Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Party Lines: A new lawsuit seeks to keep future local elections partisan, as they have been across the state until now. After Gov. Brian Kemp signed a new law making some races in five Metro Atlanta counties nonpartisan, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston filed a state lawsuit claiming the law is unconstitutional because it treats the five counties differently from the rest of Georgia’s counties.
DeKalb is one of the counties named in the law, along with Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton – all predominantly Democratic and with large numbers of Black voters. The law, scheduled to go into effect in 2028, would affect races for district attorneys, court clerks, solicitors general and tax commissioners, and county commissioners (except in DeKalb). Candidates would appear on the ballot without party identification, and most would be elected in May, not November. Notably, the five counties affected by the law all have Black women district attorneys.
Sticker Shock: Temporarily suspending the state gas tax to give Georgia drivers some relief from skyrocketing pump prices came with a cost to the state’s bottom line: $199.6 million in May, according to the governor’s office. That’s a decrease of about 12.6% compared to May 2025.
Kemp had originally suspended the gas tax from March 20 through May 19 and then extended it for two weeks. With the tax back in place as of June 3, Georgians are paying about 33 cents more per gallon at the pump.
Photo credit: Benjamin Payne/GPB News
House Rules: By a 3-2 vote, the McIntosh County Commission has recommended limiting new house sizes in the historic Gullah-Geechee community of Hog Hummock on Sapelo Island. House sizes have been a controversial issue for years, but the new recommendation hasn’t calmed tensions. County commissioners previously approved construction of larger houses that residents feared would lead to developments pricing them out and gentrifying the community. A referendum in January 2026 rescinded that zoning, and the new recommendation calls for smaller new houses (maximum of 1,800 square feet v. 3,000 square feet).
However, The Current reports the special commission meeting where it was adopted was called with little notice, affecting residents’ ability to participate and contributing to a long-standing impression that they have been left out of the zoning process since the issue first arose in 2023.
The recommendation now goes to the county zoning board for a vote in July.
Making Cents: Augusta voters approved two sales taxes in May – renewing a 1-cent SPLOST that will fund $375 million in capital projects and giving the green light to a half-cent floating local option sales tax (FLOST) that will go toward property tax relief. Among the projects the SPLOST will help fund are the renovation of the county jail, expansion of the Augusta Convention Center, renovation and extending of the Riverwalk and rebuilding of the Boathouse events facility. Other projects include improvements to roads and parks.
No Shore Thing: Since 2020, researchers at Skidaway Island say Tybee has lost 54% of its sand. The island was due for a beach renourishment project – adding sand to rebuild the shoreline – which is usually funded partially by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But federal cuts meant the budget for the 2026 national renourishment program was slashed and Tybee won’t get any funding this year.
The Corps indicated it plans to prioritize Tybee funding in 2027, and Sen. Jon Ossoff has submitted a $12 million congressionally directed spending request for 2027 (which would earmark the money for Tybee so that it could not be spent somewhere else). Tybee is also joining Yes to Beaches, a national campaign by all coastal communities asking Congress to fund the federal nourishment program with about $200 million per year.
But first, Tybee has to get through one or possibly two hurricane seasons. This is the first time funding has not come through the program since the island began partnering with the federal government in 1974. 
Board Shuffles: Dr. Janice Johnston, a MAGA-aligned election activist appointed to the State Election Board by the Georgia Republican Party, resigned in June. She was appointed to the five-member board in 2022 and served as vice chair. Johnston said she was resigning due to “family and personal responsibilities.”
Her time on the board was controversial, with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noting she “led the board’s dogged efforts to obtain county records and helped pave the way for the FBI raid earlier this year, where agents seized ballots and other election documents.”
Board member Janelle King was appointed vice chair to replace Johnston in that role. Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Carolyn Roddy, a regulatory lawyer who recently ran unsuccessfully to be the Republican candidate for the Public Service Commission District 5 seat, to fill Johnston’s spot on the board.
