William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invaded England on September 28, 1066.
General George Washington led continental troops into the siege of British forces under General Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia on September 28, 1781.
On September 28, 1863, two Union generals lost their commands after the Confederates routed federal forces at the Battle of Chickamauga.
On September 28, 1889, Georgia Governor John B. Gordon signed legislation designating January 19th a state holiday in honor of Robert E. Lee’s birthday. In 2015, Robert E. Lee’s birthday and Confederate Memorial Day were stricken from the Georgia calendar.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
The Democratic nominee for State Senate District 47 faces two years in prison instead of the upper chamber. From the Athens Banner Herald:
Frank Ginn, the incumbent District 47 state Senator, said Friday he is still deciding what he might do following the news that his challenger in the November General Election is now a convicted felon serving time behind bars.
A Madison County Superior Court Judge on Thursday sentenced 41-year-old Justin Grant Gillespie of Hull to seven years, with the first two years to serve in prison. Gillespie had qualified to run as a Democrat on the November ballot to seek the state Senate seat.
But that conviction for battery and cruelty to children has likely disqualified Gillespie from the election, though his name will likely remain on the printed ballots.
“As soon as I get a copy of the sentencing, I’ll look at what my options are. I’m sure his name will be on the ballot because the ballots are already printed,” Ginn said. The District 47 seat covers areas in Madison County, where Ginn resides, along with parts of Clarke, Barrow and Jackson counties.
“I have never had this occur,” said Ginn, who was first elected to the post in 2010 and has faced opposition in past elections.
Gillespie, who had not run for office in the past, is currently in the Madison County Jail following his conviction on Sept. 16.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office is still looking into the matter, but an office spokesman agreed that Gillespie’s name will remain on the ballot.
“It will probably be wise for his challenger to file a challenge to his candidacy and get them thrown off the ballot,” Secretary of State Communications Director Robert Sinners said Friday. Any votes for Gillespie would not be counted.
I’m also loving the headline for that story, “Felony conviction clouds District 47 Senate race in Georgia.”
Republican nominee for Governor Rick Jackson unveiled his plan to help veterans, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson was joined by a group of Georgia veterans, including the owners of Nine Line Apparel Friday at the company’s Savannah headquarters.
The press conference followed a roundtable discussion with veteran leaders focused on challenges facing Georgia’s veterans and military families. During the press conference that followed Jackson laid out his plans to assist in improving medical coverage, easy access to services, and a special designation for veteran-owned businesses.
Republican candidate for Georgia governor Rick Jackson made a campaign stop in Savannah on Friday afternoon, meeting with local veterans to address health care challenges facing military families and residents across the state.
Jackson visited Nine Line Apparel on Fort Argyle Road, where he sat down with veteran leaders to discuss plans to reform health care delivery and lower medical costs.
Jackson said he wants to reduce bureaucracy by cutting out intermediaries in the health care system to ensure patients receive the treatments their physicians recommend.
“Overall, health care, we have perverse incentives, and our insurance companies need to be held more accountable,” Jackson said. “We want to eliminate the ability of insurance companies to practice medicine in Georgia by denying care that a doctor orders by that standpoint.”
Jackson emphasized that his platform aims to hold private insurers accountable, lower overall medical expenses, and prevent insurance companies from overruling doctor-prescribed care with approval delays or denials.
A new poll shows U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta) with a lead over U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Jackson) in the Senate race, according to Atlanta News First via WRDW.
With the 2026 midterms fast approaching, a new poll of Georgia registered voters shows Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff holding a 10-point lead over Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.
The battle for governor between Republican Rick Jackson and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms remains a virtual tie.
The YouGov poll, conducted Sept. 15–18, surveyed 3,447 registered Georgia voters and carries a margin of error of plus-minus 2.7 percentage points.
Ossoff clears 50% mark against Collins
In the closely watched U.S. Senate contest — viewed as one of the most critical battlegrounds on the 2026 national map — Ossoff crosses the majority threshold.
• Ossoff (D): 51%
• Collins (R): 41%
• Undecided: 6%
• Someone else/Will not vote: 2%Voter loyalty in the race is high. Among Collins supporters, 96% say their minds are made up, with only 4% indicating they would consider backing Ossoff. Similarly, 94% of Ossoff supporters say they are locked in, compared to 6% who would consider switching to Collins.
The crosstabs highlight demographic divides fueling Ossoff’s lead:
• Ossoff leads among younger voters, capturing 67% of voters ages 18–29 and 58% of those ages 30–44.
• Ossoff has a small lead over Collins in the 45–64-year-olds (47% to 46% Collins), while Collins leads Ossoff among seniors 65+ (51% to 42%).
• Ossoff secures 83% of Black registered voters, while Collins draws 57% of white voters.
• Ossoff holds an edge among women (53% to 38%), while men are split (49% Ossoff to 45% Collins).
• Ossoff leads among self-identified independents (51% to 35%).Governor: Deadlock
Unlike the double-digit gap in the Senate race, the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp is a statistical dead heat, within the poll’s margin of error:
• Jackson (R): 45%
• Bottoms (D): 44%
• Undecided: 9%
• Someone else / Will not vote: 2%With 9% of Georgia voters still undecided, the contest between Jackson, a self-made businessman, and Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, remains up for grabs.
Key demographic divides include:
• Jackson leads among male voters (50% to 39%), while Bottoms leads among female voters (49% to 42%).
• Bottoms commands 81% of Black voters, while Jackson leads among white voters with 62%.
• Bottoms leads with voters under 45 (securing 54% among 18–29 and 52% among 30–44), while Jackson carries older Georgians (50% among 45–64 and 56% among voters 65+).
• Self-described independent voters favor Bottoms narrowly at 43%, compared to 37% for Jackson, with 17% undecided.Political climate and state landscape
The findings reflect a divided electorate:
• 39% of Georgia registered voters approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance (23% strongly, 16% somewhat), while 60% disapprove (54% strongly).
• 36% identify as Republicans, 32% as Democrats, and 24% as Independents. Both major parties suffer net-negative favorability ratings across the state, with 55% viewing the Republican Party unfavorably and 53% viewing the Democratic Party unfavorably.The results underscore Georgia’s status as a premier split-ticket battleground, with voters demonstrating distinct preferences between federal representation and statehouse leadership.
From Atlanta News First via WRDW:
While polling across congressional and state races indicates potential headwinds for Republicans nationwide — driven in part by sub-30% presidential approval ratings, cost-of-living concerns, and the foreign policy fallout from conflict with Iran — Georgia’s marquee contests present two political realities.
In Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff continues to maintain a steady five-to-seven-point polling advantage over Republican challenger Rep. Mike Collins.
That gap is also mirrored in campaign finance reports. Ossoff’s campaign has raised enough capital to direct millions into down-ballot Democratic efforts across Georgia, while Collins has faced an uphill climb to narrow the deficit before ballots are cast.
Both candidates have leaned heavily into aggressive, targeted messaging. Collins has accused Ossoff of using his office as a launching pad for a 2028 presidential campaign—a claim Ossoff has repeatedly denied—while attempting to align the incumbent with the Democratic Socialists of America.
Collins has also criticized Ossoff for not forcefully condemning incendiary remarks by far-left online commentator Hasan Piker.
Ossoff has maintained consistent pressure on Collins over controversial ties, highlighting online videos posted by Collins’ son-in-law that echo antisemitic and white nationalist themes.
Ossoff has also pointed to disclosed text messages involving Collins’ former chief of staff discussing efforts to aid jailed far-right figures, urging Collins to release full congressional logs related to the matter.
Unlike the Senate race, the battle for Georgia governor remains a statistical dead heat, sitting well within the four-to-five-percent margin of error across nearly every major survey.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms brings widespread name recognition to the Democratic ticket despite a financial disparity. Republican nominee Rick Jackson has invested heavily in advertising, spending an estimated $100 million to introduce his personal background and business record to voters, compared to roughly $10 million spent by Bottoms.
With undecided voters polling at roughly 7% to 8%, independent and swing voters in key suburban and rural jurisdictions are expected to determine the final margin.
Bottoms and Jackson will take the stage on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. for their only scheduled joint appearance: a town hall debate where vetted, undecided voters from across Georgia will question the candidates directly.
Beyond traditional issues like inflation, gas prices, and business costs, technological regulation has rapidly escalated into a primary campaign issue in Georgia.
Communities across the state have raised alarms over the rapid development of large-scale AI data centers, which require significant land, water, and power infrastructure. Bottoms and other state leaders have advocated for moratoriums on new data centers, criticizing Jackson’s investment stake in an out-of-state facility.
At the same time, the deployment of Flock Safety license plate readers, manufactured by an Atlanta-based company, has triggered scrutiny at local, state, and federal levels. Revelations regarding the personal misuse of camera databases by law enforcement officers have spurred municipal oversight measures in Atlanta as well as committee reviews in the U.S. Senate.
Lawmakers are now weighing whether federal data privacy regulations will supersede emerging state and municipal rules during the upcoming legislative sessions.
Campaigns on both sides of the aisle are also competing for young voters aged 18 to 24. While voter registration among college-age Georgians has reached historic highs, historical turnout figures remain a challenge; only about 6% of registered voters in that bracket cast ballots in recent major elections.
Student leaders across Georgia universities note that while younger voters face the same kitchen-table pressures as older demographics—including housing affordability, gas prices, and student loans—voter apathy remains high among those who feel campaign outreach often borders on performative rather than substantive.
Georgia Peanut Commission Chair Donald Chase has endorsed Democrat Jon Ossoff for U.S. Senate, according to the AJC.
Donald Chase is the kind of voter Democrats are fighting over in Georgia.
The Oglethorpe peanut farmer has voted Republican for nearly his entire adult life. He’s supporting and contributing to GOP candidates elsewhere on the November ballot.
But when it comes to the U.S. Senate race, he plans to vote for Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.
“We don’t necessarily elect a party,” Chase said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I like to support people that I can get behind and believe in.”
Chase is chair of the Georgia Peanut Commission, which represents more than 4,000 peanut farm families across the state, though he stressed that he is speaking only for himself and not the organization.
He is the latest Republican to back Ossoff as the Democrat works to build a coalition that stretches beyond his party’s base in his reelection fight against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.
Republican mayors Scott James Matheson of Valdosta and Julie Smith of Tifton crossed party lines for Ossoff while supporting Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson. Former Republican U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona also endorsed Ossoff.
Chase said his support for Ossoff is rooted in the Democrat’s attention to farmland issues during his first term, but one episode stood out in particular.
Ossoff pressed to preserve U.S. funding for UNICEF, the federal program that distributes peanut-based food to malnourished children overseas. Chase said that fight mattered to him even though the Democrat failed to reverse the Trump administration’s cuts.
“He stood up and said, ‘This is not appropriate,” Chase said. “I like people who will stand up for the things that I believe we, as Georgians, support.”
The RNC and Georgia Republican Party want the State Election Board to change voting procedures, according to the AJC.
A fight over the secrecy of Georgia ballots has been brewing for weeks. Now, the Republican National Committee and Georgia Republican Party are turning up the pressure.
In a Friday letter, the organizations asked the State Election Board to take emergency action before early voting. They cited a Princeton researcher who says he exploited a long-known privacy flaw in Georgia’s voting system to determine, with fair certainty, how more than 2,200 people who cast early ballots voted in the May primaries.
They want the board to adopt rules requiring voters to deposit ballots in bins, not scanners. Officials would shuffle batches of ballots deposited into the bins and later insert them into scanners.
“The right to a secret ballot is foundational, as exemplified by its enshrinement in the state constitution,” the letter said. “It is a bulwark against voter coercion, intimidation, and retaliation, protecting the fairness of the franchise.”
The request comes as the State Election Board meets today in Suwanee. In August, the board rejected a proposal to force the secretary of state to implement an update, with some members citing timeline concerns and questioning whether the board had the authority to require the secretary to act.
The privacy flaw has become easier to exploit with artificial intelligence, security experts say. The flaw does not allow votes to be altered.
The secretary of state’s office has said an upgrade that reportedly resolves the vulnerability is too costly and infeasible to implement in time for the midterms. To ensure election records cannot be used to identify how someone voted, state officials have said they are working with vendors to scramble records before making them public.
The Thomas County Democratic Party hosted an anti-Flock rally, according to WALB.
The Thomas County Democratic Party is hosting its first anti-Flock rally Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hot Spot in Thomasville.
The rally opposes the use of Flock cameras, AI-powered license plate readers that allow police to track people over time.
“The widespread backlash against AI-powered license plate readers, which allow police to track people over time, is becoming more of a political issue as the midterm elections approach. Florida has made headway- state road cameras are in the process of coming down,” the party said.
According to Democratic candidate for House District 173 Adam Chitwood, there are more than 40 flock cameras in Thomas County right now, with the majority of them located in Thomasville.
“When I’ve been around in the community talking to people about these flock cameras, it creates a lot of unrest. We don’t want unwanted surveillance. We don’t want misuse of this technology. So let’s just say let’s get the flock out of Thomasville,” said Chitwood.
A Flock camera in Athens was vandalized, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
The officer reported that the department was notified on Sept. 22 about the damage by an “online group forum,” which he did not identify by name.
The officer reported he responded to the location and found that someone had taken gold colored spray paint and sprayed the lens of the camera. The damage was estimated at $500.
Although damage to Flock cameras is rare, this past July the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office reported that three cameras were vandalized.
Braselton Police Officer James Keinard was fired for allegedly misusing Flock cameras, according to AccessNorthGA.
Access North Georgia received the termination letter and called the Town of Braselton to confirm the identity as Officer James Keinard.
Between 2023 and 2025, Keinard allegedly searched three tags 968 times.
According to the termination letter, Keinard was fired for violating his oath of office, misconduct, and conducting personal business while on duty.
Internal affairs conducted the investigation and noted a “repeated use” of Flock cameras to search for tags associated with people he had personal relationships with.
“The violations described on the previous page are especially serious because they involve the misuse of governmental authority and access to sensitive law-enforcement technology,” the termination letter from Interim Police Chief Zack Tiller read.
Keinard apparently acknowledged the searches were personal in nature in an administrative interview. He refused to sign the termination notice dated Aug. 20, 2026.
The firing, announced Sept. 11, was the 15th reported instance of Flock abuse in northeast Georgia.
Demorest Police Chief Casey Chastain and Assistant Chief James Minutello have both resigned, according to AccessNorthGA.
Police Chief Casey Chastain resigned on Thursday at 3 p.m., and his last day will be Oct. 7. An interim has not been announced, but one will be put in place before Chastain’s last day according to City Manager Mark Musselwhite.
Chastain’s resignation comes after Assistant Chief James Minutello, whose resignation was announced on Sept. 4. Minutello reportedly resigned to work with the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office as an investigator.
On Tuesday the Demorest Police Department posted to Facebook that they are hiring for a full-time nightshift police officer.
Dalton City Schools hit their lowest enrollment level in ten years, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.
Dalton Public Schools began the 2026-27 school year with its lowest first-day enrollment in at least a decade, recording 460 fewer students than at the beginning of the previous school year.
Superintendent Steven Craft told the Dalton Board of Education during its Aug. 10 meeting that 6,999 students attended on the first day of school, Aug. 4, compared with 7,459 on the first day of the 2025-26 school year.
Enrollment had increased to 7,033 students by Aug. 10 as some students who did not attend on the first day subsequently reported to school. Craft said the district expects enrollment to remain between 7,000 and 7,100 students throughout the year.
“We’re down just a little bit from where we thought we were going to be, but we’re really right at 7,000,” Craft said.
According to data presented to the board, this year’s first-day count was the district’s lowest during the past 10 years. The highest was 7,710 students at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.
Baldwin County Commissioners voted to raise the property tax millage rate by 35%, according to 13WMAZ.
The Baldwin County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a 3.49-mills increase, lower than the originally proposed 9.3-mills increase, as the commission grapples with a $15 million budget shortfall.
The county hiked the millage rate from 9.87 mills to 13.36 mills, which will be reflected in the upcoming tax bills set to start going out Oct. 15.
The approved millage rate is far lower than the 9.3 mills increase previously proposed, which would have marked a roughly 95% increase in the millage rate.
The property tax hike comes as the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners grapples with $15 million in debt, which the interim county manager Paul Van Haute said the county is unable to pay back.
Van Haute framed the 9.3 mill increase as one of the few options to guarantee the county stays afloat.
“That is the only way I can guarantee that there will be $15 million in the bank by Dec. 31 to pay those notes,” Van Haute said.
Residents packed the room, with several asking how the county incurred the $15 million debt and saying they could not afford a tax hike.
“We cannot afford a tax hike,” one resident said in the hearing. Another told commissioners, “We need to know what happened.”
The approved increase is lower than the 9-mill increase recommended by interim county manager Paul Van Haute. It would add about $140 to the tax bill for a $100,000 home.
“It’s unfortunate that it had to happen, but in order to meet our obligation, this is what we had to do,” District 4 Commissioner Andrew Strickland said.
Vice Chairman Scott Little said the 3.5-mill increase would allow the county to meet its obligation to Century Bank without defaulting.
For Milledgeville resident Desiree Liggins, who owns two properties in the county, the increase could mean an additional $700 to $800 in taxes, she said.
“That money is really going to hurt because that’s going to have to come out of residual income,” Liggins said.
Asked what else she wanted to see change, she had a blunt answer: “Commissioners gone!”
To also help pay the debt the board voted to give permission to the Baldwin County Development Authority to sell Sibley Smith Industrial Park.
Board Chairman Kendrick Butts told 13WMAZ that the board is working on releasing supplemental plans to relieve the debt in the next 60 to 90 days. He did not reveal details of those plans.
Lowndes County Schools earned a 4.5 Financial Efficiency Star Rating, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
Lowndes County Schools was one of only 14 of Georgia’s 180 school districts to receive a 4.5-star rating, ranking #6 across the state. The Financial Efficiency Star Rating highlights how effectively school districts use financial resources in relation to student achievement, reflecting the district’s ability to maximize available resources while continuing to deliver strong outcomes for students.
The district’s Finance Department, led by Chief Financial Officer Julie Wiley, was recognized for the achievement by Superintendent Sandra Wilcher during an August Lowndes County Board of Education meeting.
“Earning 4.5 stars reflects our steadfast commitment to being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Wilcher shared. “It shows our commitment that Lowndes County Schools is not only delivering high-quality education, but doing so efficiently and responsibly. We are proud to make every dollar count, investing wisely in our students, supporting our staff, and protecting the financial strength of our school system for the future.”
Chatham County Board of Commissioners voted to revise their short term rental regulations, according to the Savannah Morning News.
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an amended short-term rental ordinance Friday, creating new STR districts in the unincorporated area with license caps in each.
The new STR districts touch over 60 neighborhoods based on the Chatham County Police Response Neighborhoods. The ordinance caps the STR use at 5% of the residential properties within each district.
The changes also institute new noise restrictions and transparency requirements such as two points of contact being listed on the license. County officials have said the changes are aimed at increasing safety and accountability with STRs in the unincorporated area.
“There have been issues with specific residential neighborhoods where we have commercial owners renting out these properties and there is no accountability,” said Assistant County Attorney Andre Pretorius. “We can’t reach them, we can’t cite them, we can’t find them.”
Rome City Commissioners will consider a data center moratorium today, according to WRGA News.
The discussion is on the agenda for the commission’s pre-meeting caucus, which begins at 5 p.m. in the Sam King Room at Rome City Hall.
In June, the Floyd County Commission approved it own moratorium, which expired when new local ordinances were approved last month.
Currently, the only proposed data center projects are a Microsoft data center in the area of Huffaker Road and Fouche Gap, one behind Coosa Middle School, and one at the old Ball site in Shannon—All are in the county.
The one data center proposed in the city limits was at the Battey Business Complex off Division Street in West Rome, but that project fell through.
Ossie, a loggerhead sea turtle, was released at Tybee Island, according to WSAV.
Biologists at the Tybee Island Marine Center (TIMC) shared an emotional moment as they watched Ossie make their way down the shore and into the waves.
The sea turtle, whose gender was not determined, became a fan favorite among visitors and even served as the Marine Debris Ambassador for the TIMSC in the three years that they were a resident at the center. According to the TIMSC, Ossie was rescued as a hatchling on Ossabaw Island back in 2023.
Originally weighing less than 0.5 pounds when they arrived, Ossie has grown into a healthy, strong turtle, currently weighing around 36 pounds, who is ready to live in their natural environment.
Before their send-off, Ossie was equipped with a satellite tracker so fans could follow weekly updates of “Out and About with Ossie” on TIMSC’s Facebook page and social media. 12-year-old activist and author Liddy Clever raised the funds for the satellite through her Sea Life with Liddy social media channel.
“Watching Ossie grow from a tiny hatchling who could fit in the palm of my hand into a large turtle has been such a rewarding experience,” said TIMSC wildlife biologist and senior curator Sarah Alley. “Knowing that Ossie has taught so many people from all walks of life about the importance of keeping our oceans clean and safe for its inhabitants makes all the work that goes into raising them completely worth it.”
Ossie was rescued as a hatchling on Ossabaw Island, weighing just 22 grams.
“When they’re small, they’re really weak. But to watch them swim away, all the way so strong was awesome,” said Sarah Alley and Rachel Cantrell, curators at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center.
Now weighing about 36 pounds, Ossie is strong enough to live in the wild.
“You have to go through a lot of health checks, making sure they’re eating, and turtles are born knowing everything they need to know, so we don’t have to teach them anything. And you just gotta make sure you give them all the right lighting, food, and water and everything like that,” Alley said.
During her time at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, Ossie also served as an ambassador, teaching visitors about the dangers of marine debris.
“So she’s here as our marine debris ambassador, and it’s super important for the public to learn about all the ocean creatures that we have and why they should care about environmental protections,” Cantrell said.
Ossie will be tracked by a satellite tracker, funded by 12-year-old local activist and author Liddy Clever. Clever raised the money by selling books on marine life and bracelets through her nonprofit, Sea Life with Liddy, after successfully funding a tracker for another turtle, Westie.
Curators said Ossie’s location will be shared weekly on Facebook.
“So every time Ossie surfaces to take a breath, that data will be sent up to a satellite. Hopefully, a satellite passes at the same time, and then we’ll be able to follow Ossie’s location,” Alley said.
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