Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 18, 2026

On August 18, 1591,the English settlement at Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks of what is now North Carolina was found deserted.

On August 18, 1795, President George Washington signed a treaty with Great Britain called the Jay Treaty, after Supreme Court Justice John Jay who negotiated it. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led opposition to the treaty.

On August 18, 1862, Confederate Major General of Cavalry J.E.B. Stuart was nearly captured, losing his distinctive hat and cloak and written copies of Lee’s orders near Verdiersville, Virginia.

The Georgia General Assembly adopted a joint resolution urging the creation of a federal Health Department on August 18, 1908.

On August 18, 1916, the Cherokee Rose was designated the official state flower of Georgia by a joint resolution of the State House and Senate.

The practice of tipping service employees was outlawed by legislation signed on August 18, 1918.

Georgia Governor Hugh Dorsey signed legislation regulating the practice of architecture and licensing practitioners on August 18, 1919.

The Georgia Board of Public Welfare was also created on August 18, 1919 when Gov. Dorsey signed legislation establishing that body and a companion bill that created the Community Service Commission.

Tennessee became the 36th state and the final state whose ratification was required to adopt the Nineteenth Amendment on August 18, 1920, which reads:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

On August 18, 1924, Gov. Clifford Walker signed legislation that would allow a referendum on a Constitutional Amendment to allow Atlanta, Savannah, or Macon to consolidate their respective municipal governments with their county governments. Macon-Bibb County merged in 2014 after voters passed a referendum in July 2012.

The Beatles played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on August 18, 1965. AtlantaTimeMachine.com has a couple images from the night.

On August 18, 1991, hardline Commies in the Soviet Union arrested Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev as part of a coup against Gorbachev’s reforms.

On August 18, 2015, Jeb Bush visited The Varsity in Atlanta. Here’s the funniest line from the CBS46 story:

Recently, Bush put a series of “Jeb No Filter” videos on YouTube and some say it’s a way to bring up his popularity.

“We’re going to work hard to earn the support of Georgians in the March 1 primary. It’s the second largest state in the primary, it’s our neighbor to our north, we’re going to be working hard,” Bush said.

While the instinct behind “Jeb No Filter” may have been good, it would take Donald Trump to show what No Filter really means.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #08.17.26.01, suspending the members of the Dublin City Schools Board of Education and creating the Dublin City Board of Education Nominating Committee, who will nominate new members of the BOE for Governor Kemp’s consideration and appointment.

From 13WMAZ:

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has suspended the Dublin City School’s Board of Education for failing to oversee the district’s finances, leading to a multi-million dollar financial crisis at the school district of roughly 2,300 students.

The decision came after a marathon hearing up in Atlanta, probing the Dublin City Schools Board of Education’s financial oversight. The Georgia Board of Education voted 10-0 to recommend the suspension of the Dublin City Schools Board, which was then shared with Gov. Kemp.

The district found itself in a $20 million hole, leading to the ouster of Superintendent Fred Williams and finance director Chad McDaniel. The financial crisis came to light after the district failed to pay $6 million to the state health insurance plan and, after further investigation, state auditors determined the district was even more in debt than previously thought.

During the hearing, Chad McDaniel pleaded the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent after being peppered with questions related to the information provided to the board during his tenure as financial leader for the district.

The financial crisis forced deep cuts and program elimination, including 46 jobs cuts, as the district works to remain financially solvent.

After the suspension on Monday, Kemp created a Dublin City Board of Education Nominating Committee, which will name temporary replacements to serve on the Dublin City Board of Education.

The committee will consist of State Board of Education member Matt Donaldson, Georgia Sen. Larry Walker, Georgia Rep. Matt Hatchett, former mayor of Dublin Phil Best and community member Edwin May.

During the hearing in Atlanta last Wednesday, attorneys for the Dublin City Board of Education claimed that they were victims too, misled by McMichael and administration and kept in the dark about the district’s financial woes.

“The district’s finance director Chad McDaniel deceived, misled, lied to, and betrayed the Dublin City Board of Education,” said Brian Smith, who represented the board members. “For years, he intentionally and knowingly hid the true state of the district’s finances.”

The state Board of Education argued that the board members knew and failed to properly oversee the district’s finances.

“The evidence will establish each member’s individual involvement and knowledge, the reports each one signed, the plans each one approved, the meetings each one attended, each member’s actions, each member’s votes, and each member’s own words,” attorney David Younker said.

It’s unclear when a new board could be in place. Kemp’s order does not state a deadline for the nominating committee to send him a list of names.  And the Dublin school board members can appeal their removal 30 to 60 days after Kemp’s order — between Sept. 16 and Oct. 16.

If they do not appeal, their removal becomes permanent.

Muscogee County State Court Judge Andy Prather notified Gov. Kemp he will retire from the bench at the end of November, according to WRBL via WJBF.

The longest serving State Court judge in Georgia has announced his retirement later this year.

Muscogee County State Court Judge Andy Prather, in a notification to Gov. Brian Kemp last week, announced he would be leaving the bench Nov. 30. Prather’s retirement comes three months after he won election to another four-year term.

Prather, 73, has been a State Court judge since January 1994, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Zell Miller. Prior to the judicial appointment, Prather was the Muscogee County solicitor general, the State Court’s lead prosecutor.

“Aside from my wife, Susan, saying yes 36 years ago, the greatest privilege of my life has been serving the people of Muscogee County for 46 years,” Prather said. “I hope I will be able to assist incoming chief Judge Pete Temesgen as he takes on the task of welcoming and training two new judges.”

Because of the timing of his retirement, Kemp will appoint Prather’s replacement. There is also a second State Court position that is open. The General Assembly added a third State Court judgeship earlier this year. Prather and Judge Pete Temesgen are the two Muscogee County State Court judges.

Augusta Mayor-elect Steven Kendrick is holding listening sessions ahead of taking office, according to WJBF.

Augusta Mayor-elect Steven Kendrick is hearing directly from the community as he prepares to take office, beginning with the first of four community engagement sessions held Sunday night at Diamond Lakes Regional Park.

One of the biggest questions raised during the session centered on the city’s finances and whether Augusta is using its money efficiently.

Kendrick said he believes there are opportunities to save money by taking a closer look at how city government is structured.

“I think we can save money in our government by becoming more efficient and making sure we have the right number of people in the right places,” Kendrick said. “In those spaces that have too many, being able to reduce size there and bolster those that don’t. That type of audit can happen once I start office, but I believe the city is on its way to doing an operational audit already.”

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) held a campaign rally on Saturday, according to GPB News.

Ossoff spoke about high grocery and gas prices, healthcare and his opposition to the war in Iran during his speech to more than 1,000 supporters at Center Stage Theater.

He also took shots at his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, citing ties to white supremacist social media influencers and crypto trading.

“He’s like a scandal piñata: Every time you shake him, more misdeeds fall out,” Ossoff said to the crowd, “The Mar-a-Lago mafia really has taken American corruption to spectacular new heights.”

He also sharply criticized President Donald Trump, calling him corrupt as well.

In a statement to GPB News, a spokesperson for the Collins campaign said, “Jon Ossoff will say and do anything to distract from his disastrous record for Georgians … Mike Collins has been a bipartisan workhorse for Georgia who’s delivered common sense wins.”

From the AJC:

At his Sunday rally in Atlanta, Ossoff made plain that he sees no reason to let up.

“A wave is building,” said to 1,600 supporters crammed into a Midtown Atlanta concert hall. “The kind of wave that comes once a generation when the people have been pushed too far, and they decide altogether all at once to say: Enough is enough.”

Ossoff’s rallies have become viral spectacles, with movie-quality production and polished one-liners that ricochet across the media landscape. They inevitably invite chatter about a presidential run in 2028, something Ossoff has routinely ruled out.

But the more immediate purpose is far less mysterious.

Ossoff is using them to imprint a straightforward argument on Georgia voters and the out-of-state donors stocking his campaign: He says he is the check on Donald Trump that Georgia needs and calls Collins a “crumbling little bigot” MAGA loyalist whose political baggage makes him unfit to represent a closely divided state.

Collins, who represents Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, has traveled the state arguing the opposite. At recent rallies in Augusta, Rome and Savannah he paints Ossoff as “the tip of the spear” for far-left socialists who oppose transgender restrictions and bring California values to Georgia.

“This is not just for Georgia getting rid of Jon Ossoff. This is for this country,” Collins said. “We need to stop this now in November. The people of Georgia are going to reject Jon Ossoff, and we’re going to get rid of this guy.”

His no-mercy strategy amounted to a dual effort to keep Trump-weary Democrats energized while giving swing voters and disaffected Republicans a reason to abandon Collins.

That second part is increasingly important. Ossoff isn’t only trying to re-create the narrow Democratic coalition that elected him six years ago. He is also trying to expand it enough to turn what once looked like another nail-biter into a runaway win.

Independent committees have spent more than $25 million on Georgia elections, according to the AJC.

Independent political committees have spent more than $25 million to influence this year’s elections in Georgia, already surpassing the total spent during the 2022 midterms, new campaign disclosures show.

Sports-betting advocates accounted for nearly half the independent spending, pumping $12.3 million into legislative races across the state. Independent groups spent millions more backing unsuccessful Republican candidates for governor Chris Carr and Brad Raffensperger, with interests ranging from Planned Parenthood to Georgia Realtors rounding out the top spenders.

The $25.3 million total doesn’t include at least $19 million spent by a mysterious dark-money group that targeted Lt. Gov. Burt Jones as he ran for governor this year.

The influx of special-interest money could help set an agenda for Georgia politics that doesn’t necessarily coincide with what voters want, according to University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.

“If you’re asking voters, ‘what is your major concern,’ I doubt that it’s sports betting,” Bullock said.

No group has taken advantage of that unlimited spending this year more than Win for America, which is funded by DraftKings, FanDuel and other sports betting companies. Win for America has funneled money into two Georgia political committees — one to support Republicans, the other to support Democrats.

The Republican committee — American Conservative Fund Action Georgia — spent $8.5 million to support or oppose legislative candidates in the first half of 2026, records show. The Democratic group — American Future — spent $3.4 million.

In May, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that nearly all the 34 candidates supported by the sports-betting groups won their primary election, though the industry spending likely wasn’t the decisive factor in most of those races.

Retiring State Rep. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan) received the Georgia Farm Bureau’s 2026 Commodity Award, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

The GFB Commodity Award, one of the organization’s highest honors, is given to individuals who have supported and promoted Georgia agriculture. The GFB Board of Directors selects the award recipient from nominees submitted by the organization’s commodity advisory committees.

“Lynn always kept the interest of farmers’ success in the forefront of policy decision that came before her committee,” said GFB President Tom McCall. “Her leadership and passion for Georgia and the state’s invaluable and varied natural resources will be carried into the future for generations to come.”

A Florida native, Smith is a University of Georgia graduate, a former educator and business owner who completed her 30th year in the Georgia House of Representatives earlier this year representing Georgia District 70.

Since being elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1996, Smith has been a trusted champion for Georgia’s farmers, foresters, and rural communities. She served as chairwoman of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee beginning in 2005. During her tenure, she led efforts to protect Georgia’s natural resources while supporting the continued growth of the state’s agricultural economy.

Smith helped establish Georgia’s regional water planning framework. Beginning with the Flint River Drought Protection Act and legislation introduced in 2002 and culminating in the successful implementation of regional water planning in 2008, she helped create what she described as “the bridge” that provided state agencies with the tools needed to develop long-term, science-based water management solutions for Georgia’s future. During her three decades in the House, she also served on the Appropriations, Rules, and Reapportionment committees.

Georgia’s U.S. Senate delegation signed a letter seeking stronger protections for farmers of specialty crops, according to 13WMAZ.

While Georgia’s $91.4 billion agriculture industry is known for commodities like broilers, specialty crops also play a major role in the state’s economy.

Now, a group of Southeastern lawmakers is urging U.S. trade leaders to strengthen protections for specialty crop growers.

The group includes Georgia’s U.S. senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who signed a letter addressed to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in June.

USDA defines specialty crops as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.

In Georgia, top specialty crops include blueberries, watermelon, onions and pecans.

Along with Warnock and Ossoff, senators from Florida, Mississippi and North Carolina signed the letter, which said that American fruit, vegetable and tree nut producers are under “unsustainable pressure” from increased products entering U.S. markets unfairly.

They asked Greer to implement trade measures that would allow specialty crop producers to remain viable against “unfair foreign competition” while reviewing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

New federal work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program may be more costly for the state, according to WTVM.

Georgia taxpayers could pay millions more for food assistance as new federal work requirements threaten to cut off benefits for some recipients after three months, according to local and state leaders.

Nearly 8 in 10 SNAP households in Georgia include a child, a senior or someone with a disability, according to Feeding the Valley Food Bank.

Under the new federal law, able-bodied adults without dependents, known as ABAWDs, must prove they are working or in training to keep their benefits.

“It’s a real concern when benefits that otherwise people have had in the past are not there,” Feeding the Valley Food Bank’s Frank Sheppard said.

“One of the target groups is what they call ABAWDs… so they’re having to show work requirements or training to continue to receive benefits. If not, their benefits get cut… so it’s a significant effect on a good part of the population,” Sheppard said.

State Rep. Debbie Buckner said small businesses will also feel the effects.

“It also hurts the merchant, because those are big consumers in the rural area, at the little grocery stores, and it’s a lack of access,” Buckner said.

Buckner said the impact on children could be immediate and extend beyond the dinner table.

“Children that are on SNAP, if that’s taken away from their family, they will no longer be eligible for free and reduced lunch. That hurts them from morning to night,” Buckner said.

Georgia is now on the hook for $47 million in new SNAP administrative costs next fiscal year. Advocates say the ripple effect on the region is just beginning.

Some Columbus residents request an additional early voting location, according to WTVM.

A Muscogee County elections meeting is underway to discuss polling sites and voting procedures. Residents are calling on officials to add an early voting location in South Columbus.

There were three early voting locations in Columbus during the May primary: the city services center, Northside Recreation Center, and Shirley B. Winston Recreation Center.

People advocating for an early voting location in South Columbus believe it will increase voter turnout and decrease long lines at precincts.

“Some say well let them plan their time. Other portions of Columbus don’t have to plan their time over a three week period,” Columbus resident Gamaliel Turner said.

Turner said residents have reached out to the city of Columbus to offer Mount Pleasant Baptist Church as an early voting location. He said a response was expected but has not been given. Turner and others are hoping to hear about the possibility of an early voting location during the August 17 public meeting.

The Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office has put up a $1000 reward for information on a vandalized Flock camera, according to AccessNorthGA.

The Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) is offering a $1,000 reward for information regarding a vandalized Flock Safety camera near Yahoola Creek Park.

Sheriff Stacy Jarrard took to Facebook on Monday, claiming the camera was used to keep them alerted for sex offenders that go into the park and noted he would replace the camera with one that has video capabilities.

“I hope you’re happy with this, it was to keep our kids safe,” Jarrard said. “That’s what this is about, and you went and done this.”

This comes as there is significant public backlash against the cameras, leading to Flock Safety announcing new guardrails late last week.

Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley announced on Good Morning America that the new safeguards would require law enforcement to label every search with a criminal case number and an automatic review would be triggered for abnormal search activities.

The public backlash against the company comes amid dozens of law enforcement agents across the country being accused, charged, or convicted of using the system to spy on former partners.

Three known cases have occurred in northeast Georgia. It resulted in a Gwinnett County officer, a former Braselton Police Chief, and a former Habersham County deputy getting charged for stalking significant others using Flock.

Barrow County recently dealt with three incidents of people defacing the cameras, taking to Facebook on July 6 to remind the public the Flock Safety cameras are government-owned property.

“Intentionally damaging, vandalizing, or destroying a Flock camera is not just an act of vandalism it is a felony offense under Georgia law,” the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said. “Individuals responsible will face criminal charges, fines, restitution, and other legal consequences.”

There are nearly 5,000 Flock cameras in the greater Atlanta-metro area, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia noting that Atlanta is the most surveilled U.S. city.

Muscogee County Superior Court Judge John Martin set a hearing for a lawsuit over data centers, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

On Monday, Judge John Martin of the Superior Court in Muscogee County set a hearing date for the Keep It Rural LLC lawsuit challenging the Columbus Council’s process of creating the technology overlay district ordinance signed into law June 16.

The ordinance comprises rules allowing a hyperscale date center to be built within the consolidated jurisdiction of Columbus and Muscogee County. A proposal for such a facility, Project Ruby, was announced in February. The estimated $5.18 billion project is targeted for 865 acres of wildland in northeast Muscogee County, also known as Upatoi.

Sept. 9 at 9:30 a.m. in the Columbus Government Center, lawyers representing both side are scheduled to appear before Martin. The case will be dismissed on the motions made so far or go further into discovery.

Last week, the defendants (Mayor Skip Henderson and the 10 city councilors), represented by the Columbus law firm Page, Scrantom, Sprouse, Tucker & Ford, filed a final motion ahead of the hearing. They requested dismissal of all seven counts and listed 15 defenses.

The defendants argue the ordinance does not rezone anything or approve any data center. It is just a process for a future application, they say.

“The current lawsuit is a premature attempt at blocking a perceived and hypothetical, future data center,” the defendants’ Aug. 7 motion says. “This action was filed purely for delay in an effort by the Plaintiffs to defeat any development of a feared data center in Muscogee County.”

The City of Atlanta is creating a Data Center Task Force, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Resolution 26-R-3853, establishing a Data Center Task Force in Atlanta, was approved by the City Council on Monday following an initial approval from the City Utilities Committee on Aug. 11.

The task force will “examine national and global best practices in the development, siting, and regulation of data centers, which includes impacts on electric grid capacity, water supply, noise, the City’s ad valorem tax digest, and ratepayer costs,” the city council said.

The group, made of 23 members, will have an initial feasibility 150 days to create a report for Mayor Andre Dickens, and a final report 30 days later.

The task force will include representatives from the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience, the Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation, Atlanta City Planning, Transportation, and Watershed Management departments, District 3 Georgia Public Service Commissioner Peter Hubbard, MARTA and other community stakeholders.

The task force will orchestrate six public meetings and two public hearings before delivering a report to Dickens.

Statesboro City Council will consider a rezoning that would allow a data center, according to WSAV.

The request is to switch the zoning of an almost 27-acre parcel off of Burkhalter Road from “high-density residential” to “office and business district.”

“We’re going to be talking about the actual zoning of that property on Burkhalter,” Statesboro Planning and Development Director Justin Williams said when asked about Tuesday’s meeting. “As a part of the process, it needs to be appropriately zoned to allow for a special use permit. The special use permit is not on the agenda, but the general zoning for it is.”

Williams later explained what a special use permit review will look at.

“Everything that is in our ordinance,” Williams said about what will be reviewed. “That will be a review of the ambient noise study, that’ll be a review of the water management plan, that’ll be a review of a number of things that have been presented in regards to this project. The reality of it is all of those things have to kind of be evaluated just as the ordinance requires us to.”

The application before Statesboro City Council Tuesday comes over two months after the governing body passed an ordinance in June that requires a special use permit for any data center applications.

“That application would go the same route that the actual rezoning will go,” Williams said. “It will go to the Planning Commission for recommendation and then it’ll come to City Council. Staff will have to go through the process of analyzing all the data that’s been presented in regard to that special use permit, but that will be presented as any other case we’d have.”

Williams said Tuesday would be the second of four possible votes if the project advances.

He also explained why the item has come before the commission and now, council.

“The reality of it is that the owners do have a right to request the zoning associated with the property that they own,” he said. “They have requested it. They’ve gone through the pre-development process, so they did meet with city staff about some of the specifics related to the ordinance and the processes associated with the Unified Development Code, and then they were persistent enough to take the risk on rezoning the property.”

Williams also shared how residents can share their opinion Tuesday.

“There is a public hearing for this just as there will be a public hearing for the special use permit,” he said. “Individuals have an opportunity to speak during the public hearing as the mayor and council gives them time to do so.”