Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 5, 2025

On August 5, 1774, Royal Governor James Wright issued a proclamation banning assemblies to protest British policy.

President Abraham Lincoln imposed the first federal income tax on August 5, 1861 at the rate of 3 percent on all income over $800 per year.

On August 5, 1910, Gov. Joseph Brown signed legislation outlawing betting on election outcomes.

The caravan transporting 43 ounces of gold from Dahlonega to the State Capitol to be used in gilding the dome arrived in Roswell/Sandy Springs area on August 5, 1958.

President Ronald Reagan began the process of firing all striking Air Traffic Controllers on August 5, 1981.

Divers raised the turret of USS Monitor near Cape Hatteras on August 5, 2002.

WALB has an interesting item on the Black Belt in Georgia.

The Black Belt is comprised of several states, mainly those in the Southeast, including Georgia. Because cotton farming requires strenuous labor, tobacco planters in Virginia brought enslaved black people to work the cotton fields in Southwest Georgia.

“Most of the economic base was generated through the huge populations of slavery. The Flint River was where the cotton was transported, Jones said.

“Because of the climate that’s here, it was easy to produce it here, and it was able to go not just to keep it local but going across the ocean,” Daniella Patterson, Thronateeska Archives Manager, said.

The Flint River became like a highway for transporting goods —not only to other states but to Liverpool in the United Kingdom. At the time, this put Albany on the map as the top cotton producer in the nation and around the world.

“Because of the Flint River, we were able to get product down the river. It was the main source of transport before the trains got to South Georgia, and they go hand in hand. You want to get the product out so that way you can produce more revenue, and so Albany is kind of strategic. A strategic location to where you were able to use that river to get the product out further, ” Patterson said.

Later on, as Black people were freed from slavery, many stayed in the area. Today, Albany still has one of the highest percentages of black residents in the state. The history of the Black Belt helped cement South Georgia as an agricultural leader in the country.

“When W.E.B. Du Bois wrote his book, he declared this area, because of the heavy population of slavery, to be the Black Belt, the Egypt of the South,” Jones said.

“It played a huge part in the development of the civilization,” Patterson said.

Over time, many formerly enslaved people stayed in South Georgia, and many became sharecroppers. But very few became independent farmers because of systemic and financial barriers. Many who stayed in the Black Belt went on to pay another price – the sacrifices and struggles for civil rights and equality.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The Skate Along USA in Gwinnett County will close their doors this month, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

“To our skate family,” said a message posted on Facebook, “It is with great sadness that we must announce our closing. We would like to thank Lilburn, Gwinnett County and the worldwide skate community for over 40 wonderful years. Thank you for allowing us to be the place where you have created many skate memories.”

The Facebook message added that Skate Along USA’s final skate session is set for 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 24.

The news that the Lilburn skating rink, which opened in 1978 and was the site of untold skating sessions, birthday parties, private events and lock-ins, rolled quickly, with many skating enthusiasts sharing their treasured memories.
“Skate Along was a wonderful part of my childhood,” wrote one poster. “Sad to see you go. Thank you for a great place to go as a kid.”

“… I spent every Friday, Saturday and Wednesday night there for years,” added another former skater. “Ladies, if you did too in the late 80s early 90s we probably made out.”

Owing to its longevity in the community, Skate Along USA hosted many skaters who also brought their children to join in on the fun.

And many posters, now aware that a touchstone of their youth was closing up shop, vowed to visit one last time.

“I skated there as a kid in the 80s and my kids had several birthday parties there 25 to 30 years later,” another post said. “We are all sad to see you go.”

“So sad!” wrote another enthusiast. “I went there as a teen when they opened in the late 1970s and took my kids there in the 90s. Spent many fun hours there! Thank you for so many years of fun!”

For its final days of business, Skate Along USA will be open from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. on Fridays, noon until 11 p.m. on Saturdays. 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Sundays and 8 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. on Wednesdays (Adult Night).

Might have to dust off some clothes from the 80s (surely they still fit) and get in one last skate.

Former Admiral of the Camden County Navy Camden County Sheriff Bill Smith has died, according to The Brunswick News.

Former Camden County Sheriff Williams “Bill” Edwin Smith, Jr. died Saturday.

Smith, 87, served as Camden sheriff for 24 years before he lost a bid for reelection in 2007.

He was a Marine Corps veteran and former FBI agent for 10 years before becoming a third generation sheriff in Camden County, following his father and grandfather in the position.

During his time in office, Smith had strong support from longtime Camden County residents, in particular, until problems surfaced regarding time in office. He was criticized for his use of inmate labor, jail inmate escapes, jail food expenditures, questionable ways he spent more than $29 million in returned federal drug money seizure funds, his support of convicted murderer Dr. Noel Chua while he was jailed and awaiting his trial, and more.

From an NPR story dated 2008:

Camden County, Georgia is famous for Cumberland Island National Seashore, the Kings Bay Submarine Base, the historic town of St. Mary’s and Sheriff Bill Smith. The tan, white-haired law man is now running for his seventh term. It’s a dynasty. His father and grandfather were Camden County sheriffs before him.

The 70-year-old sheriff’s career has been subsidized by his remarkable success at seizing drug money off of Interstate 95, which runs through the county, north-south. Over the past decade and a half, his highway interdiction team has grabbed more than $20 million from drug money couriers.

Smith bought vehicles for other county departments and for neighboring law enforcement agencies. He purchased boats that some wisecrack are his Camden County Navy. And he created an estimated $600,000 in scholarships.

And the purchases got more exotic. There was the $90,000 Dodge Viper for the sheriff’s DARE anti-drug program.

Sheriff Smith was also appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue to serve on the Georgia Brain & Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission, which does God’s work.

Police Blotter: an outside prosecutor was appointed for the GBI investigation of Burke County Sheriff Alonzo Williams, according to WRDW.

Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Robert Busbee has been appointed to the GBI investigation involving the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.

It’s in relation to claims of the sheriff falsifying training records and out-of-town travel using county funds.

This stems from two independent financial audits that were done from September 2021 through July 2022.

The audit investigated how the Burke County Sheriff’s Office spent nearly $25,000 in grant money on turkeys and toys for the community.

The audit also found the sheriff spent more than $41,00 on restaurants, travel and stores on a county credit card that commissioners say they never authorized.

Just last month, Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams removed his office from certain matters pertaining to the investigation.

This comes as organizers work on a recall effort against Sheriff Alfonzo Williams.

Last week, they suffered a setback due to notarization issues with the application for the recall.

United States Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Extreme NW GA) questions her relationship with the GOP, according to WSB Radio.

During an interview with the Daily Mail, Greene says, “I don’t know if the Republican party is leaving me, or if I’m kind of not relating to Republican party as much anymore.”

Greene also says she thinks, “the Republican party has turned its back on America first,” the workers, and regular Americans.

Greene has been at odds with many Republicans recently on issues such as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the Epstein files.

A GOP-connected SuperPAC is targeting United States Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) with direct mail, according to the AJC.

We told you last week that One Nation, a super PAC connected to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, plans to spend $5 million on Georgia’s airwaves to hit U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff for his recent vote against Republicans’ $3.4 trillion tax and spending bill.

Now the group is adding mailers to the campaign. Tipsters from across the Atlanta suburbs have sent us three separate mailers they’ve received from One Nation in the last week alone, all echoing the group’s recent TV ad hitting Ossoff for his vote against the bill. “Why did Senator Ossoff vote to make life more expensive?” one mailer asks.

But while Republicans’ are working to tie Ossoff to the issue, he’s aggressively campaigning on the exact same vote, warning his audiences that the GOP tax and spending cut bill will soon lead to nursing home closures, a supersized immigration detention system, drastic cuts to federal research grants and Medicaid cuts for tens of thousands of Georgians.

“What’s happening to our country right now should chill us to the bone,” Ossoff said at a rally in Savannah last month.

It’s still early days in Georgia, but One Nation racked up several wins in the 2024 cycle, spending tens of millions of dollars against incumbent Democratic senators in Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, who all lost their races to Republican challengers.

Here’s what the mailers look like:

The Georgia Promise Scholarship program is up and running, according to Atlanta News First via WALB.

The Georgia Promise Scholarship offers up to $6,500 per student to help cover the cost of private school, homeschooling, tutoring or therapy. The program is open to students who are zoned for public schools ranked in the bottom 25% statewide.

So far, more than 15,000 families have applied, and just over half have been approved, according to data from the Georgia Student Finance Commission.

Among approved applicants:

• 64% chose private schools
• 16% opted for homeschooling
• 14% are using funds for tutoring or therapy

The state legislature allocated $141 million to fund the program — enough to support more than 20,000 students.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R-Cobb County) is supporting a private lawsuit against Savannah’s gun control laws, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Statesboro Herald.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is supporting a new lawsuit brought by a gun-rights organization challenging a Savannah ordinance restricting the storage of firearms inside the city.

The ordinance, approved by the Savannah City Council in April of last year, prohibits storing guns in unlocked vehicles, with violators subject to a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail. Passage of the ordinance followed an outbreak of stolen firearms in Savannah, most taken from unlocked vehicles.

In a brief filed last week, Carr wrote that the ordinance is superseded by a state law prohibiting local governments from regulating the possession, transport, or carrying of firearms.

“This misguided attempt to punish law-abiding Georgians does absolutely nothing to address crime, and it won’t hold up in court,” Carr said. “No matter how much the mayor disagrees with our laws, he cannot openly infringe on the Second Amendment rights of our citizens. Progressive politics aren’t a defense for government overreach.”

Carr sent a letter to Savannah officials last year shortly after the ordinance was adopted recommending that the city rescind its action and warning of potential civil liability.

Mayor Van Johnson answered defiantly a short time later that he was sticking by the ordinance.

“We say, ‘Sue us,’ ” he said. “We’ll go to the (U.S.) Supreme Court. … We have some of the best lawyers.”

The new lawsuit was filed in Chatham County Superior Court by Firearms Policy Coalition, a gun rights nonprofit based in Sacramento, Calif.

From WTOC:

The August 4, 2025 press release from Carr’s office sates that “despite Carr’s recommendation that the City take immediate action to rescind the approval of the flawed ordinances – warning of potential civil liability – the City refused to do so. The lawsuit in which Carr has now filed a brief soon followed.

Savannah City Council is moving back into their restored building, according to WSAV.

City council and the public will be welcomed back to Savannah City Hall in August following restoration of the building.

The city will host a “Welcome Home to the Chamber” celebration event on Aug. 14 to explore the renovations.

The full interior restoration project will be completed in 2026 as part of the larger 120th anniversary celebration of the building.

 

Savannah has turned their speed cameras back on in school zones, according to the Savannah Morning News.

[S]peed enforcement school zones with monitoring technology provided by Blue Line Solutions reactivated Monday, Aug. 4.

Officers in the Savannah Police Department (SPD), Chatham County Police Department (CCPD), Garden City Police Department (GCPD) and Thunderbolt Police Department oversee the cameras stationed near 30 public schools. Cameras turn on near St. James Catholic School on Aug. 7, and for St. Andrews School on Aug. 13.

The Pooler and Port Wentworth Police Departments do not use speed enforcement cameras. However, police officers will increase patrols near schools in their jurisdictions at the beginning of school year to promote traffic safety.

Albany is giving drivers a two week “grace period” in which speed camera tickets will not be issued, according to the Albany Herald.

In Albany, drivers will get a two-week “grace period” during which only warnings will be mailed to the owners of cars captured on camera traveling 11 miles or more over the speed limit at one of the nine schools.

One reminder for drivers is that the cameras are active for the hour before and after school begins, with the speed limit of 25 miles per hour. But they are also active during the rest of the day for the posted speed limit at the camera locations.

That means that if a driver is in a 45 mph zone, the cameras will record violations for cars traveling 56 miles per hour or greater.

The cameras have not been without controversy, with individuals caught speeding lodging complaints with police and elected officials. One of the biggest complaints has been from drivers who were unaware the cameras are on throughout the school day, not just the hour of the day when school is beginning and ending, Albany Police Department officer Dillard Glover said.

Dougherty County Commissioners are creating a new Office of Crime Prevention, according to WALB.

The Dougherty County Board of Commissioners is working to create an “Office of Crime Prevention”, a board that will include members of the public. The creation of this office is an effort to increase community involvement while decreasing criminal activity.

The county says the mission is to “provide leadership on effective and cost-efficient ways to prevent and to reduce crime by identifying truly outstanding crime prevention programs that meet a high scientific standard of effectiveness and that are innovative initiatives that help stop crime before it starts.”

Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler said, “Everyone keeps talking about it, but nobody is doing anything. So, I think this is the first step of really coming under it with some footsteps and making it happen.”

Senator Jon Ossoff’s office has a grant program that counties can apply for in an attempt to receive funding for their crime prevention efforts, but county leaders say the Office of Crime Prevention will happen with or without that grant.

Dougherty County Administrator Deron King said, “So, we are going to get together with our team internally, with our court system, with the judges in those offices and with the DA’s office to see if there is a potential for us to provide a proposal to get grant money to fund and to help bankroll that program.”