Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 24, 2026

On March 24, 1824, the Marquis de LaFayette visited Augusta, Georgia.

On this date in 1825, LaFayette, a beloved French hero of the American Revolution, stopped in Augusta on his nationwide tour, and thousands turned out to greet him.

Storekeepers displayed all sorts of LaFayette gear – hats, portraits, souvenirs. An arch was constructed over Broad Street. A platform big enough to hold 600 diners was put up in front of the courthouse on Greene Street.

Governor E.D. Rivers signed a resolution on March 24, 1939, calling for the return of “General” locomotive made famous in the Great Train Chase from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Georgia. It currently resides in The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia. The other locomotive involved in the chase, The Texas, is displayed at the Atlanta Center.

Elvis Presley was inducted into the United States Army on March 24, 1958.

On March 24, 1970, Gov. Lester Maddox signed legislation naming the Largemouth Bass the Official State Fish.

On Saturday, March 24, 1984, five juvenile delinquents disaffected youth reported to detention at Shermer High School.

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Tuesday, March 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . committee work day
Wednesday, March 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 37
Thursday, March 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . committee work day
Friday, March 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 38

Tuesday, March 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . convene for legislative day 39
Thursday, April 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Sine Die) convene for legislative day 40

Tuesday – March 24, 2026

8 AM HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS 341 CAP
8 AM CANCELED: HOUSE SMALL BUS DEV 506 CLOB
8 AM Senate Govt Oversight 307 CLOB
9 AM Senate Banking & Fin Inst 450 CAP
9:30 AM HOUSE JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL 132 CAP
10 AM HOUSE PUB SFTY & HOMELAND SEC 506 CLOB
10 AM HOUSE MOTOR VEHICLES 606 CLOB
10 AM CANCELED: HOUSE ECON DEV & TOURISM 403 CAP
10 AM HOUSE TECH & INFRA  406 CLOB
10 AM Senate Regulated Industries 450 CAP
11 AM HOUSE AGRICULTURE & CONS AFF 606 CLOB
12 PM Senate State & Local Govtl Ops 450 CAP
1 PM HOUSE DEFENSE & VETS AFFAIRS 506 CLOB
1 PM HOUSE WAYS & MEANS 406 CLOB
1 PM Senate Appropriations: HB 1193 Sub MEZZ 1
1 PM Senate Children & Families 450 CAP
1 PM Senate Retirement 310 CLOB
2 PM HOUSE RETIREMENT 406 CLOB
2 PM Senate Education & Youth 307 CLOB
3 PM Senate Higher Education 307 CLOB
3 PM Senate Insurance & Labor MEZZ 1
4 PM Senate Vets, Military, & Homeland Sec 450 CAP
5 PM Senate Ethics 307 CLOB

Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #03.23.26.02, calling a Special Election on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 for Senate District 7, vacated by former Senator Nabilah Islam (D-Duluth), who resigned to run for Insurance Commissioner Lieutenant Governor.

Governor Kemp also issued Executive Order #03.23.26.01, calling a Special Election on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 for House District 177, vacated by former State Rep. Dexter Sharper (D-Valdosta), who resigned.

State Senator Freddie Powell Sims (D-Dawson) will resign, though it’s not clear if she’s leaving the Senate before the end of session, according to the Albany Herald.

Georgia State Sen. Freddie Powell Sims said on Monday that she had decided to resign as she rushed to Albany from Atlanta to deal with a family medical emergency.

The Dawson Democrat represented the 12th District and was a member of several Senate committees.

“I am withdrawing, resigning from the Senate,” she said. “My husband is very, very ill, gravely ill. Family comes first.”

Elected in 2008, Sims would have faced three challengers in the May 19 primary.

The three challengers remaining in the District 12 Democratic primary are: Edward Brown, Corey Morgan and Tracy Taylor.

The district includes all of Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Dougherty, Randolph, Stewart, Terrell, Quitman and Webster counties and also portions of Mitchell and Sumter counties.

Senate Bill 220 by State Sen. Matt Brass (R-Newnan), the “Putting Georgia’s Patients First Act,” would change state rules for medical cannabis and passed both chambers, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

In the 11 years since Georgia’s medical marijuana program started, it has slowly stumbled forward, with patients restricted to low-potency oils.

The Georgia General Assembly gave final approval to a bill Monday that would change that.

The House voted 144-21 to lift Georgia’s limit on THC content in medical marijuana, and to allow registered patients to vape the drug to receive faster relief. Senate Bill 220 now advances to Gov. Brian Kemp.

“These are badly needed improvements,” said Shannon Cloud, whose 20-year-old daughter suffers from seizures and is a registered Georgia medical marijuana patient. “It allows more flexibility for patients and doctors to access what’s really going to work for them, taking away the really tight restrictions.”

Of the 42 states with medical marijuana programs, Georgia’s has the lowest adoption rates, said Gary Long, CEO of Botanical Sciences, which owns five dispensaries across the state.

There are about 34,500 registered patients and 2,200 registered caregivers in Georgia, according to the state Department of Health.

Patients will get quicker relief from vaping rather than ingesting oil tinctures, Long said.

“If you’re a patient who has chronic, intractable pain, you don’t want to wait 45 minutes for those other forms to take effect,” Long said. “This is a medicinal product. This is not a recreational product. This gives the majority of patients a form of the product that provides the quickest relief possible.”

Currently, Georgia’s medical marijuana law allows patients to buy and consume products with up to 5% THC, the compound that gives marijuana users a high. Recreational marijuana, which is illegal in Georgia, can have THC content of 20% or more.

Under SB 220, there would be no THC percentage cap. The name of Georgia’s medical product would be changed from “Low THC Oil” to “medical cannabis.”

Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, said he has “grave concerns” about raising the THC limit and allowing people to get high.

“This is not Low THC Oil to solve the problems of little girls that have serious medical conditions that modern medical science cannot otherwise solve. This is something different,” Setzler said before the 38-14 Senate vote to pass the bill last week. “It’s about getting people high on THC with concentrated THC into their lungs. That’s a very different proposition.”

Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, said the bill will support legitimate patients and prevent a slide toward recreational marijuana legalization that occurred in other states.

“This state does it different. We have put it in medical hands,” Brass said. “We have a tight lock around those qualifying conditions, and we are taking advice from medical experts.”

To qualify for medical cannabis, Georgia patients need approval from a physician to treat conditions including seizure disorders, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, and intractable pain. SB 220 would add lupus to the list and limit treating physicians to those whose principal practice of medicine is located in Georgia.

Georgians for Responsible Marijuana Policy, a group that warns against the risks of marijuana expansion, said increased availability and potency of THC can lead to addiction, impair youth brain development and driving skills, and undermine worker productivity.

“When cannabis use disorder takes root, it does not create freedom — it takes away the ability to choose,” wrote the group’s executive director, Michael Mumper, in a statement at the beginning of this year’s legislative session.

Kemp could sign the bill, allow it to become law without his signature, or veto it.

House Bill 1009 by State Rep. Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners) to ban cellphones in high schools, passed both chambers, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Savannah Morning News.

Cellphones will be banned in Georgia public high schools starting in the 2027-28 school year, if Gov. Brian Kemp signs House Bill 1009 into law.

The state Senate passed the measure unanimously on Monday.

“This is a great, great, win for our students and our classrooms,” said Rep. Scott Hilton, R-Peachtree Corners, the author of the bill.

He has argued that devices are a distraction that can incite disruptions, including fights.

The all-out ban on personal devices would bring Georgia in line with other states that have prohibited personal devices in schools. Those bans tend to be across all grade levels, but an earlier prohibition passed into law in Georgia was only for elementary and middle schools.

That law, established last year, will affect K-8 schools starting this summer. If HB 1009 goes into effect and extends the ban to high schools, current seventh graders will never be able to use a phone in school again after this semester.

A Democrat’s attempt to amend the bill failed on the Senate floor. Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, wanted students to have access to their phones between classes.

Some have jobs, some even have children, the former high school principal said. “I do not believe that we should do a blanket policy that treats 17 year olds like 7 year olds.”

Sen. Shawn Still, R-Suwanee, who presented the bill on the Senate floor, opposed the amendment.

It would have forced teachers to regulate devices when students returned to class, he said, and they didn’t want that responsibility.

There was no debate about crisis communications, an issue that had come up in the House last month before that chamber passed the high school phone ban 145-20.

Some then had expressed concerns about parents being able to talk to, or text with, their children during a crisis, such as the 2024 mass shooting that left four dead at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.

Loved ones had used their devices to share status updates and what they thought might be final messages.

But safety experts have said phones can be a distraction in an emergency, as police and teachers try to lead students through the danger.

If a child listens to a parent’s instruction rather than to a teacher who is relaying instructions from police, the outcome can be catastrophic, Still said after Monday’s vote.

Many Georgia high schools voluntarily banned the devices from their schools ahead of the deadline after Kemp signed the K-8 restrictions into law last year. Some even included high schools in their local bans.

The positive reception among teachers, parents and even some students helped Hilton make the case to expand the statewide prohibition to high schools.

Still, who worked with Hilton on the bill since the summer, said he had heard no pushback from parents or teachers.

“I think the only people that are going to have a hard time with this are the teenagers that have to adjust to life without it,” he said, noting that most adults alive today grew up without cellphones and that adults would “have to kind of reprogram” for a tech-free existence.

From Atlanta News First via WTVM:

“With the governor’s signature, this will make us the 27th state to adopt the full bell-to-bell ban,” Sen. Shawn Still said after the vote.

Sen. Still argued that in an active shooter situation, students focusing on their phones could miss critical directions from teachers or school staff.

“As a parent, I would want the ability to talk to my child, but I also recognize that I want them to be safe far more than I want the ability to reach them in a moment’s notice,” Still said.

From the AJC:

Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta, proposed an amendment to the legislation that would have allowed districts to adopt policies allowing students to use their devices between classes.

“High school students are not elementary school students, are not middle school students,” he said. “We are teaching them to become adults. Many of them have jobs, responsibilities and also children. So I do not believe we should be forcing a 17-year-old, an 18-year-old to have to go out without their phones a whole eight hours.”

The senator pointed to the Fulton County school district, which has adopted a ban on personal devices during instructional periods for high school students. However, students can access electronics between classes. Republicans argued that kind of carve-out could make teachers responsible for policing phone use between classes. Fellow Democrats split on the proposal.

Democratic Sen. Sally Harrell, who co-chaired the legislative Kids Online Safety study committee last fall, said allowing some phone use during the school day could be disruptive.

“What I could see from my own kids when they got smartphones … was that one single text could destroy an evening or destroy a day, and you didn’t know what happened … so that can happen in the hallway, as well,” she said.

Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, said bell-to-bell bans aren’t practical because cellphones have become part of daily life for so many people.

“I can count on two hands the number of people who are on phones right now in this chamber,” she said. “Phones are absolutely just a part of our culture, and for us to just blindly ban them, to give (students) no access, ultimately, I don’t think that it’s realistic.”

Majority Whip Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, said emergency systems were overwhelmed the day of the Apalachee shooting, causing confusion and chaos in the aftermath.

“We saw all the dysfunction that occurred when everybody was calling their parents and everybody was calling 911, and first responders could not get to the school because of all the traffic in the road that were not first responder vehicles,” he said.

Kemp’s amendment failed, but the bill sailed through the Senate without a single dissenting vote. It now awaits the governor’s signature.

Senate Bill 443 by State Sen. Carden Summers (R-Cordele) would enhance criminal penalties for protesters blocking public roads, has passed both chambers, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Valdosta Daily Times.

The Georgia House voted Monday to impose tougher punishments on protesters who block streets, approving the bill over objections from legislators who said it infringes on free speech rights.

The 96-69 vote sends the bill to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk after it previously passed the state Senate.

“Blocking traffic in the name of protest is not just an inconvenience for those who cannot pass, it’s impeding first responders, school buses, hard-working people,” said Rep. Leesa Hagan, R-Lyons. “This bill is not about stifling the right to lawful protest in any way. It is a bill about public safety.”

Democrats opposing the legislation, Senate Bill 443, said it would discourage protesters who are intimidated by potential fines, jail time, and the possibility of lawsuits.

The bill makes the crime of obstructing a highway or street a high and aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by fines of up to $5,000 and a year in jail. In addition, the bill allows protesters to be held civilly liable in court for damages such as lost wages or medical costs.

“When people know that participating will expose them to civil lawsuits, may people will choose not to show up at all,” said Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates. “That is about stopping participating before it begins. It turns a Constitutional right into a financial risk calculation.”

The Georgia bill follows the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, who was killed by an immigration officer in January. Good’s partner, Becca Good, has said they stopped their car in the street to support neighbors during an immigration operation.

Lawmakers didn’t mention the Minnesota shooting during the Georgia House debate Monday.

Instead, opponents of the legislation discussed how it could have been used against protesters seeking civil rights or opposing a public safety training center in DeKalb County.

Rep. Noel Williams Jr., R-Cordele, said roads need to be clear for emergency vehicles.

“All we’re trying to do is protect the citizens,” Williams said. “You think about ambulances trying to get through. You think about people in need and they’re obstructed.”

Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, said police could use this kind of law to make Georgians pay a price for raising their voices.

“One charge like this is not a minor inconvenience. It’s a crisis. The threat alone is enough to silence them,” Cannon said. “Under this bill, a worker standing in the street to demand fair treatment could face not just arrest, but criminal penalties.”

House Bill 154, originally by State Rep. Gary Richardson (R-Evans), now Frankensteined into the “Georgia Sunshine Protection Act,” passed the Senate and would eliminate switching back and forth with daylight savings time for Georgia, according to Atlanta News First via WTOC.

Springing forward and turning back the clocks could soon be a thing of the past in Georgia.

State senators passed House Bill 154 on Monday. The legislation would require the governor to ask the U.S. transportation secretary to transition Georgia to the Atlantic Time Zone, which is an hour ahead of the Eastern Time Zone, effectively moving the state to year-round daylight saving time.

HB 154 passed by a vote of 45 to 5. It now heads back to the House.

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Augusta Chronicle:

Anyone who is still groggy from, and maybe a little bit resentful about, the time change earlier this month might find solace in the Georgia Senate’s action Monday.

The chamber gutted a bill about ambulances and replaced it with language that would effectively do away with daylight saving time.

Eliminating the semiannual back-and-forth shifts in the Eastern time zone would require an act of Congress. Since it might be easier to alter the rotation of the sun, the state Senate opted for moving Georgia eastward on the time map, to the zone occupied by places such as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to the north and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to the south.

House Bill 154 would shift Georgia from the Eastern to the Atlantic time zone, aligning the state with parts of Canada and the Caribbean that do not wobble between standard and daylight saving time.

No act of Congress required, just permission from the U.S. Transportation secretary.

HB 154 would require that Gov. Brian Kemp seek that permission. Should Congress ever grant authority for year-round daylight saving time, the governor would be obliged to request a return to the Eastern zone.

One of his allies, Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, is responsible for the new language in the bill.

“Every time we change the clock, we create confusion for families, for businesses, for schools, and for anyone trying to maintain a consistent routine,” Hatchett told his fellow senators Monday. “And for what? The evidence that this system does what it was originally intended to do is weak at best. But the evidence that it disrupts people’s lives, that is overwhelming.”

One source of opposition to such a shift in the past has come from parents concerned about their little ones catching a school bus in lingering darkness.

But schools could adjust start times to address local concerns as needed, he said, using a scalpel to address seasonal changes in daylight rather than forcing millions to adapt to a changing clock.

The only critic was a fellow Republican, Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, who observed that Georgia would be as much as two to three hours out of step with neighboring states at some points on the calendar.

But Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson, said children suffer even more than adults under the current order.

“I remember when I had small children, and what children thrive on is a routine,” she said. “And every time the time changes back and forth, that routine gets disrupted.”

She added that if Georgia leads, other states might follow, a message echoed later by Hatchett.

The measure passed 45-5, with Setzler joined in opposition by four Democrats, including Sen. Harold Jones, II, D-Augusta, the minority leader.

This led Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to quip that it was “the most interesting coalition of nays I’ve ever seen.”

Hatchett, who is a floor leader for Kemp, said later that he was not pushing the bill for the governor. It now goes to the House for consideration of the amendment.

From the AJC:

Although the shift might bring consistency for Georgia residents, it would also put the state on a different footing than neighboring states in the autumn and winter when clocks fall back an hour. During those months, Georgia would be an hour ahead of East Coast states and two hours ahead of Alabama and parts of Tennessee and Florida. Georgia would be in the same time zone as Nova Scotia instead of New York.

“If this bill was proposed to move with all the other neighbors in the Eastern Time Zone, I’d support this,” said state Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, who voted against it. He noted that it could create inconsistency and confusion for scheduling across state lines half the year.

State Rep. Emory Dunahoo (R-Gillsville) gave his farewell speech in the House, according to AccessWDUN.

District 31 Rep. Emory Dunahoo (R-Gillsville) announced in late 2025 that he would retire after the 2026 session. On Monday, Mar. 23, Dunahoo took to the State House floor to reflect on his years in the legislature and thank those he worked with.

Dunahoo was first elected in a special election in 2011, saying he initially did not have a desire to run for office.

“God had another plan. Finally, what happened was, I started telling people ‘well, look, if an attorney gets in the race or a politician, I will run the next day,’” Dunahoo said. “Guess what happened? An attorney jumped in and a politician. Well, I had to run.”

Dunahoo said he enjoyed the debates he had with other lawmakers over the years, saying he and some others he disagreed with have come to have mutual respect for one another.

“It was always fun to understand we could agree to disagree no matter what happened,” Dunahoo said. “Everybody here represents certain constituents, and we disagree. We need to just understand that we have to move on.”

Dunahoo spoke of many of the lawmakers he worked with over the years, including current Georgia House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration (R-Mulberry) and House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington.)

“Thank you Chuck Efstration for tolerating me on ‘no’ votes. I always let you know why I voted no, and you told me that means a lot, because I know sometimes I am that guy that’s trouble,” Dunahoo said. “Mr. Chairman Burns, thank you for listening to me on many subjects I was passionate about. We passed many [bills] under your leadership. I know sometimes you just tolerated me, and thank you.”

The 2026 Georgia legislative session will end on April 2. Former Jackson County Commissioner Chad Bingham (R) is the only candidate who qualified to run for Dunahoo’s seat in the 2026 election.

Democrat Jason Esteves, campaigning for Governor in Macon, called for the repeal of data center tax credits, according to the Macon Telegraph.

Esteves, who previously served as a Georgia state senator representing parts of Atlanta, said the tax breaks have deprived the state of necessary tax money and prioritized wealthy companies and individuals.

“Hardworking people in the state can do a lot more with that money than Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos,” Esteves said.

Esteves said he supports local governments’ decisions to allow data centers in their jurisdictions, but wants to end tax breaks to make sure Georgians see benefits.

“I’m proposing to take that money that is currently going to data centers and putting it in people’s pockets,” Esteves said.

“That’s a lot that someone here in Middle Georgia can do with that money versus it going to billionaires and big corporations,” Esteves said.

“We have to make sure that we’re holding data centers accountable to paying their fair share — utility costs, infrastructure costs, including water and power,” Esteves said.

If only he’d ever served in the State Senate, where he could have introduced legislation to do just that. Oh, wait!

The Floyd County Courthouse in Rome burned, according to Fox5Atlanta.

A historic Georgia landmark was destroyed on Monday afternoon after a massive fire gutted the 134-year-old Floyd County Courthouse in Government Plaza.

The blaze began around 2:12 p.m. and caused the building’s iconic bell tower to partially collapse, leaving flames lashing through the roof.

While no injuries were reported, 35 employees have been displaced by the fire that has forced the closure of the county tag and tax offices until at least Wednesday.

“It’s a terrible day for Floyd County,” said county manager Jamie McCord.

Floyd Fire Division Chief Jamie Stone said crews arrived on scene about two minutes after receiving a call about the fire.

Responding firefighters immediately searched the building to ensure everyone had evacuated, only to be met with heavy smoke pouring from the second floor.

Crews switched to a “defensive attack” from the exterior, while preventing the flames from jumping onto nearby businesses on Broad Street.

Units faced significant obstacles, including wind and the structure’s dry wood, which dates to 1892.

SKYFOX 5 and witness videos showed large black plumes of smoke and flames spilling from the sides of the landmark.

The landmark was home to the county’s tax assessor and tax commissioner’s offices.

While most of the records have been converted to digital format, McCord noted he believes many paper records were lost.

Officials are working on a place to relocate displaced staff to the current courthouse, which is directly behind the burned building.

What they’re saying:

Many call the loss of the building devastating.

“As a lifelong Roman, I can tell you it’s heartbreaking to see this building look like it does today,” said Floyd County Commission Chair Rhonda Wallace.

Kim Wright says the historic courthouse was a special landmark in Rome.  She got her marriage license there.

“A lot of history in that building, and it’s sad for a lot of people who have lived here forever,” said Kim Wright, who says she got her marriage license in that building.

Authorities are looking for a man in a toga with a violin.

The new Floyd County Courthouse is also closed today, according to WRGA News.

As a result of the fire on Monday at the Historic Floyd County Courthouse, an order has been issued to close the new courthouse next door, along with a judicial emergency.

Civil and criminal matters on any calendar will be continued until further notice.

The judicial center will reopen on Wednesday, unless the order is extended.

Savannah Indivisible will host a forum for Democratic candidates for the First Congressional District, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Savannah Indivisible, a local progressive advocacy nonprofit, is hosting a forum for U.S. House District 1’s Democratic candidates on March 24. The forum will start at 6 p.m. at Savannah’s Otis S. Johnson Cultural Arts Center.

The U.S. House race is for an open seat this year after the post’s current holder, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons), opted to run for Sen. Jon Ossoff’s seat. The open seat has drawn a flurry of candidates from both sides of the aisle. Eight Democrats qualified for the race earlier this month.

Indivisible’s online event flyer states a few issues will be on Tuesday night’s agenda: cuts to healthcare, SNAP, and other benefits; tariffs and “rising unaffordability,” “attacks on the rights of women and the LGBTQIA+ community,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement and climate change.

Branson Wright withdrew from the election for Columbus City Council District 9 (at large), according to WTVM.

The withdrawal leaves incumbent John Anker, Cathy Cook, Rocky Marsh and John Van Doorn vying for the seat.

Election day is May 19. The last day to register to vote is April 20.

The Ninth Congressional District Republican Party hosted a debate for the U.S. House and Senate, according to AccessWDUN.

Georgia’s 9th Congressional District Republican Party held a primary debate for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Monday night at the Venue at Friendship Springs in southern Hall County.

A straw poll was posted online with a simple question: who would you vote for?

The answer at the end of the night: Sam Couvillon in the House and Derek Dooley in the Senate.

The Congressional debate may have started earlier in the evening, but offered much more tension and animosity on stage than the 7 p.m. Senate debate. Part of the reason for that was that three of the five Republican candidates for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) did not show up.

Couvillon went on the offensive against current Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-9) throughout the questions and in his closing argument.

“Andrew is a nice guy … it’s not about that, for me it’s about you, the people of the 9th District,” Couvillon said. “Our congressman does not fight for you. That’s why when you talk about a hospital that needed a million dollars to continue to exist, Raphael Warnock, a Democrat … is the one who delivered for them, not our congressman.”

Clyde, the incumbent, decided to pivot away from attacking Couvillon to talk about why the spending should not happen.

“When you talk about congressional directed spending, you talk about earmarks,” Clyde said. “There are some terrible earmarks that come out from our Democrat colleagues.”

Hall County Commissioner for District 3 Gregg Poole focused on affordability, saying the American dream is “dying in front of our face.”

He also brought up the proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Oakwood.

“We’ve seen those properties sell for five-times appraised values, so it doesn’t look right, I don’t believe it smells right,” Poole said. “Nobody’s called Hall County … I believe that communication has broke off.”

It was just Rep. Buddy Carter (R-1) and retired Brigadier General for the Army and Warner Robins native Jonathan McColumn for the U.S. Senate Primary debate. Rep. Mike Collins (R-10), John Coyne, and former University of Tennessee football coach Dooley were not present.

Carter spent much of the night touting his experience, being Coastal Georgia’s U.S. Representative since 2015, as a reason why he’s best suited to defeat Ossoff.

He also supported codifying all of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, criticized the Biden Administration heavily, and said Ossoff “does not want to be teaching ABC’s” in schools but is “willing to teach DEI” before supporting a dismantling of the Department of Education (ED).

McColumn touted his leadership experience, having commanded “thousands” of soldiers. “I’m not a politician, I’m a solider,” McColumn told the crowd. “Those who have served in Congress in times past … have continued to give [the debt] a pass.”

The final results for the poll posted by Georgia’s 9th District GOP were as follows:

Georgia’s 9th Congressional District (R)

Couvillon – 63.08%
Clyde – 35.38%
Poole – 1.54%
U.S. Senate (R)

Dooley – 39.7%
Carter – 25.9%
McColumn – 18.4%
Collins – 15.6%
Coyne – 0.03%