There’s more than a year to go until the 2026 midterm election. But in battleground Georgia, the races for U.S. Senate, governor and a host of other contests are already heating up. Georgia has played a critical role in recent elections, and it’s expected to again prove a bellwether.
At the state Capitol, there’s a wide-open race to replace Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who is prevented by term limits from running for reelection.
In Washington, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, is seeking a second term and trying to prove that Georgia is still a swing state, despite backing Donald Trump for president in November.
Then there are a host of down-ballot races — from statewide constitutional officers to members of Congress to state legislators.
The Georgia GOP said Tuesday that it refunded more than $36,000 in contributions from Brant Frost IV and his relatives after his Newnan-based firm was accused by federal regulators of orchestrating a $140 million Ponzi scheme.
Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon said the check was delivered to a federally appointed receiver tasked with helping to recover investor cash after the collapse of First Liberty Building & Loan.
“This decision reflects our commitment to doing what is right for the victims of this unfortunate situation,” he said.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Frost IV of using investor funds to funnel more than $5 million to himself and relatives. He has publicly apologized.
Several other Republicans told the AJC they have refunded donations from the Frosts or the Georgia Republican Assembly PAC they controlled, including state Sen. Greg Dolezal, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson's decision to begin the chamber's summer break Wednesday without passing a bill to fund the government past Sept. 30.
"Why are we going on August recess if we haven't finished appropriations?" Greene, R-Rome, said to reporters Tuesday.
The House Rules Committee canceled votes scheduled for Thursday to avoid a showdown with Democrats over the release of files related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
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Kelvin King, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2022, announced Tuesday he is running for Georgia secretary of state.
Although his interest in the job has been a point of speculation, King made it official in an opinion piece published by James Magazine Online. He said his focus will be on election integrity and ensuring that votes are properly counted, including by hand.
"We need reforms — and I will work with our legislature, governor and all interested Georgians to make this happen, while ensuring election teams across every county have the resources and support needed to do their jobs effectively," he wrote.
King, a Republican, lost to Herschel Walker in the party primary in May 2022. Walker went on to lose to incumbent U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock after a December runoff.
King is married to State Election Board member Janelle King.
Five days after President Donald Trump said he had heard the news directly from company officials, Coca-Cola has confirmed it's launching a new drink sweetened with cane sugar harvested in the United States.
Coca-Cola said it will launch the new product this fall “as part of its ongoing innovation agenda," the AJC's Amy Wenk reported.
Coca-Cola has used high fructose corn syrup in its most popular versions of its U.S.-made sodas since the 1980s. Mexican Coke, made with pure cane sugar, is available in tall bottles at many American stores.
Trump said in a post on social media last week he had been speaking to Coca-Cola about using cane sugar in its U.S. products "and they have agreed to do so."
The Senate dominoes are falling. U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, has ruled out a challenge to Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026, according to a senior aide.
The decision provides more clarity for a growing GOP field that already includes U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter and Insurance Commissioner John King. Former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley is expected to join the race.
McCormick is an emergency room physician and U.S. Marine veteran who was considered a wild card in Georgia’s GOP congressional delegation. He narrowly lost a swing seat in 2020 before winning a redrawn, Republican-friendly district two years later. He quickly carved out a maverick image, posting fitness feats and polar plunges on social media.
He’s made waves with provocative remarks, including recent criticism of federal school lunch programs. A February town hall in Roswell went viral after he was bombarded with jeers, underscoring the squeeze some Republicans face. In response to the backlash, McCormick urged the White House to slow federal layoffs — a hot-button issue Democrats have seized on ahead of 2026.
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins appears poised to announce his campaign at any moment after a not-so-subtle post on social media. “Tires kicked. Fueling up,” the Jackson Republican posted to X on Monday.
The accompanying 15-second video shows clips of President Donald Trump speaking about and appearing with Collins. “Who can beat Jon Ossoff?” the video says. “Stay tuned.”
Attorney General Chris Carr filed a complaint last week against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones questioning the source of a $10 million loan Jones made to his campaign for governor.
On Monday, the state ethics commission said suspicion is not enough and dismissed the complaint for failing to allege a violation of state law.
Carr and Jones are both seeking the Republican nomination to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term limited.
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Democrat Michelle Kang, who previously ran for a state House district in Gwinnett County, held a rally Saturday to launch a new bid for the seat.
Kang lost to incumbent Republican state Rep. Matt Reeves by 621 votes, one of the narrowest defeats in state legislative races in the 2024 contests. The district, which encompasses Duluth, Suwanee and Sugar Hill, is one of the most racially and linguistically diverse in the state.
"This time, we're finishing what we started," Kang said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins is getting ready to enter the U.S. Senate race.
The Jackson Republican spent the weekend making calls to a range of activists, elected officials and allies of President Donald Trump courting their support for his bid, which could be announced later this month.
We know this because some of them helpfully let us know they received the calls.
He’s trying to seize a MAGA lane in the wide-open race to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff next year. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter and Insurance Commissioner John King are already in the Republican race, and former football coach Derek Dooley could soon follow.
Georgia Republicans are rallying behind President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget and spending package. A new poll shows why Democrats are trying to make them pay for their embrace of the new law.
A Public Policy Polling survey of Georgia voters found that 52% oppose the sweeping spending plan, which slashes Medicaid and safety net programs while extending Trump-era tax cuts.
The poll, conducted July 8–9, is one of the first to gauge Georgia reaction on the measure since Republicans muscled it through Congress at Trump’s urging. And the results offer a blueprint of how Democrats could plan to weaponize it.
Pollsters tested out various Democratic talking points, including telling voters the bill will slash spending “for seniors in nursing homes, kids and working families,” threaten the “closure of hundreds of hospitals” and increase “the costs of energy, food and health care.”
A lot could happen between now and November 2026. Many of the bill’s provisions won’t take effect until after the election. But if that polling holds, it could have the biggest impact on Georgia’s U.S. Senate race.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff voted against the bill. But U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter — one of the first Republicans to join the Senate race — led a subcommittee that formulated the Medicaid spending cuts. And U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who is preparing for a potential run, helped whip votes to pass the measure.