Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 11, 2025

On August 11, 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg declared martial law in Atlanta.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the summer commencement address at the University of Georgia on August 11, 1938. Later that day, Roosevelt endorsed Lawrence Camp over incumbent Governor Walter F. George, saying George had not been sufficiently supportive of the New Deal.

The Atlanta Braves signed legendary Negro League pitcher Satchel Paige on August 11, 1968. Here’s a story on what the Braves signing meant to Paige:

In 1968, the right-hander was 158 days shy of the five years’ playing time needed to qualify for the major league pension. He would reach out to 29 teams and 29 teams would turn him down.

The problem was, he was 62.

But Braves president Bill Bartholomay saw an opportunity. While it would help at the box office for a franchise that was in its third season in Atlanta, it was also about something more.

“I jumped all over it, because I just thought it was the right thing to do,” said Bartholomay, currently the team’s chairman emeritus. “I didn’t think of it so much from the standpoint of diversity, I thought it was just the right thing to do.”

After reaching his 158 required days, Paige left the Braves and less than three years later, began drawing that pension. He received $250 a month.

“It was momentous and he did quality for his pension,” Bartholomay said, “but more importantly, the slight recognition for one of the great athletes, maybe one of the .. certainly short list of greatest pitchers of all time.”

From the AJC:

“Baseball would have been guilty of negligence should it not assure this legendary figure a place in the pension plan,” the [Braves] owner said at the signing in 1968. Looking back 40 years on, Bartholomay says Satchel justified his faith by performing sensationally as a goodwill ambassador.

“He came to us four months after the King funeral in Atlanta,” says Bartholomay. “Those were pretty tough times for African-Americans and the country in its entirety. Satchel understood that. He helped in a way that went way beyond baseball.”

On August 11, 1984, Ronald Reagan jokingly announced that he had “signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever…we begin bombing in five minutes,” without knowing he was speaking into a live microphone.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

State Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) is doing a flyaround today announcing his campaign for Lieutenant Governor, according to WTOC.

Senator Blake Tillery is set to kick off his campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, Monday morning with a Savannah news conference.

This will be the kickoff of a statewide tour. Senator Tillery will then meet with constituents in Augusta, Perry, Albany, Columbus, Atlanta, and Vidalia.

Senator Tillery’s campaign page on Facebook says he’s “running for Lieutenant Governor to cut taxes, back law enforcement, and keep Georgia the best place to live, work & raise a family.”

Senator Blake Tillery was elected to Georgia’s 19th district back in 2016. He represents Appling, Jeff Davis, Long, Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, Wheeler and portions of Liberty and Tattnall counties.

Georgia’s No. 2 executive seat is currently held by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.

Several other candidates have also put their names into the running for Georgia’s number two executive seat including fellow Republicans Steve Gooch and John F. Kennedy. As of now, Josh McLaurin is the only democratic candidate.

Competing against Tillery on the campaign trail for Lieutenant Governor is State Rep. David Clark (R-Buford), according to the AJC.

State Rep. David Clark, R-Suwanee, set off a buzz in GOP circles when he filed paperwork to run for lieutenant governor over the weekend. He told us an official announcement could come soon.

Clark, a military veteran, was something of a rabble-rouser early in his career. He pushed for then-House Speaker David Ralston’s ouster and mounted a failed bid for his gavel in 2020. The following year he was ejected from the House floor for defying a requirement to get tested for COVID-19.

A few months later, he said he wouldn’t seek another term. But he changed his mind and ousted a fellow incumbent in the 2022 GOP primary after redistricting.

Lately, he’s adopted a somewhat lower-key persona. This year, he pushed bipartisan legislation to restrict judges from ordering controversial “reunification treatments” that some family courts use to settle custody disputes.

The Floyd County Republican Party hosted their annual event, according to WRGA News.

The 21st annual Floyd County GOP Tillman Rally took place Saturday afternoon at Chambers Mill Trout & Cattle Farm in Silver Creek.

A crowd gathered to hear from a lineup of local leaders and Republican candidates sharing their messages.

Among them was Ja’Quon Stembridge, the youngest-ever elected member of the State Executive Committee of the Georgia Republican Party.

Other speakers included Congressman Mike Collins, Congressman Buddy Carter, State Senator Brian Strickland, and several others addressing local and state issues ahead of the upcoming elections.

Organizers say the Tillman Rally remains a community tradition for connecting voters and political candidates in Floyd County.

Governor Brian Kemp’s Office announced that July state revenues were down 2.7 percentage points from the previous July, according to a Press Release.

The State of Georgia’s net tax collections for the first month of FY 2026 totaled $2.49 billion, for a decrease of $70.1 million, or 2.7%, from July 2024 (FY 2025), when net tax collections totaled roughly $2.56 billion, in part reflecting the 20 basis point (3.7%) reduction in individual and corporate tax rates compared to the year-ago period.

The changes within the following tax categories account for July’s overall net tax revenue decrease:

Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for the month increased by $8.6 million or 0.7%, from a total of nearly $1.26 billion in July 2024 (FY 2025).

The following notable components within Individual Income Tax combine for the net increase:

Individual Income Tax refunds issued (net of voided checks) decreased by $7 million or 6.4%
Income Tax Withholding payments for July declined by $31.6 million, or 2.5%, from FY 2025
Individual Income Tax Return payments increased by $36.4 million, or 104.2%, over July 2024 (FY ’25)

All other Individual Income Tax categories, including Estimated payments, were down a combined $3.2 million
Sales and Use Tax: Gross Sales and Use Tax collections in July totaled roughly $1.61 billion, for an increase of $19.3 million, or 1.2%, over FY 2025. Net Sales and Use Tax decreased $12.9 million, or 1.6%, compared to July 2024, when net Sales Tax revenue totaled nearly $809 million. The adjusted Sales Tax distribution to local governments totaled $808.6 million, for an increase of $31.9 million over last year, while Sales Tax refunds increased by $0.3 million, or 3.1%, compared to July FY 2025.

Corporate Income Tax: Corporate Income Tax collections for July totaled $53.7 million, which was a decrease of $70.1 million, or 56.6%, from FY 2025 when net Corporate Tax revenues totaled nearly $123.9 million.

The following notable components within Corporate Income Tax make up the net decrease:

Corporate Income Tax refunds issued (net of voids) were up $31.4 million over FY 2025
Corporate Income Tax Estimated payments decreased by $28.2 million, or 39.1%, from July 2024
All other Corporate Income Tax payments, including Return payments, were down a combined $10.5 million

Motor Fuel Taxes: Motor Fuel Tax collections for the month increased by $3.2 million, or 1.7%, over July 2024, when Motor Fuel tax collections totaled $191.3 million for the month.

Motor Vehicle – Tag & Title Fees: Motor Vehicle Tag & Title Fee collections for July increased by almost $6 million, or 19%, while Title ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) collections increased by nearly $6.6 million, or 9.9%, compared to the previous fiscal year 2025.

Candidates for local office will qualify next week, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Cities and towns across Georgia, including the four in Bulloch County, have candidate qualifying scheduled for week after next, Aug. 18-22 (but not necessarily all five days), for municipal elections potentially to be held Nov. 4 and with early voting for three weeks prior.

Boro incumbents running

In Statesboro, the mayor’s office and two council seats – those in District 1 and District 4 – are due for votes, if there are any challenger candidates. Would-be candidates may pay fees and file the necessary paperwork during business hours from 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 18, until 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, with City Clerk Leah Harden at Statesboro City Hall, 50 East Main St. The qualifying fees are prescribed by state law as 3% of the annual salary of an office. So Statesboro’s fees are $560 for candidates for mayor and $330 for candidates for City Council in District 1 and District 4.

The three incumbents – Mayor Jonathan McCollar, District 1 Councilmember Tangie Reese Johnson and District 4 Councilman John Riggs – all said at the beginning of the year that they plan to seek re-election, and they said that’s still the case when asked again last week.

3 Brooklet posts up

The city of Brooklet will hold qualifying for four days, not five. Would-be candidates may qualify at Brooklet City Hall, 104 Church St., from Monday, Aug. 18 to Thursday, Aug. 21, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. any of those days.

Brooklet Council Post 3, currently held by Rebecca Kelly, Post 4, currently held by James Harrison, and Post 5, currently held by Sheila Wentz, are up for election. Wentz, like Statesboro’s Johnson, won a partial term in a 2024 special election. As of this weekend E-Edition, the Herald had not asked Brooklet’s incumbents if they will be running. The qualifying fee for any of the Brooklet seats is $54.

Brooklet’s council seats are at-large, so candidates who meet other qualification requirements can live anywhere within Brooklet and run for any one of the seats.

Register & Portal

According to a notice published last week, Register’s mayoral office and its Council Seats 1 and 2 are up for election, with candidate qualifying to be held at Register Town Hall, 7 Main St., for three days only during the town clerk’s regular business hours, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19 through Thursday, Aug. 21. The fees are $25 for mayor and $15 for a council seat.

In Portal, three council seats are up for election in 2025, according to the election-year notice published back in January. The qualifying fee for a Portal Council seat is $45, and the slated qualifying period, as of the original notice, was 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 18 until 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22. Candidates file paperwork and pay the fee with City Clerk Mike Arrieta at Portal Town Hall, 27209 Highway 80 West.

The State House Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on Election Procedures heard testimony from local election officials on Friday, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Athens Banner Herald.

Local elections officials recommended a series of changes to state election laws Friday aimed at restoring public trust in the voting process.

“Nothing bothers me more than knowing that the process is not trusted,” Deidre Holden, elections director in Paulding County, told members of a Georgia House study committee formed to evaluate the state’s current election laws and propose improvements.

“When our voters come to cast their vote, they should never leave there with a doubt in their mind that their vote is going to count. They should leave with confidence, and it’s very unfortunate we’re not seeing that.”

Some of the changes Holden and other local election officials testifying at a daylong hearing in Rockmart suggested would alter ballots to create greater transparency, while others ranged from tightening up voter registration requirements to prohibiting rules changes close to Election Day.

Holden said giving voters the ability to register automatically when they apply for a driver’s license – a change the General Assembly made early in the last decade – is failing because it’s adding voters to the rolls who may not be eligible to vote and weren’t intending to register.

“We see more felons registering not knowing they’re registering,” she said. “You see individuals who don’t want to register that get registered. A lot of non-citizens are registering, and it’s producing many duplicate applications.”

But Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, a member of the study committee, said the current “opt-out” provision – which automatically registers voters who apply for a driver’s license unless they specifically decline to register – is having positive results.

“We became one of the most registered states in the country,” she said.

Draper suggested elections officials find ways to make voters more aware that they’re registering to vote when they apply for a driver’s license without getting rid of the opt-out provision.

Holden also recommended returning to a provision in state election law that prohibited the State Election Board (SEB) from changing rules governing elections within 90 days of Election Day. While a Fulton County Superior Court judge invalidated seven rules changes the Republican-controlled SEB made within weeks of last November’s elections, Holden said the uncertainty disrupted local elections offices.

“We spent 2024 in a state of confusion because of what the SEB had implemented,” she said. “We didn’t know if we had trained our poll workers right or whether we were going to have to retrain them.”

Noah Beck, Polk County’s election director, asked committee members to support legislation moving back the deadline for absentee ballot applications by seven hours, from 11:59 p.m. 11 days before Election Day to 5 p.m. He said allowing applications to come into empty election offices after the close of the business day contributes to public mistrust of the process and causes delays in getting absentee ballots out to voters.

“Moving it to 5 p.m. would be better suited not only to the voter but to the administrators,” Beck said. “End-of-the-day processing would allow us to have better fulfillment times and make it where we’re gambling less on the post office.”

Veronica Johnson, elections director in Lee County, suggested lawmakers either eliminate absentee ballot drop boxes or at least adopt additional guardrails surrounding their use. Drop boxes were adopted during the pandemic to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but detractors have questioned the effectiveness of security measures taken to prevent voter fraud connected with drop boxes.

Holden also recommended several more fundamental changes to the voting process, including getting rid of the requirement that candidates win a majority of the vote and allowing those who capture a plurality to be declared the winner.

She said that would reduce the number of expensive runoffs, which tend to draw low voter turnouts. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has advocated doing away with general-election runoffs altogether.

Holden also proposed letting voters cast their ballots anywhere in the county where they are registered rather than having to go to one specific voting location.

But the most far-reaching change discussed Friday could lead to an overhaul of Georgia ballots. The General Assembly passed legislation last year calling for eliminating QR codes from paper ballots, which tend to confuse voters, by July of next year.

Holden said the next logical step would be to get rid of voting machines altogether and switch to hand-marked paper ballots, a change election watchdog groups have long advocated.

“That’s what our voters want,” she said to applause from supporters of hand-marked paper ballots in the audience. “When they fill in that bubble, they know who they voted for.”

The study committee faces a Dec. 1 deadline to deliver recommendations to the full House.

From the AJC:

The Blue Ribbon Study Committee on Election Procedures has become a public venue for conservative activists to demand major changes to Georgia elections, such as switching to hand-marked paper ballots, ending no-excuse absentee voting and getting rid of automatic voter registration.

Liberals added their wish list as well, including limits on voter eligibility challenges and an elimination of the State Election Board, though the Republican-run committee is unlikely to adopt their political rivals’ requests.

“There’s a lot of concern that I have about making sure we don’t get sidetracked,” said state Rep. Victor Anderson, the committee’s vice chairman and chairman of the House Governmental Affairs Committee. “We’re trying to stay as focused as possible on policy and controlled as possible in the interjection of politics.”

The committee held its second meeting Friday in Polk County, 45 miles northwest of Atlanta. Several conservative voters who spoke at the meeting said they still distrust Georgia’s elections nearly five years since President Donald Trump’s narrow loss in 2020.

“There are a thousand ways to steal our elections, which steal our constitutional republic,” said Mary Beth Bugea, a Catoosa County voter wearing a shirt calling for hand-marked paper ballots. “Make elections great again!”

Sandra Burkhardt of Fulton County told lawmakers Friday she’s convinced that “my legal vote in Georgia does not count and neither does anyone else’s. The machines must go.”

Other speakers have repeated discredited claims of ballot stuffing at State Farm Arena and “illicit” ballots.

The most pressing issue facing the committee is how to comply with a July 1, 2026, deadline to eliminate computerized QR codes from ballots, as required by a law passed by state legislators last year.

Without a rushed switch from touchscreens to ballots filled out by hand — which don’t include QR codes — election directors told representatives Friday it would be difficult to change the statewide voting system in time. Legislators could delay the deadline, move toward hand-marked paper ballots, or find a different solution.

The study committee meets four more times before issuing its recommendations that could be considered during next year’s legislative session, just in time for the 2026 election season.

State Rep. Chas Cannon (R-Moultrie), who also serves as Colquitt County Administrator, met with other local governments to discuss a potential Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST), according to the Moultrie Observer.

The Colquitt County Board of Commissioners hosted an informational meeting about the Flexible Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST). This sales tax’s creation was part of legislation that voters passed last year. It allows governments to collect a penny more in sales tax and use it to offset property tax, if voters approve the tax.

On Wednesday, County Administrator Chas Cannon met with county commissioners and representatives from the county’s municipalities. He explained, in depth, how the FLOST worked, what its use was and what it did for property owners.

Cannon started the meeting off by reminding the group about the legislation (HB 581) that voters passed, in 2024.

“It was on a referendum in November of last year. It passed by 66% in this county,” he said. “But to be eligible for FLOST … and I want to thank all the cities for doing this, to opt-in … and the school board to opt-in on 581 because that allowed us to do this FLOST.”

He added that if any city had opted-out, they wouldn’t have been able to do it.

“Big picture. If this goes forward by the voters in November, it’ll take our sales tax from 4% local to 5% local. It adds another penny. And it will be a total of 9% sales tax, here in the county.”

Cannon went on to explain the break-down of the current sales tax of 8%, penny-by-penny.

In summary, four cents goes to the State of Georgia and the other four cents are local sales taxes. Two of the pennies go to the County and its municipalities. The other two pennies go to the Colquitt County Board of Education.

The county and cities share the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and the Transportation Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax (TSPLOST). The county and cities can use these taxes only for specific projects like capital improvements and road maintenance. Governments cannot use them to fund their general operations.

The school board gets the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST). The board can only use it for specific projects like improvements and construction on its campuses. However, the school board also gets the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), which it can use for its general fund to operate.

“This combination is not usual. Technically, most counties and cites get three of the four pennies. Here, it’s split two-and-two. In most places you go, except for about eight counties, the county and the cities get three of the local pennies and the school board gets one. They get the ESPLOST,” he said.

Some Georgia hemp companies are suing the state over legislation, according to the AJC.

Senate Bill 494, which took effect last October, limited sales of hemp products to customers over 21, mandated product testing and banned some products, such as smokable hemp flower and many THC-infused foods.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture has said the regulations were put in place to protect the public. The law also mandates THC warning labels and new licensing requirements for hemp businesses.

But in its complaint, the plaintiffs claim SB 494 imposes “severe restrictions” that “cause immediate and irreparable harm” to their businesses. The lawsuit alleges the Georgia law conflicts with the 2018 Farm Bill, the federal law that permitted the production and sale of hemp products with less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC.

“We are arguing that it’s unconstitutional because it basically is trying to usurp federal law,” said Zakiya Watson-Caffe, the attorney for the plaintiffs, which include hemp retailers, a product maker and an advocacy group.

“What it really did is put a bunch of people out of business,” said David Raudabaugh, founder of the nonprofit Grassroots Association and one of the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction, which would pause enforcement of SB 494 until a court case is heard.

A spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said, “We’re reviewing the complaint, and we will continue to defend the laws passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor.”

The state now has approximately 7,000 licensed hemp businesses, according to information the Department of Agriculture shared last week at a legislative study committee. Most are retailers, but that number also includes farmers, wholesalers, manufacturers and processors.

Ten Georgia sheriffs oppose the Georgia Sheriffs Association seeking attorney fees from “Judge” Glenda Hatchett, according to WTVM.

Ten Georgia sheriffs, including Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman, are speaking out against an effort by the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association to collect attorney fees from TV Judge Glenda Hatchett.

Hatchett sued the Georgia Sheriffs Association and former Bleckley County Sheriff Kris Coody in 2021, after former Sheriff Coody groped Hatchett during a Georgia Sheriffs Association conference. Coody pleaded guilty to a sexual battery charge in 2022 and was sentenced to 12 months’ probation, a fine of $500, and he resigned as sheriff.

Hatchett’s case was initially filed in Cobb County but was moved to Morgan County in May 2024. After which she withdrew her complaint in June. On July 11, Morgan County Judge Terry Massey issued an order awarding attorney fees to the defendants. A hearing on the order is set for Monday, August 18 at 9 a.m., in Morgan County Superior Court.

In a letter sent Wednesday to the executive board of the Sheriffs’ Association and Executive Director Terry Norris, the 10 Sheriffs said they believe the decision to pursue financial penalties from a victim is “not only harmful but incompatible with the values law enforcement leaders are called to uphold.”

The letter criticizes the legal strategy for the potential of re-traumatizing a survivor, while also deterring others from coming forward, especially in cases involving law enforcement officers.

“Seeking attorneys’ fees from a victim of sexual assault – particularly in a case where the offender was one of the highest-ranking law enforcement officers of the state – undermines the moral compass our organization purports to uphold: justice, accountability, and support for the vulnerable,” the letter read.

The sheriffs are urging the Sheriffs’ Association to withdraw the claim for attorney fees and to issue a public reaffirmation of its support for victims of sexual violence, writing “this is not simply a legal matter — it is a moral one.”

Along with Sheriff Countryman, the letter was signed by sheriffs from Burke, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Gwinnett, Fulton, Henry and Rockdale counties.

Albany is hosting a “Government 101” class for residents, according to WALB.

Course participants will have the opportunity to sit down with Albany leaders and staff as they explain what their department does and the role they play in the City Government. The class structure will touch on various aspects of the city, ranging from public safety to finance to transportation and recreation.

“We’ll have members of the departments come in and actually talk to the citizens, just sort of explaining what they do. It allows the citizens to have some back-and-forth conversationally to ask questions. We try to make it really interactive, just to keep everyone engaged,” said Chad Hudson, city of Albany Public Information Office.

Government 101 meets every Monday night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. beginning Aug. 25 and running through Oct. 28.

Houston County Commissioners are considering adopting a property tax millage rate lower than the current rate but higher than the full rollback, according to 13WMAZ.

Houston County Commission announced their intention to increase the property taxes by 11.18% over the rollback millage rate.

They propose reducing the current Maintenance and Operations millage rate from 8.501 to 8.45 mills. However, due to rising property values and state law, the move must still be advertised as a tax increase.

So, while the millage rate is technically decreasing, those without the exemption could see higher bills due to rising property values. The proposed tax increase would mean a $68 increase for the owner of a $200,000 home, though people who have that exemption should actually pay slightly less.

Houston County Commission Chairman Dan Perdue said that’s not the case for everyone because a new state law freezes their property values.

“If you’re a homeowner in Houston County and that’s your primary residence, you can get a homestead exemption,” Perdue said. “Because of House Bill 581 and the floating homestead exemption your general fund tax dollars will not increase by one cent this year.”

Perdue explained that the proposed rate would generate about $59 million for the county’s general fund with about 75% of that money going toward public safety and the court system.

“This year, we’re hiring six new sheriff’s deputies within the general fund,” Perdue said. “It’s also paying for the merit system, and the cost-of-living raises for our Houston County employees.”

If the commission had adopted the full rollback rate, Perdue said the county would have had to make budget cuts.

“We would have probably been cutting personnel,” he said. “Because such a large portion of our budget goes to personnel costs, it would’ve impacted services.”

Bob Bentzel, a homeowner in the county for eight years, said back-to-back announcements from the county and school board caught his attention.

“Two announcements like this so close makes me think that, ‘Oh, we didn’t think about that,’” Bentzel said.
Last week, the Houston County School Board announced it would keep its millage rate the same but higher property values mean homeowners could still pay more. A $200,000 homeowner could see about $98 more in school taxes annually.