Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for December 16, 2025

On December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty, led by Patriot Sam Adams, boarded three British ships in Boston harbor and threw tea worth $700,000 to $1 million in today’s money into the water in what came to be known as the Boston Tea Party.

Governor George Towns signed legislation on December 16, 1847 to build a State School for the Deaf and Dumb. The institution now known as the Georgia School for the Deaf was begun with a log cabin, $5000 from the legislature and four students and is still in operation in Cave Spring, Georgia.

On December 16, 1897, Gov. William Atkinson signed legislation recognizing June 3, the birthday of Jefferson Davis, as a state holiday.

On December 16, 1944, a German counterattack in the Ardennes region of Belgium created a “bulge” in Allied lines with particularly difficult fighting near the town of Bastogne. During the Battle of the Bulge, 89,000 Americans were wounded and 19,000 killed in the bloodiest battle fought by the U.S. in World War II.

President Jimmy Carter announced on December 16, 1976, that he would name Andrew Young, then serving as Congressman from Georgia’s Fifth District, as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Voters in Georgia State Senate District 35 go to the polls today in a Special Runoff Election to fill the vacancy created when Sen. Jason Esteves (D) resigned to run for Governor, according to the AJC.

The polls opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday for some voters in Cobb and Fulton counties, as they choose their new state senator.

Former State Rep. Roger Bruce, a 22-year House veteran who retired at the beginning of the year, faces Jaha Howard, a former Cobb school board member and a Democrat from Smyrna in Tuesday’s runoff. Howard received the most votes in a six-way special election last month, but no candidate received a majority of the vote, sending the contest to a runoff.

The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles suspended a scheduled execution, according to the Macon Telegraph.

Stacey Humphreys, who was convicted of the deaths of two Cobb County real estate agents in 2007, faced a clemency hearing on Tuesday ahead of his scheduled execution on Wednesday. However, his hearing was postponed until further notice, thereby suspending his execution.

The parole board received “a clemency application requesting that the Board exercise its authority to commute his sentence of death,” which led them to suspend his execution date, according to an order from Monday.

A Cobb County jury found Humphreys guilty of the Nov. 3, 2003 murders of Cindy Williams and Lori Brown in Powder Springs, Georgia. Both women were real estate agents.

However, when it came to issuing an appropriate sentence, 11 jurors were faced with hostility from another, who insisted on the death penalty despite the other jurors’ decision to give him life without parole.

They eventually voted for Humphreys to be executed.

Because of this, the legitimacy of the death sentence has been questioned by Humphreys’s attorneys and anti-death penalty advocates .

The case and Humphreys’s request not to be executed have been heard by federal courts, the appellate court, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Though most of the Supreme Court justices declined to review the case, Supreme Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson reviewed the case, stating that the rest of the Supreme Justices “(allowed) a death sentence tainted by a single juror’s extraordinary misconduct to stand,” according to court records.

Interim United States Attorney Meg Heap took the oath as the permanent U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, according to WRDW.

Margaret E. Heap will continue to serve as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia after her appointment by the U.S. District Court judges of the Southern District.

Heap took the oath of office Monday in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker.

The appointment is effective immediately.

Heap had been initially sworn in by U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall on Aug. 18 after Attorney General Pamela Bondi appointed Heap as the interim U.S. attorney.

Heap had served as the chair and vice chair of Georgia’s State Board of Pardons and Paroles.

In 1986, she began her legal career as a volunteer coordinator and victim advocate with the Chatham County District Attorney’s Victim-Witness Assistance Program.

After attending Mercer University Law School, she received her Juris Doctor in 1992 and went on to serve as an assistant district attorney in the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, where she prosecuted felonies in the Superior and Juvenile Court.

From 1995-2010, Heap served the Eastern Judicial Circuit as an assistant district attorney and later served two terms as the district attorney. In 2019, she was named the “District Attorney of the Year” by the District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia.

Piedmont Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Sarah Griffie, appointed last year by Governor Kemp, will run for election to the seat she holds, according to AccessWDUN.

Judge Sarah Griffie issued a statement Monday, Dec. 15, saying she plans to run to continue serving her judgeship role in Barrow and Jackson counties. Griffie was appointed after more than 20 years of work within the Piedmont Judicial Circuit, including as a prosecutor and as chief assistant district attorney in the circuit.

“It has been truly an honor to serve the citizens of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit as Superior Court Judge,” Griffie said in a statement. “While I am grateful to the many community leaders who put their trust in me and Governor Brian Kemp for the appointment, I look forward to the opportunity to campaign directly with the voters.”

Griffie has degrees from both High Point University and the University of Georgia, and her campaign also added that she is active in several civic and community roles. She has served on the board of the Crawford Long Museum, the Barrow Area Rotary Club, the Barrow County Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson Women’s Club. She also mentors students as a mock trial coach at Jefferson High School.

Griffie also received the endorsement of former Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum, who also gave a statement in support of Griffie.

“Judge Griffie has served from the bench with honesty, integrity, and professionalism,” Mangum said. “I hope my fellow citizens will join me in voting Sarah Griffie for Superior Court Judge.”

The Piedmont Judicial Circuit serves Barrow and Jackson Counties.

The Georgia Public Service Commission’s staff reached an agreement with Georgia Power on the utility’s generation portfolio expansion, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

Georgia Power’s energy expansion plan – driven in significant part by data center energy demand – gained unexpected buy-in from the Georgia Public Service Commission’s Public Interest Advocacy Staff at Wednesday’s regulatory hearing in Atlanta.

In what is being termed by critics as a “last minute surprise agreement,” PSC staff altered previously stated recommendations to support only a portion of Georgia Power’s request for a $16+ billion power grid expansion.

In November, the PSC Public Interest Advocacy Staff’s recommendation to the Commission was to certify roughly one-third of Georgia Power’s request – a number based on the capacity needed by Georgia Power to serve only existing contracts. Staff’s earlier recommendation also included a 305-metawatt cushion for additional growth in the data center sector, and “conditional approval for another 4,298 megawatts of resources dependent on signed contracts with new data center customers,” according to reporting by Georgia Recorder.

However, prior to the start of Wednesday’s hearing, the Public Interest Advocacy Staff “changed their recommendation to agree with Georgia Power to move forward with the full request,” as reported Thursday by Georgia Recorder.

The stipulated agreement, if approved by the PSC, would authorize Georgia Power’s full 10,000-megawatt expansion request, representing a substantial increase over the company’s stated current production of nearly 15,300 megawatts.

Under the proposed agreement, Georgia Power would put “downward pressure” on power rates – specifying a savings of $8.50 per month for the typical residential customer. However, that savings would not be implemented until “the next time the PSC considers rates,” and it does not guarantee an overall reduction in consumer rates – the savings would be used to offset any potential increases.

According to Georgia Recorder, “Stephen A. Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said in a statement that Georgia Power is misleading the public about the agreement’s potential savings. According to an analysis by the organization that cited the PSC staff’s previous recommendations, the new power plants would raise power bills by an average of $20 per month.”

As reported by the Dalton Daily Citizen, in September, the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority (JDA) voted to formalize tax abatements for a new, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) data center. The decision paves the way for a roughly $200 million investment by Core Scientific, a Bellevue, Washington-based company already familiar with the area’s digital landscape. Scheduled meetings of the JDA following the September meeting have been canceled, and no further announcements regarding the Core Scientific expansion, or other potential Data Center projects, have been issued.

The five-member Republican Georgia Public Service Commission is set to vote on the Georgia Power request at a meeting on Friday, Dec. 19. The meeting is open to the public, although no further public comments will be heard. The PSC vote will finalize whether Georgia Power can proceed with the proposed energy expansion and under what conditions. Any rate impacts tied to the agreement would not be considered until Georgia Power’s next rate case, currently expected in 2028.

Georgia may face a recession, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

National economic headwinds driven in part by politics will continue suppressing Georgia’s economy while raising the risk of recession, says a new economic forecast from a business think tank at the University of Georgia.

The 43rd annual prediction by the Selig Center for Economic Growth rates the risk of a recession in Georgia at pretty much a coin toss.

“In short, Georgia’s economy will struggle, and it would not take much to tip into recession,” says the report, out this week.

It places the odds of a recession in Georgia at 49%.

The forces on the state economy are largely the result of policies in Washington, as President Donald Trump’s tariff war blunts national economic growth, which the report placed at 1.3% rather than the potential 2%. Job growth will likely remain subpar, its authors predicted.

“We’re expecting another year of slow economic growth. The rate of growth will be very similar in 2026 to what we experienced in 2025, but there is a higher risk of recession,” Jeffrey M. Humphreys, the main author, said in an interview.

Given the uncertainty in the economic and political environment, fewer projects are in the pipeline, said Humphreys, the director of the Selig Center. “The biggest headwind is of course the trade war. And then the second biggest headwind is more restrictive immigration policies.”

Georgia depends more on international trade than the average state, so the tariff troubles have been taking a greater toll here.

Atlanta, with a highly diverse economy, depends less on global trade than other large metro areas, so is less exposed.

But smaller communities with economies based more on production and international trade are feeling that ill wind.

The economies of coastal Brunswick and Savannah, for instance, rely heavily on shipping through their major ports. And North Georgia industrial communities — Dalton with flooring and Gainesville with food and machinery production — are also affected, as they move product through those ports to international consumers.

The job market has been stable, if lackluster.

The unemployment rate remained at 3.4% in September, the same as in August, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. That was a percentage point below the national average, though it meant more than 180,000 without jobs.

The job market has been cooling through the year though.

Previously, employees could hop between jobs to boost their wages.

Now, employers have the upper hand, Humphreys said. And that should last into next year.

“The labor market has barely been adding any jobs at all,” he said. “We’re only expecting about a half a percent job growth next year, so basically the labor market has stalled out.”

Even so, consumers have been propping up the economy.

November tax revenues were up 0.9% last month compared to November a year ago, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Income tax collections fell but were counterbalanced by rising sales tax revenue, with motor fuel tax receipts up a whopping 53%, or $70 million.

Despite the uncertain economic outlook, people who have jobs feel secure in them, the Selig Center report said.

Household finances are generally in good shape with manageable debt, due in part to a housing shortage that has buttressed home values. Houses are pretty much worth the mortgage note, so home loans are not at risk of sinking underwater like in 2008.

And many were lucky enough to lock in historically low mortgage rates a few years ago, though rising property tax and insurance rates have been nibbling away at buying power.

For those with less fortunate timing who did not find an affordable home, the report did not offer good news.

Housing costs are expected to remain out of reach next year due to a variety of factors behind an abiding shortage. The tight labor market means fewer homeowners are moving and selling. Tariffs have driven up costs for construction materials. And the Trump administration’s policies on immigration have pinched the construction industry’s labor supply.

“Since we do not expect these negative factors to change very much in 2026,” the Selig Center said, “the homebuilding and real estate industries will remain in recession.”

Two Georgia members of Congress introduced bipartisan legislation about pharmacy benefits managers, according to WRDW.

Georgia congressmen introduced bipartisan legislation Sunday that would regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the companies that operate between insurance providers, drug makers and pharmacies.

Reps. Buddy Carter [R-SSI] and Sanford Bishop [D-Albany] said the legislation is long overdue.

“This bill prevent PBMs from steering patients to a pharmacist allowing patients to use pharmacists of their choice and expanding access to prescription drug care,” Bishop said.

Lawmakers said some of these middleman practices can drive up prices and keep pharmacies from getting fair reimbursements.

House Bill 511 by State Rep. Eddie Lumsden (R-Armuchee), which goes into effect in January, creates a “catastrophe savings account” that homeowners may fund, according to Atlanta News First via WTOC.

Under a new law, Georgians will be able to set aside money for storm damage in special catastrophe savings accounts that come with significant tax benefits.

Supporters say the accounts could help homeowners cover rising insurance deductibles and repair costs after major storms.

The change comes as natural disasters — from hurricanes and floods to tornadoes — continue to drive up costs for homeowners across the state. At the same time, insurance deductibles have climbed into the thousands, leaving some families struggling to rebuild.

House Bill 511 allows homeowners to open catastrophe savings accounts, similar to health savings accounts but designed for disaster-related expenses tied to a primary residence or business.

Contributions to the accounts are tax-deductible, the money grows tax-free at the state level, and withdrawals can be used to pay insurance deductibles or cover repair costs after a governor-declared disaster.

Georgia State University law professor Samuel Donaldson said the accounts are meant to address gaps in insurance coverage, particularly in high-risk areas where policies can be limited or expensive.

“Georgia is one of just a handful of states doing this,” Donaldson said. “It’s a tax-effective way for homeowners to get more coverage than insurance alone provides.”

Critics argue the program will not benefit everyone. Renters are not eligible, and homeowners living paycheck to paycheck may not have extra money to contribute to the accounts.

Supporters say the goal is to give homeowners more control and flexibility before disaster strikes.

“This lets people save for repairs after a disaster and feel more comfortable choosing a higher deductible to bring their insurance costs down,” said state Sen. Larry Walker III.

The law takes effect for tax years beginning Jan. 1, 2026, giving homeowners time to plan before the tax benefits begin.

From WRDW:

“Some of our homes that were not insured and we found out some of our homes were underinsured. We are continuing to recover at a snails pace,” said [Douglas] Mayor Tony Paulk.

Georgia State University law professor Samuel Donaldson said the accounts are designed to fill gaps left by insurance coverage, particularly in high-risk areas.

“Georgia is one of just a handful of states doing this. It’s a tax-effective way for homeowners to get more coverage than insurance alone provides,” Donaldson said.

The program aims to give homeowners more financial options when dealing with disaster recovery costs.

Other new state laws will go into effect in January, according to 13WMAZ.

Changes to civil lawsuits

The “Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act” takes effect on Jan. 1, changing laws regarding who can fund lawsuits in Georgia and imposing certain registration requirements.

The bill requires anyone who funds a lawsuit to register as “a litigation financier” with the Department of Banking and Finance. In part, it bans any foreign government or non-governmental person from a foreign country from financing litigation in Georgia.

Changes to homeowner insurance cancellations

Homeowner insurance companies must provide more notice before canceling a policy.
According to the legislature, starting Jan. 1, homeowner insurance companies must provide a 60-day notice that they intend to cancel a policy. That’s up from the 30-day current requirement.

That applies to any policies issued or renewed after Jan. 1.

HVAC warranty transfers

The Georgia General Assembly passed legislation that makes changes to warranties for HVAC systems.

They say that warranties for HVAC systems in residential homes will automatically transfer when properties are sold to a new owner.

They say that this applies to any HVAC systems sold after Jan. 1.

Recording of court hearings for transcription

The Georgia General Assembly passed a measure that allows for certain court proceedings to be recorded digitally instead of having a live transcript made during the time of the hearing.

Changes to ethics investigations of political candidates

Starting Jan. 1, the State Ethics Commission may not begin investigating a candidate within 60 days of an election.

The act also requires that campaign and personal finance disclosure reports for local elected officials will be filed with the State Ethics Commission, not locally.

America First license plate

The Georgia Legislator allowed the issuing of a special license plate, displaying the American flag and the words “America First.”

Funds coming from the license plate will go into Georgia’s general fund.

Changes to CPA licensing

Georgia is creating more pathways for people to become Certified Public Accountants, which is a licensing standard for accountants.

The law offers new paths to becoming a CPA, and it also makes it easier for out-of-state accountants to transfer their accreditation to Georgia.

Teledentistry approved for Georgia

Starting Jan. 1, Georgia allows for teledentistry in the state, but it does include conditions, limitations and regulations of the practice.

However, it permits dental care via teledentistry.

Tybee Island is working on beach nourishment projects, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Tybee Island is moving forward with a project to address significant dune erosion against the Savannah River shipping channel, according to City Manager Bret Bell. This part of the beach falls outside of the federally authorized renourishment area, so it is not part of the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) beach nourishment that will come later in the year.

“The dune erosion is getting closer and closer to the homes along that stretch, and if we don’t do anything, it will impact those homes pretty quickly here,” Bell said.

The project will cost about $1 million and will go out to bid soon. He expects a contract to be awarded sometime in January or February, with the project starting at the end of March.

Beach Renourishment

At the end of 2026, the ACOE is scheduled for a $20 million beach renourishment on the main part of the beach, between the north and south groins, pumping in 1.2 million cubic yards of sand.

Since 1974, the process of pumping sand from another site on Tybee’s beach has happened periodically to reinforce the coastline. The last nourishment dumped 1.3 million cubic yards of sand onto the beach between November 2019 and January 2020. In five years, a consultant with the city estimated in January this year that Tybee Island lost about 30% of the beach through natural erosions or storms.

“We obviously need it really badly right now,” Bell said. “We’ve just have had significant erosion over the past year and a lot this fall. We’ve had to close off two crossovers.”

Rome City Commissioners adopted an FY 2026 budget, according to WRGA News.

The general fund is a balanced budget with the use of a fund balance of $3.9 and an increase in operational expenses of around 7.4 percent.

The budgets do include a reduction of the city’s funding for the Rome-Floyd County Development Authority, according to Rome City Manager Sammy Rich.

“We did revise the request from the Rome-Floyd County Development Authority of $150,000; we have reduced that by $75,000. That is the only substantive change we’ve had in the draft as we have gone through the process.”

The vote to approve was not unanimous, with commissioners Mark Cochran and Elaina Beeman voting “no.”

Savannah is considering placing emergency call boxes after an acid attack, according to WTOC.

A renewed push for emergency call boxes in Savannah’s walkable areas has gained momentum following last week’s acid attack in Forsyth Park.

Kristen Lacy, a Savannah native who began advocating for safety call boxes in September, said the recent attack reinforces her belief that the devices are a necessary investment for public safety.

“Now more than ever it’s kinda my mission to push this innovation,” Lacy said.

Lacy was originally inspired to advocate for call boxes after acts of violence including the murder of Laken Riley, who was jogging around the University of Georgia campus. The recent acid attack has intensified her efforts.

“This isn’t something we should put on the back burner, it is something that needs to be executed immediately,” Lacy said.

According to the City of Savannah, the Police Department received a SCAD Community Fund Grant in March that has been allocated to purchase 22 blue public safety call boxes.

A good step, but Lacey says she can’t help but feel as if they were already installed, that it could have made a difference.

Alderman Detric Leggett, who represents much of the historic district, said emergency call boxes are next on the city’s list. He stressed the importance of being proactive rather than reactive.

“We are already starting to put them in place and to think that the blue light is going to have a good effect because regardless of where you are you will have a place you can go to get help,” Leggett said.

The Albany City Commission is considering a rezoning for a battery storage facility, according to the Albany Herald.

Dougherty County’s role in clean energy could get a fresh charge with a proposed battery storage system that would be located at the site of a Moultrie Road solar farm.

During the discussion, Commissioner Anthony Jones, in whose District 6 the battery energy storage system (BESS) would be located a few miles east of Albany, said that his earlier reservations had been settled.

Jones had expressed concern about the potential of noise from the storage facility disturbing nearby residents. His concerns were allayed by discussing the issue with Angel Gray, deputy director of the Albany-Dougherty Planning Services.

“Farmland is very important to me,” Jones, a former University of Georgia Extension Service agent who worked in the county, said. “We talked about putting in a provision, so at the 20-year decommission we want to restore the land back to its agricultural status when they leave.”

Another concern was “What’s the county going to get out of it?” the commissioner said.

According to Bartley Higgins, representing Mission Clean Energy, property tax revenues over the 20-year life of the BESS to the county and Dougherty County School Board would be between $31 million and $40 million.

Additionally, during construction of the Plumleaf Solar Project, the county would receive sales taxes on local purchases.

Construction would start in 2027 or 2028 if approved by the commission, he said.

Battery storage facilities allow for the storage of energy for use during peak demand times, reducing the cost for consumers, Higgins said.

The Albany-Dougherty Planning Commission recommended approval of the project in a 7-0 vote, with a stipulation that the company build a deceleration lane on the Liberty Expressway at the access point for the project.

The loss of agricultural land was a concern for Commissioner Russell Gray. The agricultural land dedicated to the solar facility is land that is not being planted in peanuts or used for pecan trees, he said.

“I’ve always been a healthy critic of taking jobs and production out of the county (agriculture),” he said. “As we chip away at our raw materials, we’re really taking away from our opportunities.

“I’m (also) against any tax abatements right now. I don’t think that’s in our best interest. I would like to know more about the economics of this deal.”

Three data centers have been proposed for Columbia County, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Columbia County now is weighing three separate development proposals that could establish large-scale data centers in the area near Interstate 20 Exit 183 north of Harlem.

Rural Columbia County residents for the past several months have voiced strong public objections to a proposed plan to expand White Oak Business Park off Appling-Harlem Highway to add an 8.1-million-square-foot data center.

Now, two more data center projects are waiting in the queue.

The Columbia County Board of Commissioners voted Dec. 2 to pass a new section of the county’s zoning ordinance specifically to govern data centers. Some residents implied that county leaders had been pursuing the White Oak proposal with developer Trammell Crow for the past several months.