by Ty Tagami | May 7, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — When Georgia voters complete their ballots this year, one of the people they select will be the next person in charge of overseeing elections.
The Georgia Secretary of State handles business registration, professional licensing and regulation of charities and securities, all essential to the economy.
But that elected official also serves a role that is vital to the operation of democracy: voter registration, ballot preparation and certification of election results.
The upheaval that followed President Donald Trump’s assertion that he won the 2020 election is the main wedge between candidates running for secretary of state this year.
All but one Republican said at a debate last week that the 2020 outcome was still in question and that the electronic voting system in use in Georgia then and now is deeply flawed.
“I think 2020 is still in question to be frank with you,” said Kelvin King, whose wife, Janelle King, is a Republican appointee to the State Election Board. “The things that I’ve learned studying our elections have been just startling. The bottom line is this: we haven’t had a clean election over the last several elections.”
Ted Metz, who described himself as an inventor, said “it is clear to anyone that has a brain” that the voting system is plagued by “irregularities” in vote counting and in administrative and procedural functions. “There are so many botched things,” he said.
Former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, who was a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party, said defenders of the current system say there was no “widespread” fraud. “Well, people want to know how wide was the wide,” he said.
Only Gabe Sterling, a former chief operating officer for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, said voters trust the outcomes produced by the current system. He pointed to record turnout for early voting for the May 19 primary, which had started by the time of the April 28 debate. “We have the best and safest elections in America,” he said.
The tone among Democrats, who debated later that afternoon, indicated faith in election integrity and wariness of naysayers.
Penny Brown Reynolds, a former Fulton County State Court judge, lashed out at Republican state lawmakers for stripping Raffensperger, also a Republican, of his voting powers on the State Election Board. Lawmakers did that after Raffensperger clashed with Trump over the outcome of the 2020 election.
Courts found no fraud, and Gov. Brian Kemp, also a Republican, backed the outcome, she noted, yet Raffensperger was still sidelined by “the MAGA, Donald Trump and others,” she said. “They want to do everything they can to try to control our elections.”
Dana Barrett, a Fulton County commissioner, pointed to the FBI seizure of Fulton ballots from 2020, saying the January raid “was aimed at setting us up for a state takeover of our elections, which is extremely dangerous.” She said the Republican-majority state election board “is completely MAGA-controlled and they pose the biggest threat to our votes in the state of Georgia. If the state elections board tries to take over the elections in Fulton County, the largest county with the largest concentration of Democrats, we will be in bad shape,” she said.
Adrian Consonery Jr. said Georgia could increase confidence by explaining to the public how its system of voting works “in the form of a Schoolhouse Rock video or something of that nature,” adding, “We definitely need a way to educate our Georgians on how the process works to avoid any McCarthyism in the future.”
It was a reference to U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator who led a campaign in the 1950s against Americans he accused of being communists or communist sympathizers.
Cam Ashling, a financial planner, suggested making election day a state holiday to increase voter turnout.
The Republican candidates, except for Sterling, advocated for a swift shift to hand-marked paper ballots.
That appears unlikely after the election board on Friday rejected a petition to require regular use of the backup voting system. The backup system uses pre-printed and hand-marked paper ballots that are fed into a scanner for tabulation. It is intended for power outages and other emergencies, and local election officials have been testifying at hearings for months that they do not have time to implement the system at scale.
The Georgia General Assembly banned the use of machine code to tabulate results effective July 1. Georgia’s current system uses touchscreens in kiosks that print voter choices on paper, along with a “Quick Response,” or QR code, used to tabulate votes.
Despite passing the ban in 2024, state lawmakers have neither authorized nor paid for a new system. They blame Raffensperger, and he blames them.
State Rep. Tim Fleming, R-Covington, a Republican candidate for secretary of state, led a legislative study committee of the voting system last year. The committee recommended hand-counting ballots with QR codes this November before buying a new voting system in fiscal year 2027. Fleming did not appear for the GOP debate.
Watch the Democrats for secretary of state debate at https://www.gpb.org/events/news/2026/04/28/georgia-secretary-of-state-democrats-atlanta-press-club-debate
Watch the Republicans for secretary of state debate at https://www.gpb.org/events/news/2026/04/28/georgia-secretary-of-state-republicans-atlanta-press-club-debate
by Ty Tagami | May 6, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — President Donald Trump got on the phone for a “tele-rally” Wednesday evening to clarify any confusion about who had his endorsement for Georgia governor in the Republican primary: Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
“I love you and I guess you at least like me,” Trump said after Jones introduced him to listeners as the “our best president in my lifetime.”
Jones backed Trump’s effort to challenge the results of the 2020 election, and was investigated for his role by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The courts removed her from the case, which was then dismissed.
Trump and others were indicted, but Jones was not.
He “has my complete and total endorsement,” Trump said. “He blows his competition away.”
Polling has consistently shown wealthy entrepreneur and political newcomer Rick Jackson with a slight edge over Jones, a Republican who has worked his way up the political ladder in the General Assembly. Jones served in the state senate before winning election statewide as lieutenant governor, presiding over the chamber.
They have both sounded similar notes in candidate forums.
Jones said at one such event last month that discussions about issues, such as affordability and taxes, were less important than a gut check by voters.
“Everybody’s talking about the same thing,” he said at the Georgia Association of Manufacturers’ forum in Cobb County. “And so at the end of the day, the voters have to decide who it is that they think can best execute on these promises.”
Trump tried to clarify the answer for his own supporters.
Jones will be better on crime, job growth and taxes — and election integrity, the president said, reiterating what he has repeatedly said about the “disaster” of an election in Georgia in 2020.
Get out and vote for Jones, Trump said. “You’ve got to make it too big to rig.”
by Ty Tagami | May 6, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — When people with autism get pulled over in Georgia, the police officer who stops their vehicle may soon have special training to reduce the risk of a misunderstanding that can escalate into a confrontation.
Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday signed “Rio’s Law,” named after a boy with autism whose mother, Layla Luna, advocated for a similar law that passed in South Carolina after a difficult traffic stop.
Senate Bill 433, by Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, creates a specialty license plate for people with autism or a developmental disability. It also requires that basic training courses for police include techniques for recognizing people with those conditions and for communicating effectively with them and employing alternatives to physical restraints.
Kemp signed that bill with nearly a dozen other public safety measures, including one for an increase in state contributions to police 401(k) plans (Senate Bill 452), another to reopen the application window for benefits for officers with a brain injury (House Bill 1128) and one that addresses a shortfall in the Peace Officers Annuity Board and allows for higher monthly benefits (Senate Bill 285).
“The Kemp family will always back the blue,” Kemp said in a statement, “and I’m proud to sign legislation today that ensures they are supported throughout their careers of service and into retirement.”
Kemp also signed Senate Bill 547, another by Strickland, which elevates pimping and pandering to a felony on the first offense rather than a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.
by Ty Tagami | May 5, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — A bipartisan education initiative that seeks to boost reading skills among young public school students in Georgia will go into effect this year after Gov. Brian Kemp signed it into law Tuesday, along with a package of other education bills.
The Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026 is a sweeping overhaul of prior legislation that targeted literacy and dyslexia. The new measure, which was a top priority of House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, adds numerous new requirements for curriculum, teacher training and student testing.
It also adds about $70 million to the formula that drives state education budgeting, enough to hire a classroom literacy coach in more than 1,300 schools that have kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.
“This bill is a monumental step in our years-long work to ensure students have the literacy skills they need,” Kemp said before signing House Bill 1193.
The governor signed eight other education bills, including House Bill 1009, which will ban cellphones in public high schools starting in the 2027-28 school year.
The legislation expands a ban passed last year on devices in kindergarten through middle school. Although the lower grades ban does not go into effect until the upcoming school year, many schools have already prohibited personal cellphones ahead of schedule.
Surveys of parents and teachers at many of those schools last fall indicated the bans were popular. Studies also showed academic gains associated with removing the devices.
“The improved outcomes following last year’s bill have been incredible,” Kemp said, “and this commonsense step will help both students and faculty learn in safer, distraction-free environments.”
Among the other bills that Kemp signed are measures that will require public schools to expand access to afterschool programs for pre-kindergarten students enrolled in those schools (House Bill 1123), require closer collaboration between public schools and “completion schools” that offer credit recovery for students at risk of dropping out (House Bill 907), and expand a program allowing retired teachers to fill teacher shortages by returning to the classroom for pay while collecting a pension (Senate Bill 150).
The literacy act was the most expansive measure. Starting this summer, the state will have to identify at least one test to measure whether incoming students are reading on grade level. By fall, state leaders will convene a literacy task force that will vet literacy curricula for use statewide, with the state ensuring at least one option is free to public schools. The methods will be grounded in phonics and what proponents have labeled the “science of reading” and “structured literacy,” with approaches based on decades of research. State universities will also be tasked with overhauling the way they teach future teachers.
Burns said literacy levels affect mental health and health care outcomes, employment and even the prison population.
“Only one in three of our children can read on grade level when they leave the third grade. Unacceptable,” he said. “But I’m hopeful and I’m confident with Governor Kemp’s signature of the Early Literacy Act of 2026 today, we are well on our way to rewriting that narrative.”
by Ty Tagami | May 4, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia taxpayers should begin seeing income tax refunds from the state soon.
Most eligible taxpayers who filed timely state returns for 2024 and 2025 can expect one-time rebates of $250 for individuals, $375 for heads of households and $500 for married couples filing jointly.
The payback is the result of state lawmakers voting unanimously in the House and Senate to pass House Bill 1000 this year. The measure was funded in the amended budget for the current fiscal year, with an estimated price tag of about $1.2 billion.
“Our team is ready to deliver these refunds efficiently and securely to Georgia taxpayers,” Georgia Department of Revenue Commissioner David Burge said in a statement Monday.
The rebate was a priority for Gov. Brian Kemp, who touted it as the fourth under his leadership.
Kemp’s office said Monday that most should see the money “within the coming weeks,” with the governor adding that Georgians “know best how to spend their money, not the government.”
If you know your federally adjusted gross income, you can check your eligibility for the state rebate at https://gtc.dor.ga.gov/_/
More information at https://dor.georgia.gov/georgia-surplus-tax-refund
by Ty Tagami | May 4, 2026 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — If a blue wave washes across the country in November, Republicans vying for one of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats say they can stand as a bulwark for the GOP.
Two incumbent congressmen squared off against three challengers in a debate last week, as they attempted to differentiate themselves ahead of the May 19 primary election.
Whoever emerges will face incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff in November, a prodigious fundraiser. At stake is continued GOP control of the chamber, which works with the U.S. House to pass laws and has unique authority to confirm presidential appointments, including Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices, and federal judges.
The ability to prevail over Ossoff was a key issue in the April 26 debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons, repeatedly attacked U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, over a House probe into allegations that Collins had used government funds to benefit a top aide.
“Mike, if you’re our candidate, we lose,” Carter said.
Collins called it “a total nothingburger,” saying the probe had been triggered by an anonymous complaint.
Collins countered that Carter’s political career had been “littered with complaints, crooked land deals,” urging viewers to “Google Buddy Carter ethics FBI.”
As those two dueled, Derek Dooley, the former college football coach backed by Gov. Brian Kemp, sought to appeal to both conservative and mainstream voters.
Dooley, a political newcomer, pledged to leave office after serving two six-year terms and said Congress needs new blood.
“Donald Trump is doing a great job trying to make change. He closed the border, for example. We’re getting rid of a lot of the bad guys, but what has Congress done to codify this?” Dooley said. “And this is my point why we need new leadership.”
The two other Republicans on the soundstage — John Coyne, a former Democrat, and Jonathan McColumn, a retired brigadier general — sought to boost their name recognition.
Coyne, who garnered 4% of the vote in the 2016 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate described himself as a centrist. He said population control is a top concern.
“We’ve got to control the number of people in this country,” he said. “I know that the president has the border locked down now. But what happens if a Democrat gets in in 2028? They’ll be right back where we started before.”
McColumn said he would seek to make health care more available by spurring interstate competition among insurers. He criticized incumbent Republicans as undisciplined.
“The Republican Party often acts individually and we’re not connected,” he said. “I would love to see the party come together more to discuss things behind closed doors before coming out and making clear determinations so that you can speak with one voice.”
Both Carter and Collins tried to appeal to Trump’s supporters by praising the president.
“He’s made the world safer,” said Carter, pointing to Trump’s military strikes against Iran. He said Trump had also made the country more prosperous. “We’ve got to make sure that we continue with these policies, America First policies, that President Trump has started,” he said.
Carter also pointed to his support for Trump’s desire to annex Greenland, citing its strategic location and mineral wealth.
Collins pointed to the passage of his Laken Riley Act, signed into law by Trump last year.
The legislation was a reaction to the murder of a University of Georgia student, and it aligned with the president’s immigration enforcement policies.
Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, was sentenced to life in prison for the crime. The law mandates federal detention for certain undocumented immigrants accused of specified crimes.
Immigration is a major issue for Republican voters that may be outweighed by abortion.
McColumn pointed to his “biblical” views on that issue, and Carter said he felt strongly about being “pro-life.” But when Dooley was asked whether he supported Georgia’s ban on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, he gave an indirect answer until his questioner pinned him down.
“The heartbeat bill has been the law of the land,” Dooley said, adding that the federal government shouldn’t intervene.
When asked again whether he supported Georgia’s ban, Dooley said, “it’s not the way I would have written it.” He reiterated that the U.S. Senate and federal government should leave the issue to states.
Watch the debate at www.gpb.org/events/news/2026/04/26/georgia-us-senate-republicans-atlanta-press-club-debate
