Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for February 3, 2026

On February 3, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting.

On February 3, 1887, Congress adopted the Electoral Count Act to clarify how Congress was to count electoral votes.

Electoral vote counting is the oldest activity of the national government and among the oldest questions of constitutional law. It was Congress’s first task when a quorum appeared in the nation’s new legislature on April 6, 1789. It has happened every four years since then. Yet, electoral vote counting remains one of the least understood aspects of our constitutional order.

The Electoral Count Act of 1887 (ECA) lies at the heart of this confusion. In enacting the ECA, Congress drew on lessons learned from its twenty-five previous electoral counts; it sorted through innumerable proposals floated before and after the disastrous presidential election of 1876; and it thrashed out the ECA’s specific provisions over fourteen years of sustained debate. Still, the law invites misinterpretation. The ECA is turgid and repetitious. Its central provisions seem contradictory. Many of its substantive rules are set out in a single sentence that is 275 words long. Proponents of the law admitted it was “not perfect.” Contemporary commentators were less charitable. John Burgess, a leading political scientist in the late nineteenth century, pronounced the law unwise, incomplete, premised on contradictory principles, and expressed in language that was “very confused, almost unintelligible.” At least he thought the law was constitutional; others did not.

Over the nearly 120 years since the ECA’s adoption, the criticisms faded, only to be renewed whenever there was a close presidential election. Our ability to misunderstand the ECA has grown over time. During the 2000 presidential election dispute, politicians, lawyers, commentators, and Supreme Court justices seemed prone to misstate or misinterpret the provisions of the law, even those provisions which were clear to the generation that wrote them. The Supreme Court, for example, mistakenly believed that the Supreme Court of Florida’s erroneous construction of its election code would deny Florida’s electors the ECA’s “safe harbor” protection; Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s hasty submission of his state’s Certificate of Ascertainment was untimely under the Act; and Democratic members of Congress framed their objections to accepting Florida’s electoral vote on the wrong grounds. Even Al Gore, the presidential candidate contesting the election’s outcome, misread the federal deadline for seating Florida’s electors.

Only the United States Congress could so obfuscate a matter as seemingly simple as counting that its Act remained undecipherable for more than one hundred years.

The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified by Delaware on February 3, 1913, giving the Amendment the requisite Constitutional supermajority of three-fourths of the states. The text of the Amendment reads, in its entirety,

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

President Woodrow Wilson died on February 3, 1924 in Washington, DC. Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia (pronounced Stan-ton) and spent most of his youth to age 14 in Augusta, Georgia. Wilson started practicing law in Atlanta, Georgia in 1882, leaving the next year to pursue a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University. His wife, Ellen Louise Axson, was from Savannah, and they married in Rome, Ga in 1885.

On February 3, 1959, a chartered Beechcraft Bonanza carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson crashed near Mason City, Iowa, killing all aboard.

Jimi Hendrix recorded Purple Haze on this date in 1967.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Under the Gold Dome Today

TBD     Senate Rules : Upon Adj 450 CAP
8 AM  HOUSE MOTOR VEHICLES 606 CLOB
8 AM  HOUSE SMALL BUS DEV 506 CLOB
9 AM  HOUSE RULES 341 CAP
10 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD11) House Chamber
10 AM Senate Floor Session (LD 11) Senate Chamber
1 PM   HOUSE Govtal Aff Sub State & Local 415 CLOB
1 PM   HOUSE Ways & Means Sub Comp 406 CLOB
1 PM   HOUSE AGRICULTURE & CONS AFF 506 CLOB
1 PM   Senate Children & Families  450 CAP
1 PM   Senate Retirement  310 CLOB
2 PM   HOUSE PUBLIC & COMM HLTH 606 CLOB
2 PM   HOUSE DEFENSE & VETS AFF 506 CLOB
2 PM   Senate Education & Youth 307 CLOB
3 PM   HOUSE Hong Sub Judiciary Non-Civil 132 CAP
3 PM   Senate Higher Education  307 CLOB
3 PM   Cancelled – Senate Insurance & Labor MEZZ 1
4 PM   Senate Regulated Ind & Utilities 450 CAP

Republican billionaire Rick Jackson announced he will run for Governor, according to the AJC.

Republican health care executive Rick Jackson made a surprise entrance Tuesday into the Georgia race for governor, hoping to jostle the three-candidate GOP contest with a well-funded outsider campaign.

The billionaire said he is financing an initial $40 million fundraising blitz to introduce himself to voters, part of a $50 million overall loan.

“Career politicians are going to do nothing, get rich and keep you in the dark. They always do. But if you’re ready for a real-life conservative who knows how to fight the tough fights and win big for Georgia, I’m Rick Jackson and I’m asking for your vote,” he said in his campaign launch video.

Billing himself as a pro-Donald Trump, straight-shooting outsider with nothing to lose, Jackson is hoping his deep bank account will help him overcome three veteran GOP contenders.

Fulton County will challenge the FBI raid of the elections office, according to the Savannah Morning News.

On Jan. 28, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations executed a search warrant at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operations Center in Union City, southwest of Atlanta.

Fulton County intends to file a motion challenging the legality of the search, according to a statement shared by Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr.

“I’ve asked the county attorney to take any and all steps available to fight this criminal search warrant,” Arrington said. “The search warrant, I believe, is not proper, but I think that there are ways that we can limit it. We want to ask for forensic accounting, we want the documents to stay in the State of Georgia under seal, and we want to do whatever we can to protect voter information.”

Arrington, a practicing attorney, says FBI agents were authorized to copy records under a court order, but they instead took the physical, original ballots. This includes in-person, absentee and provisional ballots, as well as voter rolls.

“They got copies of our voter rolls and all the original ballots,” Arrington said. “Now we cannot verify that we’ve received everything back because there was no chain-of-custody inventory taken at the time the records were seized.”

Four candidates qualified for the Senate District 53 Special Election to fill the vacancy created when the former Senator resigned to run for Congress, according to the Chattanoogan.

Qualifying began Thursday and went through today (Monday) at 1 p.m. The qualifying fee was $400.

Republican candidates are Trion Mayor Lanny Thomas, homemaker and home educator Denise Burns of Chickamauga, and business regional director Blake Elsberry of Walker County.

UTC Communications Professor John Bentley “Jack””Zibluk is running as a Democrat. The Lookout Mountain, Ga., resident ran earlier against state Rep. Mike Cameron.

The Georgia State Senate District 53 seat represents Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, portions of Floyd, and Walker counties.

The special election to fill the Georgia State Senate District 53 seat is Tuesday, March 10. The special election to fill the U.S. House of Representatives District 14 seat is also March 10.

Early voting begins Monday, Feb. 16.

The last day to register to vote and change your name/address for this special election is Monday, Feb. 9.

House Bill 61 by State Rep. Devan Seabaugh (R-Marietta) received a transplant by its author to now include language from another bill. From the AJC:

Marietta Republican state Rep. Devan Seabaugh sponsored legislation last year that would have made it easier for hotel owners to enlist local law enforcement in removing guests, saying the legislation was necessary to combat illegal squatting in hotel rooms.

After it stalled in 2025, Seabaugh folded it into House Bill 61.

At a Public Safety Committee meeting Monday afternoon, Seabaugh described the latest iteration of the bill as a public safety and property rights measure for closing loopholes in a squatting law Gov. Brian Kemp signed in 2024, House Bill 1017.

Seabaugh told the committee that squatters and fraudsters were exploiting loopholes, using fake leases and other tactics to delay law enforcement.

In the case of extended-stay hotels, he argued the bill would allow police officers to quickly remove someone after a hotel owner signed a sworn affidavit, rather than having to go through a drawn-out process in eviction court.

“House Bill 61 is not about eviction reform. It is about addressing situations where no lawful tenancy exists,” Seabaugh said. “A hotel is a temporary living space, even though we do have those extended stays.”

In 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in Efficiency Lodge Inc. v. Neason that in certain circumstances, someone living in an extended-stay hotel could claim a landlord-tenant relationship.

The effect of the ruling was that some hotel owners were de facto landlords and might have to go through eviction court before removing families from rooms.

Housing advocates fear House Bill 61 could effectively reverse those protections.

House Bill 1009 by State Rep. Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corner) wouuld extend the previously-passed ban on personal electronics for primary and middle school students to high school students as well, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

Legislation to ban cellphones in Georgia public high schools is advancing quickly, with a unanimous vote in favor at a first hearing Monday.

The school day ban outlined in House Bill 1009 would take effect in fall 2027, a year after a similar ban for kindergarten through middle school that lawmakers passed last year.

Although the mandatory lower grades ban does not go into effect until next fall, many schools, including some high schools, have voluntary implemented it ahead of schedule.

“The early data shows us that the bill’s been life changing,” Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners, said in an interview after a subcommittee passed his bill on for review by the House Education Committee. “Test scores are up, social interaction is up and fights are down. So it’s been a huge success, and we look forward to building on that success with nine through 12.”

The voluntary early implementation in some schools has given researchers such as Julie Gazmararian an opportunity to measure the impact.

The professor of epidemiology at Emory University was involved in a survey released last month that found 71% of responding Georgia parents wanted the K-8 cellphone ban extended to high schools.

The 29% of parents who opposed a high school ban were mostly concerned about being disconnected from their child during a school emergency, said the survey by the Rollins School of Public Health.

Other surveys have found similar support from teachers and even students.

Gazmararian testified in favor of HB 1009 Monday, telling lawmakers about consistent positive effects, such as reports of fewer disciplinary referrals.

Early data suggests reduced tardiness, too, she said in an interview after the hearing.

“We’re seeing in the cafeteria (that) kids are talking more to each other,” Gazmararian said. “And teachers feel like, in the classrooms, students are more engaged and less disruptive.”

Senate Resolution 563 by State Sen. Randy Roberts (R-Cataula) passed the Senate, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Valdosta Daily Times.

The Republican-controlled Georgia Senate voted along party lines Monday to urge Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to turn over the state’s unredacted voter list — which includes 8 million voters’ personal information — to the Trump administration.

The vote came five days after the FBI seized ballots from the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County, which Democrats called another example of federal interference.

Raffensperger, a Republican running for governor, and Democrats opposed the nonbinding resolution, saying state law protects voters’ Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and full birth dates from disclosure.

The resolution is a symbolic show of support for the U.S. Department of Justice’s nationwide effort to collect voter lists, saying it wants to ensure accurate registration information.

“If we have only valid voters in our system, then what’s there to hide?” said state Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth. “We should share our voter list with valid government entities to make sure there’s nothing wrong with the data.”

Democrats said the resolution undermines public trust in elections ahead of this year’s midterms, blaming President Donald Trump and his Republican supporters in the Senate.

“Here’s the setup to start interfering with Georgia elections,” said state Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson. “He can’t accept losing 2020 like he did. He can’t accept the loss. And now we keep relitigating it, and voters are paying attention.”

Prior to the Senate resolution, the Department of Justice sued Georgia for the statewide voter list last month.

Raffensperger’s office previously provided the DOJ with a public version of Georgia’s voter list that redacted voters’ personal information.

Raffensperger is a candidate for governor in the Republican primary in May against Attorney General Chris Carr and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is supported by most Republican state senators.

Senate Resolution 563 passed on a 31-22 vote after over two hours of debate.

House Bill 383 by State Rep. Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville) would allow high school athletes to receive NIL money, according to Atlanta News First via WTVM.

A bill advancing in the Georgia House of Representatives could significantly change high school sports across the state by allowing student-athletes to earn money from their name, image and likeness (NIL).

House Bill 383, known as the Georgia High School NIL Protection Act, passed unanimously out of the House Education Policy and Innovation Subcommittee on Tuesday. Supporters say the legislation would place guardrails around a system that already exists, while critics warn it could expose young athletes to pressure and exploitation.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Brent Cox, R-Dawsonville, would allow high school athletes to sign endorsement deals while limiting how long those contracts can last. Under the proposal, NIL contracts would automatically end once a student graduates or leaves high school, requiring any future agreements to be renegotiated.

“This is about stopping long-term contracts that follow kids into adulthood without their full understanding,” Cox told lawmakers.

During the hearing, committee members repeatedly acknowledged the growing influence of NIL deals at every level of sports. Committee chairman Scott Hilton described the current landscape as unregulated and potentially harmful.

“I think all of us in this room would agree right now, NIL is kind of the wild, wild west,” Hilton said. “And a lot of students and student-athletes are getting taken advantage of out there.”

Cox said the bill was shaped by stories from college and professional athletes who signed contracts at a young age, only to see agents continue collecting a percentage of their earnings years later. He said the goal is to prevent similar situations for Georgia’s high school athletes.

Financially, NIL opportunities at the high school level remain limited. According to the Georgia High School Association, roughly 100 high school athletes currently have NIL deals. Most agreements involve free gear or modest endorsements, rather than significant payments.

Still, some lawmakers expressed concern that introducing money — even in small amounts — could change the culture of high school sports.

“These are young adults. We’re now talking about 14-year-olds,” said Rep. Phil Olaleye, D-Atlanta. “Anytime we introduce money at magnitudes and scales that these kids and their families have yet to even think about, it could lead to some unintended consequences.”

Nik Erramilli, an attorney who works with high school and college players, told lawmakers that clear rules are essential when minors are involved.

“When this law gets passed, everybody’s going to be on notice,” Erramilli said. “These are the rules in Georgia. Find somebody you trust to help you navigate them.”

Former University of Georgia and NFL running back Keith Marshall also weighed in, arguing that NIL compensation reflects the value athletes already create.

“This isn’t a handout,” Marshall said. “They’re creating real value that everyone benefits from.”

The bill passed out of the subcommittee without opposition. As it moves forward in the legislative process, lawmakers could amend, delay, or narrow the proposal. While Tuesday’s vote was unanimous, the concerns raised during the hearing suggest that the debate around high school NIL deals in Georgia is far from over.

Senate Bill 148 by State Senator Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) would allow a pilot program for outdoor classrooms, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Athens Banner Herald.

Students in Georgia schools could soon have more opportunities to study outdoors instead of inside a classroom.

The state Senate gave final approval Wednesday to a bill that calls for a pilot program that incorporates outdoor learning spaces at K-8 schools chosen by the state Department of Education.

The vote was unanimous, and the bill now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp after it previously passed the House.

“I was able to benefit greatly from an outdoor classroom at North Habersham Middle School,” said state Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia. “Today’s students should also benefit from that same opportunity.”

State Sen. Sheikh Rahman, D-Lawrenceville, said time away from the confines of school buildings will help students.

“Our kids now, they spend so much time on the computer. They don’t go outside,” Rahman said. “The whole idea is getting children to spend more time outside with nature. It’s good for obesity and mental health. There will be a lot of benefits.”

Under Senate Bill 148, the outdoor education pilot program will last at least three school years, and then state legislators will evaluate its impact.

State Senator Brian Strickland (R-McDonough) campaigned for Attorney General in coastal Georgia, according to The Brunswick News.

Georgia’s Secretary of State announced Jason Doss will lead the agency’s investigation into First Liberty, according to Atlanta News First via WRDW.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has appointed a veteran fraud and securities attorney to continue investigating an alleged Ponzi scheme run by a metro Atlanta lender with deep Republican ties.

On Friday, Raffensperger named Jason Doss as investigative agent into First Liberty and Loan, a Newnan, Georgia-based lender suspected of running a $140 million Ponzi scheme and defrauding about 300 investors.

Doss, a former president of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association and a founding board member of its foundation, can subpoena witnesses and documents, take testimony and hold hearings on behalf of this investigation.

“We have been investigating this fraud in conjunction with federal authorities, and what we have uncovered so far is shocking,” said Raffensperger, who is running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in May. “This is a complex investigation, and victims across our state are hurting; they’ve been robbed of their retirement, and their future is uncertain.”

Doss’ appointment comes as GOP legislative leaders want to curb Raffensperger’s efforts to investigate the now-defunct lender that contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservative candidates across multiple states using investor funds.

In mid January, Republicans introduced a bill that would transfer securities and commodities regulations from Raffensperger as the secretary of state to the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.

House Bill 934 is sponsored by GOP state Reps. Noel Williams of Cordele, who chairs the House banking and finance committee; House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration of Mayberry; House Majority Caucus Chair Bruce Williamson of Monroe; Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones of Milton; House Majority Caucus Whip James Burchett of Waycross; and Carter Barrett of Cumming.

Williamson and Barrett also sit on the House banking committee.

Tybee Island seeks funding for beach nourishment, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Beach renourishment is typically funded through a mix of sources: federal, state county and Tybee’s own coffers. The Army Corps of Engineers usually funds 20% of the project, or $12 million of the $20 million total.

“The problem is, it’s supposed to start in December, but it’s not currently funded,” [Mayor Brian] West said. “They are funding a portion of renourishments up and down the coast, but it’s not enough to do all projects, including ours. So we’re hoping to get our fair share of that division.”

Since the 1970s, the process of pumping sand from another site onto Tybee’s beaches has happened periodically to reinforce the coastline and the natural barriers that protect the island community from storms and hurricanes.

As the beach continues to shrink, the nourishment coming up in December is critically important to the Tybean life, property and economy. City Manager Brett Bell said Tybee has probably lost about 50-60% or about 500,000 cubic yards of beach since the last renourishing, which dumped 1.3 million cubic yards of sand on the beach in 2020.

The Skidaway Institute, which the city has hired to do monitoring every quarter, has predications on what will happen without nourishment if the island has to wait another year until December 2027, if it is funded then. The nourishment has a small window for when it can happen to avoid turtle nesting season, so it can only really happen in the wintertime.

“The ocean high tides will come into the dune and past the dune in some areas, and threaten residential and commercial structures,” Bell said. “So, we’ll start seeing some structural flooding from storm surge. We feel like it’s absolutely critical that we move forward with Tybee’s beach nourishment as has been planned for the past six years.”

The project is contingent on allocations from Congress as part of their annual budgeting process. Right now, there’s about $200 million in nourishment requests for this fiscal year across the country, according to Bell. So far, the latest appropriation bill has about $60 million in funding, so all projects are currently at risk right now due to the shortfall.

The City of Statesboro is considering imposing a fire service fee, according to the Statesboro Herald.

The city of Statesboro will host a meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9, in the Council Chambers of City Hall to provide an overview of a fire service fee being considered as a possible future funding mechanism for fire protection services within the city limits.

The public meeting was announced in an email from the city Monday afternoon.

City staff members and a consultant brought City Council a framework at its Jan. 20 meeting for a fee to residents, businesses and nonprofits to fund the Statesboro Fire Department at its current staffing and expected growth and partly offset what would otherwise be a nearly 4-mill projected cost in property taxes.

Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson will deliver his State of the City address Thursday, according to WJBF.

Edward Foster announced he will run for the Macon-Bibb County Commission District 5 seat to be filled in a Special Election on March 17, 2026, according to the Macon Telegraph.

Community advocate and political newcomer Edward Foster announced his campaign for District 5 commissioner January 30, emphasizing community development and equity in his platform.

The District 5 seat came open on Jan. 5, when former District 5 Commissioner Seth Clark announced his resignation to run for lieutenant governor. Clark had served as commissioner since 2021.

Foster will face local mental health advocate Andrea Cooke in an election scheduled for March 17. Early voting will be open between Feb. 23 and March 13.

Traci George announced she will run for the 12th District Congressional seat, according to WRDW.

Traci George announced her candidacy in a Facebook post this week.

Representative Rick Allen currently holds that seat. The Republican who calls Augusta home has held that seat since 2015.

According to Ballotpedia, she is one of six Democrats running for the seat.

Another local woman is also fighting for the same seat. Grovetown City Council member Ceretta Smith announced her candidacy in October.