Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for April 17, 2026

On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes mounted up on horseback to warn of British troops on their way to confiscate American arms and to warn patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who the British sought to capture.

By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government had approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from Great Britain to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against Concord and Lexington.

The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a British military action for some time, and, upon learning of the British plan, Revere and Dawes set off across the Massachusetts countryside. They took separate routes in case one of them was captured….

About 5 a.m. on April 19, 700 British troops under Major John Pitcairn arrived at the town to find a 77-man-strong colonial militia under Captain John Parker waiting for them on Lexington’s common green. Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the “shot heard around the world” was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead and 10 others were wounded; only one British soldier was injured. The American Revolution had begun.

On April 19, 1775, British troops entered Lexington, Massachusetts, encountering 77 armed Minute Men.

British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the “shot heard around the world” was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead or dying and 10 others were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but the American Revolution had begun.

Two hours later, another confrontation between the British and American patriots took place in Concord, Massachusetts.

President William H. Taft learned on April 18, 1912 of the death of his military aide, Major Archibald Butts of Augusta, Georgia on RMS Titanic.

On April 17, 1944, a fifteen-year old Martin Luther King, Jr., a junior at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, traveled to Dublin, Georgia to give a speech in a contest sponsored by the local black Elks club. During the bus ride to Dublin, King and his teacher had to give up their seats to white riders and stand for much of the ride. King won the contest, delivering his oration, “The Negro and the Constitution.”

On April 17, 1950, the United States Supreme Court dismissed South v. Peters, a complaint against Georgia’s County Unit System of elections.

Each county is allotted a number of unit votes, ranging from six for the eight most populous counties, to two for most of the counties. The candidate who receives the highest popular vote in the county is awarded the appropriate number of unit votes. Appellants, residents of the most populous county in the State, contend that their votes and those of all other voters in that county have on the average but one-tenth the weight of those in the other counties. Urging that this amounts to an unconstitutional discrimination against them, appellants brought this suit to restrain adherence to the statute in the forthcoming Democratic Party primary for United States Senator, Governor and other state offices. The court below dismissed appellants’ petition. We affirm.

On April 17, 1964, the Ford Mustang debuted at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York. The world has been a better, if somewhat louder, place ever since. Also present at the 1964 World’s Fair was the Coca-Cola Pavilion, which included a 610-bell electric carillon that would later be installed at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, where it can be heard most days.

The honeybee was recognized as the official state insect of Georgia on April 18, 1975.

Thousands of Chinese students protested against their government on April 18, 1989.

By early 1989, peaceful protests against the government began in some of China’s largest cities. The biggest protest was held on April 18 in the capital city of Beijing. Marching through Tiananmen Square in the center of the city, thousands of students carried banners, chanted slogans, and sang songs calling for a more democratic political atmosphere.

On April 19, 1995, Governor Zell Miller signed legislation declaring the peanut the Official State Crop.

On April 18, 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue signed legislation establishing February 6 of each year as “Ronald Reagan Day” in Georgia and celebrating the date of President Reagan’s birth.

April 18, 2014 was the deadliest day on Mount Everest as sixteen local guides died.

The avalanche, which occurred around 6:30 a.m., swept over the Sherpas in a notoriously treacherous area of Everest known as the Khumbu Icefall, at approximately 19,000 feet. At the time, the Sherpas had been hauling loads of gear for commercial expedition groups.

The disaster, in which no foreigners were killed, reopened debates about the dangerous risks undertaken by Sherpas for their typically affluent clients (in addition to lugging most of the supplies for an expedition, Sherpas are responsible for such tasks as setting lines of fixed ropes and ladders for climbers), as well as the over-commercialization of Everest, where human traffic jams during the spring mountaineering season and massive amounts of litter have become common.

Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band died April 18, 2024, according to 13WMAZ.

Betts, a guitarist and singer, joined with brothers Duane and Gregg Allman in the late 60s and early 70s as the band from Macon broke through to stardom. Betts penned and sang what is widely regarded as the band’s biggest hit “Ramblin’ Man.”

“It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announce the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard ‘Dickey’ Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) at the age of 80 years old,” Betts’ family announced in a statement to Rolling Stone. “The legendary performer, songwriter, bandleader, and family patriarch was at his home in Osprey, Florida, surrounded by his family. Dickey was larger-than-life, and his loss will be felt worldwide. At this difficult time, the family asks for prayers and respect for their privacy in the coming days. More information will be forthcoming at the appropriate time.”

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Former Governor Sonny Perdue announced he will retire as Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.

Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue announced Wednesday that he will retire from his job overseeing the state’s 25 public colleges and universities, ending a career that spanned more than four decades, from service on a local zoning board to the cabinet of President Donald Trump, with two terms as governor in between.

“As I prepare to retire, I’m grateful for our presidents, faculty and staff, our students and the many communities that make up this remarkable system,” Perdue said in a statement. He did not give a definitive date, saying he would leave the post after a national search finds a successor.

Just over four years ago, on April 1, 2022, Perdue assumed leadership of a higher education system that now has a $12.1 billion budget, with 54,000 employees and 382,000 students.

Enrollment has grown during his tenure.

“Under his leadership, the system has seen record enrollment, modernized campuses and advanced medical education, including the launch of UGA’s new School of Medicine,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement, adding that Perdue’s time leading the University System of Georgia “has solidified a legacy of impact that will continue for generations to come.”

A native of Perry, Perdue attended undergraduate and graduate school at the University of Georgia, earning a veterinarian medical degree. He flew in the U.S. Air Force and owned an agricultural business.

He started his political career in the 1980s, on the Houston County Planning and Zoning Board, before making his way to the state Senate in 1991. He chaired the Senate Higher Education Committee and rose to the top rung for a senator as President Pro Tem.

In 2003, he made history by becoming the first Republican to occupy the Georgia governor’s office since Reconstruction, serving the maximum two terms. Trump, in his first term as president, then tapped Perdue as the 31st U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

After his pivot to chancellor, Perdue focused on affordability, eliminating a fee that saved students hundreds of dollars a year. He also restrained tuition growth, with students on average paying less now than in 2017 when adjusted for inflation, according to the system.

On Tuesday, the system Board of Regents raised tuition by 1% for in-state students and by 3% for out-of-state students.

Despite Perdue’s attention to affordability, critics noted that Georgia higher education remained out of reach for many from low-income households.

Georgia was among just two states without a comprehensive scholarship program based on financial need.

Lawmakers finally addressed that this year, budgeting $325 million as seed money toward a need-based program to be called the DREAMS Scholarship Endowment Fund. They placed the program under the control of the Georgia Student Finance Authority, but the idea started as a small fund in the University System of Georgia Foundation, under the leadership of Perdue.

The national search for Perdue’s successor will be conducted by a committee of the Board of Regents, with help from a consultant and from former Chancellor Stephen R. Portch and former Georgia State University President Mark Becker.

After they find a successor, Perdue, who has served as a foster parent with his wife, Mary, will have more time to spend with their four children, 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

House Bill 1409 by State Rep. Beth Camp (R-Concord) passed with a Senate addition, and awaits Governor Kemp’s signature or veto. From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Valdosta Daily Times:

A little amendment to the last bill to pass the Georgia General Assembly this year could cause quite a stir if Gov. Brian Kemp signs it into law.

Or the Senate’s tweak to House Bill 1409 could do nothing, except give lawmakers pause about pursuing sex with a staffer.

The measure, which passed the Senate unanimously during the lunch hour on April 2, technically the last day of the legislative session, went on to pass the House 12 hours later, at 12:53 am, with broad bipartisan support.

The underlying bill updates a Georgia law that requires adults who interact with children to report suspected child abuse.

The amendment connects Georgia to recent events in Washington, D.C., where California Democrat Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Tony Gonzales each resigned from the U.S. House on Tuesday.

Swalwell stepped down and suspended his campaign for California governor after he was accused of sexually assaulting a former staffer. Gonzales admitted in a radio interview to having an affair with an aide who later took her own life by lighting herself on fire.

Georgia state Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, said he was moved to introduce what lawmakers referred to as “the Epstein amendment” after he read about her death.

“I’m going to encourage our congressional delegation to look at what we did here and go up and take the same stand,” Robertson said this week after Swalwell and Gonzales resigned. “They represent us, so I think they have an obligation, the same as state senators and state representatives, to be transparent with the people who put them in office”

Calling it the Epstein amendment is a misnomer since he was a financier rather than a lawmaker, but the connotation of sexual abuse is what led to the nickname for Robertson’s transparency mandate.

HB 1409, should the governor sign it, will require that the leaders of the House and Senate treat any settled claim of “sexual harassment, discriminatory harassment, discrimination, or retaliation” as an open record, subject only to the scrubbing of the complainant’s identity. Refusal to release such records after a request would be treated as a misdemeanor punishable with a fine of up to $1,000, or $2,500 for each additional violation within a year.

Robertson, who got another bill approved that would make it illegal for clergy to have sexual contact with people taking their counsel, said he felt lawmakers should hold themselves to the same standard.

He had been trying to get his transparency amendment approved since March 6, the deadline to “cross” bills from the Senate to the House, when he stuck it onto another bill about public access to mugshots and police videos. That bill did not pass. Nor did another he tried to attach it to. But other senators started copying him.

When Senate Minority Whip Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, added it to another bill, he said he looked back at her and smiled.

It is not a partisan proposal, Robertson said.

Jackson agreed to a point. She had attached Robertson’s language to a bill she opposed and hoped to kill, yet she said this week that sexual harassment is “rampant” in Congress and in legislatures across the country. Before she was elected, she toured the state Capitol with a YWCA group, and she said the lobbyist leading them warned about wearing clothing that might attract unwanted attention.

“Robertson is on the right side of history on this,” she said. But she also said that she thinks he just forced his colleagues — by that she meant Republicans — to support the measure. “You can’t vote against it, right?”

She said she thinks the disclosure mandate could use safeguards to protect against publicizing false claims of harassment, but she said she would still like Kemp to sign it into law. The Legislature can tend to those details in the future, she said, but in the meantime the transparency requirement would protect aides and other women who work under the Gold Dome.

“I think we’re all safer with having it brought to the light,” she said.

The version of the amendment that ultimately passed was tacked onto HB 1409 by Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, who is running for lieutenant governor.

He acknowledged that the language in his amendment had originated with Robertson, and he said he was moved to act by the failure of Congress to impose transparency on itself.

“The U.S. Congress voted to not do that,” he said on the Senate floor. “I think our body is better.”

House Bill 651 by State Rep. Alan Powell (R-Lavonia) passed both chambers and awaits Gov. Kemp’s signature or veto. From 13WMAZ:

Bibb County’s state representative is sharing how recently-passed legislation could soon impact school speed zone cameras in Macon and across the state.

Representative Dale Washburn spoke on House Bill 651 for the first time since it passed both chambers on the final day of the Georgia Legislative Session. One of the key pieces of the bill, he says, is requiring a local referendum every six years for voters to decide if the cameras will continue or start in cities, counties, and municipalities across the state.

Washburn previously tried to ban the cameras, but says the bill is a step in the right direction.

“I think it’s a good compromise because each community gets to vote and decide and the people get to vote and decide if they wanna have these schools on cameras or not,” Washburn said.

For some Macon drivers, the bill is a welcomed change. Terry Castles says he’s been ticketed multiple times by the cameras over the years, with his most recent bill coming in last week. He says those fines add up.

“I’ve gotten at least three or four every year that they’ve had them,” Castles said. “It’s gonna be about $1,700 to $1,800 at least.”

Castles isn’t alone. Laura Kostovetsky says she’s gotten three tickets since the cameras were installed.

“The first one was $100. The second, I believe, was $150. I think the third one was maybe $150 as well,” Kostovetsky said. “I’m really hoping that it does come down to us, the voters, being able to choose.”

Castles agrees he wants a say on whether the cameras stay.

“I think the people should be voting on it instead of just the legislators deciding that they’re gonna add it to the community,” Castles said.

Along with requiring a vote, the bill also limits speed zone cameras. It only allows ticketing during an hour window around arrival and dismissal times, and only allows ticketing for drivers going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.

It also requires warning signs posted 500 feet before the ticketing zone. House Bill 1161, which also passed both chambers, includes language that would also require a radar detection device 500 feet before the ticketing zone.

Representative Washburn believes the bill will have significant impacts on cameras across the state, including in Bibb County.

“I have overwhelmingly people disapprove of them and think that they’re bad and that they should be removed, so I believe that if he goes to a referendum in Bibb County, I think they’ll be overwhelmingly voted down,” Washburn said.

Democratic candidates for Governor met in a televised debate, according to the Savannah Morning News.

There are seven names in the primary for the Democratic nomination, with a plurality of voters saying in a recent poll that they were still undecided on who to support. The race is led by former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, followed by former (Republican) Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.

The candidates agreed on many of the key issues from repealing the heartbeat bill that banned abortion after six weeks to vetoing a bill that bans transgender athletes from sports to the expansion of Medicaid.

Should local departments work with federal immigration agents?

Thurmond kicked off the debate saying he believes in a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have lived in Georgia for extended periods of time, and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be “reformed if not defunded.”

Thurmond said he would support collaboration between local and federal officials as long as ICE shows clear changes to their operations that put safety first.

Duncan said current immigration policies have to do with “fear and intimidation” and not actual policy changes, so it is “irresponsible to use state resources” for these raids. Duncan cited a recent ICE raid of a Hyundai facility in Georgia where he said immense state resources were used over what amounted to a “clerical error.”

The “system works well” when used currently, Duncan said, and he would honor collaboration when it isn’t part of the work of a “dictator,” referring to President Trump.

Bottoms reminded voters she closed Atlanta jails to ICE during her time as mayor, and said everyone needed to “take a second look” at collaboration between agencies in Trump’s America. She said she would support “responsible and lawful collaboration.”

When asked what she meant by “lawful”, Bottoms said “we’ve seen ICE go rogue and ICE come into communities not being thoughtful of how they are detaining people” in ways that endanger citizens and law enforcement.

How would you increase rural access to healthcare?

There are nine rural hospitals set to close in Georgia, leaving thousands without close access to healthcare, the moderators said.

“I know what it’s like to grow up in rural Georgia and feel like people in the big city have overlooked or had less concern for my family and issues that we would face,” Thurmond began his answer.

He said he would expand Medicaid, something that has been blocked by Republicans in the past.

Duncan said MAGA Republicans, including those in the gubernatorial race, are making it impossible for rural hospitals to remain open, and cited his previous work on rural hospital tax credits.

He also said he had been “behind enemy lines” on the healthcare issue and found the only path forward was expanding Medicaid. Duncan said investments in technology would help tackle infant and maternal mortality rates in Georgia and would deliver healthcare to rural communities.

Bottoms called the state of healthcare in Georgia “shameful,” despite being the home of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bottoms also supports expanding Medicaid as well as public and mobile health clinics that can help bridge gaps in rural communities losing their hospitals.

Bottoms also said it was a “matter of life or death” in some parts of the state on whether there are doctors at all, and said she would work to expand incentives to draw doctors to rural communities.

As of 2024, there were 2.21 million Georgians enrolled in Medicaid, or about 20% of its population. It is one of the largest health insurers in Georgia and children make up most of the Medicaid enrollees. Medicaid-related costs have increased in recent years with the addition of a work requirement program and changes to policy.

Macon County Election Supervisor Tarshea Fudge-Riley is under fire after being indicted on federal charges, according to 13WMAZ.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is calling for Macon County’s election supervisor to away from her job, after she was charged with federal fraud Tuesday.

Tarshea Fudge-Riley returned to the Macon County Board of Elections Thursday. She is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.

Fudge-Riley declined to comment on the pending litigation.

On Thursday, Raffensperger released a statement calling for Fudge-Riley’s “immediate suspension.” Macon County Commissioner Carl Oliver responded to that statement.

“As far as I’m concerned, she’s innocent until proven guilty. And in Macon County, it’ll be business as usual until she’s found guilty. That’s just my opinion,” Oliver said.

Fudge-Riley and her clerk Lamonica Lakes are both facing one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Both women and two others are accused of creating fake notes for mental health therapy sessions they never received.

A federal indictment alleges they then received payments from therapist Dawn James-Ellis, who is accused of billing their insurance companies for the fake sessions. James-Ellis is also facing one count of identity theft.

Oliver says he does not view Fudge-Riley differently following the indictment.

“She’s no different than she’s been in the last three years, other than the fact that she’s been indicted, in my opinion,” Oliver said.

In his statement, Raffensperger said “Georgians deserve absolute integrity from their election directors and staff. These are serious charges that jeopardize public trust. Fudge-Riley must step aside while the legal process plays out. Its troubling she hasn’t done that voluntarily.”

Oliver responded, saying Fudge-Riley has not had any integrity concerns in the past.

“We haven’t had any problems with her whatsoever, as far as integrity goes, the whole time that she’s worked in Macon County, none whatsoever,” Oliver said.

Raffensperger also went on the criticize the Macon County Commission for failing to take action after the arrests: “It is deeply disappointing that the Macon County Commission has not acted swiftly in response to these developments. This lack of urgency undermines confidence in local election administration. The Commission must put the interests of voters first and move without delay.”

The county manager, attorney, and other leaders met Wednesday to discuss personnel matters. At their commission meeting Thursday, they approved funding for a part-time Board of Elections employee. However, no one from the commission or board would answer questions about that funding following the meeting.

Raffensperger added that the Secretary of State’s Office is prepared to assist the board during the 2026 midterm elections: “Our office stands ready to assist Macon County in ensuring continuity of operations and upholding the integrity of its elections. But accountability cannot wait. The voters of Macon County deserve better than uncertain leadership.”