On June 17, 1759, Sir Francis Drake claimed California for England.
On June 17, 1775, British forces under General William Howe engaged American colonists at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
On June 17, some 2,200 British forces under the command of Major General William Howe (1729-1814) and Brigadier General Robert Pigot (1720-96) landed on the Charlestown Peninsula then marched to Breed’s Hill. As the British advanced in columns against the Americans, Prescott, in an effort to conserve the Americans’ limited supply of ammunition, reportedly told his men, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” When the Redcoats were within several dozen yards, the Americans let loose with a lethal barrage of musket fire, throwing the British into retreat.
After re-forming their lines, the British attacked again, with much the same result. Prescott’s men were now low on ammunition, though, and when the Redcoats went up the hill for a third time, they reached the redoubts and engaged the Americans in hand-to-hand combat. The outnumbered Americans were forced to retreat. However, by the end of the engagement, the Patriots’ gunfire had cut down some 1,000 enemy troops, with more than 200 killed and more than 800 wounded. More than 100 Americans perished, while more than 300 others were wounded.
A distant ancestor of mine, John Logue, fought with the Americans at Bunker Hill, though he was not yet an enlisted soldier.
British forces under General Sir Henry Clinton left Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 18, 1778 after occupying the former capital for nine months.
President Andrew Johnson appointed John Johnson (no relation) provisional Governor of Georgia after the Civil War on June 17, 1865; John Johnson had opposed secession.
On June 18, 1807, commissioners from Georgia and North Carolina agreed to recognize the 35th parallel as the boundary between the two states. North Carolina conducted a survey that placed the boundary further South than the 35th parallel, though Georgia never accepted the survey and continues to argue that the 35th is the proper boundary against both North Carolina and Tennessee.
The War of 1812 began on June 18, 1812, as President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain passed by the House and Senate.
On June 18, 1873, Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for illegally voting in Rochester, New York. At the conclusion of her trial, the judge read a statement that, “The Fourteenth Amendment gives no right to a woman to vote, and the voting by Miss Anthony was in violation of the law,” and directed the jury to convict her. Anthony responded,
“Yes, your honor, I have many things to say; for in your ordered verdict of guilty, you have trampled underfoot every vital principle of our government,” Anthony said. “My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights, are all alike ignored. Robbed of the fundamental privilege of citizenship, I am degraded from the status of a citizen to that of a subject; and not only myself individually, but all of my sex, are, by your honor’s verdict, doomed to political subjection under this, so-called, form of government.”
The Southern Railway Company was organized on June 18, 1894 and through predecessor railroads traces its heritage to the nation’s first regularly-scheduled railroad service, The Best Friend of Charleston. Samuel Spencer, of Columbus, Georgia, was the first President of the Southern. In the 1980s, the Southern merged with Norfolk & Western Railway to form Norfolk Southern.
France announced its intention to surrender to Germany on June 17, 1940.
Newton Leroy Gingrich was born on June 17, 1943 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Gingrich graduated from college at Emory University, where he founded the Emory College Republicans. Gingrich’s congressional papers are collected in the the Georgia’s Political Heritage Program at West Georgia College, where he taught before being elected to Congress. Also at West Georgia are the papers of former Congressmen Bob Barr, Mac Collins, and Pat Swindall, along with a near-perfect replica of Georgia Speaker Tom Murphy’s office.
Five men were arrested for burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate office and apartment complex in Washington, DC on June 17, 1972.
The affair began with the arrest of five men for breaking and entering into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate complex on June 17, 1972. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) connected cash found on the burglars to a slush fund used by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, the official organization of Nixon’s campaign.
In July 1973, as evidence mounted against the president’s staff, including testimony provided by former staff members in an investigation conducted by the Senate Watergate Committee, it was revealed that President Nixon had a tape-recording system in his offices and he had recorded many conversations.
After a protracted series of bitter court battles, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the president had to hand over the tapes to government investigators; he ultimately complied.
Recordings from these tapes implicated the president, revealing he had attempted to cover up the questionable goings-on that had taken place after the break-in.
Facing near-certain impeachment in the House of Representatives and equally certain conviction by the Senate, Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974. His successor, Gerald Ford, then issued a pardon to him on September 8, 1974.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Under the Gold Dome – Special Session
9 AM HOUSE Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on Youth Exposure to Kratom and Retail Available Substances 415 CLOB
2 PM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD1) House Chamber
2 PM Senate Floor Session (LD 1) Senate Chamber
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
2:30 PM HOUSE HEALTH 403 CAP
From the Associated Press via WRDW:
Georgia is the next Southern state where Republicans are convening to redraw voting districts in ways that could diminish the political power of Black and other nonwhite voters after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted Voting Rights Act provisions that helped shape existing boundaries in racially diverse states.
The General Assembly convenes Wednesday in a special session called by outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp in response to the court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision, which struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as an illegal racial gerrymander.
Kemp, who is in the final months of his second term, deviated from other governors who fast-tracked new congressional maps for the November midterms partly in response to President Donald Trump’s pleas to shore up the party’s chances at maintaining control of Congress. Kemp instead wants Georgia lawmakers to draw districts for the 2028 elections. Yet the governor moved ahead of his Southern counterparts by asking the Republican-controlled Assembly to redraw its own boundaries, as well.
That would make Georgia the first state to apply Callais to its legislature and demonstrate the cascading effect of the high court’s decision across Southern states that have the nation’s highest proportion of Black voters and Black lawmakers.
The issue is especially salient in Georgia, where the Capitol complex includes a statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and sits blocks from where the slain civil rights icon lived, preached and led the movement that yielded the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
Still, neither Kemp nor Republican legislative leaders had unveiled proposed changes as of late Tuesday, frustrating Democrats and activists who plan daily demonstrations throughout the session.
“They have not been transparent,” said state Rep. Tanya Miller, a Black legislator from Atlanta who is the Democratic nominee for attorney general. “Something as fundamental as voters getting to choose their leaders ought not to be done in the dark, ought not happen in back rooms.”
The governor told The Associated Press he wasn’t ready to discuss details.
“I’ll talk about redistricting on Wednesday,” Kemp said as he campaigned for fellow Republicans ahead of Georgia’s primary runoffs that were held Tuesday.
House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, a veteran of earlier redistricting efforts, said the outcome “will be a legislative prerogative” — a notion Kemp aides confirmed. But Jones said that even as a top-ranking Republican on the committee that would consider new maps, she hasn’t “been in any room creating maps.”
Asked directly who is drawing new districts, she replied: “I don’t know.”
Conservative justices gave the green light
Before Callais, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was understood to require maps — for Congress, state legislatures and local legislative bodies — that gave historically marginalized minorities a reasonable chance to select candidates of their choice. Nationally and in Georgia, those so-called “opportunity districts” have disproportionately elected Black and other nonwhite representatives.
For example, about a third of Georgia’s 180 state representatives are Black. Latino, Asian and other minorities bring the total nonwhite share to about 40% — roughly reflecting the state’s overall population. Georgia’s U.S. House delegation has five districts out of 14 total where the electorate is majority or plurality nonwhite. All elected Black Democrats in 2024.
With the Callais ruling, issued earlier this spring, a conservative majority of justices concluded that jurisdictions drawn with racial makeup in mind are discriminatory and violate the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause. The justices declared that apportionment should be “race neutral.”
Their stated reasoning did not hinge on party interests, and federal courts have said partisan gerrymandering is constitutionally permissible. But in Southern states, especially, party loyalty dovetails considerably with race and ethnicity. So the decision has allowed Republicans — a party dominated by white people — to redraw maps to goose likely GOP districts by redistributing nonwhite voters who tend to support Democrats.
That, many civil rights activists and experts argue, makes it impossible for Southern legislatures to be genuinely “race neutral” when drawing boundaries.
Emory University professor Carol Anderson compared Callais and the resulting redistricting push to poll taxes and literacy tests imposed by white Southern conservatives — and blessed by the Supreme Court — during the Jim Crow era.
“They used racially neutral language for policies that were clearly racially targeted,” said Anderson, who is also a board member of Fair Fight Action, a group organizing against the Georgia redistricting.
There are risks for Kemp and Republicans
It’s not guaranteed that Georgia Republicans can get what they want from new maps.
Partisan gerrymandering involves redistributing voters — packing certain citizens into fewer districts or dividing them across more districts. Around metro Atlanta, spreading nonwhite, Democratic-leaning voters across more districts could make more seats seem to lean Republican. The risk, however, is that more battleground districts emerge because white metropolitan voters are trending less conservative, which could give Democratic candidates of any race or ethnicity more chances to win.
That’s perhaps not a major factor in the Georgia state Senate, which already is considered gerrymandered for Republicans. But it could be a consideration when drawing state House and U.S. House maps.
Kemp is effectively asking Republicans, especially in metro Atlanta, to redraw their own boundaries and take on new, unfamiliar territory.
Trump started the fight before the Supreme Court decision
Nationally, a partisan redistricting battle started last year when Trump urged Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional boundaries to shore up the GOP’s narrow House majority in Washington this November. Texas answered the call first.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in Sacramento answered with their own gerrymander that voters later approved. A succession of states followed. The outcome would have been close to even had the Virginia Supreme Court, controlled by conservatives, not struck down new Democratic-drawn maps approved by the state’s voters. All told, Republicans think they could gain as many as 16 seats from their redistricting efforts while Democrats think they could gain six seats from new districts in California and Utah.
That still may not be enough for the GOP to hold a congressional majority, given Trump’s lagging approval ratings. But it could mitigate Democratic gains and set Republicans up well for 2028 and beyond.
Georgia’s special legislative session starts Wednesday, and while partisan fights about redistricting are likely to dominate and attract daily protests, there is one issue that legislators must come to an agreement on: What to do about Georgia’s election system.
The state’s current election equipment uses QR codes to count ballots, but has faced criticism from cybersecurity experts and proponents of hand-marked paper ballots, who say that ballots should be counted based on text that can be deciphered by humans.
Under a state law passed in 2024, QR codes cannot be used to tally election results starting in July, but Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told lawmakers that changing systems would require about $66 million in state funds to purchase new equipment. During both the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions, lawmakers adjourned without appropriating the funds necessary to make the switch.
An alternate proposal that would extend the deadline for new equipment until 2028 was unveiled in March and passed the House on the final day of the 2026 legislative session. However, it didn’t come up for a vote in the Senate this year, leaving a longstanding stalemate over the future of Georgia’s election system unresolved.
The looming deadline to remove the QR code from Georgia’s ballots is what originally opened the door to a special session. But when Gov. Brian Kemp issued his proclamation in May calling for the session, he also raised the stakes when he included redistricting on the agenda in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that diluted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. He has since added additional business, such as local property tax referendums.
Further complicating the ballot issue is an ongoing feud between the secretary of state’s office, which oversees elections throughout the state, and the State Election Board, which is tasked with drafting rules to ensure that elections run smoothly. Earlier this month, the board passed a resolution allowing counties to implement hand-marked paper ballots for the 2026 general election, contradicting guidelines from the secretary of state’s office that counties must continue using Georgia’s current voting machines.
But as legislators prepare to head back into special session, key players appear to be weighing their options still.
Moultrie Republican Sen. Sam Watson, who chairs the Senate committee that handles election-related bills, said in an interview Friday that he hasn’t made up his mind yet about potential solutions.
“Honestly, I really don’t have an opinion at this point,” he said.
But Rep. Victor Anderson, a Cornelia Republican who chairs the House Governmental Affairs Committee, said there is work underway to draft a bill that would appeal to lawmakers in both chambers. Though the eventual goal is to switch to hand-marked paper ballots, he said, that kind of systemic change will likely have to wait until after the midterms.
“We pushed ourselves too tight to this July 1 deadline, too close to the November election, and now to the July 28 special election for conditional Congressional District 13,” he said. “So, there’s very few options that are viable at this point, regardless of what a handful of people are talking about.”
But even within the GOP, there is not necessarily a consensus on what the best move is. Covington Rep. Tim Fleming, who is also the Republican nominee in the race to become the next secretary of state, said he supported activating the state’s emergency backup ballot procedures to ensure that QR codes were not in use during November’s general election.
“I hate that we’re having to come back to special session to solve this, but I believe we have to remove the QR code off of the ballot to come in compliance with SB 189,” Fleming said shortly after the Atlanta Press Club’s runoff debate against fellow Republican Vernon Jones.
Democratic Secretary of State nominee Penny Brown Reynolds has taken the opposite stance, calling on lawmakers to push back the deadline for removing QR codes from Georgia’s ballot.
“Even with full funding, it is not realistic to expect full implementation between July and a November general election without creating significant risk to accuracy, consistency and public confidence,” Brown Reynolds told the Georgia Recorder in May.
Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, an Augusta Democrat, said he wasn’t sure what ideas legislators would be introducing, but agreed that it is likely too late for Georgia to switch voting systems ahead of the general election.
“It’s a difficult transition to make,” Jones said Monday. “It’s going to be less than 180 days until the election, so that just is not feasible.”
House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley called the QR code issue a “manufactured issue,” and said Republicans were the ones who would have to come up with a solution.
“They will have to determine how they want to [solve] the problem that they created,” Hugley said.
Marshall Talley won the runoff election for Macon-Bibb County Water Authority Board for District Two, according to the Macon Telegraph.
Local entrepreneur Marshall Talley was elected Tuesday night to be the MWA’s District 2 commissioner, according to unofficial election results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s website. Talley was up against Ron Lemon, a local chiropractor.
As of 10 p.m., Talley had received 55% of votes, or 1,603 residents; Lemon received 44.86% of votes, or 1,304 residents, according to unofficial election results.
Talley aims to address matters concerning data centers, as they consume a lot of water for cooling. He believes those places will face high temperatures and droughts. He will also maintain a “hard-no stance” to ensure that data center developers are transparent with the public, according to his campaign website.
Billionaire Rick Jackson won the Republican nomination for Governor, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
Entrepreneur Rick Jackson defeated Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the Republican runoff for governor and will compete in November for the state’s top office against Democratic former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Jackson led Jones by several percentage points Tuesday night after all precincts had reported.
Jackson, who founded and leads a health care staffing company, poured more than $101 million of his personal wealth into his campaign.
Jones could not match Jackson’s spending despite his own family’s wealth from a petroleum business.
The two candidates’ campaign ad spending invited an attack from Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr when he was still in the running for the GOP nomination.
“There’s one really rich guy and one guy’s rich daddy that are trying to buy your vote,” he had said.
The week after Carr lost the primary, he threw his support behind Jackson. Carr had garnered nearly 12% of the vote on May 19, double the 6-point lead Jones held over Jackson in that race.
Jackson and Jones Republicans held similar views on major issues, supporting large state income tax cuts and enforcement of federal immigration law. Both appealed to supporters of President Donald Trump, though Trump had endorsed Jones, even phoning into a “tele-rally” for Jones last week after a previous such call ahead of the primary.
On Sunday, Gov. Brian Kemp, who had previously remained neutral, joined the fray in favor of Jones, issuing an endorsement Sunday night, less than two days before polls opened.
It wasn’t enough to boost Jones into the lead.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, congratulated Jackson, saying that if he wins in November he will lower taxes, while supporting law enforcement and business growth with “commonsense conservative leadership that will deliver results for Georgia families.”
But Charlie Bailey, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, called Jackson “an out-of-touch billionaire who doesn’t even pretend to care about the issues facing Georgians.”
Jones’ defeat came a day before he was to preside over the Senate during a special session, with lawmakers returning to the Capitol to decide how the general election in November will be conducted.
Kemp called the session to begin Wednesday, asking lawmakers to establish new voting procedures after they voted to phase out the current QR-code system effective July 1. Kemp then issued a revised proclamation asking lawmakers to consider redistricting after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s protections against electoral maps that dilute minority voting strength.
From the Savannah Morning News:
Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and Democratic nominee for Georgia governor, reacted to healthcare CEO Rick Jackson’s win in the Republican gubernatorial primary runoff Tuesday night.
“Rick Jackson is focused on enriching himself as Georgians are losing their health care coverage and are forced to pay soaring costs. Jackson has made more than a billion dollars off of a no-bid state contract for his health care company, but he opposes Medicaid expansion to lower the cost of health care,” Bottoms said in a statement Tuesday night. “Georgians deserve a governor who is focused on ensuring they have every opportunity to thrive and who will fight for them when Donald Trump’s reckless policies hurt Georgia – that’s what I will do as governor. I will get to work to lower costs, expand Medicaid, and invest in Georgians’ education.”
From Atlanta News First via WTVM:
Jones and Jackson finished first and second, respectively, in last month’s GOP governor’s primary, but neither man was able to secure enough votes to win that election outright.
On Tuesday, Jones lost the runoff despite the endorsements of President Donald Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp, two men whose political differences stem all the way back to Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
Jackson opened an early lead over Jones in the first minutes of Tuesday night’s election results, and never relinquished his lead.
Jackson – the founder and CEO of Jackson Healthcare – announced his campaign in February with a $50 million seed of his own money, which included a $40 million ad buy.
Since then, both he and Jones – himself a millionaire whose wealth is generally attributed to his family’s real estate and other ventures – spent tens of millions of dollars in what has become one of Georgia’s most expensive gubernatorial races in history.
The campaign to succeed outgoing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also drew Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr, who finished third and fourth, respectively.
Now Jackson turns his campaign’s attention to Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the one-term Atlanta mayor and former Biden White House official who won her primary outright last month. Bottoms hopes to become the nation’s first Black female governor.
Georgia has not elected a Democrat to the governor’s mansion this century.
Jackson won the Republican nomination after defeating former Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, securing just over 53% of the statewide vote in a closely watched primary.
The race drew national attention as a test of competing political influence within the Republican Party, with former President Donald Trump backing Jones and Governor Brian Kemp supporting Jackson in the final stretch of the campaign. Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive who largely self-funded his bid, positioned himself as an outsider to politics.
Following the results, Jones thanked supporters and reflected on his time in public service, “The sun will come out tomorrow…and you can be rest assured that there is a life after politics. I enjoyed my time as Lt. Governor. I’ve enjoyed the time I was in the State Senate,” said Jones. “I have truly enjoyed serving the people of Georgia. You know, public service is a calling.”
Jackson emphasized his business background and outsider status, saying voters responded to his experience outside of traditional politics. “People resonate with the fact that I am not a politician, that I have struggled, and I know how to do that,” said Jones. “My promise to our kids and people growing up in Georgia on both sides of the aisle is that I am going to show them how they can be successful.”
Local results underscored deep regional divisions across coastal Georgia. Jones narrowly carried Chatham County by about 250 votes and also won Glynn, McIntosh, and Wayne counties. Jackson performed strongly in Bryan, Effingham, Liberty, Bulloch, and Screven counties.
Several counties were decided by extremely narrow margins. Jones won Long County by just 16 votes, while Jackson led Evans County by only 14 votes, highlighting how closely contested the race was across the region.
The results reflect Georgia’s continued pattern of tight statewide elections, where coastal and suburban counties often play a decisive role in outcomes.
Political observers say the upcoming governor’s race is expected to be one of the most closely watched contests in the country this fall. With Jackson facing Keisha Lance Bottoms in November, both campaigns are expected to focus heavily on competitive regions across the state, including coastal Georgia, where recent voting patterns show a sharply divided electorate.
United States Rep. Mike Collins (R-Jackson) won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins defeated political newcomer Derek Dooley in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate and will face incumbent Jon Ossoff in November.
The second-term congressman from Jackson held more than a 10 percentage point margin over Dooley after nearly all precincts had reported Tuesday.
Collins thanked Dooley for running a “spirited” campaign and said it was time for their party to unite.
“Republicans have robust primaries — sometimes with strong disagreements — but now we stand united around one mission: defeating Jon Ossoff in November and returning this Senate seat to the people of Georgia,” Collins said.
He benefited from a last-minute endorsement from President Donald Trump, who posted his support on social media after midnight Sunday.
Dooley, a former football coach and the son of legendary Bulldogs leader Vince Dooley, had entered the race with the backing of Gov. Brian Kemp last summer.
Despite his relationship with the popular Republican governor, Dooley had promoted himself as a political outsider, pledging in a debate in May to leave the Senate after serving two six-year terms. Congress had failed to adequately support Trump, he argued, in an effort to appeal to the president’s supporters and undermine incumbents such as Collins.
But Collins pointed to the passage of his Laken Riley Act, signed into law by Trump in January 2025 as the first bill of his second term. The legislation was a reaction to the murder of a University of Georgia student, and it aligned with the president’s immigration enforcement policies.
Collins, a trucking company owner who represents Georgia’s 10th Congressional District east of Atlanta, emerged from the May 19 primary with a 10 percentage point lead over Dooley in their three-way race with U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter.
Trump threw his support behind Collins late in the race.
In a 12:56 a.m. post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said Collins had been a loyal supporter, and he criticized Dooley as not only a political outsider but also as someone who “has lived outside of Georgia for most of his life.” Trump also criticized Dooley for once saying that Trump had lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
Less than an hour after the Associated Press projected the GOP Senate runoff for Mike Collins, Sen. Jon Ossoff responded with a social media post calling Collins “a notorious bigot.”
“Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate Mike Collins is a notorious bigot, antisemite, and extremist currently under federal investigation for the illegal misuse of tax dollars,” Ossoff wrote on his X account.
But in his victory speech, Collins issued some pointed jabs at Ossoff, setting the stage for a contentious race between incumbent Ossoff and challenger Collins.
Collins was projected as the GOP nominate for senate during the June 16 runoff, beating former football coach Derek Dooley. Ossoff, the Democratic incumbent in November’s general election, has served as Georgia’s senator since 2021.
President Donald Trump endorsed Collins’ bid for senate, praising Collins for his loyalty. Collins called it “encouraging” to have the president’s approval.
“I’ve always said that President Trump has this impeccable ability to put his thumb on the scale at the right time,” Collins said at a campaign stop Sunday in North Atlanta.
Ossoff added the following in his social media post.
“Collins, who is only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman, voted to double health insurance premiums for more than a million Georgians, for the Iran War, and for the Trump tariffs,” Ossoff wrote.
Collins, during his victory speech, criticized several of the bills Ossoff has backed during his time as senator, touching on topics such as transgender athletes in sports, immigrant rights and taxes.
“We’re going to win this race because we have the hard-working people of Georgia on our side,” Collins said at the end of his speech.
The jabs just moments after Collins secured the nomination previews the likely contentious electoral fight between Collins and Ossoff.
The race for Senate is expected to be a highly-watched race, seen as one of the most vulnerable senate seats in the country.
The general election is set for Nov. 3.
Mike Collins won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Statewide, Collins received 55.96% of the vote to Derek Dooley’s 44.04%.
Locally, Collins’ lead was even stronger, with 2,174 votes (69.15%) to Dooley’s 970 (30.85%).
Across the state, businessman Rick Jackson defeated Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the Republican race for governor. Jackson received 52.69% of the vote to Jones’ 47.31%.
Locally, the difference was nearly the same. Jackson received 1,675 votes (52.07%) to Jones’s 1,542 (47.93%).
Both parties had runoffs in the lieutenant governor race.
Among Republicans, Greg Dolezal overcame John F. Kennedy with 54.19% of the vote, to Kennedy’s 45.81%.
Locally, Kennedy led with 1,692 votes (54.21%) to Dolezal’s 1,429 (45.79%).
The winner will face Josh McLaurin, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday.
Statewide, McLaurin received 54.84% of the vote to Nabilah Parkes’ 45.16%.
Locally, McLaurin received 300 votes (55.87%) to Parkes’ 237 (44.13%).
The secretary of state’s race also featured two runoffs.
Among Republicans, Tim Fleming won with 64.51% of the votes to Vernon Jones’ 35.49%.
Locally, Fleming received 1,729 votes (58.71%) to Jones’ 1,216 (41.29%).
The winner will face Penny Brown Reynolds, who received 63.45% of the vote to Dana Barrett’s 36.55%.
Locally, Reynolds received 352 votes (65.19%) to Barrett’s 188 (34.81%).
Incumbent Superintendent Richard Woods narrowly won his party’s nomination.
Woods received 51.48% of the vote to Fred “Bubba” Longrear’s 48.52%. Locally, Woods led 2,049 votes (65.99%) to Longrear’s 1,056 (34.01%).
The winner will face Lydia Powell, who won the Democratic Party nomination on May 19.
Republican voters chose Josh Tolbert for the District 5 Public Service Commission nomination.
Tolbert received 59.72% of the vote compared to Bobby Mehan’s 40.28%.
Locally, Tolbert led with 1,679 votes (59.77%) to Mehan’s 1,130 (40.23%).
Tolbert will face Shelia Edwards, who won the Democratic nomination May 19.
Locally, Collins’ lead was even stronger, with 2,476 votes (77.91%) to Dooley’s 702 (22.09%).
Across the state, businessman Rick Jackson defeated Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the Republican race for governor. Jackson received 52.69% of the vote to Jones’ 47.31%.
Locally, the positions were swapped. Jones received 2,085 votes (64.73%) to Jackson’s 1,136 (35.27%).
Among Republicans, Greg Dolezal overcame John F. Kennedy with 54.19% of the vote, to Kennedy’s 45.81%.
Locally, Kennedy led with 1,770 votes (56.10%) to Dolezal’s 1,385 (43.90%).
The winner will face Josh McLaurin, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday.
Statewide, McLaurin received 54.84% of the vote to Nabilah Parkes’ 45.16%.
Locally, McLaurin received 260 votes (64.04%) to Parkes’ 146 (35.96%).
Both parties nominated State Senators for Lieutenant Governor, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.
Two current state senators defeated two former state senators in the Georgia runoff for lieutenant governor Tuesday, with Sens. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, and Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, set to face each other in the November general election.
Dolezal defeated John F. Kennedy of Macon, who resigned from the Senate in December to focus on his campaign for the GOP nomination. McLaurin defeated Nabilah Parkes of Gwinnett County, who resigned from the Senate for the same reason in March.
Dolezal campaigned as an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, noting he was among a handful of senators who called for a special legislative session to investigate Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
McLaurin campaigned as a foil of Trump loyalists and as a skilled legislator, saying he could work effectively across party lines while ridiculing his Republican colleagues for their support of the president.
Whoever wins in November will lead the state Senate and fill in for the governor when necessary.
Voters in both parties also chose nominees for secretary of state.
Republicans picked state Rep. Tim Fleming, R-Covington, over Vernon Jones, a former Democratic lawmaker and DeKalb County CEO who switched parties. Fleming won with nearly two-thirds of the vote.
Democrats chose former Fulton County State Court Judge Penny Brown Reynolds over Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett by a similarly wide margin.
The winner of the general election will oversee elections and business registrations and licensing.
Engineer Josh Tolbert defeated businessman Bobby Mehan in the Republican runoff for Public Service Commission District 5, another statewide race. Tolbert campaigned on technical expertise, saying his engineering background would help the five-member commission rein in electricity costs.
In November, Tolbert, of Bremen, will face Democrat Shelia Edwards of Cobb County, who won her party’s primary outright in May.
Democrats also chose nominees for two statewide commissioner posts.
Nikki Porcher defeated Michelle Michi Sanchez for labor commissioner and will challenge Republican incumbent Bárbara Rivera Holmes in the general election.
Democrats also chose Keisha Sean Waites over DeAndre Mathis to challenge Republican John King for insurance commissioner.
The last statewide race on the ballot was close as Fred “Bubba” Longgrear tried to deny incumbent Richard Woods the Republican nomination for state school superintendent.
Woods held a narrow lead in his effort to advance to the general election and defend his seat against Democratic challenger Lydia Powell.
Republican Josh Tolbert was nominated for Public Service Commission District 5, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Josh Tolbert won the Republican District 5 Georgia Public Service Commission runoff Tuesday, defeating Bobby Mehan 59% to 40.2%.
Tolbert received 349,208 votes, and Mehan received 235,588 votes.
On May 19 primary election day, Tolbert received the most votes, but it wasn’t a majority, so a runoff was required against Bobby Mehan, who finished second with 241,379 votes. The Republican primary winner will face the Democratic District 5 primary winner Sheila Edwards, who won with 556,377 votes May 19. Together, the two Republicans got just over the same amount as one Democrat at 584,796.
The Georgia Public Service Commission regulates telecom and utility companies. Last December, the five-seat commission approved a 10 gigawatt power request from energy giant Georgia Power — one of the largest energy expansion requests in the country that would be powered mostly by gas.
Since 2006, all five commissioners have been Republican, permitting resource plans that have at times increased utility rates and continue to expand gas and coal power, with some support for solar and battery clean energy. This occurred at staggering rates during the past several years with much attention given by the public during the 2022, 2023 and 2025 Integrated Resource Plan.
But in November, two Democrats won seats in an unprecedented win: Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard. In December, Tricia Pridemore, Republican commissioner for District 5, announced she wasn’t seeking reelection. That seat will now be filled by either Tolbert, who will run against Edwards, winner of the Democratic primary, creating a Democratic or a Republican majority on the commission.
Democrat Tony Kozycki won his party’s nomination in the Seventh Congressional District, according to AccessWDUN.
Tony Kozycki will be the Democratic nominee to run against Incumbent Republican Rich McCormick in November.
The race was in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, which covers west Hall, Dawson, Forsyth, and Lumpkin Counties, as well as parts of Cherokee and Fulton Counties.
He ran against union camera technician Case Norton in the runoff after a crowded May 19 primary featuring four candidates.
“We are so excited for the energy here, excited to take this fight to Rich McCormick in November. I think this district is very hungry for some new leadership, some leadership grounded in the people here,” Kozycki said on WDUN’s election night show.
Kozycki was asked what sets him apart from McCormick.
“Leadership that really is grounded in some morality here is what we’re looking to bring … that’s willing to bring people from both sides of the aisle together and have conversations to solve actual problems for the people here in our district,” Kozycki added. “We’re getting started tonight. There’s no slowing down. This train is going straight through every single day, me and my team are flying up to D.C. in two weeks.”
Kozycki has roughly 71% of the vote with 35% of the vote in as of 8:30 p.m.
State Rep. Will Wade (R-Dawsonville) won the runoff election for Senate District 51, according to AccessWDUN.
Will Wade defeated Phillip Milam to win the Republican nomination.
According to unofficial results, Wade received 16,700 votes, or 61.61%, while Milam received 10,405 votes, or 38.39%.
The winner of the runoff advances to the November general election.
State Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-Duluth) won the Democratic runoff for State Senate District 7, according to AccessWDUN.
Current State House Representative Ruwa Romman (D-Duluth) has won the Democratic Primary Runoff for State Senate District 7.
Romman advanced to a runoff after a three-way primary in May, facing civil rights attorney Rahul Garabadu after neither cracked 50% then.
“We are ecstatic and extremely proud of the race that we won, even though we were outraised and outspent. This was a moment where the many beat the money,” Romman told Access North Georgia on runoff night.
She made waves in 2022, becoming the first Muslim woman and Palestinian-American elected to the state legislature.
Now, she is one step closer to becoming the first Palestinian-American in the State Senate.
“When you’re the only or the first, it’s a huge responsibility, but the hope is that I’m not the last,” Romman told Access North Georgia. “It’s so important for us to be able to show people that … everybody has an opportunity to be in these roles and see themselves in these seats.”
Romman currently has roughly 60% of the vote with 88% of votes counted as of 10:30 p.m. for the State Senate term running from 2027 to 2029.
Democrat Adrienne White won the election to fill the remainder of former State Sen. Nabilah Parkes’s term, according to AccessWDUN.
Democrats had an early voting scare in a crucial Gwinnett County State Senate District ahead of Wednesday’s redistricting special session.
Democrat Adrienne White will fill out Nabilah Parkes’ unexpired term in State Senate District 7, covering parts of Lawrenceville to Norcross after Tuesday’s win by 374 votes over Republican Aizaz Shaikh.
Following the narrow 51-49% margin, White told Access North Georgia Wednesday morning she is on the way to Atlanta.
“The Democratic Party of Georgia, the Gwinnett Democratic Party, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Senator [Jon] Ossoff, Senator [Raphael] Warnock, Stacey Abrams came in before all this,” White said. “I had this tiny little campaign, did not expect to be up against billionaire and millionaire dollars turning out GOP voters.”
State House Representative for District 97 Ruwa Romman (D-Duluth) won the Democratic nomination for State Senate District 7, and White said she assisted in canvassing as well.
“We had been basically trying to raise the alarm about this district for a while, and when we started to see some of the early vote numbers, my team and I sat down and we decided, ‘you know what, we’re going to actually triple our field program,'” Romman told Access North Georgia. “Our team knocked 9,455 doors, almost half of that was just since Wednesday, we had literally thousands of conversations.”
White did not seek the full term, which will be determined in November between Romman and Shaikh.
Amanda Hollowell won the Democratic nomination for the First Congressional District, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Amanda Hollowell will be the Democratic nominee in the race for Coastal Georgia’s U.S. House seat after defeating Joyce Marie Griggs in the party’s runoff Tuesday night.
Hollowell won with 53% of the unofficial vote count Tuesday after being the second-highest vote getter in May’s primary, where she came in second behind Griggs. Hollowell will go on to face Republican nominee Jim Kingston, son of a former seat holder Jack Kingston, in Nov. 3’s general election.
Georgia’s First Congressional District is open for the first time in about 10 years after long-time seat holder Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons) opted to run for U.S. Senate. Carter lost his senate bid in May’s primary, falling short of U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and Derek Dooley who advanced to a runoff. Collins earned the Republican nomination Tuesday night.
Kingston emerged as the Republican nominee for Georgia’s first congressional district outright in May despite a similarly crowded primary, one that fielded seven candidates. Kingston won alongside an endorsement from President Donald Trump, defeating second-place vote getter and longtime Chatham County Commissioner Pat Farrell.
Hollowell will look to win the seat for Democrats in what has historically been a reliably Republican district. Carter won the post with 62% of the vote in 2024 and with 59% in 2022.
Mo Ivory won the Democratic Runoff for Fulton County Commission Chair against incumbent Robb Pitts, according to the AJC.
Ivory captured about 66% of the votes, according to unofficial results. Pitts has been a fixture in local politics for more than 40 years, serving on the Atlanta City Council and as city council president before winning seats on the Fulton County Commission.
Republican Challenger Dr. Ted Redman won the Runoff Election for Bulloch County Commission according to the Statesboro Herald.
Dr. Ted Redman, who said he decided to run after the property tax on his home doubled, defeated incumbent Commissioner Toby Conner for Seat 2-B on the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners in the party runoffs that concluded Tuesday. Redman received 2,884 votes to 2,268 for Conner among Republican-ballot voters in their district.
Technically that makes Redman the Republican nominee, but with no Democratic Party candidate in the race, he is in effect the commissioner-elect to replace Conner in January. Redman’s share was almost 56% to Conner’s 44% of the 5,152 votes actually cast and counted, where Republican ballot turnout was about 14.7% of the 36,432 registered voters in District 2, which is the multi-seat, white-majority district containing roughly two-thirds of Bulloch County’s population.
Republican Challenger Kerry Osborne won the nomination for Monroe County Commission District 4, according to 13WMAZ.
An incumbent member of the Monroe County Commission has been unseated.
Kerry Osborne won the runoff election for Monroe County’s District 4 County Commission seat, unseating incumbent Al Turner.
Osborne finished second in the three-way race during the May 19 election, but headed to a runoff because neither he nor Turner secured a majority of the votes.
In the June 16 runoff, Osborne received 639 votes (52.48%), narrowly overcoming Turner’s 588 (47.92%) votes.
Turner was elected to the District 4 Post in 2024, after the resignation of former county commissioner George Emami, who stepped down on Nov. 4, 2024.
He was elected by a 53% to 47% margin over challenger Mark D’Agostino in a special runoff election on Dec. 3, 2024. D’Agostino also ran in the May election this year, but did not receive enough votes to qualify for the runoff.
Osborne’s top priorities, he said in a May interview with 13WMAZ, are eliminating property taxes for senior citizens and securing an independent water supply for Monroe County, which currently purchases water from Bibb County and other sources.
“I put in a lot of time and effort, and I want to help Monroe County,” he said.
While the commission seat is a partisan race, no democrats ran in the election. That means Osborne will be unopposed on the ballot during the November general election.
Steven Kendrick won the Runoff Election for Mayor of Augusta, according to WJBF.
Steven Kendrick has won Augusta’s mayoral race, according to election results Tuesday.
With 65 of 65 precincts fully reporting, Kendrick, now mayor-elect, earned 54.27 percent of the vote, obtaining 14,651 votes.
Garnett Johnson, the incumbent, received 45.73 percent of the vote.
Overall voter turnout for the race was just over 20 percent.
Kendrick will take office in January.
Kendrick won the runoff Tuesday night with 54.3% of the votes (14,651) vs. 45.7% (12,347) for Johnson.
Meanwhile in the race for Augusta Commission District 8, Evett Williams defeated Michael Cioffi. Williams got 52.6% of the votes (2,174), while Cioffi got 47.4% (1,958).
Four years ago, Johnson was an outsider, while Kendrick was part of the system, having served as Richmond County tax commissioner. Johnson prevailed in that runoff.
This time, Kendrick was the outsider and Johnson was the insider.
Kendrick said voters were looking for change in Augusta.
“I just wanna make sure people know there’s an opportunity for change to happen in Augusta. That change exists with Steven Kendrick, and we have an opportunity to make some great strides,” Kendrick said.
He said voters have become more sophisticated in their expectations since the 2022 race.
“Four years ago, we were a candidate that was expected to win, and the people were looking for change, but it doesn’t seem as though many feel like they got that,” Kendrick said.
In the Republican runoff for the District 1 seat on Columbia County’s Board of Commissioners, Alex Griffin beat Bobby Timmerman, 2,778 votes to 1,875 (59.7% to 40.2%).
In the nonpartisan runoff for the District 2 seat on the Columbia County Board of Education, Tiffany Heitzman drew 2,768 votes (60.7%) over Deborah Williams’ 1,790 (39.2%).
In the Georgia governor’s Republican runoff, Richmond County voted for billionaire health-care executive Rick Jackson with 4,284 votes (53.67%) over Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones with 3,698 votes (46.33%). In Columbia County, Jones got 51.1% of the vote with 7,283 votes over Jackson’s 48.8% with 6,959 votes.
In the Republican runoff to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate, Richmond County chose U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, 4,379 votes or 55.91%, over former football coach Derek Dooley, 3,453 or 44.09%. In Columbia County, Collins’ 63.2% of the vote, 8,913, beat Dooley’s 36.7%, 5,171. Collins will face Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in the November general election.
Former Columbus City Manager Isaiah Hugley was elected Mayor of Columbus, according to WTVM.
Former city manager Isaiah Hugley won the Columbus mayoral runoff election Tuesday, defeating City Council member Joanne Cogle to become the city’s first elected Black mayor.
Hugley received 16,309 votes to Cogle’s 15,312 votes, a margin of 51.58% to 48.42%. The race drew 31,621 total votes with a turnout of 24.88%.
Hugley, who served nearly 20 years as city manager before his termination in May 2025, campaigned on a message of unity and experience. He becomes Columbus’ 71st mayor and will take office in January.
“I’m ready to go to work for the people of Columbus, Georgia,” Hugley said Tuesday night.
Cogle declined to comment Tuesday night and did not concede, saying she is waiting on provisional ballots as well as military and overseas ballots to be counted. Muscogee County Elections Director Nancy Boren said those votes total about 54 ballots.
When the numbers came in, Warehouse 9 erupted. The room was packed with supporters who called themselves “the movement” celebrating a victory months in the making.
“We made history — but we couldn’t do it by ourselves,” a supporter said. “We had other people join in, and it was all about a movement that made history.”
Among those watching history unfold was former Columbus City Councilman Bob Wright, the city’s first African American city councilman.
“To be here long enough to see the first African American mayor — I could not be more pleased,” Wright said. “Not because he’s African American, but also because he’s the best qualified.”
Hugley said he is ready to get to work immediately and wasted no time laying out what that work will look like.
“Citizens of Columbus can expect from me to move forward with civility, dignity, respect — with a plan to ignite this city, with a plan to move this city forward,” Hugley said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do all over this city — with all of the communities and neighborhoods in this city — and I’m ready to get that work done.”
Throughout the campaign, Hugley emphasized his relationships within the community and his track record overseeing major infrastructure projects and economic development efforts during his tenure as city manager.
Hugley used a portion of his victory speech to speak directly to the councilors who voted to fire him as city manager.
“Tonight the people of Columbus delivered what I believe is a mandate,” Hugley said in his victory speech. “. . . Columbus 7 (the councilors who voted to fire him), I’m talking to you. Columbus 7, know that enough is enough. The people are demanding leadership, the people are demanding unity, the people are demanding progress.”
He will be sworn into office in January and succeed Mayor Skip Henderson, who couldn’t run for reelection because city law limits the mayor to two four-year terms.
“I think after 198 years, this is something young African American boys and girls need to see because what they see is what they’ll be,” Hugley told the Ledger-Enquirer. “This is one reason it’s important to me. But most of all, I was a candidate with the leadership experience, proven leadership, and I’m just excited tonight that the people could see that in me, and they elected me to be the 71st mayor of Columbus, Georgia.”
A.J. McClung was considered the first Black mayor of a major Southern city when, as mayor pro tem, he served for 52 1/2 days as interim mayor of Columbus after J.R. Allen died in a plane crash in 1973.
Hugley worked 41 years for the Columbus Consolidated Government, including 20 years as city manager, before a majority of the council fired him after criminal charges were filed against city employees following investigations of the Columbus Finance Department and Columbus Animal Care & Control.
Becca Zajac won the runoff for Columbus City Council District 7, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Dragonfly Trails executive director Becca Zajac won the Columbus Council District 7 race in the 2026 runoff election Tuesday.
The runoff for the 10-member city council’s District 7 seat was between Zajac, who received 45% of the initial round of votes among three candidates May 19, and insurance professional Laketha Ashe, who received 38%.
Councilor Joanne Cogle of District 7 couldn’t run to retain this seat because she decided to run for mayor instead.
Zajac 1,217 (57.79%)
Ashe 889 (42.21%)
The winner will be sworn into office in January for a four-year term.
Challenger Cathy Cook defeated incumbent Columbus District 9 Council member John Anker, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Anker was appointed to the seat in March 2025 in a 6-3 vote, the same day former Councilor Judy Thomas resigned for health reasons.
“Above all, to God alone be the glory,” Cook told the Ledger-Enquirer. “And then a huge amount of gratitude to my team and to the people of Columbus who decided that they would like for me to lead them and represent them and be the voice and advocate for them and for the entire city, no matter what their zip code is.”
The race went to a runoff after no candidate won more than 50% of the vote in the May 19 election. Cook topped the four-person field with 37% of the vote. Anker was in second place with 35% of the vote to qualify for the runoff.
Here are Tuesday night’s latest results from the Muscogee County Elections and Registration Office, representing the early in-person votes, the absentee votes and all 25 precincts on election day, although yet to be certified:
Regular election
Cook 18,674 (59.89%) Anker 12,506 (40.11%)
Special election
Cook 18,780 (60.21%) Anker 12,411 (39.79%)
Both candidates ran in the special election to complete Thomas’ term and the regular election for the District 9 seat. The city charter requires a special election to fill the vacancy because Anker was appointed until a special election could be held and certified.
Dexter Fisher won the runoff for Mayor of Athens-Clarke County, according to Flagpole.
Dexter Fisher came from behind to win the Athens-Clarke County mayor’s race Tuesday, beating the May 19 frontrunner, Tim Denson, 53% to 47%.
Fisher will become Athens’ first Black mayor—a possibility he emphasized in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Commissioner Ovita Thornton narrowly lost her bid for a third term, falling 29 votes short of Tracy Smith in District 9 (northeastern Athens), where turnout was low compared to other parts of the county.
More than twice as many votes were cast in District 5 (northwest Athens), where Craig Topple received 54% to Kimberly Bennett’s 46%, despite the fact that Bennett was endorsed by third-place finisher Zander Mason.
More than 19,000 people voted on Tuesday, an unusually high number for a runoff. Just shy of 25,000 people turned out on May 19.
Neither Fisher nor Denson received an official endorsement from eliminated mayoral candidates LaKeshia Gantt, Mara Zuniga or Sharon Miller, but it was clear that their supporters gravitated toward Fisher. While Denson was successful at getting almost all of his May 19 voters back to the polls, Fisher added more than 3,000 to his vote total compared to four weeks ago. His coalition included Republicans, Black voters and some white Democrats, including commissioners Mike Hamby and Allison Wright, who were on hand at his watch party. Denson, a Democratic socialist who led the first round of voting with 38%, had trouble expanding his base of supporters.
In Hall County Commission District 1, challenger Mark Turner beat incumbent Kathy Cooper, according to AccessDWUN.
Results show Turner received just over 54% of the vote, while Cooper received about 45% of the vote.
There is no Democratic challenger running in the general election for the seat.
In Hall County Commission District 3, Republican Tyler Crawford won, according to AccessWDUN.
Tyler Crawford has received over 59% of the vote. Crawford’s opponent, Shannon Davidson, received about 40% of the vote.
While there is no Democratic challenger in the General Election, former Hall County Planning Commissioner Gina Pilcher is running as an Independent.
Former Flowery Branch City Council Member Joe Anglin won the GOP runoff for Hall County Board of Education At-Large seat, according to AccessWDUN.
Former Flowery Branch City Council Member Joe Anglin has marginally beat Susan Aycock Smith in the Hall County Board of Education At-Large Republican runoff.
With all precincts reporting, Anglin had just over 50.87% of the vote. Susan Smith received 49.13% of the vote.
Anglin will now move on to face Democrat Susan Taylor for the seat in the November 2026 General Election.
Adam Rodes beat the incumbent in the runoff for Forsyth County Commission District 1, according to AccessWDUN.
Voters in Forsyth County selected the winner of the District 1 seat on the Forsyth County Commission in Tuesday’s Republican runoff election.
Adam Rodes defeated Incumbent Kerry M. Hill in the runoff.
According to unofficial results, Rodes received 4,355 votes, or 68.01%, while Hill received 2,048 votes, or 31.99%.
Rodes will go on to face Democrat Vincent Wright in November.
Nathan Davis won the Special Runoff Election for Lumpkin County Commission District 3, according to AccessWDUN.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website, Republican Nathan Davis has won over Republican Randall Chambers with just over 56% of the vote. Chambers received about 43 % of the vote.
Jordan Lee Fincher won the Runoff for White County Board of Education District 4, according to AccessWDUN.
The White County Board of Education District 4 Republican Primary runoff has a winner.
Jordan Lee Fincher has defeated incumbent Linda M. Erbele.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, Fincher received 55% of the vote, while Erbele received just under 45% of the vote.
There is no Democrat running in the November General Election.
United States District Court Judge Eleanor Ross recused herself from an election-related case, according to the Savannah Morning News.
A federal judge who was recently disciplined following a judicial misconduct investigation has recused herself from a lawsuit involving Georgia election records after the U.S. Department of Justice questioned whether her involvement could create the appearance of bias.
Eleanor Ross on June 16 removed herself from a case involving the Georgia voter list, writing that she was stepping aside “out of an abundance of caution” because an objective observer could perceive bias based on her attendance at an event connected to Fani Willis.
The lawsuit was filed by the Justice Department against Brad Raffensperger and seeks access to an unredacted statewide voter list.
Columbus City Council voted to adopt a curfew for teens in the uptown district, according to WTVM.
Columbus City Council approved two ordinances Tuesday morning, passing a 9 p.m. curfew for teens in the uptown district and a technology overlay that adjusts zoning for future tech industries.
The uptown curfew passed in a 7-1 vote and will go into effect 10 days after Mayor Skip Henderson signs the order. The curfew will remain active until the end of September.
Council members said the curfew is part of a crime suppression strategy for the uptown area.
“If Chief Mathis says that he needs a curfew as part of his crime suppression strategy, then implement the curfew when and where he asks for it,” Gregory Foster, a Columbus citizen, said.
Henderson said the uptown district is a predominantly adult area of the city.
“To hang out in an area, and out of 200 businesses, there are only 4 that are open after 9 that don’t sell alcohol,” Henderson said.
Teens violating the curfew will receive a written warning first. A second offense carries a maximum fine of $500, and a third and following offenses carry a maximum fine of $1,000.
“It does not mean these are bad kids, but a few of them may be,” Foster said.
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