Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for November 12, 2025

President George Washington returned to the City of Washington on November 13, 1789, ending the first Presidential tour.

On the same day, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his friend Jean-Baptiste LeRoy, in which he said,

“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered the destruction of railroad and telegraph lines between Atlanta and Northwest Georgia on November 12, 1864. Sherman also burned the railroad bridge over the Chattahoochee, cutting his own supply line from Chattanooga.

On November 13, 1865, the United States government issued the first Gold Certificates.

The Georgia General Assembly adopted a resolution against ratifying the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution on November 13, 1866.

In deciding not to ratify the 14th Amendment, the General Assembly adopted a committee report explaining that: “1. If Georgia is not a State composing part of the Federal Government known as the Government of the United States, amendments to the Constitution of the United States are not properly before this body. 2. If Georgia is a State composing part of the Federal Government … , these these amendments are not proposed according to the requirements of the Federal Constitution, and are proposed in such a manner as to forbid the legislature from discussing the merits of the amendments without an implied surrender of the rights of the State.”

Excavation began for a new Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on the site of the former City Hall/Fulton County Courthouse on November 13, 1884.

In what looks to me like a surprisingly progressive move for the 19th century, Governor John B. Gordon signed legislation on November 12, 1889 opening the University of Georgia to white women.

On November 12, 1918, Atlanta held a victory parade to celebrate the Armistice with Germany.

Walt Disney released “Fantasia” on November 13, 1940.

On November 12, 1944, the Atlanta Constitution released a poll of Georgia legislators indicating that most wanted more local rule for cities and counties in the new Constitution being drafted. Georgia Governor and Constitutional Commission Chair Ellis Arnall moved that a home rule provision be included in the new draft of the state Constitution and his motion passed 8-7 on November 13, 1944.

Georgia Governor and Constitutional Commission Chair Ellis Arnall moved that a home rule provision be included in the new draft of the state Constitution and his motion passed 8-7 on November 13, 1944.

On November 13, 1956, the United States Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that struck down a law requiring segregation on buses in Montgomery, Alabama.

President Jimmy Carter ordered an end to oil imports from Iran on November 12, 1979.

Ronald Reagan announced his campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States on November 13, 1979.

“The people have not created this disaster in our economy; the federal government has. It has overspent, overestimated, and over regulated. It has failed to deliver services within the revenues it should be allowed to raise from taxes. In the thirty-four years since the end of World War II, it has spent 448 billion dollars more than it has collection in taxes – 448 billion dollars of printing press money, which has made every dollar you earn worth less and less. At the same time, the federal government has cynically told us that high taxes on business will in some way “solve” the problem and allow the average taxpayer to pay less. Well, business is not a taxpayer it is a tax collector. Business has to pass its tax burden on to the customer as part of the cost of doing business. You and I pay the taxes imposed on business every time we go to the store. Only people pay taxes and it is political demagoguery or economic illiteracy to try and tell us otherwise.”

“The key to restoring the health of the economy lies in cutting taxes. At the same time, we need to get the waste out of federal spending. This does not mean sacrificing essential services, nor do we need to destroy the system of benefits which flow to the poor, the elderly, the sick and the handicapped. We have long since committed ourselves, as a people, to help those among us who cannot take care of themselves. But the federal government has proven to be the costliest and most inefficient provider of such help we could possibly have.”

“I believe this nation hungers for a spiritual revival; hungers to once again see honor placed above political expediency; to see government once again the protector of our liberties, not the distributor of gifts and privilege. Government should uphold and not undermine those institutions which are custodians of the very values upon which civilization is founded—religion, education and, above all, family. Government cannot be clergyman, teacher and parent. It is our servant, beholden to us.”

“We who are privileged to be Americans have had a rendezvous with destiny since the moment in 1630 when John Winthrop, standing on the deck of the tiny Arbella off the coast of Massachusetts, told the little band of pilgrims, “We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.”

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on November 13, 1982 in Washington, DC.

Tim Berners-Lee published a Proposal for a HyperText Project, laying the foundation for the World Wide Web, on November 12, 1990.

HyperText is a way to link and access information of various kinds as a web of nodes in which the user can browse at will. Potentially, HyperText provides a single user-interface to many large classes of stored information such as reports, notes, data-bases, computer documentation and on-line systems help.

A program which provides access to the hypertext world we call a browser. A hypertext page has pieces of text which refer to other texts. Such references are highlighted and can be selected with a mouse. When you select a reference, the browser presents you with the text which is referenced.

The texts are linked together in a way that one can go from one concept to another to find the information one wants. The network of links is called a web.

On November 13, 2006, groundbreaking began for a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Whoops! A Runoff Election for Reidsville City Council has been canceled, according to WSAV.

A scheduled runoff election for a city council position in Reidsville was canceled due to a previous amendment that had not been updated in the City Charter.

In the Nov. 4 election for the position of Ward 1, Post 2, incumbent Carolyn Blackshear narrowly defeated challengers Beitha Griffin and Nathaniel Joyce. However, Blackshear did not receive 50% of the votes, thus prompting a runoff election between [her] and Griffin, the next highest vote-getter.

The runoff was scheduled for Dec. 2. However, the runoff was then canceled when it was determined that city council members are elected by a plurality, not a majority.

In a majority, the winning candidate would need to receive at least 50% of the votes plus one. Blackshear only received 45.3%. In a plurality, the winning candidate does not need to receive 50%, the winner is simply whoever has the most votes.

The amendment requiring plurality, passed in 2000, however, was not represented in the City Charter.

Mayor Vickie Nail released a statement amid the confusion:

“Last night, I learned something that I had no knowledge of regarding our Charter. While our City Charter hasn’t been formally updated in over 25 years, there was an amendment made in the year 2000 that was never properly added into the Charter. That missing update affected how we’ve handled voting for city offices.”

“I share your frustration that this was never amended to our charter.”

“Our city deserves transparency and accuracy in how it’s governed. I promise to keep you informed as we work through this, and to make sure our Charter reflects the law, and the Reidsville we are today.”

The city said it will work to ensure all records are updated to ensure accuracy.

No runoff will take place, and Blackshear was determined as the winner of the election.

Burke County Commissioners voted to reject a proposed settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit against Sheriff Alonzo Williams, according to WRDW.

There had been a previous proposed legal settlement between Sheriff Alfonzo Williams and his former employee Brenda Johnson.

However, commissioners rejected it in June, and it had to be renegotiated.

On Tuesday, commissioners denied approval of the renegotiated settlement.

County Manager Merv Waldrop had previously confirmed to News 12 that the sheriff had signed a renegotiated settlement with Johnson, “however our legal staff has taken the position that the Board of Commissioners has the sole authority to settle this case.”

This means “any agreements between the parties are tentative until the Board approves or rejects the settlement terms,” he said.

Meanwhile, the board made a motion Tuesday to approve allowing the sheriff to find an attorney to bring a lawsuit against the county at the same rate of the county attorney.

Johnson had filed a lawsuit claiming a pattern of egregious sexual harassment, unlawful surveillance, stalking, retaliation and emotional abuse by Williams.

Johnson claimed the sheriff used surveillance to watch her movements, tracked her vehicle, and she was fired for opposing his sexual advances.

Former Governor Nathan Deal (R-Gainesville) spoke to the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, according to the Marietta Daily Journal.

In a fireside chat with Jay Cunningham, president and CEO Superior Plumbing, Deal reflected on the growing polarization from both sides of the political aisle, saying today’s elected officials often lack the governing experience that was once mandatory in politics.

“It used to be that you had demonstrated you could govern—by working in local office or managing people,” Deal said. “Now, virtually anybody who can shout loud enough and get enough money behind them can get elected.”

“You can’t govern if all you do is argue,” he said. “You can’t govern if all you do is call those who have a different opinion by horrible names and refuse to engage in dialogue.”

An AI-created fake video of United States Senator Jon Ossoff (R-GA) was shared on X by the Mike Collins campaign. From the AJC’s Patricia Murphy:

I had a call from a friend this week. “Did you see that Ossoff video about the shutdown?” she asked about Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, incredulous that the Georgia Democrat would say what he was saying in the online video.

I hadn’t seen the video she was talking about, but a little looking turned up a clip of Ossoff on U.S. Rep. Mike Collins’ campaign X account. Collins, a Republican from Jackson, is one of three candidates in the heated GOP primary for Ossoff’s Senate seat.

“Hi. It’s Sen. Jon Ossoff. I just voted to keep the government shut down,” he says.

The video looks real enough, and it should since the image comes from Ossoff’s official Senate portrait, complete with a Senate pin in the lapel of his suit. But the words he says are over-the-top enough that it’s not entirely clear if the video is authentic or not.

In reality, it is a clip created by the Collins campaign with words they scripted for Ossoff and put in his artificial intelligence-generated voice.

“They say it’ll hurt farmers, but I wouldn’t know. I’ve only seen a farm on Instagram,” AI Ossoff says. “And SNAP recipients. Don’t think they’re at my New York or California fundraisers, so who cares?”

A small disclaimer tells viewers the video is generated by AI, but the disclaimer is only visible on a phone if you click the video to watch it on a full screen and click it again to eliminate the caption that covers it.

The Georgia Democratic Party slammed the video. “Instead of trying to deceive voters with deepfake videos, low-integrity Congressman Mike Collins should explain why he supports doubling Georgians’ health insurance premiums,” a spokesperson said.

But Collins’ campaign had no apologies for the video, nor any plans to stop doctoring Ossoff into new videos in the future.

“As technology evolves and creates new opportunities to reach and communicate with voters, the Collins campaign will be at the forefront embracing new tactics and strategies that pierce through lopsided legacy media coverage and deliver our message directly to voters,” a campaign spokesman said.

State Reps. Todd Jones, R-Cumming, and Brad Thomas, a Cherokee County Republican, have both endorsed Collins in his Senate race. Together they are also the leaders of an effort to criminalize the use of deepfakes in Georgia campaigns meant to deceive voters. Legislation introduced twice by Jones and Thomas would require clear disclosure of AI content and ban AI videos 60 days ahead of an election.

The House has passed Jones’ and Thomas’ bills twice, but they both died in the Senate.

Jones said it’s crucial to safeguard First Amendment and free speech rights, but also that lawmakers act soon and get the fix right.

“The electorate has to know, in fact, not just who they’re voting for, but what that individual actually believes,” he said.

Is it possible to just ban all AI from American campaigns? If the impressed response I’ve gotten from other campaign operatives around Georgia is any indication, Collins’ AI-generated video of Ossoff is just the beginning of where campaigns are headed with AI.

I’m not sure yet what I think of this video, but Mike Collins and his campaign team have long been on the cutting-edge of video in campaigns.

Georgia’s United States Senators addressed the government shutdown vote, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

On Sunday, the Senate cleared a tentative agreement that, if fully approved, would bring the shutdown to an end. However, it’s not over yet, and not everyone is happy with the terms. Here’s what we know:

The agreement would fund SNAP through September 2026, reverse layoffs of thousands of federal workers, and fund many other government programs through Jan. 30 (until Congress passes more spending bills).

There is also a commitment to vote in December on potentially extending expiring Obamacare subsidies. Many Democrats are upset with this outcome and see it as caving since the gridlock was largely about ensuring those subsidies were extended rather than leaving it to a vote, especially since President Donald Trump has opposed them.

Ossoff was one of the many Democrats who voted against the deal. He released this statement following the vote:

“Premiums are set to double for 1.4 million Georgians and nearly half a million Georgians could lose health insurance altogether. The President refuses to fix it and withholds SNAP benefits while the House has not even to come to work for six weeks. With health care votes ahead, the question is whether Republicans in Congress will join us to prevent catastrophic increases in health insurance premiums.”

Warnock also voted against reopening the government under this deal. He also released a statement explaining his vote. Here’s part of it:

“It doesn’t provide relief to the 1.2 million Georgians who are about to see their health care premiums double and more….At the same time, I understand the overwhelming pain that has been inflicted on people in my state by President Trump and Republicans, from needlessly firing federal workers, including 600 CDC workers last month in Georgia, to forcing some of our most vulnerable families and children to go hungry by eliminating SNAP benefits. Choosing between making health care affordable and stopping the endless chaos and damage of this President, including starving hungry children and seniors, should never be a decision we have to make in the United States.”

From the AJC:

Most House Democrats are expected to oppose the legislation and have criticized the eight Senate Democrats who sided with Republicans to end the shutdown.

“Republicans are forcing us to choose between keeping health care costs low, feeding hungry children, and paying our dedicated federal workers,” U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, wrote on social media after the Senate deal was announced. “For me, it’s a false choice. It’s a NO on any bill that does not address the Republican health care crisis.”

Warnock and Ossoff said they will continue to focus on health care as the Senate begins drafting legislation addressing the expiring subsidies. Thune has promised that a vote will happen by mid-December.

“I think we got a clear message from the American people last Tuesday,” Warnock said, referring to the Democratic victories in Georgia and other states in the off-year election. “And with the midterms coming up in less than a year, my Republican colleagues are paying attention. Maybe we can get enough of them to do the right thing.”

The Senate plan to reopen the federal government could impact the burgeoning hemp industry, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Athens Banner Herald.

If Congress ultimately approves the legislation that the U.S. Senate adopted Monday to end the government shutdown, it could throttle the multibillion dollar hemp consumables industry.

A provision tucked into the nearly 400-page appropriations bill would close what critics consider a loophole in a 2018 federal law that legalized the sale and use of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, from the hemp plant.

THC is a psychoactive chemical present in both hemp and marijuana plants, and the law legalized a limited amount in consumable products when it is derived from hemp.

Chemists found ways around the limit, and highly intoxicating products quickly filled store shelves, including at gas stations and convenience stores. Children were getting their hands on the gummies, vape fluids and other substances, ratcheting up calls for a crackdown.

But THC from hemp also spurred a mainstream industry with known brands incorporating it into their products.

“The implications of the government shutdown are very significant,” said Christopher Lackner, the Colorado-based president of the Hemp Beverage Alliance. Food stamps, cancelled flights and other disruptions are the focus, he said. “What is being lost is that the fate of an entire $30 billion industry is also at stake.”

Among the potential casualties is Atlanta-based Scofflaw Brewing, a decade-old beermaker that introduced hemp beverages after alcohol consumption began to decline nationally a few years ago.

Co-founder Matt Shirah said he invested millions of dollars into making THC beverages under his own brand and for other companies.

Sales have exploded, already rivaling his beer revenue. Projections had his THC-infused beverages blossoming into a $100 million product line within a couple of years, he said.

If this legislation becomes law, it could threaten the livelihoods of a hundred employees and short circuit an expansion employing dozens more, he said.

“If they institute a ban, we would stay small, not hire anybody, start letting people go,” he said. “This is very bad.”

Critics of the industry argue that the 2018 Agriculture Improvement Act intended mainly to open a market for industrial uses of hemp rather than for intoxicating products.

“Intoxicating hemp-derived THC products have inundated communities throughout our states due to a grievously mistaken interpretation of the 2018 Farm Bill’s definition of ‘hemp’ that companies are leveraging to pursue profits at the expense of public safety and health,” said a letter to Congress last month that was signed by 39 state attorneys general, including Georgia’s Chris Carr.

The letter accused shady players in the new industry of marketing products such as psychoactive gummies to minors, and it cited an increase in pediatric exposures to THC after the law’s passage.

The 2018 law attempted to limit the intoxicating potential by capping hemp-based THC in products at 0.3% or less “on a dry weight basis,” which some have described as ambiguous.

Marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug under federal law, making it illegal for consumer use. So chemists got to work and learned how to concentrate the intoxicating effects of hemp using different elements of the plant.

They extracted an Alphabet soup of alternative forms of THC, such as delta-8, delta-10, THC-O, THCP and HHC, then infused them at high concentrations into a multitude of highly intoxicating “Frankenstein” products, the attorneys general letter said.

Gregg Raduka, a founding member of Georgians for Responsible Marijuana Policy, heralded the Senate’s proposed cap as “wonderful news,” adding that he hoped the U.S. House of Representatives would approve it. He had testified at state legislative hearings about what he saw as a burgeoning and dangerous hemp consumables market in Georgia.

Shirah’s beverages contain THC at levels condoned under state laws that were established to regulate the industry after the 2018 federal law made it legal.

Scofflaw sells cans of lemonade and other beverages with five or 10 milligrams of THC. The legislation that passed the U.S. Senate would limit products like that to 0.4 milligrams per container. It would also apply to gummies and any other consumable with hemp-derived THC, whether in bags, bottles, cans, cartridges, packets or other enclosures.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture has tried to weed out bad actors who exceed the state’s legal limits while supporting compliant businesses. Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper even spoke at the Hemp Beverage Alliance’s convention in Atlanta in July, noted Lackner, the Alliance president.

Lackner likened the crackdown to a ban that takes out sugar and all other sweeteners when the target was just saccharine.

“I don’t know what the intention is,” he said. “All I know is that the end the result is going to be catastrophic for our industry.”

Lackner saw a silver lining in the legislation though. It includes language that would allow the industry to keep operating for another year, giving mainstream companies time to lobby for a law that would let them continue to exist while eliminating competitors with highly intoxicating products.

Other sectors of Georgia’s economy are being impacted by the shutdown, according to WJBF.

It’s now been 42 days since the U.S. government shutdown began on October 1, and Georgia is feeling the financial fallout — from furloughed workers to canceled flights and delayed benefits.

More than 109,000 federal employees in Georgia remain furloughed, including staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and air traffic controllers.

Economists say air travel has been one of the hardest-hit sectors. The Federal Aviation Administration’s mandate requiring a 10% cut in flights has led to around 200 flight cancellations each day at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world’s busiest airport.

Delta Air Lines, headquartered in Atlanta, has seen substantial revenue losses.

“The biggest thing we’ve seen is the Delta hub, that’s impacting their business substantially,” said Tom Smith, economist and business professor at Emory University. “The shutdown impacted TSA agents, which then shut down the number of flights that can run. Every flight not running is a displaced traveler and lost money for Delta.”

Smith and other economists warn airlines could raise ticket prices to offset those losses.

The shutdown is also affecting Georgia families who rely on SNAP benefits, which provide food assistance for nearly 1.4 million residents, including more than 500,000 children.

“People are borrowing money from family and friends, going to food pantries, we’ve seen lots of impacts,” Smith said. “As SNAP rolls out, those people will have some more secure sources of food.”

The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates Georgia’s gross state product could drop by about $458 million each week, nearly $2 billion per month, leading to potential job losses for about 1,400 Georgians over a one-month period.

Small businesses are also feeling the squeeze, with more than $130 million in delayed federal funds, while Social Security payments for about 13,000 seniors have been put on hold.

Smith says the impact extends beyond the numbers.

“We’re standing right next to the CDC. Your neighbors probably work for the government,” he said. “They haven’t received a paycheck, and that means they might not be able to pay their bills.”

Experts warn the shutdown could further delay funding for Georgia’s agriculture industry, which depends on federal programs and disaster relief grants. That includes Hurricane Helene relief funding, which remains frozen as the shutdown continues.

The City of Savannah will continue feeding hungry residents, according to WSAV.

After last week’s food giveaway ran out of boxes faster than expected, the City of Savannah is making sure no one leaves empty-handed this time. On Wednesday the city is expanding its efforts; adding more boxes, more days, and more locations to meet the growing demand.

The city of Savannah is partnering with Second Harvest again to hand out 1,400 food boxes across all Savannah districts. The goal is to reach as many people impacted by recent reductions in SNAP benefits as possible.

The giveaway begins on Nov. 12 and continues through Friday, Nov. 14. The goal is to give people more opportunities to access food, especially those who lack transportation or have restricted schedules due to work.

To qualify, you must be 18 or older and live within the Savannah city limits. Each household will receive one pre-packaged food box, funded through a $50,000 City grant to Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia. The city hopes to prevent the shortages seen last Friday when demand far outpaced supply.

According to city officials, nearly 15,000 households in Savannah rely on SNAP benefits.

Each day the giveaway will have two distribution sites open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday starts with District 1 at the Moses Jackson Community Center and District 6 at the Savannah Fire Department Station #11.