willis’ team and a special grand jury, which heard testimony from everyone from the governor to Trump’s top White House advisers, will ever be heard by a jury.

Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead Georgia attorney, cheered the developments.

“This case should never have been brought,” Sadow said. “A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare.”

McAfee’s order came alongside a 22-page exhibit from Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the nonpartisan Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, who spent the past several weeks poring through Willis’ evidence.

Skandalakis concluded “the strongest and most prosecutable case against those seeking to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results and prevent the certification of those votes was the one investigated and indicted by (former Justice Department) Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“The criminal conduct alleged in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit’s prosecution was conceived in Washington, D.C., not the State of Georgia,” he said. “The federal government is the appropriate venue for this prosecution, not the State of Georgia.”

But there may be another chapter to unfold. From the AJC:

Fulton County taxpayers may have to pay President Donald Trump and his co-defendants in the recently killed 2020 election interference case millions of dollars in legal fees.

Under a state law signed by Gov. Brian Kemp earlier this year, defendants in dismissed cases in which the prosecutor was disqualified because of improper conduct may be reimbursed for “all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the defendant in defending the case.”

The law was drafted by allies of the president in the Georgia Legislature with the Fulton racketeering probe in mind.

According to the text of the law, the case’s defendants will each have 45 days after a case is dismissed to file motions detailing “reasonable attorney’s fees and costs” that Fulton should pay.

It will ultimately be up to Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who dismissed the case Wednesday, to determine what is considered “reasonable” to be reimbursed.

United States Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said the department may sue Georgia to force the release of voting records, according to 11Alive via 13WMAZ.

A top Justice Department official has threatened to sue the state of Georgia over access to its voter files, saying in an interview this week she feels like she was effectively told to “go pound sand.”

Georgia election officials contend they’ve gone to great lengths to maintain accurate voter rolls and share information, and that state law ties their hands from providing sensitive data.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the DOJ Civil Rights Division, expressed her frustration with Georgia specifically in an interview on Wednesday on “The Benny Show,” with conservative podcaster and media commentator Benny Johnson.

The DOJ began requesting voter data from states earlier this year and, according to the most recent AP reporting, has sued at least 14 states to compel production of the information.

Georgia, Dhillon said in her interview, “is one of the states that this week told me to go pound sand and is not going to give me their voter data, so we will be suing Georgia to get that information.”

The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office disputes her characterization of their response, sharing with 11Alive a letter they sent to the DOJ on December 8 that, in part, outlines where they feel they are restricted by state law from sharing voters’ full, unredacted personal identifying information (PII).

“State law requires the redaction of confidential PII,” a Secretary of State’s Office spokesperson told 11Alive Thursday.

The full letter, signed by the Secretary of State’s Office General Counsel Charlene S. McGowan, is available further down in this story. 11Alive has reached out to the DOJ for a further response on the state’s position, but has not heard back as of 3 p.m. Thursday.

The letter further outlines the office’s position that OCGA 21-2-225(b) prohibits them from providing, specifically, full Social Security numbers, full birth dates, and full driver’s license numbers.

“Along with his commitment to maintaining clean voter rolls, the Secretary is committed to following the laws that protect the confidentiality of Georgia voters’ personal information. Georgia law prohibits the disclosure of voters’ full date of birth, social security number, and driver’s license number. OCGA § 21-2-225(b),” it states.

A footnote acknowledges that there is language in that law that “allows for disclosure to government agencies,” but states it “only applies where the agency is authorized to maintain such information and the information is used only to identify the elector on the receiving agency’s database, which is not the stated basis for the DOJ’s request here.”

The DOJ has been seeking access to voter rolls because, Dhillon said, they have found “thousands of non-citizens” as well as 260,000 dead people among the issues on voter rolls in a check of 47.5 million records so far submitted.

It is the state’s belief, the letter articulates, that they are already taking regular, thorough steps to ensure voter rolls that don’t include such instances of unauthorized registrations. It says the state routinely cross-checks with databases such as the Social Security Death Master File and USPS National Change of Address list, with other states and with agencies including the Department of Homeland Security.

The letter states Georgia has canceled 580,358 registrations this year.

“Georgia has the cleanest voter rolls in the country because we verify citizenship through the federal SAVE database, use SSA (Social Security Administration) data to remove dead voters, and share data with other states to identify and remove voters who have moved,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement.

“We were more than willing to share our nation-leading list maintenance practices and public voter roll data with the DOJ on December 8 at their request, and we look forward to working together to eliminate the federal barriers that prevent even cleaner voter rolls. Hardworking Georgians can rest easy knowing this data was shared strictly in accordance with state law that protects voters’ privacy.”

The letter says Georgia shared with the DOJ its “complete list of registered voters” with information to include “the last date voted for each registrant,” but that “in compliance with state law, and in consultation with the Georgia Attorney General’s office, the voter list provided excludes ‘sensitive information that implicates special privacy concerns.’”

It adds: “Nevertheless, the records that we are submitting are more than sufficient to demonstrate Georgia’s compliance with the NVRA (National Voter Registration Act)… Secretary Raffensperger appreciates the support of the Trump administration in urging Congress to adopt common-sense reform. We welcome the opportunity to partner with this administration to advance our shared mission of ensuring that states maintain clean voter rolls and only eligible U.S. citizens vote in our elections.”

Dhillon, on Wednesday, noted that she had already sued 14 states and that “there are going to be a few more.”

“I will get through all 50 states,” she said.

The State Election Board declined to adopt rules on substituting paper ballots for electronic voting machines, according to the Associated Press via WALB.

Georgia’s State Election Board on Wednesday rejected a proposal defining when hand-marked paper ballots could be used in place of the state’s touchscreen voting machines.

Opponents said the rule would have overstepped the board’s legal authority and could have created an escape hatch for widespread use of paper ballots when state lawmakers mandated the use of the ballot-marking devices.

Janice Johnston, the board’s vice chair, seemed to agree, saying, “This really is the duty and the job of the legislators.”

The proposed rule failed on a 2-2 vote after a debate in which proponents contended that use of the current machines at least sometimes violates the law because voters can’t read their ballots’ QR code to ensure it matches the paper ballot, and because machines don’t afford enough privacy to voters.

“You have both the duty and the responsibility for the conduct of legal elections in Georgia,” said Jeanne Dufort, a county Democratic official and a co-author of the bipartisan proposal.

Hand-marked paper ballots are Georgia’s backup when the machines can’t be used because of an “emergency.” The proposed rule would have listed qualifying circumstances that define when the use of machines is “impossible or impracticable.”

Proponents of the change included longtime opponents of Georgia’s voting machines, as well as those who rallied to the cause after the 2020 election, when wild conspiracy theories about the machines proliferated as President Donald Trump’s allies alleged they were used to steal victory from him.

Georgia’s election system was implemented statewide ahead of the 2020 primary elections. Manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems, which was bought earlier this year by Liberty Vote, it includes touchscreen voting machines that print paper ballots featuring a human-readable list of voters’ selections and a QR code that a scanner reads to count votes.

Even before 2020, some election integrity activists had argued voters can’t be sure their votes are accurately recorded because they can’t read the QR code and that the voting machines’ large, upright screens violate the right to ballot secrecy. They also assert that the system has major security flaws that the state hasn’t addressed.

The secretary of state’s office maintains that the system is secure and Georgia’s election results are accurate and reliable.

Salleigh Grubbs, first vice chair of the Georgia Republican Party was the other co-author of the rule. She argued that although lawmakers passed a law to eliminate use of QR codes from ballots after July 1, 2026, the board needs to act because lawmakers and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger have not yet moved ahead with plans to remove the codes.

“We are already voting on an illegal system,” Grubbs said, a sentiment that Johnston said she agreed with despite voting against the rule.

Dufort argued legal reasons for not using the machines are much broader than just operational emergencies like power outages at polling place.

“There are variety of reasons why the primary method of marking your ballot isn’t usable” Dufort said.

But critics, including key legislators and the state attorney general’s office, opposed the measure. They said the board was in danger of again trying to usurp the power of legislators. A Georgia Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that said the State Election Board can pass rules to “implement and enforce” election laws, but cannot “go beyond, change or contradict” the laws. That ruling stemmed from a challenge to board’s adoption of a number of new rules before last year’s election.

“We are putting ourselves at risk of getting swatted back under the very precedent that was created to constrain and orient this board,” said Sara Tindall Ghazal, the lone Democrat and only lawyer on the board. She voted against the rule.

State Rep. Victor Anderson, vice chair of a special study committee on elections, told The Associated Press earlier that legislators are working to address concerns about the voting machines.

“I feel like the proposed rule is trying to get ahead of that before we handle it through the proper sources,” he said.

Some opponents of the rule worried it could have forced a switch to hand-marked paper ballots in an end-run around the state’s requirement that in-person voters use touchscreen voting machines. Many Republican activists have been demanding such a move since 2020.

“These definitions appear to be a backdoor attempt to move Georgia to the routine use of hand-marked paper ballots,” said Janet Green, a DeKalb County poll worker who commented Wednesday.

“We will be in communication with the General Assembly to address the problem they created,” Johnston said.

Two coastal Georgia state legislators said they’re working to improve the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville, according to The Brunswick News.

State Reps. Buddy DeLoach, R-Townsend, a U.S. Army veteran of Vietnam, and Steven Sainz, R-St. Marys, were asked Thursday to respond to concerns expressed in a Letter to the Editor published in The Brunswick News Wednesday. DeLoach and Sainz sit on the House Committee on Defense and Veterans Affairs.

The author of the letter, Jekyll Island resident and former Navy pilot Glenn Cook, wrote that a recent investigation of the Milledgeville veterans home “reads like a failed mission debrief: chronic staffing shortages, unsanitary conditions, turnover approaching 50% and reports of psychotropic drugs used to manage workload instead of patient need.” He said veterans deserve better.

The veterans home, one of two in the state, is a 262-bed nursing care facility that is managed by STG International, which is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. It is one of 22 veteran health care and senior residential facilities STGi manages in the U.S.

“The most recent state budget included much needed additional funding for the Milledgeville facility,” DeLoach said. “That money became available on July 1, 2025.”

DeLoach said the contractor replaced top level leadership and has been able to increase pay for employees to reduce turnover.

“There have been some negative comments coming from former employees, but regular inspections have not validated those,” DeLoach said.

Rep. Sainz said the amount of investment made in the Milledgeville facility by the legislature this year was “historic.”

Sainz also said a new administrator is about to take the reins of the facility, the current one having retired.

The Georgia Department of Veterans Affairs is also going to put out a request for proposals for a new contract for operating the facility.

“My current priority is to make sure a very qualified vendor is selected,” Sainz said.

State legislators are discussing healthcare funding after the U.S. Senate failed to pass a bill yesterday, according to Atlanta News First via WALB.

Health policy researchers estimate Georgia could see average premium increases of more than 75% if subsidies expire. The impact could extend beyond marketplace customers. Experts say families with employer-sponsored insurance could see higher costs as hospitals absorb more uncompensated care.

At the Georgia State Capitol, lawmakers are already weighing state-level responses, though there is no consensus on how to move forward.

Democratic lawmakers want to revive legislation that would create a Georgia healthcare affordability program to blunt the impact of federal subsidy losses.

Republicans, meanwhile, argue the state should continue with its existing Georgia Pathways to Coverage plan and avoid creating new subsidy programs.

“This is not about politics to these people. It is about survival,” said state Sen. Harold Jones, a Democrat from Augusta.

Republican state Sen. Ben Watson disagreed.

“I think the Democrats are using this as demagoguery and hysteria to amp up their side heading into the midterms,” he said.

From WSB Radio:

Millions of Americans will see their healthcare premiums skyrocket after the Senate rejected a pair of dueling healthcare proposals.

Democrats, including U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, voted in favor of the plan for a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits.

Sen. Ossoff blasted lawmakers saying they’re letting people down by not coming up with a solution.

“This is a choice. What is the point of having all of this power if you won’t use it to help people,” Sen. Ossoff said. “My constituents cannot afford this. Some of my constituents cannot survive this.”

The ACA helps lower monthly insurance premiums for people who buy plans on the health marketplace. Sen. Ossoff says failing to act would lead costs to surge and urges Republicans to “take that courageous step.”

If the ACA tax credits expire at the end of the 2025, more than 1.4 million Georgians could potentially see their premiums double. Officials say 460,000 Georgians could lose health insurance altogether because they cannot afford the price increases.

Sen. Raphael Warnock says this could have deadly consequences.

“That’s not drama, it’s the truth. People are going to die because of the decisions that politicians are making in real time,” Sen. Warnock said.

The White House says President Donald Trump will act if Congress can’t come up with a bill to fix rising healthcare costs.

“What are people supposed to do when they lose health insurance in the middle of a cancer battle,” Sen. Ossoff asked. “What are parents supposed to do who already can’t make ends meet who are going to see their premiums go up 500% when they need life-saving medicine that, without insurance, costs $80,000 per year?”

State legislators in Hall County discussed their legislative priorities, according to AccessWDUN.

The Hall County delegation of the Georgia state legislature met Thursday morning, Dec. 11, to talk about the upcoming legislative session at the county’s annual Eggs & Issues Breakfast.

The event, hosted by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Jackson EMC, was held at Lanier Technical College’s Ramsey Conference Center near Gainesville. Eleven legislators attended the event, including:

District 27 State Representative Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville)
District 28 State Representative Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville)
District 29 State Representative Matt Dubnik (R-Gainesville)
District 30 State Representative Derrick McCollum (R-Chestnut Mountain)
District 31 State Representative Emory Dunahoo (R-Gillsville)
District 100 State Representative David Clark (R-Buford)
District 103 State Representative Soo Hong (R-Lawrenceville)
District 49 State Senator Drew Echols (R-Gainesville)
District 50 State Senator Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia)

Income and property tax reform:

Nearly all of the legislators in attendance said they anticipate that steps will be taken during the 2026 Georgia legislative session to move closer to eliminating the state income tax.

In the 2025 session, the legislature moved to reduce the state’s flat individual and corporate income tax rate from 5.39% to 5.19%. Dunahoo said he anticipates legislation will come in next year’s session to lower that further.

“We’re going to come to 4.99% this year,” Dunahoo said. “We’re looking at, in three to five years, bringing that down to zero.”

The question then came to how the state plans to make up the lost revenue if income tax is ultimately cut further or ultimately eliminated. Multiple legislators said Thursday morning that they do not want to see property tax used to make up the difference.

Cox said he believes the state could use multiple avenues to make up the funds.

“I kind of see a three-pronged approach, maybe, to this, on property tax. The thought is, whether you’re a landowner, a business owner or a property or a homeowner, that maybe there’s a flat fee every year that you pay, just a set fee that we know, and then my thought is, why aren’t we just going to pay a tax on the gain once you see your property, kind of like we deal with the automobile industry?” Cox said. “Lastly, I think that you have to make this up, potentially, through a sales and use tax. If you take those three variables to figure out what we currently do in local legislation, we’d be getting that money.”

McCollum said he would support eliminating property taxes.

“I am not against doing away with income tax, but personally, I would rather see us do away with property tax. You never own your home in Georgia,” McCollum said. “We can work on the income tax, that’s fine, but let’s do property tax and own our homes, and then we have a place to live, and then we do whatever we want.”

Housing affordability

The legislators were asked during the event about how to improve housing affordability in Georgia. Most responded by saying the legislature needs to take steps to reduce “red tape” regulations that end up creating homebuilding costs that then get passed on to buyers.

McCollum said those issues, along with increased buying by private equity groups, are pricing young people out of the home market.

“Last session, I introduced a bill about trying to streamline septic tank (permits) in Georgia. It’s kind of a quagmire, but it’s part state and part local to me,” McCollum said. “We need to cut red tape, help developers do that affordable housing, but also add legislation about private equity. I think there’s a need for private equity, but not in single-family housing. I think it’s hurting our young people trying to be able to purchase a house and compete with them. That’s something we might have to look at in the whole United States.”

Echols echoed McCollum’s thoughts on red tape issues in housing, adding that permitting should be more streamlined across the board.

“When a developer sends a set of plans to a county or city or whatever…from what I understand, they’ve got 45 days to mark those up. [The county or city] can turn it down just for the wrong font, then the clock starts back over on the developer,” Echols said. “It’s little things like that that can save developers and home builders money to hopefully pass along to first-time homeowners.”

Transportation

Legislators were also asked about transportation issues in Hall County, particularly after a 2024 Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax vote failed that would have provided funding specifically for road projects in the county.

Echols said the local delegation is continuing to fight for more funding for local road projects, but he said there’s only so much that can be done from a state level.

“In the Senate, we got five extra million dollars brought to Hall County for some road work up and down [Ga.] 365,” Echols said. “We’ve got to be very, very careful to not go down there to Atlanta and beat our hands over the table over local roads that are overdeveloped or overpopulated…Just know that we’re working on it, but we stay 40 years behind on traffic projects.”

McCollum, who recently spoke with WDUN about his efforts to get Ga. 211 widened in the Brasleton and Chestnut Mountain areas, said it is getting harder to fund such projects as road construction prices skyrocket.

“It’s mind-boggling how much it costs. To widen five miles of road is $110 million, so these projects are huge,” McCollum said. “I’ve also been working with the Commissioner of [the Georgia Department of] Transportation about why don’t we widen I-985 as well. They have some issues on it, but I think we might have to work with some private groups to get that widened, put in a Peach Pass lane or something like that.”

Hawkins said he believes Hall County needs to get more creative with its traffic solutions in future projects.

“I think we’ve focused too much in the past on figuring out how to increase the volume on the roads that we have, rather than looking at different routes and alternatives for traffic patterns,” Hawkins said. “Like an arc around North Hall to get the truck traffic off of the downtown streets. We’re getting ready to redo Green Street, but it gets pounded with all that heavy traffic.”

Dunahoo added that if alternative routes get built, they should be built with future growth in mind rather than current traffic levels.

“We continuously build and build and build, and that’s a good thing, but our problem is the infrastructure hasn’t been there,” Dunahoo said. “If you build the infrastructure, we will move foward with the growth. Sometimes, you need to slow down.”

Dunahoo’s retirement

Dunahoo announced earlier this year that plans to retire from his District 31 post after the 2026 legislative session, ending a run of 15 years of being in the state legislature. Dunahoo took time at the end of Thursday’s event to thank both the public and his colleagues in the legislature for their support over the years.

“There’s different things that we look at that we agree to disagree, and you know what? It’s not personal. There’s not one time I’ve been in a fist fight with anybody because we disagree. I’ve always enjoyed the camaraderie of my delegation,” Dunahoo said. “I’ve been blessed since I’ve been here. I have eight beautiful grandkids, four boys and four girls, and now I’m going to look at enjoying more time with them…I’ve been blessed, as I said, to get to know a lot of you people. My main thing has been, I’ve been able to serve the public.”

Georgia farmers may apply for the USDA Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, according to WALB.

Southwest Georgia farmers can tap into a $12 billion federal relief program designed to offset high input costs and market losses. The deadline to report 2025 acreage is 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19.

The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program targets row crop farmers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the program will address the financial strain from high input costs, inflation, and unfair trade practices.

Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper said these farming challenges needed immediate action.

“I farm on our family farm that’s been in our family for 7 generations,” he said. “I know firsthand the issues our farm families are facing.”

Those who qualify for the aid can expect payments in February 2026.

“Those same offices are who they will work with to ensure their acreage is reported and up to date,” Harper said. “This ensures they’re in the system and ready to be in the process for the payments we’ll be rolling out soon.”

State Sen. Sam Watson, a Southwest Georgia farmer, has been in the farming business for almost two decades. He says the agricultural crisis is the worst he’s seen in farming. But he worries the timing of federal aid is off.

“Right now is a critical time in agriculture,” Watson said. “People are trying to make decisions on if they can farm again. They’ve harvested their crops and are now looking at their budgets.”

Watson says the aid won’t directly benefit farmers. They must pay wages, bills, and contractors first.

“Farmers are going to take that money and pump it out into their rural communities and whoever they do business with,” Watson said. “They are never going to see that money. They’re going to pay bills with it.”

To qualify for Farmer Bridge Assistance, farmers must provide 2025 acreage reports submitted to their local FSA by 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19.

For more information on the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program and to ensure accurate acreage reporting, farmers should contact their local Farm Service Agency office.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced $1 billion in FEMA funding for hurricane and tropical storm recovery, according to WRDW.

FEMA has made more than $1 billion available for state recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Debby, and for health care costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal officials said Thursday.

The Department of Homeland Security said the funding is to “repair and restore critical public infrastructure” across the state, and is made available through FEMA’s Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation grant programs.

Of that funding, at least $350 million will go to more than 140 recovery projects from Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Debby.

Approximately $671 million will be used for “emergency protective measures taken by Georgia healthcare facilities, including the employment of nurses and clinical care staff, sanitization efforts, personal protective equipment, and testing supplies for the COVID-19 pandemic,” the department said.

“This investment will repair and restore critical public infrastructure across Georgia, including schools, public safety facilities, utilities, and community services,” said Karen Evans, performing the duties of FEMA administrator. “Georgia communities are rebuilding stronger, and today’s approvals show this administration’s commitment to streamlining assistance and ensuring accountability.”

An audit of the Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education Police Department and Human Resources found a toxic environment, according to the Savanah Morning News.

The 99-page audit was obtained and reviewed by the Savannah Morning News (SMN) from a Freedom of Information Act request. It was conducted by experienced law enforcement consultants with no prior or existing affiliations with the district or its police department, and was published in mid-September.

According to the audit, its goal was to evaluate how well the police department followed professional law-enforcement standards, district policies and protocols, and established best practices for school policing.

“The review gave us an opportunity to take a forensic look at how we’re doing business and what we need to do to do better,” BOEPD Chief Terry Enoch said in an interview with SMN.

“District staff have fully internalized the recommendations in the report and are actively working to address each area highlighted in the report,” a SCCPSS spokesperson stated in an email. “There has been much progress in this work to align and improve BOED and HR Divisions.”

A review of the case management spreadsheet showed 111 complaints were logged with Internal Affairs between 2015 and 2025 — including 17 since September of this year.

Of the 111 logged investigations, however, only 20 were completed within that 30-day window. And only one investigation was given an official extension by Enoch.

Beyond the issues identified by Internal Affairs, the review also highlighted ongoing deficiencies in the department’s evidence-handling practices.

Discrepancies were noted between the physical location of evidence items and their recorded locations, and officers frequently failed to complete the required documentation correctly, according to a sergeant interviewed for the audit.

“HR indicated that the administration of discipline within the department often appears to be influenced by two key factors: the identity of the alleged violator and the particular supervisor who receives or manages the complaint,” the audit stated.

“The PD culture is described as toxic, politically influenced, and demoralizing,” the audit found.

Whitfield County Commissioners hosted a public budget meeting, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

Members of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners plan a six-month freeze on hiring to start 2026 to help keep spending under control.

“We want to keep our headcount in line so we can somehow absorb and cover these dramatic healthcare costs for our existing employees,” said Board Chairman Jevin Jensen.

The county’s health spending grew from $6.96 million in 2021 to a projected $10.38 million this year. Commissioners initially said they were looking at a $4.2 million increase in healthcare spending in 2026. But they said last night they have been working to trim that increase.

In addition to the hiring freeze, he said the county is looking to increase employee use of telemedicine and other types of virtual access to healthcare providers.

Jensen said the county’s information technology department is looking at ways the county can better utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to make county staff more efficient.

“If someone retires or leaves for another job, with the hiring freeze in place, we aren’t likely to replace them, so we are looking at which jobs we can use AI to perform some of those functions,” he said. “We want to do more with a smaller staff without burning our remaining staff out.”

The latest draft of the budget calls for $65.783 million in spending, up from $61.503 million budgeted for 2025 and $61.5283 million in projected actual spending for 2025.

The proposed 2026 budget does not include a pay increase for county employees.

The budget forecasts $62.179 million in revenue, which would leave the county with a $3.6 million deficit. Commissioners said they will have to dip into the county’s fund balance to cover that.

The budget anticipates a property tax rate of 4.6 mills, the same as this year.

Floyd County Commissioners voted to award a contract for renovation of their historic courthouse, according to WRGA News.

The contract went to Midwest Maintenance, Inc. in the amount of $474,300.

“The amount includes an additional $50,000 in case there are change orders,” said Floyd County Manager Jamie McCord. “With a building of that age, we are confident we are going to find things that we are not aware of as this work continues. The vendor provided a responsive and responsible bid with the second-lowest pricing. Midwest Maintenance provided details in their proposal, and it was in the best interest of Floyd County for this project. Both of the two lower bidders—one totally withdrew and the second requested to withdraw, based on unknown items in his bid.”

The project, which is being funded by 2017 special-purpose, local option sales tax dollars, seeks to address concerns with safety and functionality, as well as retain the historical significance of the building.

Democrat Otha Thornton campaigned for State School Superintendent in Tifton, according to the Tifton Gazette.

State school superintendent candidate Otha Thornton paid a visit to Tifton this week to assure local residents he had nothing but the best education in mind for their children.

A military veteran and former member of the White House Communications Agency, Thornton previously campaigned for the position of state superintendent in 2018, securing around 1.8 million votes before being defeated by incumbent Richard Woods.

During the rally, Thornton expressed concerns and criticisms regarding many existing policies or courses of action pursued by the governor or current state superintendent, such as, in his opinion, a lack of emphasis or attention to the Bud McCall grant program, a $17,000 grant supporting students with disabilities in pursuing higher education.

The state candidate promised to work his hardest to represent the needs of communities across Georgia, including those like Tifton, focusing his plans for reform around three major goals–updating the state’s quality-based educational formula, which had not been updated since 1985 and currently fails to account for modern educational infrastructure; pushing back against private school voucher policies to reduce their footprint in the state and direct those funds back to public education; and establishing a greater system of parent accountability to better address and support disruptive students by more effectively engaging their parents with their local educational institutions.

Athenian Kimberly Bennett announced she is running for Athens-Clarke County Commission District 5, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

Kimberly Bennett, who has worked for 26 years in the health care industry, announced this week that she will seek the seat that is currently held by Dexter Fisher, who is running for the mayor’s office.

Bennett joins two other residents, Zander Mason and Rick Staziale, who have announced they intend to seek the seat in next spring’s election. There are 10 district seats on the commission.