Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for February 18, 2026

On February 19, 1807, Aaron Burr was arrested in the Mississippi Territory, in what is now Alabama. Burr had served as Vice President during the first term of President Thomas Jefferson, leaving the administration after the 1804 election; later Jefferson issued a warrant accusing Burr of treason.

Alexander Stephens, who was born in Crawfordville, Taliaferro County, Georgia, was inaugurated as Vice President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861. Stephens graduated from Franklin College, later known as the University of Georgia, and served in the Georgia legislature. Stephens opposed Georgia’s secession. One year later, Georgia’s delegation to the Confederate Congress, numbering ten members, was sworn in.

Ina Dillard was born on February 18, 1868 in Oglethorpe County Georgia. She married Richard Russell, who served on the Georgia Court of Appeals and as Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Their son, Richard B. Russell, Jr., would be elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served as Speaker and became the youngest Governor of Georgia in the 20th Century. In 1932 he ran for United States Senate and was elected.

In 1936, Russell was elected to his first full term in the Senate over former Governor Eugene Talmadge. In 1952, Russell ran for the Democratic nomination for President and he was an early mentor for Lyndon B. Johnson, who later served as President. Russell served on the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination of President Kennedy.

Russell served as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee for many years. Russell was an acknowledged leader within the Senate, and especially among Southern members, and he led much of the opposition to civil rights legislation and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing the military to remove from military areas any people whose exclusion was “necessary or desirable.” By June 1942, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans had been interned in concentration camps in the western United States. On the same day, the United States War Department announced that a new bomber plant would be built in Marietta, Georgia.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

President Donald Trump will speak in Rome, Georgia tomorrow, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

Trump confirmed the planned trip during remarks Monday, saying the field to replace former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is crowded and that he has yet to settle on a preferred candidate, even though he publicly endorsed Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Clay Fuller earlier this month. Fuller has called the endorsement “the honor of a lifetime.”

During comments about the race, Trump referred to Greene using a derogatory nickname and said many candidates are seeking the seat, adding that whoever he endorses is expected to have a strong advantage. Multiple national outlets have reported slightly varying versions of the remarks, but all indicate Trump suggested he still has a choice to make in the race.

More than a dozen Republicans, three Democrats, a Libertarian and an independent are running in the March 10 special election. Early voting began this week and continues through March 6. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff is scheduled for April 7.

Georgia’s 14th District includes Whitfield and Murray counties along with several other Northwest Georgia communities and is considered a solidly Republican district.

Nine of the candidates for the 14th Congressional District met in a forum yesterday, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

Nine of the 21 certified candidates seeking Georgia’s 14th Congressional District seat outlined their positions on immigration, tariffs, federal spending and the role of Congress in local issues during a weekend forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Dalton Area.

The event, held Saturday at the American Legion in Dalton, drew an estimated 150 attendees. The League of Women Voters confirmed that all certified candidates in the race were invited to participate.

Early voting for the March 10 election is now underway and will continue for three weeks. Under Georgia’s “jungle primary” format, all candidates appear on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and a runoff will be required if no candidate receives a majority of votes.

Under the Gold Dome Today

TBD     Senate Rules: Upon Adj 450 CAP
7:30 AM Senate Appropriations 341 CAP
8 AM HOUSE WAYS & MEANS 406 CLOB
8 AM HOUSE HUMAN REL & AGING 132 CAP
8 AM HOUSE AGRICULTURE & CONS AFF 606 CLOB
8 AM Senate Transportation 450 CAP
8:30 AM HOUSE CREATIVE ARTS & ENT 403 CAP
9 AM HOUSE RULES 341 CAP
10 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD20) House Chamber
10 AM Senate Floor Session (LD 20) Senate Chamber
1 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY 132 CAP
1 PM HOUSE HIGHER ED 606 CLOB
1 PM HOUSE Appropr Sub Human Res 341 CAP
1 PM HOUSE Agriculture & Cons Aff Sub CA 515 CLOB
1 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY JUVENILE 403 CAP
1 PM HOUSE PUB SAFTEY & HOMELAND SEC 506 CLOB
1 PM Senate Public Safety 450 CAP
2 PM HOUSE TECH & INFRA INNOV 406 CLOB
2 PM HOUSE SPECIAL RULES 415 CLOB
2 PM Cancelled- Senate Ag & Cons Aff 307 CLOB
2:30 PM HOUSE HEALTH 403 CAP
3 PM HOUSE GOVTAL AFF 606 CLOB
3 PM Senate Finance MEZZ 1
3:30 PM HOUSE Insurance Sub Life & Health 415 CLOB
4 PM HOUSE Insurance Sub P&C 406 CLOB
4 PM Senate Health & Human Svcs 450 CAP
5 PM Senate State & Local Govt Ops MEZZ 1

The Georgia State Election Board meets today, according to WRDW.

Georgia’s Republican-led State Election Board will meet for the first time on Wednesday since FBI agents raided Fulton County’s election hub last month.

The meeting is set to start at 9 a.m.

On Jan. 28, federal agents showed up unannounced at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operations Center in Union City. They took hundreds of boxes of ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election under a search warrant that claimed “defects” had been detected.

President Donald Trump has long claimed that election fraud caused him to lose the county to Joe Biden. After the raid, he suggested Republicans take over elections in at least 15 places, including Atlanta.

“Go to 2020. Look at the facts that are coming out, rigged, crooked elections. Take a look at Detroit, take a look at Pennsylvania, take a look at Philadelphia, take a look at Atlanta, horrible corruptions on elections, and the federal government should not allow that, the federal government should get involved,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fulton County officials say the move was political retribution, emphasizing that multiple recounts have validated the results. The county has filed a lawsuit seeking the return of the documents.

“Our constitution itself is at stake in this fight,” Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts said. “It’s much bigger than Fulton County, Georgia.”

Republican Steven McNeel was elected to fill the vacancy in State Senate District 18 in yesterday’s Special Runoff Election, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.

Republican Steven McNeel won a runoff for a Macon-area Georgia Senate seat Tuesday, holding off Democrat LeMario Brown, who had sought to flip the district.

Democrats had hoped to gain ground in the Republican-dominated Senate after victories in statewide Public Service Commission elections last November and in a special election for an Athens-area state House seat in December.

But most voters in the conservative-leaning district decided to keep it under Republican control, according to unofficial results. McNeel received nearly 60% of the vote.

McNeel, an attorney who manages a timber farm, will join the state Senate midway through this year’s legislative session, replacing former Sen. John F. Kennedy, who resigned to run for lieutenant governor.

McNeel will represent Senate District 18, which includes Crawford, Monroe, Peach and Upson counties along with parts of Bibb and Houston counties.

Brown, a former Fort Valley councilman and small business owner, had emerged as the leader in the initial election last month, but a runoff was required because none of the candidates received a majority. Brown was the only Democrat in the race, and the other five candidates split the Republican vote.

With McNeel’s victory, Republicans will hold a 32-23 majority in the Senate.

One Senate seat is vacant after former state Sen. Colton Moore resigned to run for the congressional seat previously held by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green. The special election for Green’s former northwest Georgia seat is scheduled for March 10.

From 13WMAZ:

Republican McNeel defeated Democrat LeMario Brown for the seat after the two received the most votes during the Jan. 20 special election.

McNeel celebrated his victory with alongside family and friends in Macon Tuesday night, and says he was campaigning until the polls closed.

McNeel also thanked voters for their support, and emphasized his commitment to the entire district.

“Thank you for your vote and thank you for your trust in me,” McNeel said. “Of course I’ll be representing all the citizens of Senate District 18 and I look forward to listening to their concerns trying to address them.”

McNeel will join the Georgia Senate mid-session, which is set to end in early April. However, the senator-elect says he’s prepared to represent the district well despite a shorter session.

“It’ll be a lot to learn in a short amount of time but hoping to be a fast learner and make Senate District 18 proud,” McNeel said.

McNeel will replace John F. Kennedy, who stepped away from his seat to run for Lieutenant Governor. McNeel’s term runs through the end of the year when the winner of November’s general election will take office.

From 13WMAZ:

In that January contest, Brown, the lone Democratic candidate in the original special election, received 7,946 votes, good for 36.93% of the vote. McNeel, one of five Republican candidates in the original field, received 4,581 votes, or 21.29% of the vote.

Steven McNeel (R): 14,998 votes, or 59.42% of the total vote
LeMario Brown (D): 10,244 votes, or 40.58% of the total vote

McNeel’s campaign reported knocking on 2,000 doors since Jan. 20, with over 700 contacts made in the last week alone thanks to help from volunteers.

“Hopefully, voters will see us in their neighborhood knocking doors with our team,” McNeel said when asked about his plans for the final two days. “We’re not gonna stop. Even with this rain, we should be able to get out this afternoon.”

McNeel said his campaign was focused on cost-of-living concerns, particularly for seniors, people on fixed incomes, and farmers. McNeel cited his background in construction, law, and farming as shaping his views on taxes and regulation.

“If elected and if given the honor to do that, that would be my full intention to further the people’s interest in the Middle Georgia’s values at the Capitol,” McNeel said.

House Bill 1063 by State Rep. Brad Thomas (R-Holly Springs) passed the State House and aims to protect consumers from bearing additional costs related to data centers, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

The Georgia House approved a bill Tuesday that aims to protect residential and retail customers from bearing the costs of data centers, but critics said the legislation won’t do enough.

The proposal is the first of several pending data center bills to pass either the House or Senate during this year’s legislative session.

The measure, House Bill 1063, requires electric utilities and new data centers to agree on contract terms that shield other power customers from costs of data center construction and operation.

“This bill is to ensure no family in the state should ever have to choose between keeping their lights on and keeping food on the table because someone else didn’t pay their fair share,” said state Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs. “Data centers will pay their own way, period.”

The Public Service Commission, which regulates Georgia Power and other electricity providers, adopted similar rules last year, and Thomas said HB 1063 would make those requirements permanent.

State Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, said the bill falls short because it still allows the Public Service Commission to raise electricity rates in response to rising demand from data centers.

“It adds no additional protections for consumers and no cost cutting mechanisms,” said state Rep. Ruwa Romman, D-Duluth. “I want every Georgian to know that this bill will not help with the concerns they brought to us. It simply codifies the status quo.”

The House passed HB 1063 with a 159-5 vote, and it now goes to the state Senate, which is considering its own customer protection proposal. Senate Bill 34 would prohibit costs from data center fuel generation and transmission from being included in residential electricity rates.

Senate Bill 74 by State Sen. Max Burns (R-Sylvania) would make librarians liable to prosecution if naughty books are made available to minors, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

Conservatives and religious advocates have been pushing for years to revoke the librarian exemption from a 1980s obscenity law that makes it a crime to knowingly give a minor a visual, written, or recorded work depicting sex or sexuality in a way that offends the “prevailing standards” of a community.

Now, legislation to strip librarians of their criminal immunity from the law that makes it illegal to give “harmful” books and other content to minors is moving quickly through the Georgia General Assembly, after passing a House committee in a recent partisan vote.

The Senate legislation that passed one of the state House’s judiciary committees Friday would subject librarians in public libraries, schools, and colleges to prosecution for violating that law.

Previously, Senate Bill 74 sought to remove the librarian shield entirely. But amendments added Friday would only take it from librarians who fail to comply with their library or school board decisions concerning complaints about books and other materials.

“If the librarian follows what the governing board says, then that’s it, the end,” said Rep. Soo Hong, R-Lawrenceville, who based her amendment on wording suggested by a West Georgia library director at a previous hearing.

The bill passed 6-5 along party lines, with Democrats opposed.

Critics have long contended that the move to strip librarians of their legal protection is part of a strategy to scrub libraries of books about sexuality and gender orientation. SB 74 relies on a section of state law that includes sexual conduct as content considered to be harmful to minors. The law’s definition of sexual conduct includes “acts of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse….”

Rep. Shea Roberts, D-Atlanta, argued that SB 74, in conjunction with the existing definition, would lead to the banning of books “where two boys are holding hands.”

Rep. Rob Leverett, R-Elberton, disagreed with her interpretation. “It’s talking about sexual contact, contact involving, you know, our privates,” he said.

Leverett also disagreed with Rep. Esther Panitch, D-Sandy Springs, who predicted that the bill, should it become law, would effectively become a book “ban” by encouraging extreme caution among library boards.

They would become “censorship boards,” she said.

“When the choice is between keeping a challenged book on the shelf or exposing your libraries to prosecution, the book will lose every time,” Panitch said, adding that one arrest and mugshot of a librarian who defended a controversial book would cause every library in the state to remove it.

Giving harmful material to a minor is a misdemeanor of “a high and aggravated nature,” punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

Leverett said the legislation was not a ban because it would only require moving certain books to age-restricted parts of libraries.

“That’s a great difference,” he said. “I would agree with you if we were talking about burning them or taking them out of the library altogether.”

At a prior hearing this week, a member of the public commented against the measure by observing that a book for children had been attacked because it named male and female genitalia.

A Republican lawmaker shot back: “Is it the librarian’s responsibility to teach my children what a vagina and a penis is?” The lawmaker, Rep. Charlice Byrd, R-Woodstock, said a parent should decide when to expose their child to such information.

The next stop for SB74 will be the House Rules committee, which gets to decide whether to put the measure to a vote by the full House. The bill has already passed the Senate, in a party-line vote last year, the first year of this biennial session.

Should the House pass it with the new amendments, the Senate would need to agree to the changes before it would move to the governor’s desk.

The main sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Max Burn, R-Sylvania, told the House committee members Friday that he supported their changes.

Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore (R-Cobb County) announced she will not run for reelection, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

A Republican incumbent on the Georgia Public Service Commission announced Tuesday that she will not stand for reelection, just months after two Democrats ejected two GOP incumbents with decisive electoral victories.

Tricia Pridemore, appointed in 2018 and up for reelection this year, announced on social media that she was considering a run for Congress rather than for another term on the agency that regulates monopoly utilities such as Georgia Power.

“This decision comes after deep reflection and with profound gratitude for the honor of serving our great state,” she said in her statement.

Pridemore voted in December with the rest of the five-member PSC to approve a controversial 10 gigawatt expansion for Georgia Power, mostly to serve anticipated demand from data centers.

Among the other four members who voted with Pridemore were Republicans Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson. The pair had lost their seats in November to Democrats Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard, who powered their way to upset victories by channeling frustration over the cost of living.

Both Republicans had voted in recent years to approve a series of utility rate increases that hit voters’ in the pocketbook.

When the two new Democrats succeeded the two outgoing Republicans last month, the GOP was left with a one-vote margin. Pridemore’s decision to stand down, leaves the future balance of power uncertain.

The commissioners must live within their PSC district, but they each stand for election statewide.

Pridemore said she was considering a run for the northwest metro Atlanta U.S. House seat held by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican who recently announced that he will not be running for reelection.

Former Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan spoke about his campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor, according to AccessWDUN.

At the Gainesville Civic Center Tuesday night, Forsyth County resident, former Lieutenant Governor and Republican-turned-Democrat Geoff Duncan fielded a wide array of questions in front of a crowd numbering nearly 200.

Early on, he tackled his switch and the top thought on Democrats’ minds: what changed, and can we trust you?

“There’s a couple of really tough votes I took that really don’t make sense in my mind. They don’t match my faith .. when I didn’t want to expand Medicaid, that doesn’t make sense to me anymore,” Duncan told the crowd.

He also discussed his faith-based approach to his switch.

“Most people wake up with the charge of loving your neighbor. The problem is Republicans have asterisk marks next to that. Your neighbor doesn’t look like you, act like you, love like you, or vote like you you’re not really allowed to love your neighbor,” Duncan said. “I’m a proud Democrat because I have no asterisk marks next to loving my neighbor.”

Duncan also went after current Lt. Gov. and Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Burt Jones, who he says is going to come out of the crowded Republican field in May.

“Donald Trump picked it, his dad gave him $10-million,” Duncan said. “He was a fake elector … I sent him out. I beat him then, I’ll beat him again.”

Duncan is in a crowded field himself on the Democratic side. As it stands, it is a seven-way race between him, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottom, pastor Olu Brown, State Senator Jason Esteves, State Representative Derrick Jackson, former DeKalb County Executive Michael Thurmon, and State Representative Ruwa Romman.

After the event, Duncan was asked if he has talked to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp since both of them pushed back against President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud in 2020.

“I haven’t had any discussions” Duncan said. “I’m disappointed with almost all Republicans that still support Donald Trump.”

The Coastal Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is revising fishing rules for Red Drum, according to The Brunswick News.