The Mayflower left Plymouth, England, for the New World on September 16, 1620. Thirty-five of 102 passengers were members of the English Separatist Church seeking religious freedom from the Church of England. Originally aiming to reach Virginia, Mayflower eventually landed at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
A single pistol shot on September 16, 1893 opened former Cherokee land in Oklahoma to white settlers in a “land run” to claim property.
The original stimulus act was announced to bring $70 million in federal money to Georgia to build roads and public buildings on September 16, 1933.
On September 16, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Service and Training Act requiring males 26-35 years of age to register for the draft. On the same day, Sam Rayburn of Texas was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and would go on to hold the post for 17 years total, the longest tenure of any Speaker.
R.E.M. and Gregg Allman were among the inductees into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on September 16, 2006.
The Georgia Historical Society will display a very rare draft of the United States Constitution, according to WTOC.
The Georgia Historical Society is commemorating Constitution Day this Wednesday with a public showing of a rare draft copy of the United States Constitution, containing handwritten notes of one of Georgia’s signers.
According to the Georgia Historical Society, there is only one of around twelve in existence, “this rare document connects Georgia directly to our nation’s founding.”
“As we begin the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, we invite everyone to take advantage of this rare opportunity to see one of the most significant documents in history,” said Dr. W. Todd Groce, President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. “The US Constitution codified all that had been won in the Revolutionary War and created the government we enjoy to this day. It is a foundational piece of Georgia and American history and the greatest treasure in the Georgia Historical Society collection.”
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Former Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan (Forsyth County) is running for the Democratic nomination for Governor, according to WSAV.
Former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan announced Tuesday morning that he is entering the upcoming race for Governor of Georgia.
Duncan’s announcement, in which he said Republicans pushed him out of their party, was posted on Tuesday morning via YouTube.
The newest candidate says he will focus on lowering child care costs, expanding Medicaid and affordable housing.
Duncan says he will be running in the election as a Democrat and if elected, he would be Georgia’s first Democratic Governor in nearly three decades.
The former Lt. Governor will now face the field of Keisha Lance Bottoms, Jason Esteves, Michael Thurmond, Derrick Jackson and Olu Brown for the Democratic nomination.
From Atlanta News First via WTOC:
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, now a Democrat after switching from the Republican party, has announced his campaign to become Georgia’s next governor.
On Tuesday morning, Duncan made the announcement to join the 2026 Georgia gubernatorial race, citing his opposition to President Donald Trump and his political party switch.
“I’ve never wavered in taking on Trump,” Duncan said in his announcement video uploaded on YouTube. “So Georgia Republicans threw me out of their party. I was leaving anyway. Now, I’m running for governor as a proud Democrat. To focus on what matters most to Georgians.”
He also announced his campaign on X/Twitter, along with the launch of his campaign website.
“I’m in,” Duncan said in the post. “Georgians deserve leaders with the courage to take on Donald Trump, lower costs for families and do what’s right.”
“We need to push back. And we need to win,” Duncan said.
Duncan pitches himself as the most electable Democrat in a state that still leans slightly Republican. On policy, he plans to focus on health care access and cost-of-living issues. And he plays up his opposition to the GOP’s Trumpian turn.
“I’m running for governor to put Georgians in the best position to once again love their neighbors,” he said. “And to make Georgia the front line of democracy and a backstop against extremism.”
Duncan won the state’s second-highest office in 2018 after one term in the state House. He ran in the shadow of now-Gov. Brian Kemp, who narrowly defeated national Democratic star Stacey Abrams. Two years later, Democrat Joe Biden eked out a victory in a state Republicans had dominated for two decades. Kemp and other key Georgia Republicans spurned Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 results, but Duncan was maybe the most outspoken opponent, punishing state senators who backed Trump’s efforts.
Some of Duncan’s policy stances as lieutenant governor may appeal to Democrats, like helping broker a state hate crimes law and supporting improvements to foster care. But a candidate who boasted in 2018 of being “100% pro-life” is likely to face sharp questions about his support of a 2019 state law that bans most abortions. Duncan also backed a Republican overhaul of Georgia election law after victories by Biden and two Democratic senators. It tightened absentee voting regulations and reduced the use of ballot drop boxes.
When he finally joined Democrats in August, Duncan explained his shift in moral terms as much as political terms.
“As I got elected starting in 2013 as a state representative, and then as lieutenant governor, it just became so hard at times to try to figure out the right way to do the right thing, as a Republican,” Duncan told NPR affiliate WABE.
He cited GOP opposition to tighter gun regulations and expansion of Medicaid health insurance as examples of Republican orthodoxy he could no longer support.
The question for Duncan is whether he can corral enough Democratic votes to win the nomination. He has spent years since leaving office without a political home.
In neighboring Florida, former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist made a comeback bid as a Democrat in 2022. He won the Democratic nomination but lost the general election by double digits to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Unlike Florida’s meandering Democratic Party, Georgia Democrats have a bench of statewide candidates.
Duncan’s advisers and allies highlight his stumping for Harris. But Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, also backed Harris and earlier worked in Biden’s West Wing.
They tout Duncan’s relative youth, but Esteves, an up-and-coming lawmaker, is even younger at 42.
They hold up his experience as a former legislator who has won statewide office. But Thurmond, 72, has been a legislator, won statewide three times as Georgia labor commissioner and ran the school system and county government in DeKalb County. That Atlanta suburb is a Democratic bastion. Thurmond, like Duncan is also appealing to moderates and even some conservatives who can’t stomach Trump.
Duncan’s decision to join a field already crowded with prominent Democrats raises a central question: Can a onetime conservative stalwart who championed GOP priorities win a Democratic primary likely dominated by liberals?
He’s making a case aimed squarely at electability, noting a proven record of winning independent voters in a statewide race — albeit as a Republican in 2018. In his campaign launch video, he labels himself a “proud Democrat” who defied Trump’s calls to overturn his 2020 defeat.
Duncan said he would tap 10% of the state’s rainy day fund to help struggling Georgians. Once an opponent of Medicaid expansion, he now says he’d broker a compromise with Republicans in the Legislature to support the idea. And he pledged to press for an immediate repeal of the anti-abortion law he once backed, coupled with an executive order clarifying that doctors can treat pregnant patients without fear of prosecution.
But his transformation has also made him a lightning rod. Democratic state Rep. David Wilkerson of Powder Springs said Duncan might have once received a warm welcome in his party, but that his past support for GOP legislation will be a deal-breaker for many Democratic voters.
“It would be tough for anyone who has been so closely tied to the GOP brand to win a 2026 Democratic primary,” Wilkerson said.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders who once tabbed Duncan as a rising star now brand him a turncoat — and worse. Jones has called him a “disgrace to Georgia” and a “useful idiot.” The Georgia GOP exiled him. And Trump blasted him as a “total loser” — a broadside that Duncan has embraced.
The Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, according to The Hill via WRDW.
The Georgia Supreme Court declined to review Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s (D) bid to remain atop her election interference criminal prosecution against President Trump and his allies on Tuesday.
The 4-3 decision keeps intact a lower ruling disqualifying Willis over a “significant appearance of impropriety” stemming from her romantic relationship with a top prosecutor on the case.
It’s a death knell for the prosecution against Trump and his allies in Georgia over their efforts to subvert the state’s 2020 election results — at least under Willis’s office.
Though Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council could appoint a new prosecutor to take on the case, that process could take months, leaving the sprawling racketeering prosecution in limbo.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, in a statement said the state’s high court had “correctly denied review.”
“Willis’ misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious and she deserved nothing less than disqualification. This proper decision should bring an end to the wrongful political, lawfare persecutions of the President,” Sadow said.
The DA suggested she would let the ruling stand and not ask the Supreme Court to reconsider.
“While I disagree with the decision of the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court’s divided decision not to review it, I respect the legal process and the courts,” the Democrat said in an emailed statement.
Jurisdiction over the Trump case is now expected to be handed over to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, which steps in when a prosecutor is removed or local DAs determine, for ethical reasons, they cannot pursue a case. PAC’s executive director, Pete Skandalakis, previously said if his organization gets the case he will try to find a conflict prosecutor.
Skandalakis said Tuesday morning he was still reviewing the Supreme Court’s decision. He said the case has yet to formally arrive at his office and that he would soon be meeting with his senior staff to determine next steps.
Willis said she planned to make the case file and evidence available to the Attorneys’ Council.
“I hope that whoever is assigned to handle the case will have the courage to do what the evidence and the law demand,” she said.
But with its decision not to hear the Fulton DA’s appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court is letting the Court of Appeals’ majority opinion stand.
Ashleigh Merchant, the attorney for Roman who first disclosed Willis’s relationship with Wade, applauded Tuesday’s decision.
“The lapses in judgment and the inability to accept responsibility for those lapses has infected this case from its inception,” she said. “We hope this will finally close this chapter.”
Savannah Board of Aldermen member Alicia Miller Blakely is being criticized for a social media post about Charlie Kirk, according to WSAV.
A Savannah city leader is under fire over comments shared on social media after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The posts are sparking a bigger debate about where free speech protections begin and end.
Post 2 at-large Alderwoman Alicia Miller Blakely recently shared several Facebook posts making negative remarks about Kirk’s character, but one in particular sparked controversy.
She shared a viral video made by content creator Stefan Cagle where he captions his video “Charlie Kirk is a racist.”
She captioned her own post sharing the video: “Tell it!!! We know who that poor excuse of a human being was!!!”
In the comment section of her posts and in phone calls to the city, some people are calling for her resignation, and others are also showing her support.
WSAV talked to a Savannah lawyer about the issue and if the elected official can be forced to resign.
“It’s a city council member, they can say whatever they want,” said attorney Dennis O’Brien, “It’s their constituents who decide if they keep the job or not.”
Kirk’s death in the age of social media has raised questions about free speech protected under the First Amendment and if it is protected for private employees in the workplace.
“You can’t stop them from exercising their rights but to free speech but if they’re an employee you can control it,” said O’Brien.
“In Georgia, it’s a right-to-work state,” said O’Brien, “so if you state something online and your employer doesn’t like it, they can fire you, you can still sue, but they have the right to fire you.”
WSAV has reached out to Alderwoman Miller Blakely and the City of Savannah for further comment.
Some Houston County parents are upset by social media post by school system employees, according to 13WMAZ.
Residents of Houston County are raising concerns after two school district employees posted messages mocking the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on social media.
Joanna Thomas, who has lived in Warner Robins for 16 years, said she was bothered by the posts.
“I was pretty sad to see something like that happening in where I’m from,” Thomas said.
“If individuals are comfortable enough saying this on their social media where anyone can see it and they work for the school system, what are they saying in their classrooms?” Thomas said.
The Houston County School District has a five-page social media policy that outlines expectations for employee conduct online. One section states that posts should not impair an employee’s ability to maintain the respect of parents or serve as role models for children.
Some parents like Thomas are arguing that these posts are causing them to lose respect.
“When we have people that we trust to teach our children those values, making such blatant, hateful comments disrespecting human life, it kind of calls into question whether or not they can be trusted around our kids,” Thomas said.
The school district responded in a statement, stating the following:
“We are aware of this post and we understand how it has caused strong reactions in our community and beyond. We hold our employees to high standards of professionalism, and behavior like this does not align with the values of the Houston County School District. Our Human Resources Department is looking into this matter and will handle this situation accordingly. Because this involves personnel matters, we are not able to provide additional information at this time, but please be assured that the matter is being thoroughly handled.”
A Columbus State University professor is giving up some of his roles after posting about Kirk’s death, according to WALB.
Columbus State University creative writing professor Dr. Allen Gee has resigned from his roles as director of the CSU Press and the D.L. Jordan endowed chair.
CSU President Dr. Stuart Rayfield confirmed the decision Monday, saying Gee offered to step down from both posts during a meeting earlier in the day. Rayfield accepted his resignation, but emphasized that Gee will remain a tenured faculty member in the English department.
The move comes after Gee posted comments last week on the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer website following the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk in Utah. In his post, Gee criticized Kirk’s rhetoric and described his death as “extremely sad” but framed it within Kirk’s support of gun rights.
“While individuals—students, faculty and staff alike—are entitled to their own personal views under the First Amendment, those views do not represent the university, nor do they necessarily reflect our values. I regret that these comments have become associated with Columbus State and that they have caused anger online and pain in our community.” [said] Dr. Stuart Rayfield, CSU President
University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue also weighed in last week after Kirk’s death. He called the activist’s voice “a reminder of the importance of protecting open dialogue on our campuses.”
“Free speech is not only about the right to speak—it is also about the responsibility to listen,” Perdue said.
Gee remains employed at CSU solely as an English professor following his resignation from the leadership positions.
Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor (D) is also under fire over his comments, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
One day after Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during a rally in Utah, Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor stirred up a backlash and debate on social media after he told friends on Facebook to “unfriend” him if they supported Kirk.
Taylor made the remark on his personal Facebook page on the evening of Sept. 11. Republicans were quick to praise Kirk as a leader in conservative circles after he was shot at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. Within hours of the shooting, Kirk had died from his injury.
Locally in Georgia, elected officials from both political parties denounced political violence in the wake of the shooting and Gov. Brian Kemp ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Kirk. In the midst of all of that, however, Taylor criticized Kirk in his Facebook post.
“First of all this is not a political post. This is a human dignity post,” Taylor said in the post. “In no way do I ever condone violence in regards to one’s political stance. I truly feel and pray for Charlie Kirk’s wife and children. However if you support the actions of Kirk, do me a favor. Unfriend me.”
Cobb County public school teachers were suspended over comments on Kirk’s death, according to 11Alive.
An unspecified number of Cobb County School District teachers have been placed on administrative leave after they wrote social media posts apparently celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The school district also will report the incidents to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, “requesting appropriate action against their Georgia teaching license,” according to a statement released on Monday.
In the statement, the district said the incidents “do not reflect the outstanding professionalism demonstrated by the vast majority of Cobb educators daily.”
“Posts that celebrate or support the murder of an innocent person by a school shooter are unprofessional and disruptive to the school environment,” the district said.
“Is it language that we would want being shared in classrooms? Is it language that we would want individuals hearing us say as professionals?” said Jeff Hubbard, the president of the Cobb County Association of Educators. “We are held to a high standard as educators in the state of Georgia.”
Meanwhile, the president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers defended the educators.
“These teachers didn’t speak directly to their students,” Verdaillia Turner said. “They have lives outside the classroom – or do they?”
Cobb County School District clearly outlines their social media policies for employees on its website. The policy states that personal social media pages cannot be used to harm the reputation or discredit the district, or display anything that would impair the employee’s professionalism or reputation.
A prayer vigil was held in Albany, according to WALB.
In Moultrie, a memorial service was held, according to the Moultrie Observer.
Colquitt County GOP Chairman and local businessman Dennis Futch lead the event, introducing the guest speakers, which included preachers from various churches including the Rev. Klay Luke of Philadelphia Baptist Church, Pastor Julian Griner of Lifespring Community Church, the Rev. Stanley Norman of Pine Grove Baptist Church and Evangelist Justin West and a video message was played from Pastor Ryan Binkley of Create Church in Richardson, Texas.
Other guest speakers included William Spencer, Jay and Amy Carter, Rai Johnson, Arabi Mayor Brooke Huckaby Wilson, Chan Jones, Josh McKoon, and Congressman Buddy Carter. There was also a video message from Gov. Brian Kemp.
Governor Brian Kemp campaigned with Derek Dooley in Augusta, according to WRDW.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp came to Augusta on Monday to campaign with his handpicked Republican candidate for Senate, Derek Dooley.
Dooley, a former University of Tennessee football coach, is positioning himself as a political outsider who can take on Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff and push President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Monday’s event at Fat Man’s Cafe in downtown Augusta was a discussion revolving around the economy, leadership in Georgia and leadership at the federal level.
“When there’s a problem and our people need help, then we need to have it ASAP, yesterday. It takes that kind of mindset. Sending people up there whose main focus is to serve the people, not their own political career, that’s where it starts,” Dooley said.
Dooley has never held public office before, so many of his exact policy positions are unknown to the public.
He mentioned wanting to get the government out of the way of many issues, including local business and agriculture. Dooley said he’s spoken with many in the agricultural community about the importance of immigrant labor to business.
“We got to get up there and communicate with our businesses on how we’re screwing it up as a federal government and how we can make it easy,” he said.
Having Kemp’s endorsement in a Republican field that includes Congressmen Mike Collins and Buddy Carter is a big first step, but Monday’s event was a chance for Dooley to outline his own views.
Kemp agreed to back the 57-year-old Dooley after deciding not to run for the seat himself. Georgia Republicans are looking to topple Ossoff, considered the Senate’s most vulnerable Democratic incumbent seeking reelection next year.
Dooley has focused on attacking Ossoff and backing President Donald Trump, tactics that unify Republicans.
But Dooley has a scant history in politics — he didn’t vote in the 2016 and 2020 elections when Trump was a candidate. Still coaching at the time, Dooley has said he was too busy and distracted to vote.
Dooley says he is “laser-focused” on the next generation and when it comes to issues like affordable housing for young people, Dooley says he supports limiting regulations to get government out of the way, and by doing so, free up industry to build housing for the future.
“Let’s let our job creators build houses and not be burdened by all this regulation that we put on them. It puts an unnecessary burden. It slows down production and raises prices for everybody,” Dooley said.
Running on a clean-the-house, cut-the-red-tape platform aligned toward President Donald Trump, Dooley said Americans can work through their differences with the right balance of candor and respect.
“You wouldn’t believe some of the discussions in locker rooms, not just football but all over. They are very healthy,” Dooley said during a short panel discussion Monday. Players might not be “all in agreement but they know they have something in common. They’re part of a team, and there’s a lot of good. We just don’t have differences. We’ve got a lot of similarities, and we work through them with respect for each other.”
A self-described “commonsense guy,” Dooley is running for Senate against two sitting Republican Georgia congressmen, U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins. Each candidate hopes for the president’s endorsement.
“I have a lot of disdain for a lot of politics that goes on up in D.C.,” Dooley said. “I think people go up there too long, they get too little done, they make too much money, and they become really more concerned about their political careers than they are serving the people who elected them to go up there.”
Five Georgia state legislators will travel to Israel, according to GPB News.
The group includes Rep. Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville, Sen. Russ Goodman (R-Cogdell), Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega), Rep. Esther Panitch (D-Sandy Springs), and Rep. Yasmin Neal (D-Jonesboro).
They join about 250 legislators from across the U.S., representing all 50 states.
The Times of Israel newspaper referred to it as the largest group of elected officials to visit the country in a single trip.
Goodman, who represents Clinch County in South Georgia, said the trip is an opportunity to strengthen ties between Israel and the United States.
“They haven’t told me this specifically,” Goodman said, “but I would imagine one of the reasons they’re putting this trip together is they want to be able to tell their side of the story and show people what’s going on there.”
This won’t be Goodman’s first time in Israel. He was there with his mother on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a major attack on the country. He recalled being in Jerusalem during the violence.
“The airport in Tel Aviv was shut down due to Hamas rockets, and we explored at one point, trying to take a boat to Cyprus,” Goodman said. “It was quite an experience, being at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem and hearing machine gun fire from the balcony. Pretty surreal.”
The Georgia delegation’s schedule includes meetings with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Goodman co-chaired the Georgia-Israel Legislative Caucus with Panitch in 2023, which ultimately helped pass Georgia’s antisemitism bill in 2024.
Chatham County Sheriff Richard Coleman will announce the formation of a human trafficking unit, according to WTOC.
The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office is announcing a new unit, “dedicated to identifying, investigating, and disrupting human trafficking operations throughout Chatham County and neighboring jurisdictions.”
The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office said this initiative reflects Sheriff Richard Coleman’s commitment to protecting vulnerable individuals and pursuing those who profit from exploitation.
Sheriff Coleman will host a press conference for the official launch of the unit, Thursday at 10:00 a.m.
Tybee Island voters will elect three city council members in November, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Three of the six Tybee Island City Council seats will be on the ballot this November. They are the ones currently held by Mayor Pro Tem Monty Parks, who is not running for reelection, and Councilmembers Bill Garbett and Michael “Spec” Hosti. The race this year is a mix of long-time residents and newcomers.
Tybee Forever and the League of Women Voters join forces for a Candidate Forum on Tuesday, Oct. 7 for residents to learn more about who’s running for council and their positions on critical issues facing the island community.
Bulloch County Commissioners will vote on a contract for a new County Manager, according to the Statesboro Herald.
With their regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 16, the Bulloch County commissioners could approve a contract for Christopher D. Eldridge to start work Oct. 6 as the new county manager at a base salary of $225,000 plus $10,000 for moving expenses.
A waiting period — mandated by the Georgia Open Records Act provision that calls for release of information on “as many as three” finalists 14 days before a governing board can vote to hire an “agency head” — has now expired.
When Tom Couch resigned, effective last November, as Bulloch County manager, his salary was $202,456. He had held the job for 20 years. But after local political upheaval over a property tax increase and economic development projects manifested in public vitriol at many meetings and in three challenger candidates unseating previous incumbent commissioners, Couch left for an assistant county manager post with larger York County, South Carolina.
Since Couch’s departure 10 months ago, two different people have served as interim county manager. The first, Cindy Steinmann, a county staff member for 10 years and assistant county manager for three and a half, did not seek promotion to county manager but remained in the interim role until April 9, resigning for a job in the private sector. Upon Steinmann’s departure, county Public Safety Director Randy Tillman stepped up as interim manager, with a contract that will now allow him to return to the Public Safety Division role he really never left.
Also not seeking the permanent manager job, Tillman has instead assisted with the search.
That search began in March, with the commissioners and key staff receiving assistance from Dr. Ian Coyle and his Livonia, New York-based search firm Pracademic Partners under a $26,500 contract.
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