Americans have looked forward to this July when we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the greatest nation in history – called our “semi-quincentennial,” a word we’ll all learn this year and then forget because we’ll never use it again. We’ll…
In normal circumstances, Gov. Brian Kemp’s legislative career should be over now that this 2026 session and bill-signing period has come to an end. If Georgians elect a Republican to succeed him, we can assume he’s signed his last piece…
When the Atlanta Falcons host the New Orleans Saints in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the number of fans yelling “Who dat” rivals that of the fans cheering the home team to “Rise up!” It’s safe to assume many of those sporting gold-and-black…
Former U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill once famously said that all politics is local. Those words might have rung true decades ago, but no more. These days, all politics is national. Local coverage in newspapers and on radio stations has…
In December, donors lined up to get photos with Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns and his wife, universally known as Mrs. Dayle. The event’s attendees got a sneak peak of the extensive renovations of the House chamber and the satisfaction…
With affordability ranking as voters’ top concern, elected officials are looking for ways to bring relief, but there are no easy answers for the rising costs of groceries, energy, childcare, homes and health insurance. On the local level, concerns have…
On the week that former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced his candidacy to run as a Democrat for governor, I woke up to a text from a former Democratic state House member. The message contained only a 2019 photo,…
You’d probably need to go back to the 1990s to find a time when Georgia’s congressional delegation carried a lot of clout. Democrat Sam Nunn held sway in the Senate as he was wrapping up his four terms in office,…
In June, Josh McKoon was in the car with his wife when Trump called to congratulate him on his re-election as chair of the Georgia Republican Party. Not long into the call, Trump says, “China’s calling me. I’ll call you…
Georgia Republicans and conservative-leaning independents should not underestimate the importance of next month’s statewide races for two of the five of the Public Service Commission seats. I fully understand that even by typing out “Public Service Commission” in the first…
Georgia’s last Democratic lieutenant governor, Mark Taylor of Albany, served two terms in that office. In his first term from 1999-2003 he wielded power over the state Senate, where his party still maintained a majority. At the start of Taylor’s…
"I love my home state of Georgia so much,” began U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s announcement in early May that she wouldn’t run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff. Georgians, she writes, “may not…
In 2025, it remains illegal in Georgia to grow, possess or consume marijuana products. That’s a fact. It is also a fact that almost every Georgian reading these words either uses marijuana products themselves or knows someone who does. Anyone…
The political ad begins with a female swimmer at the starting block, poised for a race. Next to her is a young man in a women’s swimsuit. As he crouches into position, the male swimmer turns to the camera and…
The 2026 political cycle that will usher in a new era in Georgia politics is well underway. Though he’s not on the ballot in Georgia next year, President Trump will loom large – perhaps more so than any individual candidate…
It was 50 years ago this month that the Vietnam War officially came to an end. The musical Miss Saigon immortalized the image of the last helicopter evacuating the U.S. Embassy on April 30, 1975. As that American misadventure came to…
When I sat with U.S. Rep. Brian Jack, it was late December in an office high-rise several weeks before he’d take the oath as the new congressman for Georgia’s 3rd District. He’d just returned to Georgia from Mar-A-Lago, where he’d…
College football fans recently packed Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for both the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the national championship game. Fans across the nation placed bets on the final score, total points and star players’ individual stats. Sports enthusiasts in…
Every evening newscast has its fair share of reports on violent crimes. Victims, both random and targeted, die every day. As viewers, we can’t possibly absorb the gravity of these tragedies suffered by the victims’ loved ones. It’s beyond human…
The iconic Manuel’s Tavern on Atlanta’s eastside has long-served as a go-to for politicos, journalists and police, as well as neighborhood regulars, since longtime DeKalb leader Manuel Maloof opened it in 1956. It’s an Atlanta institution known for good food,…
This month will answer many political questions for Georgians – and not just whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump will win our 16 electoral votes. No doubt, the presidential race is the big-ticket item, and Georgians…
Toward the end of Fintan O’Toole’s book We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland, the author tells the story of an Irish taoiseach (prime minister) marveling at the efficiency of China’s autocratic rule during a period when the Emerald…
It took around a decade for Allen Peake’s vision to become reality in Georgia, but because of his commitment to Georgians who have serious health conditions, patients now have legal access to medical cannabis. A conservative Republican and wildly successful…
If Georgia is decisive in the 2024 election, the outlook for President Biden’s re-election appears dire. Biden has consistently trailed in Georgia surveys for the past year – in some polls by double digits – and we’re entering the season…
In 2006, Rhonda Mathieson of Atlanta needed lifesaving surgery. She later discovered that she shared something special in common with her neurosurgeon, Dr. Steven Wray. Mathieson, now retired as chief financial officer of the High Museum, serves as a board…
Eighty years ago this month, around 160,000 Allied troops, including 73,000 Americans, stormed the beaches of Normandy in choppy waters. D-Day lives on as one of…
Let me start with the disclaimer that I love the Georgia Capitol, with its Indiana limestone exterior, the pink Georgia marble on its inner walls, and its dome gilded with Dahlonega gold. It’s where I worked for nearly five years…
After 40 years, few memories from second grade linger, but I’ll never forget the April morning when my dad showed up in the doorway of my classroom to take me to a round at the Masters Tournament. Though all our…
Leading up to the 2022 general election in Georgia, the rest of the nation had closely followed our politics for two full years. It began, of course, with the madness that followed our 2020…
Georgia Democrats learned a painful lesson of “be careful what you wish for.” Plaintiffs aligned with Democratic groups successfully sued the state of Georgia on claims that the state legislative and congressional maps…
Whoever coined the inane phrase “more money, more problems” never met a legislator (or for that matter, anybody whatsoever). As we enter the bleakest part of Georgia’s calendar and the days are short, the temperatures are low and the skies…
Fans of Netflix’s Ozark know about the dramatic performances of stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney in the thrilling series. They’ve probably never heard of Mike Neal, a small businessman in Savannah, but they’ve enjoyed his work too. As a marine…
Tricia Pridemore talks about Georgia’s energy policy the way a grandmother talks about her grandchild or University of Georgia fans talk about their football team: It’s simply the best, and everyone else just needs to accept it. She’ll run for…
In the fall of 2014, the approximately 200 students at Utopian Academy knew that then-Gov. Nathan Deal was coming for a visit as they gathered in the lunchroom of the school. They weren’t aware he was bringing a special guest.…
Tom Price, the former Republican congressman from Georgia’s 6th District and later secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump Administration, watched the 2023 State of the Union from his home in Roswell, shaking his head in disappointment as…
When I first became aware of Josh McKoon, he was running unopposed for a Columbus area state Senate seat while my boss, Nathan Deal, was campaigning for governor. McKoon worked hard for our opponent in the primary, and once we…
The day after the Georgia General Assembly session ends, legislators usually wake up from their late-night revelry and dart out of town. After three months of work in the Capitol, there’s an urgency about getting home to their businesses and…
As a longtime communicator in Republican politics, I’ve often looked at my Democratic peers with a tinge of envy. Republicans put out a message and expect a hail of bullets from media shooting them down. Democrats are conditioned to expect…
After a gracious concession speech from Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker in early December, Deomactic Sen. Raphael Warnock took the stage. The victorious and relieved incumbent declared what he called the best four words in the English language: “The…
I swaggered up to the sports book at our Las Vegas casino the weekend before the College Football Playoff national championship game in January. That’s not totally true. A novice gambler, I didn’t really know how to place a bet,…
Last year, Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law legislation that paid Dennis Perry $1.23 million. But don’t envy Perry. No one would trade places with him. Perry served 20 years in a Georgia prison for a double murder he didn’t…
In the closing days of December’s runoff in the U.S. Senate race, the smiles from the nearly always cheery candidates had disappeared, erased by the gravity of an overly long, grueling campaign. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock gave TV interviews…
This month, Gov. Brian Kemp will kick off the first legislative session of his final term riding high. After the pomp and circumstance of his second inauguration, Kemp goes into the 2023 session with a mandate from voters and a…
In the last month of this year’s general election, Republican candidates for statewide office targeted minority voters in ways we’ve rarely seen in the past. Gov. Brian Kemp in one week participated in a town hall at Clark Atlanta University,…
Former Gov. Nathan Deal has delivered on his wife’s dying wish. The love of his life and a beloved Georgia first lady, Sandra Deal asked her husband to write a children’s book. He finished the manuscript around the time of…
Elections between two candidates are a choice, not a referendum. In a referendum on an issue, a voter who dislikes the proposal can vote no. In an election, there’s no “none of the above” option, but voters might cast their…
As this month’s Georgia Trend lands in mailboxes, the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs will kick off their season, looking to show a national audience that they’re still the team to beat despite seeing a record-breaking number of defenders drafted…
It’s rare that a secretary of state is well known by voters in his or her own state. For one to have his or her name recognized across the country, well, that’s almost unheard of. You’d have to go back…
Stacey Abrams likes to say that Georgia has a Democratic majority that would consistently elect her party to statewide offices if not for “voter suppression.” While the suppression narrative is as fictitious as her Selena Montgomery novels, the 2020 elections…
No one in Katie Watson Speed’s family had gone to college, but her Rabun County public school teachers knew she could become a first-generation graduate if she got the right support. She had fortuitous timing. When she was in eighth…
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