Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for May 21, 2025

The War of the Roses began on May 22, 1455 at St. Albans, northwest of London.

In the opening battle of England’s War of the Roses, the Yorkists defeat King Henry VI’s Lancastrian forces at St. Albans, 20 miles northwest of London. Many Lancastrian nobles perished, including Edmund Beaufort, the duke of Somerset, and the king was forced to submit to the rule of his cousin, Richard of York. The dynastic struggle between the House of York, whose badge was a white rose, and the House of Lancaster, later associated with a red rose, would stretch on for 30 years.

Georgia Colonists signed the Treaty of Savannah with the Lower Creeks on May 21, 1733.

George Washington left Georgia on May 21, 1791, crossing a bridge over the Savannah River at Augusta.

First Lady Martha Dandridge Custis Washington died on May 22, 1802.

On May 22, 1819, the steamship Savannah left the port of Savannah for Liverpool, England. After 29 days, it became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. On May 22, 1944, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating the voyage of the Savannah.

On May 22, 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner with his cane. Brooks used the cane as the result of injury sustained in a previous duel, and found Sumner at his desk in the Senate Chamber. In the course of a two-day Senate speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which would have nullified the Missouri Compromise on the expansion of slavery, Sumner had criticized three legislators, including a cousin of Rep. Brooks, Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina.

American Charles Lindbergh landed at Paris on May 21, 1927 in The Spirit of St. Louis, completing both the first nonstop transatlantic flight and the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris.

On May 22, 1932, New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the commencement address for Oglethorpe University at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.

On May 21, 1942, German authorities removed 4300 Polish Jews from Chelm to an extermination camp at Sobibor and killed them by poison gas. The Sobibor camp’s five gas chambers would kill 250,000 Jews during 1942 and 1943.

On May 21, 2011, Herman Cain announced his candidacy for President of the United States at Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The United States Army Corps of Engineers will close 20 federal parks on Lake Lanier due to budget cuts, according to WSB-TV.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages Lake Lanier, tells Channel 2 Action News that it is planning to close more than 20 lakeside parks due to government budget cuts.

Lake Lanier has 76 recreational areas. The US Army Corps of Engineers operates 37 parks and campgrounds, 10 marinas, and Lake Lanier Islands. It leases out 40 parks and campgrounds to local governments and other organizations.

It isn’t yet known if the parks slated for closure are Corps-operated or leased, and if there is a timeline for closings.

“We really like coming to Lake Lanier. We love exploring the parks and hanging out. It’s a beautiful area. The closing of parks really does bother me, because a lot of people enjoy these parks. They really like coming out here. It’s a great place for kids to come out and play, too,” said visitor Billy Brown.

The US Army Corps of Engineers had complained in the past about the rising costs of staffing and maintaining park recreational areas.

One boater said that with the new emphasis on cutting federal expenditures, it makes sense for the USACE to shift that responsibility and a financial burden to local governments.

“With the cuts in the present administration, they’re probably going to leave the counties and states to take over a lot of these. I don’t know how it’s going to work out in the long run, but I guess we will see,” Greg Burke told Channel 2’s Tom Regan.

One viewer contacted Channel 2 Action News and said that Two Mile Creek Park on Lake Lanier in Forsyth County was closed Tuesday, although that has not been confirmed.

Governor Brian Kemp is in “wait-and-see” mode for a Senate candidate to support, according to the AJC.

As the Republican field for U.S. Senate grows, Gov. Brian Kemp is urging his top donors to “keep your powder dry” and give him and President Donald Trump more breathing room to settle on a candidate who can defeat Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.

The governor and the president met on May 10 in Washington to discuss uniting behind a consensus candidate to take on Ossoff. Whether they’ll wind up rallying around the same contender is unclear, but Kemp pleaded for patience on a call with his closest supporters.

“Give us time,” he told donors on Tuesday, according to three people on the line, adding that he and Trump plan more conversations about the race.

A Trump aide said the president isn’t likely to rush an endorsement but is “very receptive” to uniting behind a common candidate and wants to avoid a repeat of 2020, when a feud with Kemp over the appointment of U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler fractured the party.

State Representative Will Wade (R-Dawsonville) announced he will run for the State Senate District 51 seat being vacated by Sen. Steve Gooch, who is running for Lieutenant Governor, according to AccessWDUN.

A floor leader for Governor Kemp,  Will Wade is known for sponsoring many of the administration’s most conservative bills related to children and minors, including legislation that banned biological men from girls’ sports, removed critical race theory from classrooms, and prevented doctors from performing sex changes on minors.

Wade says in a press release Tuesday, “I’m proud to have fought alongside Governor Kemp to take on the radical Left and protect our kids. As the father of two school-aged children and a former school board member, these issues are personal to me. As long as I have a voice in Atlanta, I will continue to block any attempts to harm our children.”

Since taking office in 2021, Representative Wade has claimed to be consistently been one of the state’s most conservative legislators. In addition to his work advocating for children, Wade says he has also supported efforts that returned over $6 billion to taxpayers, cracked down on illegal immigration, and restored religious freedom protections.

Wade continued, “As a lifelong North Georgian, I am committed to defending our way of life and conservative North Georgia values.  Now, I’m ready to take that fight to the State Senate and continue my work to protect our kids, return tax dollars to taxpayers, and keep Georgia the #1 state for small business.”

State Senate District 51 covers Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Pickens, Union, and White Counties. The Republican Primary will be held in May of 2026. For more information, visit www.votewillwade.com.

Former State Rep. Doug McKillip (D R) announced he is running for the Senate District 46 seat being vacated by Sen. Bill Cowsert, who is running for Attorney General, according to the Flagpole.

First elected as a Democrat in 2006, McKillip earned local notoriety by switching parties in the aftermath of 2010’s Republican wave. GOP leadership in the House tried to protect him by shifting his blue-leaning Athens district to include portions of deep-red Oconee, Barrow and Jackson counties. But he lost in the Republican primary two years later, with several thousand Democrats crossing over to vote for his opponent, Regina Quick. He briefly considered running for his old seat in a 2017 special election, after then-Gov. Nathan Deal named Quick a Western Circuit Superior Court judge, but deferred to Houston Gaines, who lost to Deborah Gonzalez but then won a 2018 rematch and still holds the seat now.

In a news release announcing his candidacy, McKillip cast the loss as “sacrificing his House seat to secure passage of Georgia’s historic pro-life law that banned late-term abortions.” McKillip sponsored a controversial 20-week abortion ban in 2012, when Roe v. Wade was still in effect, and the generally accepted standard for when states could restrict abortions was around the 24th week of pregnancy, the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

“I’m driven by my faith, not political power. When Democrats threatened my family and my political career, I didn’t back down. They may have taken my seat, but I won for life, delivered conservative results and have no regrets because our values are worth fighting for,” he said in the news release. He promised “big wins for MAGA and the Georgia First agenda of President Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp,” including fighting to “eliminate the income tax, keep more money in our families’ pockets, block the Left’s woke ideology from our schools, crack down on illegal immigration to keep our families safe, and protect life and our Constitutional rights.”

The lawyer—who now lives in Oconee County with his wife Mary and three sons—said he would spend $400,000 of his own money on the campaign. Such deep pockets could muscle out any other potential Republican contenders.

Considered safe for Republicans, Senate District 46 includes Oconee County and parts of Clarke, Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett counties. Cowsert won by a 28-point margin each of the past two elections.

From the Gwinnett Daily Post:

McKillip made headlines 15 [years ago]when he flipped from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party shortly after the Democrats elected him to lead their caucus in the Georgia House of Representatives.

As he runs for the state Senate, McKillip is pledging support for the MAGA and Georgia First agendas of President Donald Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp, saying he will not only take on the “radical left” but also “weak Republicans.”

His platform includes eliminating the state income tax, crack down on illegal immigration and block attempts to institute “woke ideology” in schools.

“President Trump and Governor Kemp have proven that when we take on the radical Left with bold, unapologetic leadership, conservatives win,” McKillip said. “That’s precisely what I did in the State House and what I will do in the State Senate.”

“I am running to again bring proven, principled and unapologetic conservative leadership to the State Capitol. I’ve proven that I’ll work tirelessly for this community to take on the radical left AND weak Republicans that threaten our values. I’m ready to put our conservative values into action — without excuses — to get things done. I will fight to eliminate the income tax, keep more money in our families’ pockets, block the Left’s woke ideology from our schools, crack down on illegal immigration to keep our families safe, and protect life and our Constitutional rights.”

House Bill 102 from 2022, the “Mental Health Parity Act,” has not yet vanquished inequity in insurance coverage, according to the AJC.

While speaking at the Carter Center’s 2025 Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Kevin Tanner said problems persist because most people don’t know when their rights have been violated and the system is too complicated to navigate.

“We’ve got to create a platform where those violations are getting reported so that we can … start changing the behavior of the insurance companies,” Tanner said. “Until we’re able to do that, we’re not going to be able to truly reform the mental health system in this state.”

Three years ago, state legislators passed a 76-page parity bill requiring insurance companies to cover mental health care and substance abuse at levels comparable to physical health care, something already required at the federal level. That means patients should have access to the same copays, deductibles and numbers of sessions for anxiety, depression or addiction as for illnesses of the rest of the body.

For those on Medicaid, the state health benefit plan or PeachCare for Kids, enforcement of parity compliance is overseen by the state Department of Community Health. The state Department of Insurance supervises private insurers.

But since the law went into effect, there have been fewer than a dozen complaints reported to each agency, said Laura Colbert, the executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future. And Sarah Phillips of the Carter Center said some of those complaints are duplicates or don’t relate to mental health.

“The law is still very much in its infancy when it comes to implementation,” Phillips said.

The situation is slowly improving in Georgia. Two years ago, Georgia ranked 49th in access to care, according to Mental Health America’s 2023 report. In the 2024 report, the state was 47th.

“We have a foundation that has been laid,” Tanner said. “Now it’s going to be on all of us working together to make sure that it’s implemented.”

Sandy Springs City Council repealed a “buffer zone” ordinance passed recently, according to Atlanta News First.

After recommending Sandy Springs city councilors approve a controversial, eight-foot free speech barrier, city attorney Dan Lee urged them to repeal it. They did so by unanimous vote.

On April 1, the council adopted several new ordinances modeled on legislation proposed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), following anti-Semitic incidents in Sandy Springs since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. ADL is one of the world’s largest organizations opposed to anti-Semitism in the United States.

The city adopted the eight-foot buffer zone following support from Kenneth DeSimone, chief of the Sandy Springs Police Department.

“It’s on us to prevent chaos, and if you don’t help us out, chaos will ensue,” DeSimone said during the council’s meeting.

DeSimone said his officers needed to have the ability to arrest someone for silently walking through a demonstration with the flag of an opposing group.

But according to a memo to the city council from Lee, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is worried other cities may follow Sandy Springs’ lead, which could lead to lawsuits.

“The ADL and the ACLU believe the buffer must be directly tied to a geographic point and not ‘floating,’” Lee’s memo said. “The original version of the ordinance as provided by the ADL tied the buffer to houses of worship, which I believe, presents other challenges related to the Establishment Clause. Because of that and the concerns raised by some members of council, I recommend this repeal.”

Just before the council voted to repeal the ordinance, city councilor Andy Bauman told his colleagues the “outcome was not the result of advocacy or disagreement.”

“It was the result of a flawed process and responsibility for that process sits squarely with the mayor and our legal counsel,” Bauman said. “This ordinance was unprecedented in our state, and instead of taking the time to get it right, this council and our residents were put through a process that proved divisive, costly, and ultimately unnecessary.”

Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams is suing the County Commission, according to WRDW.

A notice was sent to the Burke County Commission, and he’s filing a writ of mandamus against them.

Because of the sensitive nature of the proceedings, Williams asks in a May 18 filing in Burke County Superior Court that the matter be sealed from the public. He asks that any hearings be held only in the presence of the involved parties and their attorneys.

The budget battle goes back years, with commissioners saying he needs to spend within his means and Williams saying he needs the funding to do his job.

Before filing the lawsuit, Williams had appealed to Gov. Brian Kemp to intervene on his behalf.

That came after commissioners voted to table funding for inmate housing costs and declined to allocate school speed camera funds toward the purchase of body cameras for detention officers.

Chatham County Commissioners will have less influence on the Chatham Area Transit agency board under new legislation signed by Gov. Kemp, according to The Current GA.

Under a measure finally signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp last week, the nine members of the current board must vacate their seats by June 30. A new, 11-member board will replace it the following day.

A draft letter now circulating among members of the area’s legislative delegation to Atlanta will thank those sitting on the current board for their service, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delegation’s deliberations. The delegation is already discussing possible appointees, the person said.

The new law overhauling the turmoil-ridden CAT board mandated by the new law, House Bill 756, weakens the grip of the Chatham County Commission and its chairman, Chester Ellis, on the board. At the same time, it calls for additional and more varied voices on the board.

Deidrick Cody, chair of the CAT board, earlier this month described the new law as “ludicrous.”

Until the now-scrapped rules, the CAT board consisted of three Chatham County commissioners and three people appointed by the commission. That 6-3 majority gave the commission and Ellis, its chairman, sway over both the CAT board and the activities of the transit authority, whose operating budget in FY2023 was about $30 million and service area covers 438 square miles.

The new, expanded board will include two sitting members of the Chatham County Commission and one member each from the city councils of Savannah, Port Wentworth and Garden City.

In addition, the Chatham County legislative delegation will have three appointees on the new board, while the county commission, the Savannah City Council and Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority will each have an appointee on the board.

Bert Brantley, president and CEO of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the legislation.

“The communities that have service should be represented” on the board, Brantley said. “There should be a voice for Garden City, Port Wentworth and Hutchinson Island where obviously the ferries are very important. All of the folks that pay into the system, all these folks that have service, should have a voice on that board.”

Brantley said that for the chamber’s government affairs council, the legislation was timely because “it is a “critical time in the history of CAT.” He cited the need for a “solid” program of preventative maintenance for newly delivered river ferries and the possibility of expanding service.

Early County Commissioners met in a special called meeting to discuss the ramifications of Georgia Pacific’s announcement they will close a plant, according to WALB.

“I know you’re here because you’re worried about our county. Please understand that each one of us, all five of us, are just as concerned as you are,” said Chairman Jester.

In an effort to minimize costs, the commission approved multiple freezes on non-required purchases, hiring, positions, and pay. More controversial topics, like eliminating county employee longevity bonuses, were tabled for discussion. Chairman Jester emphasized that what was approved on Tuesday could change next month, but with 525 jobs on the line, decisions had to be made.

“We just felt like we had to be proactive because of what could happen,” said Chairman Jester.

State Representative Gerald Greene says he was shocked by the mill’s closure and can understand if residents are worried.

“We don’t know what‘s going on yet. We don’t know what the owners will do with the land, we don’t know what they want to do, it‘s a lot of unanswered questions, and we just got to be patient and walk through them,” said Rep. Greene.

Brunswick City Commissioners voted for an FY 2026 budget that includes 6% pay raises for Commissioners, according to The Brunswick News.

City commissioners gave preliminary approval to the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget Tuesday and began the process of giving themselves a 6% raise in the new budget.

City Manager Regina McDuffie said the proposed fiscal year 2025-2026 budget for City Hall includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, pay raise for city employees. If commissioners and the mayor want to be included in that increase, McDuffie said the city needs to publicize the raise for three weeks before approving the new fiscal year budget.

The city operates on a fiscal year that runs from July 1 of one year to June 30 of the next.

Commissioners plan to vote on the new fiscal year budget at their June 18 meeting.

Under the proposed increase, commissioner pay would rise by 6% from $11,719 annually to $12,422. The mayor’s pay would increase from $16,089 to $17,055.

“The commission has not had a COLA increase in a while. I want to be sure that is definitively understood,” Commissioner Felicia Harris said.

The preliminary draft of the budget comes in at around $23.9 million, a 5% increase over the current year’s budget, McDuffie said.

The higher budget is supported by a projected 10% increase in property values, a $400,000 increase in sales taxes, higher building permit revenue and municipal court fines, she said.

Property taxes make up about 30% of the city’s revenue, while sales taxes account for just under 50%. The remainder is from a variety of other revenue sources.

Colquitt County School System and the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office will partner with a mental health organization to create co-responder teams for students in mental health crises, according to WALB.

Beginning in August, for the 2025-2026 school year, Colquitt County Schools grades K-12 will have the option to participate in the Georgia Pines co-responder program. This new program will pair mental health experts with school resource officers from the sheriff’s office.

“They will be reaching out to individuals that are in the process of going through a crisis, if there is a fight, any kind of substance use, and if there is any need for behavioral interventions that have anything to do with mental health or a substance abuse disorder,” said Robert Hurn, CEO of Georgia Pines Community Service Board.

This co-responder program was made possible by a grant the organization received from the Comprehensive Opioid Stimulant Substance Use Program or COSSUP. Georgia Pines, an organization that provides mental health resources, believes this new program will be effective and beneficial to the school system and local families.

“We hope that this will decrease the interventions for behavioral health. Hopefully it will increase grades, increase the ability for them to attend school, reduce problems within the family, and hopefully decrease substance abuse issues,” continued Hurn.

“We will deescalate the situation. Hopefully we find a way to get the student back into their regular everyday routine, or move them into some kind of service, referring the family out to that service and following up with them for the days to come,” said Daniel Covert, the school co-responder.

The Colquitt County Board of Tax Assessors is asking for a budget increase to fund computer tablets and software for appraisals, according to the Moultrie Observer.

Chief Appraiser Jim Mac Booth told the commissioners that he needed tablet computers for his staff of assessors so they could stay out in the field and see more parcels every day.

He said he spoke with another county’s chief appraiser, who told him the tablets his staff used were $1,500 apiece.

Also, the computer program was $5,000 per year. Booth said he needed five tablets. “So, the initial outlay of $7,500 and then, $5,000 yearly, after that,” he said and added that it wasn’t in his budget so he would like to amend his budget to include the expense.

“That would mean that instead of going out and seeing five or six (properties) in the morning and then coming back and doing the paperwork in the afternoon on those five or six … We’re doing paperwork twice. We’re doing it in the field and then in the office. With the tablets, we do the paperwork in the field, as we see it,” Booth replied.

He also said they could download 20 or 30 parcels into the tablet at a time. Then, they go see as many as they could in a day. Then, he said, they could go back to the office in the afternoon and download them into the system.

“It’ll be one time entering it and that will save a lot of time,” Booth said. Cannon asked if he had five appraisers on his staff. Booth said that he had four. He then, added, that the fifth tablet he was requesting would be for him to go in and check the appraisers’ work.

County Commissioner Mike Boyd had asked Booth at a meeting in July of last year if his staff was appraising 33% of the properties in Colquitt County each year, which is a requirement under a state law passed last year. Booth replied that he didn’t have the manpower. He said, they appraise, physically, probably 10%.

Data centers use massive amounts of water, according to WABE.

“Our water comes from the Dog River Reservoir,” said Gil Shearouse, the executive director of the Douglasville-Douglas County Water & Sewer Authority.

He said the county has to think about the water supply.

Right now, they’re planning a $390 million upgrade to expand the reservoir, not just for population growth, but primarily to be better prepared for droughts.

“Droughts are getting worse. They’re getting more severe. They’re getting more frequent,” Shearouse said.

But as Douglas County plans for the future, a new kind of business hopes to slurp up gallons upon gallons of that water right now: data centers.

These facilities use huge amounts of water to cool off their constantly running servers, so utilities across metro Atlanta are crunching their numbers as data center developers look to tap into their water resources.

“The concern I have is that the policy environment is not really designed to kind of respond to this new, unprecedented demand,” said Chris Manganiello, the water policy director for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

He said the state has specific policies to conserve water and prioritize who gets it during droughts, like hospitals and nursing homes. Still, Georgia hasn’t factored data centers into that equation.

“They need to run 24/7, 365,” Manganiello said.

“And so if all of these large data centers come online, and we’re in the middle of a drought, it’s going to put a lot more stress on the natural river system,” Manganielo said.

And, he pointed out, metro Atlanta is near the headwaters of several rivers.

“There are communities downstream that need water for economic development, too,” Manganiello said.

Warner Robins speed cameras appear to have reduced school zone speeding, according to 13WMAZ.

School zone speed cameras in Warner Robins have generated $2.36 million in fines since launching in June 2023, according to city documents obtained by 13WMAZ.

The RedSpeed camera program operates across six school zones at four Warner Robins schools. Revenue collection shows $1.42 million in fiscal year 2023-2024 and $943,803 collected so far in the current fiscal year ending July 2025, according to city data.

City officials report the cameras have significantly reduced speeding violations in school zones. During initial testing in June 2023, cameras detected 5,215 speed violations per day across all six zones, according to city records. That number dropped to an average of 215 daily violations in 2024 — a 96% decrease.

The city reports 89% of drivers who receive citations do not get a second ticket, according to program data. Less than 1% of issued tickets are contested, city records show.