Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for April 13, 2026

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in what is now Albemarle County, Virginia. Jefferson served as Governor of Virginia, United States Secretary of State, delegate to the Second Continental Congress, and Third President of the United States. Jefferson is credited with writing the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.

On April 13, 1861, Union forces surrendered Fort Sumter after 33 hours of bombardment by Confederates.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Georgia is experiencing a drought, according to WRDW.

Drought conditions are worsening across Georgia, putting pressure on rivers and lakes and adding new strain to farmers during planting season.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows 98% of the state is in some level of drought. At least 18% is in exceptional drought, the most severe category. The U.S. Drought Monitor report was released on Thursday.

Forecasters do not expect meaningful rain in the coming days. Temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 80s and near 90 degrees, increasing fire danger and further drying vegetation.

Along the Chattahoochee River north of Atlanta, the dry stretch is raising concerns about water levels. Low rainfall can reduce river flow and contribute to dropping lake levels, including at Lake Lanier, a major water source for metro Atlanta.

In Morgan County, farmer Lee Nunn said the drought is already affecting day-to-day decisions in the field.

“That’s almost like a brick-hard Georgia red clay. It’s super dry,” Nunn said, describing the ground conditions.

Nunn said the dry clay is also hard on equipment.

“It’s almost like running a big piece of sandpaper over,” he said. “It is so dry.”

The drought is hitting during planting season for major Georgia crops, including cotton, peanuts and wheat. Nunn said crop stress can reduce yield and affect quality.

“Less weight means less yield, and that means less money,” he said.

In Oglethorpe, farmer Donald Chase said irrigation can help protect crops, but it increases costs and can strain water resources if the drought continues.

“If you see pivots running, understand that is raising the cost of producing that crop,” Chase said.

The next U.S. Drought Monitor update is expected next week.

I can say personally that the drought has affected my recreational opportunities as most of the rivers I boat in North Georgia are currently too low. I feel badly for the people whose livelihood the drought is affecting.

Counting ballots in the November General Election is an open question, according to the AJC.

Travis Doss has worked in Georgia elections for more than three decades. He was there for the rollout of the state’s Diebold voting machines in the early 2000s and for the installation of the current Dominion voting system.

Both times, there was at least a road map. Now, there isn’t. Starting July 1, the way Georgia counts its votes will be illegal. Georgia election officials are hurtling toward that deadline with no clear direction in sight, as state lawmakers adjourned earlier this month without providing a solution.

Georgia ballots have QR codes on them. Machines use these codes to count the ballots. The Republican-controlled state Legislature passed a law two years ago outlawing the QR codes, which critics say voters cannot read to verify their votes.

But lawmakers never approved money to make changes to the current system or buy new machines. Come July, Georgia’s touchscreen voting system won’t be able to legally count votes. For now, election officials are gearing up for the May 19 primaries, something the secretary of state’s election director, Blake Evans, has urged them to focus on.

“We must not let the uncertainty after July 1, 2026, distract us (from) conducting the best May 19 election possible for the voters of Georgia,” Evans wrote.

Past the primaries, election officials say they’re unable to do much of anything to prepare for November.

“Really, all I can do is have the people in place and have them on the ready to be trained,” Paulding County Elections Director Diedre Holden said.

Gov. Brian Kemp could call lawmakers back for a special session to wade into one of the state’s most politically contentious issues. And pressure for such a move is building. The Georgia American Civil Liberties Union and other left-leaning groups wrote a letter to Kemp urging him to bring lawmakers back to Atlanta to push back the July deadline. If nothing’s done, it could be up to the courts to determine how to proceed.

The Coalition for Good Governance, a nonprofit that focuses on election security, has asked the Republican-controlled State Election Board to force Georgia’s 159 counties to use the backup system — hand-marked paper ballots counted by machines. The board could consider the petition this week.

The backup system is usually used during power outages or other events that would make it “impossible” or “impracticable” to use the touchscreen voting system.

Local election officials are supposed to train poll workers how to use the backup system. But Doss, the former president of an organization of local election officials, said his Richmond County poll workers have never used it.

“Do we really want the first time to use the emergency backup system to be during a November gubernatorial election?” he said.

Richmond County has more than 147,000 registered voters. Using a hand-marked paper ballot system would require more than 60 different versions of ballots to accommodate all of the configurations of voting districts and races in November, Doss said. In large metro Atlanta counties, there could be hundreds of different ballot permutations required to accommodate hundreds of thousands of voters.

Another idea that worries Holden, the Paulding County elections director, is if the state opts for a switch to hand-counted paper ballots. She said she’s had several poll workers say they’ll quit if hand counts are required during the general election.

While hand counting ballots is tedious and more error-prone, it would especially impact large counties where hundreds of thousands of votes are cast. In 2020, a full hand-count audit of the presidential race took days for hundreds of poll workers to count in Fulton County, the state’s most populous county.

The secretary of state’s office has proposed using computers to read the text printed on the ballots to count votes rather than the QR codes. The voting machines would still count ballots using QR codes on election night. Later, the state would use this optical character recognition technology to count ballots and comply with the state law banning the QR codes.

This would cost taxpayers about $300,000 per election. Georgia has the money to pay for it because lawmakers included $1.8 million in the 2026 budget to use this technology.

Raffensperger, the state’s top election official and a leading defender of the state’s voting machines, said the July deadline is the state Legislature’s problem.

“They never funded anything. It’s the height of irresponsibility,” he said.

Governor Brian Kemp faces many choices as he decides whether to sign or veto legislation passed by the General Assembly, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.

Georgia lawmakers went home in a flurry of ripped paper, as is the custom at the end of the 40-day legislative session.

The shreds floating through the House and Senate included some of the 2,241 bills introduced during the biennial assembly that started last year, plus more than 3,000 resolutions.

Here is a highlight of some bills that passed, and failed, when the legislators finally decided to leave the Gold Dome after midnight on April 3, about an hour past “Sine Die,” the last scheduled day of the legislative session.

Some bills found bipartisan support while others were pushed through by the Republican majorities in each chamber. Gov. Brian Kemp has already signed a couple of measures, but most of them await his pen.

Consumers

The federal government will stop making pennies because the metal costs more than they are worth. House Bill 1112 would require that cash transactions are rounded to the nearest nickel.

Another bill sought to move the state east on the time zone map, out to the Atlantic. House Bill 154 would have kept clocks on the same standard year-round; no more bouncing back and forth by an hour. It did not pass.

Culture

The killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk inspired the passage of Senate Bill 552, which would make it illegal for public schools that allow student meetings on campus to discriminate based on political or ideological content.

Other ideologically driven measures triggered many hours of partisan debate and failed to pass.

Senate Bill 74 sought to strip librarians of their criminal immunity from a law that makes it illegal to give “harmful” books and other material to minors.

Senate Bill 499 and House Bill 1324 would have ensured gun silencers remained legal in Georgia. Republicans contended silencers protect hunters’ hearing. Democrats asserted they make it harder to locate school shooters. “This body surely is aware that earplugs exist,” Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, said on the House floor when Democrats voted the bill down, assisted by the absence of 11 Republicans.)

The House also killed Senate Bill 175, which sought to protect Confederate monuments.

Education

House Bill 1193 seeks to improve the teaching of reading in kindergarten through third grades. The heart of the measure would give schools $70 million a year to put 1,313 literacy coaches into classrooms.

Teenage students got a bill that aims to help them, but in a different way: House Bill 1009 would ban cellphones in public high schools starting in the 2027-28 school year. The devices were roundly criticized as an academic distraction.

College students got Senate Bill 556, an omnibus education measure that snuck across the finish line the evening of April 2 (technically the final legislative day though lawmakers kept voting past midnight). The House commandeered the bill, which was about something else (a common tactic when time is running out) and stuffed it with other language, including a $325 million need-based scholarship program that had been in a different bill that did not pass.

House Bill 328 would increase the $120 million annual cap on tax breaks for donors to one of the state’s K-12 private school tuition subsidy programs. The Senate had sought to nearly double it to $225 million but settled for $150 million.

Senate Bill 513 would have suspended the driver’s licenses of chronically absent high school students had it passed.

Elections

House Bill 369 would require Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties to hold nonpartisan elections for county commissioner, district attorney, and other county offices. Democrats blasted it as a GOP attempt to cling to power in areas with a waning Republican electorate. Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, countered that “the reason we’re doing this is because of that strong consolidated government, in order to make it safer.”

Republicans were able to agree on that bill, but could not converge on a solution to their self-imposed deadline to stop using QR codes to tally election results at polling places. Those will become illegal July 1, raising doubts among election officials about the conduct of the midterm elections Nov. 3.

Health

Pharmacists would be authorized to dispense contraceptives to women without a doctor’s prescription under House Bill 1138. Lawmakers also approved increasing the strength of THC dosages prescribed to patients, passing Senate Bill 220.

Housing

About one in four Georgians live in a condominium or home governed by an association that has the authority to levy fees and fines and then foreclose when owners do not pay. Senate Bill 406 would curb that power. Lawmakers decided not to counteract another housing force: corporate owners of rental homes. Senate Bill 463 died in the House in the last days of the legislative session.

Insurance

House Bill 1344 would increase fines on wayward insurance companies while cracking down on uninsured motorists and on fraud. There were numerous other provisions in the omnibus insurance measure that grew from a study committee last year and was a priority of House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington.

House Bill 506 would protect those with health insurance from outsized ambulance bills.

Policing

Senate Bill 443 would increase the fine for blocking a road during a protest to $5,000 and expose protesters to lawsuits. Senate Bill 443 would help de-escalate police encounters with people in vehicles who have autism by providing training and creating identifying license plates.

Senate Bill 542 would make it illegal for clergy to have sexual contact with people taking their counsel, much like existing law that prohibits such contact when there is a power imbalance. That law forbids sexual encounters between school employees and students, parole officers and their charges, hospital employees and patients, psychotherapists and their clients, police and those they arrest, and correctional officers and inmates with a disability.

House Bill 1409 would modernize the Georgia law that requires people who interact with children to report suspected child abuse. It would require the Division of Family and Children Services to establish a secure website for reporting. It would also make claims of sexual harassment or discrimination against a member of the General Assembly a public record if they were made after Jan. 1, 2019. Various Republican senators tried to attach what came to be known as the “Epstein amendment” to a half dozen bills. The update to the mandated reporter law became a vehicle for passage.

House Bill 1187 would end secrets around sexual abuse lawsuits. Trey’s Law was named after an Atlanta-area resident who was sexually abused at a Missouri camp along with other victims. Trey Carlock settled a lawsuit against the camp, but a nondisclosure agreement prevented him from talking about what happened to him. He died by suicide. The measure would prohibit settlements that contain such agreements.

Taxes

House Bill 463 would gradually reduce the income tax rate to 3.99% (from the current 5.19%). Senate Bill 33 would restrain increases in the taxable valuations of owner-occupied homes. It would also allow let counties implement a penny sales tax, with the proceeds used to subsidize homeowner property taxes.

Cities and counties can keep raising their tax rates as much as needed, but schools cannot and could have to start laying off teachersin a few years if Kemp lets the measure become law, their advocates say.

Both bills passed the General Assembly after midnight on April 3, hasty alternatives fashioned by Republicans after they failed to pass their top tax priorities. Senate Republicans had wanted to abolish income taxes. House Republicans had hoped to eliminate homeowner property taxes.

Kemp had asked to reduce the income tax rate to 4.99%, but the Legislature did not pass House Bill 1001, introduced by an ally of the governor.

But workers in Georgia are guaranteed an income tax rebate: Kemp signed House Bill 1000 into law last month when he also signed House Bill 1199 suspending the excise tax on gasoline. HB 1000 will give individual filers $250, heads of household $375 and married couples $500. The 33 cent a gallon gas tax will be in place until Georgians go to the polls on May 19 to vote in the midterm primary election. The amended budget through June, which Kemp has signed, also included $850 million for homeowner property tax rebates.

Transportation

That amended budget, House Bill 973, also included nearly $2 billion to improve I-75 south of Atlanta and state Route 316 connecting Metro Atlanta to Athens.

House Bill 14 by State Rep. Kasey Carpenter (R-Dalton) passed both chambers and would create a “Georgia Music Office” if signed by Governor Kemp, according to 13WMAZ.

House Bill 14, which passed the Georgia legislature and is now awaiting Governor Brian Kemp’s signature, would establish a Georgia Music Office — a state-run agency aimed at growing and promoting the music industry across the state, with a particular focus on communities like Macon.

Supporters of House Bill 14 say the Georgia Music Office could be exactly that reason. Proponents point to the success of Georgia’s film industry — which has grown into one of the largest in the country following years of state-level investment and incentives — as a model for what similar attention could do for music.

Gary Wheat, President and CEO of Visit Macon, says the parallels are hard to ignore.

“Macon has a very strong creative economy and an even stronger musical ecosystem,” Wheat said. “Anytime the state introduces something that works to help our partners and our attractions and our musically-themed businesses — it would be a positive, just like film was several years ago.”

Wheat says the bill could open the door to new artists, new investment, and new opportunities for up-and-coming musicians looking to break into the industry.

“A rising tide lifts all ships,” he said. “Being able to introduce new business and new investment to the creative economy here in Macon will be a benefit — for business, for individuals, and for people looking to further their dream.”

Macon’s musical heritage is difficult to overstate. The city is the birthplace of Little Richard, widely credited as an architect of rock and roll, and the hometown of soul legend Otis Redding. The Allman Brothers Band called Macon home during their rise to fame, and Capricorn Records — now recording again after years of dormancy — helped define an entire era of American music.

The bill now sits on Governor Kemp’s desk, awaiting his signature.o

House Bill 350, by State Rep. Mike Cameron (R-Rossville), the “Baby Box” bill is also on Gov. Kemp’s desk, according to WTVM.

House Bill 350, now awaiting Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature, would let police and fire stations along with hospitals install baby boxes for babies up to 45 days old.

Georgia law currently requires a parent wanting to surrender their newborn baby to do it face to face with an official.

If House Bill 350 is signed into law, it would provide a different option.

What the bill would do

Georgia House Bill 350, also known as the Eliza Jane Warner Act, is awaiting Kemp’s signature after passing this legislative session.

If signed into law, it would give fire stations, police stations and hospitals the green light to install temperature controlled and ventilated “newborn safety devices,” or baby boxes.

Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Macon said fire crews are often away from stations for extended periods.

“The downside to that is sometimes our crews are so busy they could leave and not be at the fire station for 12 hours,” Macon said. “So at this point we would rather have a baby handed over to us in person. That way we can assure the safety and well-being of that child.”

Under current Georgia law, a mother or father wanting to surrender their baby within 30 days of birth must hand the baby to an official face to face.

“Bringing your child to a police station or fire department or hospital where we’re trying to ask questions and know what’s going on — that can be scary for someone who feels like they have no other option,” Macon said.

If Georgia House Bill 350 is signed into law, officials would have to raise the money for baby boxes themselves.

Research shows each box costs at least $20,000.

“We’d potentially ask for grants first to see about getting that funding,” Macon said. “I don’t think we’ll get to the point where all 14 stations would get them, but kind of like post offices, we’ll try to get it to something essentially located for everyone.”

The Eliza Jane Warner Act is named after a baby found dead in a cooler on the side of a Troup County road in 2019.

Kemp has until May 12 to sign the bill into law.

Statesboro City Council rejected a new fire fee over expected legal challenges, according to the Statesboro Herald.

With the city manager advising caution and the city attorney warning of nearly certain legal challenges if Statesboro enacted a monthly fire service fee, City Council on Tuesday officially abandoned the idea, for now.

“The fire service fee, in and of itself, is a more equitable way to pay for fire protection, and in the future, it may provide the council an opportunity to cover those costs in a more equitable way,” [City Manager Charles] Penny said Tuesday. “However, … one of the things about the fire service fee, we have a number of cities throughout the state that are using it, but we also have a number of communities that have been challenged legally.”

Chatham County’s fire fee, challenged as an “illegal tax” after previous changes, was overturned in Chatham County Superior Court in October. After collecting a separate fire service fee for a number of years, Garden City, which is within Chatham County, settled a class action lawsuit by agreeing to create a $1.4 million refund fund.

But McDuffie County, after 18 months of litigation, had its fire fee upheld in the McDuffie County Superior Court in 2023. The fee structure proposed for Statesboro was based on McDuffie County’s and also somewhat like Garden City’s previous fees, but different from Chatham’s, DiTommaso said in January.

“One of the things that has me concerned is that if the council decided to proceed with the fire service fee this fiscal year, July 1, and then in October or November someone challenges the fire service fee, that we were enjoined from collecting funds, at that point our city would be in a pickle, because we have a $4 million hole we have to cover,” Penny continued.`

Former Public Service Commissioner Fitz Johnson (R-?) faces a challenge to his qualification based on allegations he lives outside the district he seeks to once again represent, according to The Current GA.

In a complaint filed with the Secretary of State in March, Daniel O’Toole alleged Johnson’s legal residence is in Cobb County, which is outside the boundaries of the District 3 seat Johnson is seeking. Georgia sets a mandatory residency requirement that “in order to be elected as a member of the commission from a Public Service Commission District, a person shall have resided in that district for at least 12 months prior to election thereto.”

O’Toole is a DeKalb County resident and Realtor who has worked on PSC Commissioner Peter Hubbard’s campaigns. He said he filed his complaint independently of the Hubbard’s current campaign.

“Terrell Fitz Johnson Sr. has signed and notarized multiple affirmative statements indicating that he resides at 1505 Mars Hill Rd, Acworth, GA 30101 which is located in Cobb County, and that this address is his intended primary residence,” O’Toole wrote in his complaint.

Cobb County tax records indicate the fair market value of the 4,700-square-foot Kennesaw house is $1.3 million.

To back up his claim, O’Toole attached a copy of a March 5, 2025 security deed signed by Johnson and his wife, Suzann M. Wilcox, attesting that they reside at the Cobb County address. An occupancy clause of the mortgage loan document requires the borrower to use the property as a principal residence within 60 days after signing and for at least a year thereafter.

O’Toole said an owner-occupied, primary residence typically qualifies for better interest rates and cheaper insurance premiums.

“And because of that, the banks make you sign a statement that says ‘this will be my house, and I’m going to move into it, and I’m going to live there at least a year,’” he said. “So that is the language that he signed and agreed to.”

The Secretary of State’s office referred the complaint to the Office of State Administrative Hearings. Administrative Law Judge Kimberly Schroer is scheduled to hear the matter at 10:30 a.m. Monday at OSAH headquarters in Atlanta.

Johnson denied the allegations on Saturday.

“I am a resident of District 3 and fully meet all legal requirements to serve,” he wrote in a text to The Current GA. “Politically motivated complaints like this may generate headlines, but they won’t change the facts. My focus remains where it should be, making sure Georgians have a PSC Commissioner who is delivering affordable, reliable and safe power for the people of Georgia.”

Johnson’s voter registration lists his address as 2432 Brantley St., NW, in Atlanta. That’s a 1,300-square-foot home Johnson bought for $430,000 in 2024 in an unqualified sale from a “related individual” listed as Corey L. Johnson in Fulton County property records.

Democrat Geoff Duncan (R) continues his “All Apologies” tour in Columbus, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, now a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, made a campaign stop at a Columbus church Tuesday to talk with members and discuss his platforms, including Medicaid expansion and gun control.

During his visit, Duncan advocated for Medicaid expansion.

“We’re underfunded and under-accessed because of not expanding Medicaid,” he said. “I say that as someone who’s literally spent years trying to explore ways to improve our healthcare system without expanding Medicaid, and I was wrong.”

Duncan said expanding Medicaid creates better healthcare access and reduces the cost of healthcare in general.

“Expanding Medicaid is simply about the Georgia legislature, the House and the Senate, passing a bill that says, ‘Yes, we will expand our definition of Medicaid,’” Duncan said.

Duncan talked about building a coalition across party lines to expand Medicaid. He said, as a former Republican and moderate-minded person, he can build that coalition.

Duncan also talked about his stance on gun control during his visit.

“I think we all agree that 90% of Georgians want universal background checks and red flag laws and in-home safe storage laws,” he said.

Duncan said Republicans know they are wrong on the issue and Democrats know they are right on the issue.

When asked how he would go about reaching across party lines to pass Medicaid expansion and gun control laws, Duncan said, “I think if we put common sense legislation on the table to expand Medicaid, I think a majority of Republicans will vote in favor of it because it’s the only thing to do.”

Duncan followed that with two questions: “Can we keep sending millions of people to the hospital without health insurance and expecting us to fix the problem? Can we just continue to let mass shootings play out without doing the right thing and passing universal background checks and red flag laws and common sense in-home safe storage laws?”

Three Democratic candidates for Governor will appear in a televised debate on April 15, 2026, according to WSAV.

The debate will feature former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, the only candidates who qualified to appear on stage under the non-discriminatory debate participation criteria.

The latest nonpartisan polling conducted by Emerson College Polling of likely Democratic primary voters from Feb. 28 through March 2, 2026, shows a clear separation in the field:

· Keisha Lance Bottoms – 34.8%
· Geoff Duncan – 12.8%
· Michael Thurmond – 7.4%
· Jason Esteves – 3.7%
· Derrick Jackson – 2.6%
· Undecided – 38.5%

To qualify for participation, candidates must meet objective, nationwide, non-discriminatory criteria, including being legally qualified for the office, having publicly announced their candidacy, actively campaigning, meeting campaign fundraising thresholds, and demonstrating measurable voter support.

Candidates seeking statewide office must also receive at least 5% support in a professionally conducted, nonpartisan poll released within 120 days of the primary election. These standards are applied consistently across all Nexstar Media Group-sponsored debates.

State Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Forsyth County) spoke about hand-counted ballots and more, according to Atlanta News First via WALB.

State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican running for Georgia lieutenant governor, said he was disappointed lawmakers did not pass his elections bill that would have moved the state to hand-marked paper ballots and made other changes to early voting precincts, recounts and runoff oversight.

Dolezal said the measure cleared the Senate with “unanimous Republican support” but stalled in the House. He pointed to existing law that he said could allow an “emergency lever” to switch to hand-marked paper ballots, but said he had not spoken with Gov. Brian Kemp about whether the governor should call a special session.

Election officials have raised concerns about the feasibility of a rapid shift ahead of upcoming elections, though Dolezal said he heard mixed feedback from local clerks. He said he prefers a “thoughtful transition,” but reiterated that he wants Georgia to adopt hand-marked paper ballots, noting he believes about two-thirds of Americans vote that way.

On affordability, Dolezal said lawmakers “didn’t” go as far as they should have this session, calling that a “fair criticism.” He said he wanted bigger income tax cuts and cited his proposal to eliminate state taxes on tips and overtime, which did not pass.

Asked what would distinguish him in a crowded Republican primary, Dolezal described himself as a “conservative workhorse” and pointed to legislation he said he authored and passed, including measures banning COVID-19 vaccine passports, expanding school choice, restricting transgender participation in girls’ and women’s sports, and prohibiting certain diversity, equity and inclusion mandates in K-12 public schools.

Dolezal also defended an attack ad released during the legislative session that depicted AI-generated images of Muslims and warned Georgia could be headed toward “Sharia law.”

Critics, including political opponents and some colleagues, called the ad offensive and urged an apology. Dolezal said he would not apologize, arguing he is concerned about attempts to adjudicate cases in what he described as Sharia tribunals and said “parallel legal systems” should not be allowed if they conflict with the U.S. Constitution.

He pointed to communities outside Georgia, including Plano, Texas, and Dearborn, Michigan, as examples of what he said are incompatible “policies and worldviews,” and said the state should remain united under constitutional principles, including freedom of religion and separation of religion and government.

Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education Roger Moss is challenged by former District 2 member Dionne Hoskins-Brown, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The countywide position oversees the elected Board of Public Education, which sets policy and oversees the district’s strategic direction for a system serving more than 36,000 students. The nonpartisan election is scheduled for May 19.

Both candidates say improving student literacy remains a key priority in their campaigns. Over the past six years, the district has committed $22 million to a literacy curriculum and teacher training, with more funding anticipated over the coming years. But some worry the now-trained teachers think the curriculum is not fully aligned with the program’s best practices.

Moss, the current board president, is seeking a second term leading the nine-member board. During his tenure, he said the district has focused heavily on improving literacy through the adoption of a “science of reading” approach and extensive retraining for teachers.

“Literacy rate is number one,” Moss said. “We’re undoing over 10 years of bad practice in how teachers were taught to teach reading.”

“Every graduate needs a job. Every scholar needs a job,” Hoskins-Brown said. “If we connect more young people with career pathways that speak to the quality of life that they want to have, and CTEA (Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture) can do that, then we’re going to have a healthier community all around.”

Bryan County voters will elect a Board of Education Chair and two District members, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Incumbent Amy Murphy has been chair of the Bryan County School Board since 2019, has served on the board since 2012 and is a licensed mental health therapist. She is running for the chair position again because she believes “experience matters” and thinks that familiarity will also come in handy when the new superintendent is selected.

[Challenger] Business owner and operations manager J. Scott Novinski has lived in Richmond Hill for 15 years. All five of his children have gone through the school system, which he says gives him a “deep, personal connection” to the community.

Tiffany Gregg is also running for the chair seat and could not be reached for comment.

Bryan County School Board – District 4

Luella Sanders serves as an adjunct instructor at Columbia College, teaching accounting and finance, and has served on the South Bryan Advisory Council and the United Way Advisory Board.

Business owner Matthew Hodges says he has small children in the school system and said he is running to “listen, learn and serve.”

Bryan County School Board – District 5

Incumbent David Schwartz said results from the current board is evidence of what they have accomplished.

Small business owner Megan Sullivan calls Bryan County “a special place” and said she is eager to learn from the community about their needs within the Bryan County School District.

Bonnie Bhonsle said she has been monitoring Bryan County’s growth in the region and feels her experience in the education sector makes her the “perfect fit” to run for the District Five seat.

Early voting kicks off April 27 and the General Primary is May 19.

Tift County voters will elect a number of local offices, according to the Tifton Gazette.

At the local level, the seats for Districts 1, 3, 4, and 6 on the Tift County Board of Commissioners and for Districts 2, 4, 5, and 6 on the Tift County Schools Board of Education will be up for election, though the positions of District 3 and 6 commissioner and District 2, 5, and 6 Board of Education member have only one candidate running in their respective races.

Incumbents Paul Webb and Greg Wood remain the sole candidate for their seats on the county board, while incumbent Pat McKinnon runs unopposed for District 2 Board of Education member alongside new candidates Blake McRae, District 5, and Jerome Baker, District 6.

For the seat of District 1 commissioner, Democrat candidates Angela Higgins and Donnie Hester, incumbent, will face off in the upcoming primary, as will Republicans Jonathan Cassell and incumbent Stan Stalnaker for the position of District 4 commissioner.

Lashawn Benajamin Ealey and Richard Haring are the sole candidates for the District 4 Board of Education member position, though as a Democrat and Republican candidate, respectively, they are expected to face off in the general election instead.

Incumbents Herbert Benson, Bill Reinhardt, and Ralph Powell will also run unopposed for their elections to their seats for State Court judge and Superior Court judges for the Tifton Judicial Circuit.

Multiple state and federal races will also be on the ballot.

The upcoming primary is expected to be the last election conducted using the current voting system. A state law prohibits ballot tabulation via QR codes, beginning this summer. The Tift County Board of Elections has stated that it is waiting for instruction from the Secretary of State regarding how the November election will be handled.

Three candidates are running for an open at-large seat on the Hall County Board of Education, according to AccessWDUN.

Joe Anglin, Carla Baker and Susan Aycock Smith are all running to be included in November’s General Election to replace the seat left vacant by Bill Thompson, who chose not to seek re-election in 2026. Susan Martin Taylor is running unopposed in the Democratic primary election and will continue to the general election in November.

Joe Anglin has taught and coached in the Hall County School District for over 25 years and served on the Flowery Branch City Council from 2010 to 2025. He also works as a substitute teacher and bus driver for the school system.

Carla Baker serves as the Executive Director for Hall -Dawson CASA, an organization that advocates for children navigating the foster system in Hall and Dawson counties. She previously worked for Sisu, Integrated Early Learning for 16 years. She also worked as a high school math teacher for three years.

Susan Aycock Smith served as an Assistant professor of Mathematics at Gainesville State College from 1990 until 2013. She then served as the Associate Director for operations and technology within the financial aid department for the University of North Georgia until she retired in 2023. Smith also served as president of the Georgia Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

State Senate District 7 will have a Special Election and a Primary Election on May 19, 2026, according to AccessWDUN.

That is because the incumbent, Nabilah Parkes, resigned during the legislative session to run for Lieutenant Governor.

That decision was met with backlash from some Georgia Democrats, with State Representative for District 97 Ruwa Romman (D) calling it an “abdication of responsibility” and State Senator Josh McLaurin (D) — who is also running for Lieutenant Governor — calling it “purely political.”

Under Georgia law, Governor Brian Kemp had to issue a special election for the seat to serve out Parkes’ term to January 2027. The winner of the general election in November will then serve from January 2027 until January 2029.

So what does this mean for Gwinnett residents who live in the senate district that spans from Lawrenceville to Peachtree Corners?

“It’s going to be in the same location so physically, you’re going to go to the same place you’re going to be voting in the primary,” Romman said. “There’s going to be the Senate District 7 race and then it’s going to say special Senate District 7 right underneath it.”

Astrid Ross, a private school principal for City of Knowledge in Lilburn, said Kemp made it simple.

“What Kemp decided to do was to simplify it, and that was to make the election on the same day,” Ross said.

The Democratic Primary field consists of Romman, Ross, and civil rights attorney Rahul Garabadu. The Republican Primary is only real estate broker Aizaz Shaikh.

As for the special election to fill out the rest of Parkes’ term, Ross and Shaikh are running. In addition to them, Adrienne White Carden is running for the short-term seat.

The federal “Respect for Local Communities Act,” co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) would require local approval for ICE facilities, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Georgia was supposed to be home to a Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Oakwood as well as one of the nation’s eight projected “megacenters” for detaining as many as 10,000 people in Social Circle. Both projects were met with outrage from their communities, and officials in both parts of the state say they have had little to no contact with DHS, despite the agency relying heavily on their infrastructure.

The plans are currently paused as new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin reviews policies and plans from his predecessor, Kristi Noem, who was ousted from her position after contentious congressional oversight hearings.

S.3894, or the Respect for Local Communities Act, would require the Department of Homeland Security to consult and include towns and cities in the decision to buy land and develop new properties for ICE operations.

The bill would “prohibit the (DHS) from constructing, acquiring, or operating any new processing site or detention center without providing a mechanism for public comments regarding such activity, entering into a signed, written agreement with appropriate state and local officials, and providing Congress with advance notice of such activity.”

Communities would have 30 days for public comment where the federal government would have to provide information on the “scope of the construction, acquisition, renovation or operation” of the facility.

Augusta will hold public sessions to discuss a proposed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST), according to WRDW.

Augusta residents have the chance to learn about possible sales taxes ahead of the May election.

Augusta city leaders will hold several public information sessions to provide residents with information regarding the proposed SPLOST 9 and Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST).

These sessions are intended to help the public understand better what is included in each referendum.

SPLOST 9 is a proposed 1% sales tax for specific capital improvement projects. FLOST is a proposed 0.5% sales tax to reduce property taxes.

Each proposal will be a separate ballot question for the May 19 election.

Tybee Island will not receive anticipated federal funding for beach replenishment, according to WRDW.

In the past six years, Tybee Island has lost 60% of its shoreline.

Last week, the island learned it will not receive federal funding to help restore their beaches.

High tide will show you just how much of the beach Tybee has lost.

For those who call the island home, the state of the shore is alarming.

“If we don’t take care of our beaches, they are going to disappear,” said Jim Dawson, Tybee resident.

The $12,000,000 grant Tybee was expecting is instead going to New Jersey to help repair its shore.

Residents we spoke with are not upset that another beach will be getting the assistance.

However, locals say they are disappointed that there isn’t enough funding to go around.

“I’m disappointed particularly since the money is there, it’s just not being spent correctly,” said Dawson.

We spoke with tourists who make annual stops at Tybee, and they said in recent years the receding shoreline has been noticeable.

Although they say it will not stop their trips, it is concerning.

“I feel like it’s just gotten way small, I mean I don’t really know what’s going on, but, I mean it’s not good,” said Brady Gais, annual visitor.

Mayor Brian West says he shares the disappointment in the funding decision.

Tybee Island has put eight million dollars into the renourishment.

He says they are looking for alternate ways to restore the beaches without the federal funding.

The day to day state of the beaches depends on tides.

Throughout the summer, the city will give residents and tourists recommendations on which beaches to hit and which ones to avoid.

West says the beaches remain open and functioning.

“People can still come and do that, there’s still beach here, we’re just going to have to help navigate you know where the beaches are going to be where they can come and stay for the day,” said West.

If you’re coming out for a beach day on Tybee, Mayor West asks that you pick up after yourself, and of course stay off the dunes.

From the Savannah Morning News:

Fewer loggerhead sea turtles may be choosing to nest at Tybee Island beginning this May.

The island has experienced a 60% loss in sand since the last beach renourishment funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2020, said Tybee Island Mayor Bryan West in a press conference last week. Another renourishment was planned for this year, until the city learned the funding was cancelled on Monday.

“More sand leads to more opportunities for the turtles to be able to nest,” said Tybee Island Marine Science Center (TIMSC) Program Director Alli Williford. “If we’re losing sand, then we’re not going to have a place for the turtles to come up…They’ll turn around.”

TIMSC recorded 19 nests at the island last year, the least amount of nests among Georgia’s barrier islands. Staff and volunteers relocated 13 of those nests, mostly due to erosion and low elevation issues that could be fixed with more sand.

“The trouble this year will be finding the best spots to relocate,” said Williford. “We’ll just have to put a lot of nests in one spot. And if that’s what we have to do, then that’s what we’ll have to do.”

Still, there are some downsides of renourishment that may hinder turtles as well. Dredging up sand from the ocean and piling it onshore can introduce new sand grain sizes that turtles might have a harder time digging into. Differences in temperature created for the nest might change hatching success or sex ratio.

Research by the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech estimates that shipping through Savannah saves roughly $1000 per container, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Shippers using the Port of Savannah save more than $1,000 per container that headed to Atlanta, Memphis and Nashville, compared to ports on the West Coast.

“Our research shows that when shippers evaluate total landed cost and end-to-end reliability, routing cargo through Savannah provides a clear economic advantage compared to West Coast routes,” said Chris Gaffney, managing director of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech. “For Atlanta, Memphis and Nashville, routing cargo through Savannah reduces congestion exposure, saves shippers money and delivers more consistent, predictable transit performance.”

A previous, Atlanta-focused study showed similar benefits: Shorter overland routes from Savannah result in fewer cargo handoffs and lower overall transport costs, even when factoring in longer ocean routes from Asia to the U.S. East Coast.

Former Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree has died, according to WJBF.

Roundtree was elected Richmond County Sheriff in November 2012. He served in that role for 12 years, from 2013 to 2024. He was Richmond County’s first African American sheriff.

Sheriff Roundtree dedicated more than 30 years to law enforcement, including 12 years and two terms serving as Richmond County’s Sheriff—and made history as the first African American to hold that role. Throughout his career, he remained committed to protecting our community and strengthening public safety.

Vidalia onion season opens today, according to WTOC.

The Vidalia onion season starts Monday as farmers begin harvesting and shipping out the produce on its pack date. The Peach State’s official vegetable will stick around in stores until September.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper and the Vidalia Onion Committee selected Apr. 13 as the 2026 pack date.

Officials say the pack date is carefully chosen each year based on soil and weather conditions to ensure the highest quality vegetables reach consumers.

Vidalia onions are grown in a 20-county region, and experts say their flavor comes from the area’s unique blend of soil and nutrients.

The onions are considered delicate in nature, so farmers have to hand plant, harvest and cure them.

The vegetables’ historical roots span back to the 1930s when a local farmer discovered the sweet onion. They’ve since grown in popularity, becoming a staple ingredient in kitchens across the county.

Now that the pack date is finally here, that also means the Vidalia Onion Festival is right around the corner.

The 2026 event begins Apr. 23 and ends Apr. 26. The festival schedule includes concerts, a carnival, an onion run and airshows with the Blue Angels.

No word on the bag limit or minimum size to harvest.