Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 14, 2026

On August 14, 1784, Russians invaded settled Alaska, founding the first permanent Russian settlement at Three Saints Bay.

Dentist, gambler, and gunfighter Doc Holliday was born on August 14, 1851 in Griffin, Georgia.

On August 14, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln hosted a group of African-American men at the White House to discuss emancipation of American slaves outside the United States as colonists.

The Second Battle of Dalton was joined on August 14, 1864.

On August 15, 1903, Georgia Governor Joseph Terrell signed legislation requiring that Georgia schools teach elementary agriculture and civics. Two days later, on August 17, 1903, the General Assembly condemned the practice of whipping female inmates.

The Panama Canal opened on August 15, 1914.

The County Unit System of elections was created on August 14, 1917 when Governor Hugh Dorsey signed legislation by the General Assembly.

Georgia Governor Hugh Dorsey signed legislation creating the State Department of Banking on August 16, 1919.

Georgia Governor Thomas Hardwick signed legislation creating the Georgia State Board of Forestry on August 15, 1921.

Georgia Governor Clifford Walker signed legislation changing the method of execution in Georgia from hanging to the electric chair on August 16, 1924.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. The road to perdition is paved with good intentions.

On August 14, 1945, the Japanese surrender to the Allies was made public in Japan.

In the afternoon of August 14, Japanese radio announced that an Imperial Proclamation was soon to be made, accepting the terms of unconditional surrender drawn up at the Potsdam Conference. That proclamation had already been recorded by the emperor.

On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock Festival began in upstate New York.

On August 16, 1974, The Ramones played their first public show at CBGB in New York.

Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977.

Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppolla was released on August 15, 1979.

Paul Anderson, known for years as the “Strongest Man in the World” for his weightlifting feats, died on August 15, 1994 in Vidalia, Georgia. Anderson was born in 1932 in Toccoa, Georgia. He won an Olympic gold medal in the sport of weightlifting in 1956.

A Special Session called by Governor Zell Miller to address legislative redistricting convened on August 14, 1995, after the United States Supreme Court threw out Georgia’s Congressional redistricting map.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Police blotter: The former Dallas Police Department 911 Director has been charged with misusing surveillance cameras, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Heidi Taylor, 52, was working as the 911 Director at the Dallas Police Department in Paulding County when she was accused of making personal searches in the agency’s Flock Safety System, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Taylor adds to a growing list of officers accused of accessing the Atlanta-based company’s data for non-investigative purposes as the controversy surrounding the surveillance technology company grows nationally.

According to the GBI, the Dallas Police Department requested assistance from the agency following allegations of Flock misuse in the department at the beginning of July. The request came as other law enforcement agencies across the state were discovering misuse through both internal and external audits.

GBI found Taylor had accessed the Flock system multiple times between 2024 and 2025 for what was described as “non-law enforcement purposes.” Taylor was working as the 911 director at the time, but was not currently employed by Dallas Police.

Taylor was charged with two misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system and was arrested on Aug. 12 in Paulding County.

Police blotter: A Milledgeville Police Department major was arrested and charged with misuse of surveillance cameras, according to 13WMAZ.

Major Brandon Sellers, who ran the criminal-investigations division, was arrested and charged with two crimes: violation of oath by public officer and illegal use/obtain of licenses plate data for non-law enforcement purposes.

Milledgeville Police Chief Dray Swicord says Sellers was found to have allegedly misused the Flock camera data, but the report does not indicate whose information he was looking up.

Sellers was arrested and charged on Tuesday, according to Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office booking sheet, and bonded out the same day. He was released on a $10,000 cash bond.

Swicord says that Sellers was terminated upon his arrest.

Based on the arrest report, Sellers is accused of misusing licenses plate data on June 20.

In an incident report, the investigation began when Chief Swicord tapped Major Linc Boyer to look into possible misuse of the Flock camera system.

During the investigation, they found that Sellers had been using his access to the Flock safety system for non-work related purposes, which led to warrants against Sellers.

Sellers was terminated from the police department on Tuesday, according to POST records.

Turnabout is fair play? Mugshots have been released for suspended Burke County Sheriff Alonzo Williams, according to WRDW.

The Burke County Sheriff’s Office released the mugshot for indicted and ousted sheriff Alfonzo Williams on Friday morning.

He was arrested, booked and made bond on Thursday.

After being booked, Williams posted $25,000 unsecured bond on the state charges handed down by a grand jury.

Court documents show Williams was indicted last week on four felony counts:

• Two counts of making a false statement
• Two counts of theft by conversion

Those are in addition to a federal indictment.

His state bond was approved at 2:06 p.m., and he’d posted it by 3:45 p.m.

A new judge has been assigned to the state case.

Senior Judge Kathy Stephens Palmer, a retired superior court judge, has been designated to preside over the case, according to an Aug. 10 order signed by Sheryl B. Jolly, administrative judge of the 10th Judicial Administrative District.

The order was filed in Burke County Superior Court on Aug. 12 under criminal case number 2026-R-0055.

All Augusta Judicial Circuit Superior Court judges recused themselves from the case on Aug. 7, which is standard when local judges have previously worked with or closely know the defendant.

The case was then reassigned outside the circuit, leading to Palmer’s appointment.

According to the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, the next step in the state case is for Judge Stephens Palmer to be briefed on the allegations and procedural history. After that, a bench warrant is expected to be issued for Williams’ arrest.

Williams was suspended by Gov. Brian Kemp and replaced by Brad Capitosti, who was appointed by county commissioners.

A day after pleading not guilty to federal charges against him, Williams faced the grand jury indictment on state charges last Thursday.

Meanwhile, News 12 learned earlier this week that even though he’s been suspended, the county-owned vehicle assigned to him was parked in front of the cigar lounge he owns in Hephzibah.

County officials said he’s not allowed to drive the truck with blue lights while suspended from office.

Former Republican Activist Brant Frost IV will be sentenced today, according to WRDW.

The man accused of running a $140 million Ponzi scheme — and who has already pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud — will learn how many years, if any, he will spend behind bars on Friday.

Brant Frost IV founded and controlled First Liberty Building and Loan, a now-defunct Newnan-based lending firm. Prosecutors claim Frost, 68, took money from investors with promises of big returns, but instead used it to pay off earlier investors and fund his own lavish lifestyle.

Frost was also a massive donor to Republican politicians in Georgia. Many who received donations from First Liberty returned the money.

The charge carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Theodore Hertzberg, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said earlier this year that prosecutors intend to recommend a sentence close to the top of the 20-year range for Frost.

The single count of wire fraud against Frost was the first criminal charge to result from an investigation that began after First Liberty Building and Loan collapsed last June.

First Liberty said it was in the business of taking investor funds and making short-term, high-interest loans to businesses, paying investors up to 18% annual interest. While First Liberty did make loans to businesses, prosecutors allege Frost used new investors’ money to pay previous investors, the definition of a Ponzi scheme.

Prosecutors also claim Frost skimmed more than $5 million from investors to finance his own lifestyle. That includes spending more than $140,000 on jewelry and more than $230,000 to rent a vacation home over multiple years in Kennebunkport, Maine, the town where the family of late President George H.W. Bush famously spent summers.

Prosecutors said Frost also spent more than $2 million on credit card bills.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit last year against the company and Frost. Some investors had complained that criminal charges had been slow to materialize, but Hertzberg said his office has been building a case, and that because Frost was willing to plead guilty, punishment would come quickly.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office has levied $500,000 civil fines against three people his office said helped solicit money for First Liberty and asked state prosecutors to consider criminal charges against them.

A federal judge appointed a receiver who is also trying to get money back for investors. The receiver had $5.16 million in cash as of earlier this year and was trying to recoup money from nearly 30 unpaid loans by First Liberty.

The Jackson County public schools are closed today because of bomb threats, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Jackson County students will not attend school Friday after multiple schools received an anonymous, computer-generated bomb threat overnight, according to the Jackson County School System.

“This morning multiple schools received an anonymous computer generated bomb threat,” the district website said.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is working through what the district described as a deliberate process of clearing the impacted school buildings.

“Given the magnitude of the investigation and the length of time it will take to clear the impacted buildings, we have made the decision to cancel school for today,” the district said.

Some Mitchell County residents want to recall three Commissioners, according to WALB.

Frustration is boiling over in Mitchell County as residents mobilize a formal effort to recall three of their elected county commissioners.

The push comes in the wake of a controversial June 29 vote to rezone approximately 300 acres of agricultural land to industrial use, clearing the way for a massive 1,500-megawatt power generation facility near Baconton.

The recall effort targets Keith Jones (District 2), Julius Hatcher (District 4), and David Griner (District 5), the three available commissioners eligible for recall under Georgia law.

Lauren Dorminy, a District 5 resident who is leading the petition drive in her district, confirmed that organizers successfully gathered and submitted the first 100 required signatures to start the formal process for Commissioner Griner on Monday, Aug. 10.

“We gathered the necessary 100 signatures for David Griner’s district… and we turned that in on Monday to the election superintendent to begin the process,” Dorminy said. “Once the other two commissioners’ recall signatures reach 100, those will be turned in to start the process as well.”

Under Georgia’s recall law, if the initial 100 signatures are verified and accepted by the local election board, organizers must then gather signatures from 30% of the district’s registered voters to force a special recall election.

For many in Mitchell County, the recall is about more than just a single land-use vote—it’s a demand for basic transparency in local government.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office launched an election task force, according to Georgia Recorder.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office is launching a bipartisan task force to shore up voter confidence in election results on both sides of the aisle.

The organization, which is made up of former elected officials from both parties, county election workers and other election experts, officially launched Wednesday. Members include former Democratic Governor Roy Barnes, former GOP U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, former GOP U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who is a Democrat.

In an interview, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is a Republican, said he hopes the appointees’ long records of public service will help voters trust the results of the midterm elections.

“This group here, they’re well-respected members of the community,” Raffensperger said Wednesday. “They’re on both sides of the aisle, but they are also recognized as being fair brokers of the truth. They’re not just saying things because they got orders from their party bosses.”

Though most Georgia voters already trust the system, Raffensperger said he wants to maintain trust in the outcome of statewide elections heading into the final stretch of campaign season, and combat those who are “casting doubt on it and creating that doubt in people’s minds.”

Members of the task force will assist with regional election worker trainings, appear at roundtable policy discussions and help coordinate with local election officials on the ground.

Muscogee County Elections and Registration Director Nancy Boren, one of two county election officials appointed to the panel, said she is looking forward to working with other election leaders and offering insight from a county administrators’ perspective.

“It’s important for election officials like myself to have a voice at the table and to contribute to ongoing discussions,” she said.

A joint state legislative committee is looking at budget deficits in the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, according to Georgia Recorder via the Moultrie Observer.

Taking care of vulnerable children in Georgia has gotten a lot more expensive, and lawmakers are hoping to figure out why.

“We’re trying to figure out what happened,” said state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, a Marietta Republican. “And unfortunately, nobody had a whole lot of notice that we were in a deficit situation with that particular population.”

In late 2025, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, which oversees the state’s foster system, cut services for families and terminated contracts for nonprofits as they faced a projected budget deficit of about $85 million.

“We ended up having to backfill the deficit for the department to the tune of about $80 million,” Kirkpatrick said. “What we need to do is figure out what the right number is without affecting services for the kids, because they should not be the victim of budgetary issues.”

Kirkpatrick is co-chairing a joint House and Senate committee investigating the cost of foster care, alongside Concord Republican state Rep. Beth Camp. The committee is set to hold the first of three hearings Thursday before presenting a report at the beginning of December ahead of next year’s legislative session set to begin in January.

Camp said she plans to enter the process without preconceived notions about where the money is going, but one likely avenue of investigation will be the rising costs of foster services for children. Lawmakers found that those costs were projected to rise 159% since 2022.

“What we’re hoping for and what we’ve requested is to get some actual numbers,” Camp said. “Because we know that the number of children in care has remained static, but from what we’re being told, there are a number of children who are in care who require more services than perhaps children did before in the past.”

Kirkpatrick, who also chairs the Senate’s Children and Families Committee, said she has faith that the committee’s report will inspire legislation when lawmakers return in January with new leadership after November’s election.

“I am very confident because of who the people are, the gubernatorial nominees,” she said.

Georgia’s next governor will be an advocate for foster care and adoption, whether it’s Republican Rick Jackson or Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Jackson often speaks about his own time as a child in the foster care system and his rise to business success, and Bottoms and her husband adopted all four of their children after she previously worked as a court-appointed advocate for children in the system.

“I’m optimistic that that’ll be a priority for the new governor, and we’ll be able to continue our work,” Kirkpatrick said.

The Georgia Early Literacy Act is taking effect as students return to school, according to WJBF.

As kindergarten and elementary school students across Georgia return to the classroom, a new state law is bringing changes to the way reading is taught.

According to the Georgia Council on Literacy, only 38% of Georgia third graders can read proficiently. The Georgia Early Literacy Act places literacy coaches in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms to aid students and teachers.

“The role of the coach is to primarily strengthen teachers,” said Muscogee District Literacy Instructional Specialist, Tiffani Smith Burch. “So, we’re looking at going taking a teacher through the coaching cycle, which would include modeling, doing some conferencing, doing some observations, looking at how the teacher is delivering that instruction.”

Stephanie Faulk, director of district and school effectiveness, emphasized that some students are having trouble bridging the gap between oral language and reading.

“Your environment kind of dictates the words that you’re able to learn,” Faulk said. “And then from there you can hear the words, but then we’re reading; you have to see them. And then after you see the words and you understand it, then there is writing to express your thinking. And so, we know that there are gaps as we look at those three different components.”

While this law is geared toward younger students, the hope is that it prepares more young adults for the workforce.

“As Georgia moves towards workforce development, we know that reading plays a huge part in students being able to decide what they want their futures to look like,” Faulk said. “So if, on the elementary level, we can create strong readers, then we develop those students where they have choices in life, where they can choose their next step.”

Would-be Lula City Council candidate Felton Woods was disqualified from the election, according to AccessNorthGA.

A challenge brought against the qualification of Lula District 3 Candidate Felton Wood was successful on Wednesday.

The election superintendent, City Clerk Tangee Garner, ruled in favor of the concerned citizen’s challenge regarding Wood’s felony arrests from 1991.

Joseph Johnson is the filer of the challenge, citing two felony convictions for burglary out of Morgan and Henry Counties.

“I’ve been voting since 2005 … if my rights hadn’t been restored I wouldn’t have been sitting on the jury duty in Gainesville,” Wood told Garner and attorney Joey Homans at a public hearing. “I never went to prison.”

“Do you have any proof of that?” Garner asked.

“Do you? … I’m tired of y’all bringing up my past history when I turned around and became good,” Wood replied.

Garner and Homans exited the room to deliberate, and Garner found Wood to be disqualified since the Georgia State Constitution requires someone running for public office to be 10-years removed from the end of their sentence and have their civil rights restored.

“I do agree that your 10 years has lapsed, but [the constitution] says and pardoned … if you do not have proof of being pardoned, then you are ineligible to hold office for the City of Lula,∏ Garner said when she returned.

Wood indicated he would file an appeal to the decision in Hall County Superior Court and requested the ruling to be in writing by Wednesday afternoon so he could file Thursday morning.

The Atlanta Press Club announced the schedule for their Loudermilk-Young Debates, according to the Savannah Morning News.

This week the Atlanta Press Club announced the schedule for debates this fall for 11 seats, hosted by the Loudermilk-Young Debate Series, and voters may have to wait until just one month before election day to hear candidates take each other on. Debates will be held for both state and federal seats.

The Atlanta Press Club will host 11 debates, all of which will be livestreamed on the organization’s YouTube page and broadcast on Georgia Public Broadcasting. Only the senate and governor debates will be live on GPB. Others will be live on YouTube, but GPB broadcasts will be at different times.

Here is the debate schedule:

Monday, October 12 —

• Lieutenant Governor: Greg Dolezal (R) and Josh McLaurin (D) — 1:30-2:30 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 12 at 7 PM
• Attorney General: Brian Strickland (R) and Tanya Miller (D) — 2:45-3:15 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 12 at 7:30 PM
• Secretary of State: Tim Fleming (R) and Penny Brown Reynolds (D) — 3:45-4:15 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 13 at 7:30 PM
• Public Service Commission, District 3: Fitz Johnson (R) and Peter Hubbard (D) — 5:30-6 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 13 at 4 PM
• Public Service Commission, District 5: Josh Tolbert (R) and Shelia Edwards (D) — 6:30-7 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 13 at 4:30 PM
• Governor: Rick Jackson (R) and Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) — 8-9 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 12 at 8 PM

Tuesday, October 13 —

• School Superintendent: Richards Woods (R) and Lydia Powell (D) — 2:30-3 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 14 at 3 PM
• Agriculture Commissioner: Tyler Harper (R) and Katherine Juhan-Arnold (D) — 3:45-4:15 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 14 at 3:30 PM
• Insurance Commissioner: John King (R) and Keisha Waites (D) — 4:45-5:15 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 14 at 4 PM
• Labor Commissioner: Bárbara Rivera Holmes (R) and Nikki Porcher (D) — 6-6:30 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 14 at 4:30 PM
• U.S. Senate: Mike Collins (R) and Jon Ossoff (D) — 8-9 PM, GPB broadcast Oct. 13 at 8 PM

U.S. Senate candidates Collins and Ossoff will debate before the Atlanta Press Club series.

Collins and Ossoff will participate in a televised debate moderated by Atlanta News First at 7 p.m. on October 8. The debate will be broadcast to all Gray media stations across the state.

Gubernatorial candidates Bottoms and Jackson will also likely have an ANF debate, as both have challenged the other to additional debates, but the date and time have not yet been agreed upon and released.

U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) is under fire over Israel in his U.S. Senate campaign, according to Atlanta News First via WTOC.

The battle for Georgia’s crucial U.S. Senate seat reached new ideological divides this week.

On Wednesday, the publisher of a leading metro Atlanta Jewish community news outlet openly challenged Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s commitment to Israel. Simultaneously, his GOP challenger this fall, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, ignited a social media firestorm by appearing to back President Donald Trump’s highly controversial, $1.8 billion fund aimed at compensating individuals involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

In an Aug. 12, 2026, open letter to Ossoff, Atlanta Jewish Times publisher Michael Morris asked the senator to “please, stop lying to me and your constituents.”

“I hear you claim, over and over again, that you support Israel — that your support is ‘ironclad,’” Morris wrote. “It is not. You vote against Israel on the Senate floor in Washington, then come home to Georgia and make this untruthful claim.

“When a rhetorical bill reaches the floor — condemning Hamas after Oct. 7 or affirming Israel’s right to defend itself — you vote with heartfelt sympathy for Israel,” Morris wrote. “But when a bill offers Israel tangible strategic support — munitions, rifles, bombs, military and financial assistance — your record is abysmal, and you throw Israel under the bus.

“You are with Israel on the votes that cost you nothing, and against it on the votes that actually matter,” Morris wrote. “All that heartfelt sympathy is smoke and mirrors.”

Ossoff’s reelection campaign did not comment.

Ossoff, elected in 2021, is Georgia’s first Jewish U.S. senator in history and the first Jewish U.S. senator elected from any deep Southern state in more than a century.

National Republican leaders actively encouraged outgoing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to challenge Ossoff this fall, but Kemp declined, setting up a wide-open GOP Senate primary from which Collins emerged as the eventual winner.

But Collins’ campaign has been besieged with its own controversies. Two weeks ago, Collins responded to reports of antisemitic comments allegedly made by his son-in-law, David Scheer.

“I’ve repeatedly said nobody speaks for me; I only speak for myself,” Collins said, adding Scheer, an online influencer who has reportedly transitioned from fitness and motivational content to allegedly broadcasting white nationalist and antisemitic messages, “has had no role in my campaign whatsoever.

“I don’t believe or support those views and I have always condemned racism and antisemitism regardless of the source,” Collins said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Jackson) also took fire over January 6, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins said Tuesday that the federal government should compensate people it has harmed, appearing to endorse the broader premise behind a controversial political weaponization fund.

The Anti-Weaponization Fund was a proposed $1.776 billion fund established by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a settlement involving President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS. The fund would use money from the federal judgment fund to provide monetary relief to people who claimed they had been victims of government “weaponization.”

Potential recipients included people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and other political allies.

At the campaign stop on Tuesday, Dominic Box, a convicted Jan. 6 insurrectionist and self-proclaimed “right-wing extremist,” asked Collins: “Would you support either the victims of political weaponization fund, compensation fund or some fund of compensatory relief, not just to January 6ers, like myself, but all Americans … who have become victims of a weaponized political system?”

“Yeah … when the federal government harms you, then, yes, they have a liability to. That’s easy, yes,” Collins said.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) held a brief online press conference on Wednesday in response to Collins’ comments.

“For a sitting congressman and candidate for the United States Senate to come out and call for taxpayer dollars to go to those violent thugs who attacked the Capitol is disgraceful,” Ossoff said.

Democratic candidate for Governor of Georgia Keisha Lance Bottoms will campaign in Rome next Friday, according to WRGA News.

The Floyd County Democratic Party is proud to announce that Keisha Lance Bottoms, Democratic candidate for Governor of Georgia, will be the keynote speaker for the 2026 Georgia Giants Dinner on Friday, August 21, at the Rome Civic Center. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.

In addition to keynote speaker Keisha Lance Bottoms, attendees will hear from Josh McLaurin, Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and Nikki Porcher, Democratic candidate for Labor Commissioner. The evening will also include a catered dinner, opportunities to connect with fellow Democrats, and recognition of local and state Democratic leaders.

The annual Georgia Giants Dinner is the Floyd County Democratic Party’s premier fundraising event, bringing together Democrats from across Northwest Georgia to celebrate leaders who have made a lasting difference in their communities while raising the resources needed to support the party’s Get-Out-The-Vote efforts. Proceeds from the dinner will directly fund local candidates, voter outreach, volunteer organizing, and community engagement throughout the 2026 election season.

“We are extremely excited to have Georgia’s next governor here in Rome for our Georgia Giants event. This is the result of many weeks of work on our part and on the part of her team, and just goes to show how very important the Northwest Georgia region, and specifically Rome and Floyd County, have become on the political scene,” said Floyd County Democratic Party Chair Dr. Vincent Mendes. “In addition to Keisha Lance Bottoms, we are glad to welcome back Lieutenant Governor candidate Josh McLaurin and Labor Commissioner candidate Nikki Porcher, both of whom are extremely impressive and extraordinarily well-qualified candidates.”

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) will campaign with Ms. Bottoms, according to the AJC.

Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will be in Marietta on Friday to campaign with Bottoms as she runs for governor in Georgia.

Whitmer, the vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association, will discuss Bottoms’ plan to expand Medicaid — the long-sought goal of Georgia Democrats.

Michigan expanded Medicaid back in 2014 with a bipartisan vote from the state Legislature. A report from the University of Michigan last year found the expansion resulted in a “large and sustained drop in the percentage of Michiganders with no health insurance” and “increases in employment among people who had previously been unemployed.”

Bottoms, of course, wants to do the same thing. Jackson opposes traditional Medicaid expansion. Instead, he wants the federal government to send the money to Georgia in the form of a block grant so Georgia can spend it how it sees fit.

Republican Rick Jackson rolled out an economic development proposal in his campaign for Governor, according to GPB News.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson is rolling out a new economic policy focused on minority-owned businesses.

Jackson visited Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Corridor where he announced his Legacy Corridors policy, focused on investing in small businesses in historically Black business districts around the state.

It includes expanding the historic rehabilitation tax credit in cities including Atlanta, Savannah, Macon and Albany and bringing investors to those areas.

“Every Georgian deserves a shot at the American dream and everybody deserves respect,” Jackson said. “These corridors were built by people who never got one and built it anyway. They were not asking the state for a handout. They were asking not to be forgotten.”

Mr. Jackson also came out in support of term limits, according to the AJC.

Billionaire Rick Jackson sharpened his war on Georgia’s political establishment Thursday night, using a campaign stop in Columbus to elevate a plank in his outsider pitch: term limits.

“Ethics and accountability comes first,” the Republican nominee for governor said. “We will root out public corruption and self-dealing, listen to the people, not the special interests, and — like I said — enact term limits on the politicians.”

Jackson didn’t spell out what those limits should look like, though his campaign said it will be part of a broader ethics package.

It was one of the clearest examples yet of Jackson putting the idea at the center of his policy agenda.

Term limits are hardly a staple of Georgia politics. Last year, the state Senate voted to call for a constitutional convention to place term limits on Congress. The resolution, which ultimately did not pass, notably would not have applied to state lawmakers.

Some federal candidates, like former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Derek Dooley, have also pushed for term limits. Jackson didn’t say how long officials should serve or which offices would be covered.

There’s also a built-in tension: If Jackson wins, he’ll need lawmakers to pass his agenda. Some may be less enthusiastic about a governor increasingly campaigning against the political establishment they represent.

Jackson paired the proposal with a broader argument that the governor’s race is a test of public trust and who can break what he described as the elite’s “grip” on state government.

As he attacked Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms over her handling of taxpayer dollars as Atlanta mayor, Jackson repeatedly returned to a simple refrain: “character matters.”

“Power does not create character. It reveals it. When the money belongs to taxpayers, and your decisions impact the lives of others, character matters. That is the choice in this election,” he said. “Not personality. Not politics as usual. But character.

“And the fairest way to judge character is simple. You are who your record says you are.”

Georgia Democrats are talking property taxes as they eye control of the State House, according to the AJC.

At a library 20 minutes from downtown Athens, Democratic state Rep. David Wilkerson asked for a show of hands.

“Raise your hand if getting rid of property taxes is the number one thing that you’re concerned about,” he told the crowd of about 40 people at the Bogart Library.

No one raised their hand.

To prepare, Democrats are hosting a series of meetings throughout the state aimed at listening to voters about what they should do if they get the chance.

So far, the Democrats have not coalesced around specific tax proposals. But Wilkerson believes these town hall meetings will help the party craft bills that appeal to ordinary Georgians — not just the elected officials and lobbyists who can travel to the Gold Dome to testify.

“That’s important,” Wilkerson said. “The people that have been missing in this whole conversation are the people actually paying the taxes.”

Wilkerson said the Democrats’ town hall meetings differ in an important way from the official Republican-led study committee. The official committee meets during the day and — at least in its first meeting — has heard primarily from local government officials. The Democratic committee meets at night and seeks to engage taxpayers.

Democrats believe there are ways to address concerns about housing affordability besides cutting property taxes.

On Tuesday, state Rep. Spencer Frye, D-Athens, won applause when he spoke of corporations outbidding families for homes. He said the corporate search for investment properties is limiting the housing supply and making homes less affordable for ordinary people.

“Nobody in this room is ever going to win as long as we let that system stay in place,” Frye said.

A new federal law caps the number of houses that can be purchased by real estate investors, but the Democrats suggested the state could do more.

Wilkerson told the audience their feedback will help Democrats address their concerns.

“If we were in the majority,” he said, “it would be a lot easier.”

Dougherty County Commissioners will consider a curfew for minors, according to the Albany Herald.

The city of Albany has had a curfew since September 2004, and Albany Mayor Bo Dorough and County Commission Chairman Lorenzo Heard have been discussing a county curfew that would mesh with the city’s, County Commissioner Clinton Johnson said.

Under the city’s curfew, minors unaccompanied by an adult are prohibited from engaging in activities on streets and highways, playgrounds, restaurants and businesses between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays and from midnight to 6 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Johnson and County Commissioner Ed Newsome, both of whom are members of the commission’s Public Safety Committee, said they would like to hear more about the issue.

“I would sure like for us to have a curfew for kids,” Newsome said. “I think that would be a really smart thing to do. I would totally be in favor of that.

“If you see the news, we’re having 15-year-olds out there shooting people. I would certainly think we ought to do something.”

Both Johnson and Newsome agreed that a curfew for unincorporated Dougherty County should complement the city’s

“We need to put some teeth behind it and get the city and the county on the same page,” Newsome said.

No ordinance has been drafted as of this time, Johnson said, but he would support a move to task County Attorney Alex Shalishali with preparing a proposed ordinance.

“I would implement one to kind of keep the kids in the house,” he said. “Everybody needs to be somewhere. I just want to see what they put together and enforce it countywide. That would be the plan, the hope.

“It’s just to be proactive more than anything. I’ve also asked about keeping parents responsible. They need to put something together like that.”

Bulloch County Board of Education members voted for the full rollback of the property tax millage rate, according to WSAV.

The new millage rate is set at 10.125 mills, down .275 mills from the prior rate of 10.400 mills.

Board members unanimously approved the “full rollback.” The move comes one year after the Board of Education approved a millage rate increase from 7.932 mills to 10.4 mills.

For a homestead property valued at $300,000, owners will pay $1,195 in school taxes, an annual decrease of $32.45 with the lower rate, officials told WSAV.

The school district defined “homestead property” as a primary residence.

For non-homestead properties, which BCS defined as “real property not being used as an owner’s primary residence,” a different formula is used. A property valued at $275,000 will pay $1,114 in school taxes, an annual decrease of $30.25.

From WTOC:

School board members based the decision on a recommendation report from the county tax assessor’s office, which they reviewed last month before giving the rollback rate its tentative approval. Superintendent Dr. Torian White stated that the approved rate delivers on a direct fiscal promise to county taxpayers.

“Super excited to report that our board approved our rollback rate of 10.125. This is a representation of our fiscal responsibility to our constituents in our community,” White said.

To support the rollback while moving the district forward, White stated that the district plans to conduct regular audits of every school program. These audits will identify areas to cut excess spending and ensure resources are directed where they are needed most, including vital sectors like school nutrition, maintenance, and student transportation.

With the rollback rate officially approved, district leaders noted that they are entirely focused on launching the new academic year under their unifying district theme of “One Bulloch.”

Bulloch County Commissioners hosted two of three required meetings on their property tax millage rate increase, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Because the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners proposes a millage-rate reduction but not a full rollback to the official “rollback rate,” the board was legally required to hold three public hearings for a tax increase. The first two were held Tuesday, Aug. 11, but the last will be held at 8:30 a.m. next Tuesday, Aug. 18.

Like the first two, that hearing will occur in the commissioners’ meeting room at the North Main Annex, 115 North Main Street. Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. is also the start time of the regular meeting in which commissioners may take a final vote to set the millage.

In keeping with their fiscal year 2027 budget, already in effect from July 1, the county manager and elected commissioners proposed a reduction in the rate for the county government portion of property taxes from last year’s 11.35 mills to a new rate of 10.26 mills.

However, the separate, appointed Board of Tax Assessors’ staff had determined that a “rollback rate” of 9.485 mills would be needed to fully offset inflation in assessed real estate values as reflected in the tax digest.

The 0.775-mill difference between the proposed rate and the full rollback rate results in a projected 8.17% tax increase, as seen in “notice of property tax increase” ads the county placed in the Statesboro Herald. But that is a projection of the overall, average increase, and actual increases may vary among property types and locations.

Hall County Commissioners will discuss a proposed data center ordinance, according to AccessNorthGA.

Hall County is set to hold a public hearing Thursday night regarding amendments to the unified development code (UDC) and the comprehensive plan.

Included in that is a new data center ordinance, which creates a regulatory framework and definition for data centers.

Public feedback was open from May through June 15 and three public meetings were held to get community input.

All told? Roughly 120 online comments on data centers were submitted. The vast majority, over 90%, were negative. Most explicitly stated they would like a full-on ban of data centers in Hall County.

On Wednesday’s edition of WDUN’s “Conversations,” Hall County District 3 Commissioner Gregg Poole discussed data centers with Chairman David Gibbs, District 1 Republican Nominee Mark Turner, and District 3 Republican Nominee Tyler Crawford.

“I think the citizens have an input when they vote for us, so the citizens have an input when they vote their commissioner in, and he is the voice, whether for or against that that is their voice through the commissioner,” Poole said.

He asked his guests if they would be in favor of supporting data centers if it would do away with property taxes.

“I’m good with that,” Gibbs said. “We’re not here to influence, we’re here to do what’s good for the citizens and best for the citizens and win for the county.”

Gibbs also speculated on the potential cost.

“If you can eliminate property tax … that’s a win, but at what cost?” Gibbs said.

Turner questioned how many data centers it would take to eliminate property taxes.

“I know during my campaign, I was totally against them,” Turner said. “I don’t know enough about them … the majority of people don’t like it … I’m the voice of South Hall so if South Hall don’t want it, I got to go with my constituents.”

Crawford said in the hypothetical example of $15-million in tax revenue Turner proposed, three data centers would cover all the property taxes.

“You could do three data centers, and then that would cover all the homesteaded properties that we take taxes from,” Crawford said. “If you cover the 100 acres with apartments or townhomes, you’re going to look at a lot of water consumption, anyways … if the argument is purely on water, then what you could put there is actually probably worse.”

Tybee Island City Council members are considering revisions to their short term vacation rental ordinance, according to WSAV.

If City Council approves the ordinance following a second reading later this month, Tybee could soon have a new system for how short-term vacation rentals are permitted, regulated and enforced.

The proposal would divide the island into four sectors, with different limits on short-term rentals depending on the area.

One of the biggest changes would be how the city treats neighborhoods on either side of Butler Avenue. Areas closer to the Island’s tourist activity could allow more short-term rentals, while quieter residential areas would face tighter limits.

Under the proposed plan, the city would establish caps on the number of eligible residential units that could operate as short-term rentals.

In the north and west sectors, short-term rentals could account for up to 30% of eligible residential units, leaving 70% for residential use.

In the east and south sectors, the proposed cap would be higher, at 60% of eligible residential units.

“We’re in the middle here with allowing fewer permits in quieter areas and allowing more permits in the areas,” a city official said. “This ordinance makes enforcement very strict, and it requires managers of properties to take care of their homes and to kick people out if they’re not being respectful.”