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One Folding Chair at a Time: How Ethan Wolfe is Winning Georgia House District 151

Last weekend, members of The 2030 Project team sat in a small room in Plains, Georgia, and watched Ethan Wolfe do something simple and rare: he listened. Yard signs stood on either side of him, his old Air Force cap resting on the table in front, and one by one, neighbors, farmers, retirees, and lifelong Sumter County residents spoke up about what they needed from their next state representative. Ethan didn't bring a teleprompter or a stump speech clicker. He brought folding chairs and real conversations.

"I believe representation means showing up, listening, communicating openly, and making sure the people who sent you to Atlanta never have to wonder whose side you are on." That's what Ethan told the room, and it's exactly what he did for the next hour, one voter, one question, one story at a time.

Georgia House District 151 is the fifth most flippable state house seat in the state this cycle. It's also bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island, eight counties, more than 1,700 square miles, and a campaign that has to reach every one of them with little institutional infrastructure behind it. That's where you come in. Every dollar you give goes straight to the unglamorous work that actually wins rural races, postcards that put a real, personal note in a voter's hand, and canvassers who knock the doors no one else is knocking. Help us build on the momentum from Plains. Donate Here!

Ethan Wolfe in Plains, Georgia

Catching up with Michelle and Beth!

Two weekends ago, members of The 2030 Project joined Michelle Kang for the fall launch of her campaign for State House District 99 at the Coordinated Campaign Office in Duluth. The energy in the room said everything, a packed house, yard signs raised, and a community ready to finish the job. Michelle spoke with the passion and clarity that has defined her campaign from the start, and the crowd that showed up, young, diverse, and fired up, is exactly why HD-99 is one of our top priorities this cycle. We are proud to stand with her and even more proud to be part of what is coming this November.

Michelle’s Fall Campaign Launch - Duluth, Georgia

Members of our team also recently joined HD-53 candidate Beth Fuller at a postcard-writing party in Sandy Springs, one of the small, unglamorous gatherings that turn supporters into volunteers. It's exactly the kind of work a district this competitive requires. That same commitment showed up in a heavier moment too. On August 30th, Beth hosted the North Fulton Unity Fundraiser alongside HD-48 candidate Adam Cleveland, an event in support of reproductive rights in Georgia. Attendees heard from Shanette Williams, who shared the story of her daughter, Amber Nicole Thurman, who died after experiencing delays in receiving medical care, a death later determined to be preventable. Whether she's licking envelopes with volunteers or standing beside a mother sharing her family's pain, Beth Fuller has spent this summer showing HD-53 what real representation looks like.

Beth Fuller HD-53 and Adam Cleveland HD-48

More Than a Day Off: What Georgia's Workers Actually Deserve This Labor Day

On Monday, we celebrate the workers who keep Georgia running. The teacher pulling a second shift tutoring after school. The nurse in a rural hospital that keeps its doors open on faith and overtime. The construction worker on a Hyundai site who cannot afford to see a doctor for the back pain the job is giving him. These are the Georgians Labor Day exists for.

There's plenty for Georgia to be proud of this year. CNBC ranks Georgia number 7 in the country for business. The state has been successful in attracting companies and investments, no question.

In the same report, Georgia is ranked 46th for quality of life, a grade of F. In healthcare, CBS ranks Georgia 49th based on WalletHub's 2026 evaluation of coverage rates and health outcomes.

This gap is the whole story. What does being a top ten business state mean when working families can't afford healthcare?

For Georgians, economic success is not measured by how many corporations we attract or contracts we sign. The true measure is whether the next paycheck covers rent, groceries, and the next doctor's appointment, or whether a family can even afford to see a doctor when they need one. For too many Georgians, these basics are out of reach.

Georgia's uninsured rate reaches 12%, compared to an 8% national average. Eighteen hospitals have closed since 2013, and the state has done little to stop the bleeding. It's no wonder healthcare has become the centerpiece of this year's gubernatorial race.

Rick Jackson, the Republican candidate, is no stranger to healthcare. Jackson's companies made over a billion dollars from state healthcare contracts, and even his own party has criticized his role. In April, Burt Jones called Jackson "the culprit of our health care costs in this state more than tripling."

And yet Jackson dismisses Medicaid expansion, the single most direct policy Georgia could adopt to close the gap. Keisha Lance Bottoms has promised expansion. Jackson calls himself the "affordability" candidate while opposing policies that would actually make healthcare more affordable for Georgia workers.

This is one of many issues on the ballot this year, from the Governor's race down to the state legislative seats that decide whether Medicaid expansion ever gets a serious vote. This Labor Day, Georgia's workers deserve more than a day off or a thank you, they deserve an economy that works for them too. As we celebrate our workforce, let's carry those concerns with us to the polls in November.

While Mike Collins Goes Quiet, Jon Ossoff Uncovers Georgia's Healthcare Crisis

With campaign season now in full swing, it's easy to forget that both of Georgia’s candidates for the U.S. Senate are still active members of the 119th Congress. Between television ads, interviews, rallies, and other events, Congressman Mike Collins and Senator Jon Ossoff must somehow find time to carry out their duties as elected officials. 

While Congressman Collins hasn’t done much lately (his last congressional activity was on July, 17 and his most recent press release came on July, 14), Senator Ossoff has been hard at work. In addition to publishing 31 press releases since Collins last produced one (count ‘em – 31), Ossoff has been busy introducing bills, conducting oversight hearings, and most recently, releasing an investigation into Georgia insurance companies denying necessary health care.

Ossoff launched the investigation in January 2026 to address rising healthcare costs and cuts to healthcare services. In April, he opened an inquiry with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz about insurance companies using "prior authorization" to delay or deny care. Then, in June, Ossoff went directly to Georgians and asked them to share their stories of denied or delayed care. The August 31st report is built on what came back from that outreach.

The report found that insurance delays and denials of medically necessary care have "threatened [patients'] lives and caused severe suffering," placed children at risk, and led to untreated conditions with harmful symptoms, including suicide. 

The horrific and troubling findings of Ossoff’s investigation, though tragic, are unsurprising. While Republicans at the national level have passed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Republicans in Georgia have allowed for insurance companies and health care giants (like gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson) to take advantage of people in need for personal benefit. All the while, Georgia is one of only ten states to have not expanded Medicaid.

As election day approaches, Senator Ossoff seems poised and prepared to balance his duties between his legislative work and his campaign (unlike Congressman Collins, who seems prepared for neither). In fact, in less than two weeks, Ossoff will be holding a rally in Athens alongside Gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, where he will be sure to highlight the findings of his health care investigation. RSVP Here!

Senator Ossoff’s record is the perfect contrast to the platforms of both Mike Collins and Rick Jackson. While Ossoff addresses the current health care crisis, Mike Collins seems to be MIA from his House seat, and Rick Jackson spends the millions of dollars he made by exploiting people in need of health care on campaign advertisements.

Georgia Democratic Party

Follow the Money: The 1% is Funding the Negative Ads on Your Screen

If you've turned on your TV, opened social media, or don't live under a rock, you've probably seen a political ad. That's not breaking news, it is election season after all. But have you looked closely at these ads? Really parsed through what they're saying? They're overwhelmingly negative, which is also not surprising, but bear with me.

The nostalgic longing for a more civil political era has become a cliché. Talking about how cordial politics were in previous eras is overdone. I, like many young people, have mournfully compared banter from Walter Mondale and Reagan to the shouting matches seen in recent presidential debates. We can blame this change on social media algorithms, economic precarity, and Donald Trump. But the increased hostility left-to-right is also coming from above.

Campaign contributions have skyrocketed since the 2010 Citizens United ruling, particularly among the top 1%. The 2024 election saw a little over $15 billion in campaign spending. 100 billionaires accounted for 19% of that. That's .00004% of the population with almost one-fifth of the representation.

It gets worse.

Large donors tend to give to independent political action committees (super PACs), which aren't directly connected to any candidate. This gives them the freedom to run more attack ads than campaign-affiliated PACs, roughly 70% of their ads are negative, well above the 40-50% from other groups. As super PACs continue to eye down-ballot candidates, local races will look a lot less friendly in the near future.

That fight is coming to Georgia. Every seat The 2030 Project is working to flip is exactly the kind of race the super PACs will start targeting next. The window to build these campaigns on real relationships, real doors knocked, and real voters spoken to instead of on eight-figure ad blitzes is closing.

- Andrew B, Intern, The 2030 Project

Unusually Exposed: Why Georgia Stands to Lose Big in the New U.S.-Canada Trade War

Every year, Georgia exports a whopping $7 billion worth of goods to Canada. According to the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Canada is the state's fourth largest trading partner, with $13.3 billion in two-way goods trade in 2025. Canadian goods make up approximately 11% of the state's total goods exports.

On August 22nd, after negotiations broke down between Canada and the Trump administration, Trump announced an additional 50% tariff on Canadian goods. Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs on roughly $20 billion of U.S. goods, matching Trump's duties dollar for dollar. The Canadian tariffs take effect September 8th and cover more than 700 U.S. products, ranging across agriculture, construction, and recreational categories. 

Georgia is unusually exposed to Canada, and local businesses, farmers, and manufacturers will feel the impact directly. The broad sector exposure will hit industries including construction materials, food processing, beverage distribution and hospitality, chemicals and plastics, and forest products. Tariffs will have the greatest impact on Georgia products like steel, lumber, and pecans.

Georgians can’t afford any more of Trump's trade strategy. Farmers and economists warn that these tariffs will continue to raise prices for consumers, but the Trump administration claims this trade war will protect American workers. Regardless of the rhetoric, Georgians continue to suffer higher prices at the store and lower demand for the goods they produce.

The impact is already being felt. Trump's earlier 2025 tariff policies are estimated to have cost Georgia businesses around $20.1 billion, roughly $5,000 per household.

What makes this trade war different is that it is not a confrontation with an adversary. It is a fight with one of the United States' closest allies. Canada has been a steady, long-term trading partner, and these new tariffs raise real questions about the future of that relationship.

Throughout his campaign, Trump promised Georgia families that his economic policies would make the country stronger and more affordable. Instead, his actions against one of our closest allies force Georgia farmers, manufacturers, and consumers to pay the price. Trump's trade war is not landing far away, it is landing directly on Georgia's farms and factories.

What’s Inspiring Us This Week:

A new weekly feature, written by one of our interns. Because we all need a pick-me-up.

L.E. Baskow, Las Vegas Review

At just 12 years old, Carsynn Meyer is showing young girls across the country that there is no place in sports they cannot belong. The Nevada Little League player made history this summer as the 26th girl ever to play in the Little League Baseball World Series, and recently became the first girl to play in the U.S. championship game.

Meyer plays outfield for Paseo Verde Little League, which represented the Mountain Region at the 2026 Little League World Series. Her journey to Williamsport was especially meaningful after she participated earlier this year in the Maria Pepe Little League Baseball Legacy Series, a tournament celebrating girls who are breaking barriers in baseball.

But Meyer isn't focused solely on making history. She has embraced the opportunity to inspire the girls watching her.

"Girls can do anything they set their mind to," Meyer said (Yahoo Sports), encouraging other girls who love baseball to pursue the sport.

Her story is a reminder that representation can have a powerful ripple effect.

Every time Meyer steps onto the field, she is helping make baseball a little more welcoming for the girls who will follow her, and proving that sometimes the best way to change a sport is simply to show up and play.

- Elina, Intern, The 2030 Project

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Champions for Change: 2030 Project Candidates Stand Up for Gun Safety

This past Saturday, at the Georgia Majority Champions for Change event, community leaders, survivors, and advocates came together around a simple idea: preventing gun violence is a shared responsibility, not a partisan wedge issue. From stories of loss to policy solutions like universal background checks, red flag laws, and safe storage requirements, the evening underscored how "common sense" gun safety measures save lives while respecting responsible gun ownership.

Georgia Majority for Gun Safety points to science and public opinion to make its case. Nationally, 90% of Americans support universal background checks for all gun sales, and 82% of gun owners support requiring safe storage of firearms. In Georgia, 33% of parents rank gun violence in their top three concerns for their child, and gun violence remains the leading cause of death for Georgia children between the ages of 1 and 17.

2030 Project candidates Ethan Wolfe, Beth Fuller, and Michelle Kang have all signed the Georgia Majority for Gun Safety pledge, affirming their commitment to advancing these reforms and working with community partners to reduce gun violence across Georgia. The pledge connects their campaigns directly to the grassroots movement that is educating voters, supporting survivors, and pushing state leaders to finally act.

For Ethan Wolfe, that commitment is rooted in personal experience and local culture. A lifelong South Georgia gun owner, Ethan has been clear that gun safety is about training, responsibility, and keeping families safe, not taking firearms away from law-abiding people. He supports requiring people to learn how to operate and store firearms safely. Safe storage and education are simply part of being a responsible gun owner.

Beth Fuller and Michelle Kang bring the same values to their districts, aligning their campaigns with Georgia Majority's public health approach: keeping guns secured around children, closing loopholes that let dangerous individuals access firearms, and investing in community-based violence prevention. Together, this 2030 Project slate demonstrates that candidates can be pro-community, pro-safety, and pro-responsibility.

As the election approaches, the Georgia Majority pledge is more than a campaign talking point; it is a plan to create a safer Georgia for children. Ethan, Beth, and Michelle, supporting Georgia Majority for Gun Safety, will strive to convert widespread public backing for gun safety into real legislation, aiming to make Georgia safer for all families.

Michelle Kang HD 99, Ethan Wolfe HD 151, Adam Cleveland HD 48, and Beth Fuller HD 53

2030 Athens/Oconee Team Appreciation Dinner!

This past week, members of our 2030 team based in the Athens/Oconee area met for dinner in Athens. Though team members have been working closely together for months, because most meetings are held virtually, many attendees had never met each other in person. The dinner was the perfect environment for our team members to meet face to face and learn about each other.

While there were certainly a lot of political discussions around the table, the dinner allowed for members of the 2030 project to make connections beyond the shared interests and goals that brought us together in the first place.

We discussed upcoming events, news stories, and campaign strategies. We also talked about Georgia football, our hometowns, and our schools. The attendees of the dinner were split between UGA students and Oconee High School students, creating a great setting for team members to connect over shared classes, clubs, and extracurriculars.

After dinner, the team walked to Athens City Hall, where we gathered for pictures and continued the conversations we began at the restaurant. Though the evening was winding down, the connections made by 2030 Project members were just starting up.

Beyond connections strengthened by the dinner, members of the team gained a renewed sense of energy, motivation, and determination. Sitting around a table with like-minded young people who all share the common goal of flipping the Georgia State House by the end of 2030 was inspiring, and learning about everyone’s unique perspective and role within the team gave everyone confidence in our ability to achieve our goal.

The 2030 Project has never felt more connected, more energized, or more motivated to put our heads down and get to work. Election day is coming up, and our team at The 2030 Project is more than ready to elect Democrats to office. None of this- the dinners, the roundups, the work in these five districts- happens without people like you. If tonight's story moved you, consider chipping in here to fuel the final stretch.

Blurred Lines in Georgia’s Campaigns: Keisha Lance Bottoms vs. Rick Jackson

Two years, almost three, into the Trump presidency, lines continue to be blurred. There is no order. There is no moral code in politics. It’s just a field of chaos, confusion, and cynicism. Georgia is now witnessing, first-hand, the blurred lines.

Over the last week, Keisha Lance Bottoms confronted Rick Jackson over personal attacks on her husband. She was recorded telling Jackson to “Stay away from her family.” Understandably so. Moreover, to the shock of no one, Jackson was also recorded suggesting that Governor Kemp will call in the National Guard for Georgia’s upcoming elections. Whether that information is viable or not, there is a bigger theme at play here. 

Politicians are resorting to personal attacks on one’s families and demeaning the integrity of Georgia voters daily. Is this what Georgians want to represent them? As American citizens, more specifically Georgians, we should stand for class, grace, and respect. However, the last two years have been a disparaging image for our politics. As Georgians, we need to elect the best representative who will advocate and work for the best interests of the people but also who will restore the class, grace, and respect that American politics once possessed.

Instagram post

Another Trade War, Eh?

Patrick Corrigan, Toronto Star

This past Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada would match the U.S.’s tariffs “dollar for dollar.” The two countries have been negotiating since July 20th when Trump announced a 50% tariff on alcoholic goods, dairy products, and motor vehicles. The U.S. tariffs are projected to affect around $28 billion in Canadian goods.

Canada’s response should frighten us. 

Canada’s tariffs are expected to affect over $20 billion in U.S. goods and will go into effect September 8th. The trade war has led to an unsavory view of the United States, with over 80% of Canadians describing their relationship with the U.S. as negative. Meanwhile, a majority of Canadians view China more favorably than America for the first time in decades. China’s manufacturing sector has greatly outpaced the U.S. over the past decade, and our comparative trade advantage is the result of over a century of diplomacy driven by our proximity and shared interests. It has already turned to other nations to bridge the gap, as the Canada-Mexico Action Plan 2025-2028 illustrates. If the U.S. and its interests continue to diverge, Canada will not hesitate to look across the Pacific for trade. And if one of our greatest allies can turn its back on us, who’s to say they will be alone?

These trade wars are making us weaker, more vulnerable, and for what gain? The administration is telling us to trust its wild-west style of diplomacy. Look where that has gotten us. Trump said that talks had been productive on Truth Social. He delayed the date when the tariffs would go into effect. He said we “had a DEAL.” It fell apart. Sound familiar? It’s the same playbook that he’s used for other countries we’ve butted heads with, and Prime Minister Carney had enough. 

Haven’t we all?

Gary, Indiana Spent 12 Days in the Dark

A derecho packing 99 mph winds tore through northwest Indiana on August 11th, cutting power to over 300,000 people. In Gary, a city that's 78% Black and one of the poorest in the state, the outage stretched on and on. An astonishing twelve days later, residents were still cooking on open flames, running nebulizers off dying batteries, and sleeping with windows open just to catch a breeze.

Mayor Eddie Melton didn't wait quietly. He pushed NIPSCO publicly, called President Trump directly asking for federal help, and met with Republican Sen. Jim Banks to apply pressure from every direction he could reach. "We're looking at all options right now to participate and figure out how we hold them accountable," Melton said.

Yesterday, power was restored to nearly all of Gary. But the anger hasn't gone anywhere. Republican Gov. Mike Braun has ordered a formal investigation into NIPSCO's preparation and response, saying the utility "failed to keep its end of the bargain." NIPSCO says it will cooperate fully.

The questions that outlasted the outage are ones worth sitting with. Reporting has surfaced that data centers in the area never lost power while residents did. Businesses are still waiting, with no restoration timeline, because NIPSCO prioritized hospitals and homes first. And seven Indiana deaths have been tied to the storm and its aftermath.

Gary's blackout reminds us infrastructure failures don't land evenly. The families with the fewest resources had to weather two weeks without electricity. Whether Braun's investigation produces real answers, or just a headline, is worth watching.

Trump to Revoke 200K Visas of Asylum Seekers Starting This Week

The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the B-1 and B-2 visas of up to 200,000 people who have applied for or are seeking asylum in the U.S., potentially the largest visa revocation ever. It's the latest step in Trump's broader immigration crackdown.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott says agents are identifying immigrants who entered as visitors and later filed for asylum. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau put it bluntly on X: "Asylum isn't supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it's supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted... But the system has long been swamped by frivolous asylum claims."

Reports from outlets like NPR describe the move as largely performative. It won't eliminate anyone's asylum claim or trigger immediate deportations. Instead, seekers lose their visitor status while their applications stay pending, leaving them in limbo and newly vulnerable to deportation. The move is less a policy fix than a signal, a deterrent aimed at asylum seekers while the immigration process itself stays just as backlogged and confusing as before.

Legal challenges are all but guaranteed. The New York Times reports that a federal judge in New York, Jeanette A. Vargas, already struck down a related attempt to stall visa releases for people from 75 countries last Friday. The administration should expect similar resistance here.

Landau argues asylum has been used to "circumvent" the law, but it's worth noting how often this administration has circumvented due process itself. Between raids on public businesses and streets, which Human Rights Watch links to at least 50 deaths, the targeting of foreign nationals who criticize its policies, and now this, a pattern is hard to miss.

Whether this survives legal challenge remains to be seen. But it raises a real question: how far can executive power stretch before something gives?

Wild Horses Being Sent to the Slaughter by the Trump Administration

There's something deeply disturbing about the idea that America's wild horses, animals that have long symbolized freedom and the spirit of the West, are ending up in slaughter pipelines after being removed from public lands. A New York Times investigation, as reported by Fox10, found that hundreds of federally protected wild horses have been sold through government programs for as little as $25 and later sent to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.

Under the Trump administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has accelerated efforts to remove wild horses from public lands. In Colorado alone, more than 800 horses have already been captured this summer as part of large-scale roundup operations designed to shrink herd populations. Federal officials say these removals are necessary because of drought conditions and limited resources, but many advocates argue that fertility control programs would be a far more humane solution.

The BLM denies knowingly selling horses to slaughter, and buyers are required to sign contracts promising not to. But the Times found a loophole: once a horse is sold rather than adopted, federal anti-slaughter protections largely fall away, and one Ohio livestock trader was able to acquire around 500 BLM horses before some ended up at slaughterhouses across the Canadian border.

What makes this situation worse is that taxpayers are funding a system that appears to be failing the very animals it was meant to protect. These horses are supposed to be safeguarded under laws designed to preserve America's wild herds, not treated as disposable commodities.

This isn't just a debate about land management. It's a question of values. Wild horses are part of America's history and identity, and allowing them to end up in slaughterhouses represents a failure of stewardship. If population management is necessary, there are humane alternatives that don't risk sending protected animals to such a brutal fate. Americans can disagree about public land policy, but no one should be comfortable with a system that turns national symbols into slaughterhouse inventory.

For animals that have come to represent freedom, survival, and the American frontier, we should expect better from our government. America's wild horses deserve protection, not a one-way ticket to a slaughterhouse.

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

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Moving Georgia Forward: Investing in Public Transportation

“A society - any society - is defined as a set of mutual benefits and duties embodied most visibly in public institutions: public schools, public libraries, public transportation, public hospitals, public parks, public museums, public recreation, public universities, and so on.” - Robert Reich, former United States Secretary of Labor. 

It is our duty to create a functioning society for ourselves but also for future generations. With no functioning public systems, is there a functioning society? The answer to that isn’t black or white, it’s grey. So far, the state of Georgia has functioned and profited with a broken public transportation system. In 2026, Georgia’s GDP has already reached $717.4B, which is only a 2.2% increase from the last five years. So, Georgia has done a pretty good job in exceeding economic expectations. 

However, the residents of Georgia bear the brunt of our society’s shortcomings. Georgia residents are struggling with public transportation. Most of Georgia’s essential resources lie in the heart of the state: Atlanta. With the new closures in rural hospitals and healthcare facilities, rural families have to commute at least one hour to receive the proper care and treatment. However, it doesn’t stop there. 

The increase in traffic in metro Atlanta makes everyday commute a stressful experience. Traffic times exceed at least 45 minutes to a destination that should only be 20 minutes away. Residents are hoping for an expansion in public transportation services. In fact, the city of Atlanta and MARTA were hoping to expand to the metro Atlanta counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton, and Cobb. However, voters in Cobb and Gwinnett County voted against the proposal. The proposal included a 1% sales tax increase to cover the funding of MARTA expansion but voters were not pleased with the proposal.

The issue isn’t multifaceted, it’s pretty simple. Georgia residents desire public transportation as a means to alleviate travel concerns. However, their needs may be overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Instead of leaving the issue of public transportation to the counties and individual cities, the state government should step in. Allocate more funding to public transportation services and create more opportunities for people. If the state is going to deprive rural residents of essential resources, provide for them with alternative, efficient ways to receive what they deserve. Public transportation is the health of our society. It’s the veins that run through the body of Georgia. 

We have a great economy, but we can be even better if our society functions at the benefit of our residents. 

Georgia's 2026 Election Is Becoming a Test of Trump's Influence

Georgia's 2026 elections are shaping up to be a test not only of President Donald Trump's influence over the Republican Party, but of how far Georgia voters are willing to embrace the MAGA movement at the ballot box.

Trump's influence was evident in the Republican Senate runoff, where his preferred candidate, Rep. Mike Collins, defeated former football coach Derek Dooley. Collins has embraced Trump's political agenda and repeated his false claims about the 2020 election, calling it "legitimately rigged."

Trump himself attacked Dooley for acknowledging that Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020. Collins' victory suggests that loyalty to Trump remains a powerful force within Georgia's Republican primary electorate.

Yet, there are signs that Trump's endorsement is not enough to guarantee victory.

In Michigan's 8th Congressional District, Trump-backed candidate Amir Hassan received only 33.2% of the vote, losing to Thomas J. Smith, a candidate who had already suspended his campaign. Smith received 50.4%, delivering a surprising rebuke to Trump and MAGA Republicans.

Georgia's Senate race may provide an even greater challenge. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has secured endorsements from former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake and Republican mayors Scott James Matheson of Valdosta and Julie Smith of Tifton.

Flake cited Ossoff's character, constituent service and respect for democratic institutions, while Matheson said he could not "turn his back" on his relationship with Ossoff.

For Democrats, these endorsements offer an opportunity to build a coalition beyond the traditional Democratic base. Ossoff's appeal to moderates and independents could be particularly important in a state like Georgia where close elections have become the norm.

In November, Georgia's election will reveal whether Trump's brand of politics can win over the broader electorate, or whether voters are ready to reject the extremism and election denialism that have increasingly defined the Republican Party.

The Fight Over Flock Cameras Is Happening in Our Own Backyard

You may have recently seen footage online of cameras being shattered, shot, or otherwise vandalized. That's the public backlash against Flock Safety cameras, and Georgia is at the center of it.

Flock Safety is headquartered in Atlanta. The company that makes these automated license plate readers, now deployed by thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide, is a Georgia company, and Georgia communities are where much of this fight is playing out up close.

What is a Flock camera? They're automated license plate readers (ALPRs) that capture a vehicle's plate, make, model, and color, logging them in a searchable database. That database is primarily used by law enforcement, but private companies can access it too, putting some of that data completely outside government oversight.

This has raised serious privacy concerns. Decatur's City Commission held a work session specifically on the issue, with one council member saying, "we don't want to enhance operational efficiency at the expense of people's rights". In Atlanta, Mayor Andre Dickens has ordered a 30-day review of the police department's use of the system after advocacy groups planned a week of action against the company.

The concerns aren't hypothetical. This summer, five Albany police officers were fired for allegedly misusing Flock, and eight Metro Atlanta officers were suspended over similar policy violations. Meanwhile, a Lumpkin County sheriff is offering a $1,000 reward after a camera in his county was vandalized, a sign of just how heated this debate has become on the ground.

Facing this pressure, Flock announced it's shortening its data retention window from 30 days to 7, according to Atlanta News First. Whether that's a genuine step toward accountability or an attempt to get ahead of lawmakers is a fair question.

And to be clear, the benefits are real. Flock cameras have helped recover stolen vehicles, locate missing children, and crack kidnapping cases. There is an upside, and it streamlines the job for law enforcement.

This new technology’s profound power in our criminal justice system is exactly why regulation is needed. This level of responsibility should not be contingent on a for-profit company's internal policy, especially one based here in Georgia. It needs a warrant standard, audit logs, retention limits, and real consequences for misuse. That has to be written into law, not left to a vendor's discretion.

The New York Times,

260 Days at Sea: A Nightmare for Navy Sailors, an Afterthought for President Trump

For most Americans, the Iran War has become another line item in the affordability crisis, a costly, open-ended conflict many hadn't expected to still be paying for. But to Navy sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, it is a pervasive, all-consuming reality that has dictated every aspect of their lives for more than 260 days.

Fourteen days into the war, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Iran's military had been "destroyed" and rendered "combat ineffective." Weeks later, he went further, declaring that "Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory" and that the U.S. had "achieved every single objective." Sen. Jon Ossoff pressed Hegseth on those exact claims in a recent Senate hearing.

Those declarations of complete victory haven't matched what's unfolding aboard the ship carrying out that mission. According to The Guardian, the USS Abraham Lincoln has now set the modern record for the longest time at sea without a port call. The nuclear aircraft carrier can run for months without refueling, but port calls are still essential for maintenance and resupply. In recent weeks, the ship has faced supply shortages and plumbing problems as a result.

More seriously, Navy Times and Stars and Stripes have both reported multiple sailors attempting to go overboard during the deployment. Families of the sailors have expressed outrage over the conditions. President Trump's response was to call the reporting "fake news reporting from CNN." That response is worth sitting with. The administration sent service members into a war that bypassed congressional approval, kept them at sea past every modern record, and is now facing reports that some of those sailors are in crisis. Rather than address the conditions families are describing, the President dismissed the coverage outright.

Service members and their families deserve a direct accounting of what's happening aboard that ship, not a press conference talking point.

U.S.S Abraham Lincoln, Wikipedia

The 2030 Project Team Appreciation Dinner in Atlanta!

A huge thank you to former State Senator Jason Esteves for joining us for our (partial!) team dinner in Atlanta!

This Monday, students from Emory, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and UGA gathered at Gio's Italian. We dove into a delicious Italian dinner, and ok – talked some campaign strategy too. Guilty as charged!

When we aren't carbo-loading, The 2030 Project is working tirelessly behind the scenes to flip our five Battleground State House seats. We are knocking doors, building websites, organizing events, and leading peer-to-peer outreach across our districts.

We were so grateful to gather and celebrate our team. Stay tuned for photos from next week's Athens/Oconee team dinner! Let's keep working hard to flip Georgia blue!

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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✅This Week in the U.S.

Todd Blanche, President Trump's former personal defense attorney, was confirmed as Attorney General early Saturday morning, four months after Trump forced out his predecessor, Pam Bondi, for not moving fast enough against his political opponents. Here are some of his greatest hits. 

Here are some of his greatest hits:

• Severely mismanaged the Epstein files – a lack of transparency, meetings with Ghislaine Maxwell and subsequently moved her to minimum security prison with special privileges

• Refused to sign a cancellation of Trump’s anti-weaponization fund, even after a court ruling blocked it 

• Has said that Trump is the “chief client” of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices

• Has repeatedly shut down investigations into Trump loyalists, for instance when border czar Tom Holman allegedly accepted a $50,000 bribe

• Fires employees seemingly on a whim, hours after new appointments

He was confirmed at 4:17 AM by a 50-49 vote. Every Democrat voted against his confirmation, joined by Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. He continues a dangerous adherence to Trump retribution initiatives, allegiance to power, and an overall disregard for the Constitution.

Progressive wave? This week in the Midwest, voters in Minnesota and Wisconsin delivered mixed results for progressive Democrats. 

In Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan defeated moderate Rep. Angie Craig in the primary for the state's open Senate seat. Flanagan, a Medicare for All supporter who also broke with Craig over AIPAC-linked support and the Laken Riley Act.

Wisconsin told a different story. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly overtook democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong in the governor's race after party leaders rallied around him in the campaign's final weeks. 

This simultaneously illustrates the increasing progressivism which began in deep blue states and started to trickle into more red leaning states, yet limiting the scope when in swing states like Wisconsin.

📢 Normally we're asking you to chip in financially. This week's a change of pace, we need your time instead. Ethan Wolfe is running to flip HD-151 in the Chattahoochee Valley, and campaigns like his run on more than money, they run on people. You don't have to live anywhere near SW Georgia to help. Phone banking and writing postcards can be done from anywhere, and each one matters to a campaign this size. Whatever time you've got, an hour or a whole Saturday, all help is welcome.

Ethan Wolfe for HD 151: Campaign Volunteer Sign-Up

Join our team and help make a difference! Please fill out this form to express your interest in volunteering for the campaign, and we will be in touch soon with next steps! Thank you so much!

Google Docs

Meet Our Other Fighter in SW GA, Harry James 

When we introduced you to Ethan Wolfe in southwest Georgia's HD-151, we told you he was fighting for a community that deserved more. Today we want you to meet another person doing exactly the same thing, one district over: Harry James, our candidate for Georgia State House District 154.

In the May 2026 Democratic primary, Harry received 5,179 votes. Gerald Greene, the incumbent, received 3,956 votes in the Republican primary. In a district Greene has held for decades, Harry James outpaced him by more than 1200 votes.

To quote Buffalo Springfield, “Something’s happening here.”

But in this case, what it is – is pretty clear. This is a district that voted for Jon Ossoff in 2020, Raphael Warnock in 2022, and Kamala Harris in 2024. The Democratic base is here. It has shown up for statewide candidates cycle after cycle.

And now Harry takes up the mantle, in a district that covers nine counties along the Alabama line, Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Early, Miller, Quitman, Randolph, Seminole, along with parts of Dougherty County. This district is deep rural Black Belt country, where the gap between what families have and what they deserve is wide and growing.

For years, Harry has been quietly doing the work. Building relationships across every county in the district, connecting with community leaders, pastors, and neighbors, and laying the groundwork for a campaign rooted in something more durable than yard signs: trust. He knows this district, both as a small business owner and as a neighbor. He’s seen firsthand what a lack of investment does to a rural community over time.

Harry's campaign is focused on access to healthcare, addressing the cost of living crisis, working as a State Rep. to highlight Federal housing programs like the USDA Rural Housing Service, and focusing on economic development that brings real jobs to communities in southwest Georgia, which has been passed over for too long.

Southwest Georgia knows Harry James. He has spent years building the kind of trust that does not come from a campaign mailer. On November 3rd, he is asking the district he has always called home to send him to Atlanta to fight for it.

If you can, please donate to Harry's campaign through his ActBlue page, found here: Harry James — Donate via ActBlue 

Southwest Georgia has two fighters this cycle. Help us send them both to Atlanta.

The 2030 Project Team with Harry James in Albany, GA.

How Many Bad Apples…

This question has loomed large this primary season. On Monday, North Carolina Republicans nominated State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom to replace Congressman Chuck Edwards on the ballot in NC-11. Edwards dropped his reelection bid last week after the House Ethics Committee found "substantial reason to believe" he violated House rules on sexual harassment toward two staffers. He denies wrongdoing.

Problem solved, right? Found the bad apple, tossed it out.

Except Edwards isn't an isolated case in this Congress. In April, Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales resigned after admitting to an affair with a former staffer, who later died by suicide. Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles is under House Ethics Committee investigation over campaign finance discrepancies involving a $320,000 loan he admitted he never actually made. Florida Congressman Cory Mills is facing both a Justice Department criminal investigation and a separate House Ethics probe into sexual misconduct, campaign finance violations, and dating violence. Ohio Congressman Max Miller is under House Ethics Committee investigation after his ex-wife accused him of physically abusing her and their toddler.

Five sitting or recently departed House Republicans, five separate ethics processes, all active at the same time. That's not one bad apple. That's a pattern.

To be fair, California Democrat Eric Swalwell resigned that same day, facing his own allegations of sexual misconduct, including an accusation of rape, which he denies. But his House colleagues moved fast. He was gone within days. Edwards, Ogles, Mills, and Miller are all still sitting members of Congress, months into investigations that haven't cost any of them their seat.

When it's one person, you can write it off as one person's failure. When it's five, in one Congress, all facing formal investigation at once, the question stops being about individual character and starts being about what the institution tolerates, and for how long, before it does anything about it.

You don't fix a pattern by pointing at one apple. You have to ask who's in charge of the orchard. 

Power to the People: The Kitchen-Table Fight for Georgia's Utility Board

The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) rarely dominates headlines, but it holds immense power over how much you pay for electricity, gas, and basic utilities. For nearly two decades, the commission operated entirely without a Democratic voice. In a massive breakthrough last year, Georgia voters elected Dr. Alicia Johnson, the first African American woman to serve on the commission, alongside clean energy expert, Peter Hubbard.

Momentum continues with two critical seats up for grabs this November. Incumbent Peter Hubbard is running to retain his District 3 seat against Republican challenger, Fitz Johnson. Meanwhile, consumer advocate, Shelia Edwards is carrying the banner for District 5 in a closely watched multi-candidate race.

While the PSC has traditionally flown under the voter radar, it is climbing to the top of the priority list due to a sudden surge in industrial energy demands. Georgia has rapidly become one of the nation's premier hubs for massive artificial intelligence data centers. To feed this growth, regulators recently permitted Georgia Power to dramatically scale up electricity generation capacity.

The central issue for voters this November is simple: who pays the bill? If energy projections fall short, everyday families could be forced to absorb the overhead costs through higher monthly utility bills.

Democratic candidates are running on consumer protection. Peter Hubbard is pushing for rigorous cost analyses to shield local residents from unfair rate hikes, while Sheila Edwards has vowed to hold large corporations accountable, ensuring data centers pay their fair share. This election isn't about abstract politics; it is about practical accountability and keeping hard-earned money in the pockets of everyday Georgians.

Peter Hubbard and Sheila Edwards, Instagram

Campus Involvement With the Upcoming Election at UGA

This Monday marks the start of the fall semester at the University of Georgia. Over 30,000 students are set to return to Athens for a fall full of learning, football, late night study sessions, tailgates, and The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” blasting on repeat. But beyond the surface level happenings typical of an SEC campus, students at UGA will return to school as a pivotal demographic for the 2026 midterm elections. 

The University of Georgia is incredibly unique in its political profile. For one, it is a large university in a swing state, giving its students’ votes national significance. Additionally, unlike other big schools in swing states such as the University of Michigan or the University of Arizona, UGA’s student body is politically diverse. 

According to a 2025 survey, roughly 39% of UGA students identify as liberal while about 32% identify as conservative. Compare that to the University of Michigan where 64% of students identify as liberal and only 13% identify as conservative.

Taken together, UGA’s student body is politically diverse and large enough to impact national politics, while functioning as a “mini swing state,” making the university a political battleground in and of itself.

As a proud bulldog myself, it's possible that I’m overstating the impact of our student body’s voice. However, the votes cast by UGA students this November may very well decide who the next Governor of Georgia will be, which party will control Congress, and what the future of our nation may look like.

The significance of UGA’s votes in the upcoming elections is sure to lead to spirited debate and mass student involvement. Already, student led political organizations are making their presence on campus known.

Yet, despite the modest liberal leaning of the UGA student body, conservative organizations have seen more success than their liberal counterparts. UGA is home to the largest College Republicans chapter in the nation. Additionally, UGA’s chapter of Turning Point USA, the national organization founded by Charlie Kirk, hosted Erika Kirk and Vice President J.D. Vance last spring (though the crowd was sparse).

The Young Democrats of UGA and Dawgs for Ossoff are well established, active campus organizations, and important partners in reaching students. Even so, there's real room to grow. UGA's student body leans more liberal than conservative, which means the ceiling for Democratic organizing on campus is higher than what's currently being tapped. That's less a critique of any one group and more an opportunity, there's a bigger audience out there than current turnout reflects, and it's on all of us to reach them. 

The dynamic of unbalanced influence across party lines adds another dimension to the unique political landscape of UGA. To recap: the University of Georgia is a large state school in a swing state with an incredibly politically diverse student body – and though UGA’s student body leans ever so slightly to the left, right wing organizations have much more influence on the broader campus community.

Given the importance of UGA in the upcoming elections, there is no more important time than now for Democratic organizations on campus to energize and mobilize their untapped support base. For too long, conservative organizations have often been louder in campus political conversations, despite being outnumbered by liberal students.

It's time for campus discourse to match the real attitudes of students. It's time for Democrats on the University of Georgia's campus to make their voices heard and their votes count.

The Red & Black, Photo/Samantha Hurley

Why Canvassing Always Wins the Day

As someone who’s spent their summer hours canvassing for Georgia’s candidates, I understand this isn’t an easy and effortless task.. But I often wonder why canvassing became such an established practice in campaigns and grassroots organizing, and how effective it actually is, backed not only by spirit but also by numbers.

As it turns out, this practice dates back to the earlier days of our nation. During the era of local political machines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, grassroots canvassing was largely the province of local party organizations. Political machines specialized in mobilizing voters through networks of party workers and local supporters, and at their peak, controlled political organizations in many major American cities. With a heavy local focus, canvassing for presidential candidates was often a by-product of efforts to elect local candidates on the party ticket. National party organizations, on the other hand, were relatively hollow and had little involvement in grassroots activities.

During the mid-20th century, however, progressive reforms weakened many patronage systems, and locally driven canvassing began to atrophy. For decades, parties and candidates shifted their resources toward media advertising instead. In 1992, grassroots mobilization reached a historical low point, with only 18% of the electorate reporting that they had been contacted by a political party.

Starting with the 2000 presidential election, attention to the “ground war,” or direct and personal efforts to mobilize voters, rebounded significantly. By 2008, voter contacts had risen to more than 40% of the electorate. During this period, mobilization also became increasingly driven by national parties and more professionalized, as Electoral College math dictated resources be concentrated in battleground states. Parties began using voter databases to micro-target groups, allowing campaigns to prioritize voters based on factors such as their likelihood of voting, past political engagement, and location.

Understanding the historical context of canvassing has allowed me to see the time I have spent knocking on doors in a new light. Georgia is one of the country's most competitive battleground states, where small shifts in turnout can have significant outcomes. And there is evidence that face-to-face campaigning can make a measurable difference. A field study published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics found that door-to-door campaigning by a candidate increased that candidate’s vote share by 3 percentage points and the vote margin by 6 percentage points in a two-candidate race.

Knowing this, the hours I spent walking from door to door feel a little different. One conversation with a voter can feel insignificant, especially after dozens of unanswered doors. But campaigns are built on accumulation. One conversation becomes dozens, dozens become hundreds, and eventually those contacts can translate into measurable changes in who turns out and who wins.

That may be why canvassing has survived despite more than a century of changes in American politics. The technology surrounding campaigns has changed dramatically, from political machines to voter databases and digital targeting, but the basic principle has remained remarkably simple. Even as campaigns evolve, political change still begins with people talking to people.

- Chloe, Intern, The 2030 Project

Face to Face: Ossoff and Collins Set for High-Stakes October Debate

On Thursday, October 8th, Senator Jon Ossoff and Representative Mike Collins will face off in a televised, statewide U.S. Senate debate hosted by Gray Media at Assembly Atlanta. With the general election entering its final stretch, this matchup is shaping up to be one of the most critical, closely watched contests in the nation, with the balance of power in Washington hanging on the outcome.

The debate carries a unique historical weight for Senator Ossoff. Six years ago, during his historic 2020 Senate runoff campaign, Republican incumbent David Perdue refused to take the stage. Ossoff famously spent the broadcast answering questions next to an empty podium, arguing that Georgia voters deserved a leader who wasn't afraid to look them in the eye and defend his record.

The dynamics in 2026 are entirely different. Now the incumbent, Ossoff is a seasoned legislator defending his seat, while Congressman Collins has eagerly agreed to confront him directly.

Money will form the massive backdrop of this stage. While Ossoff maintains a commanding grassroots advantage—raising an astonishing $20 million last quarter to enter the fall with $42 million cash-on-hand—national Republican organizations are pouring unprecedented funds into the state to close the gap.

Collins enters the fall heavily bolstered by national special interests. The Senate Leadership Fund has pledged a massive $44 million blitz to defeat Ossoff, backed by a strong endorsement from the Club for Growth PAC. To push back against this tidal wave of national GOP spending, the Democratic Senate Majority PAC has countered with an initial $20 million television reservation.

This October debate represents a rare, unscripted moment where voters can look past the super PAC television ads and partisan campaign speeches. In 2020, Ossoff debated an empty podium to demand accountability for Georgia. This October, voters will finally get the face-to-face contrast they were denied six years ago, providing a clear choice for the future of our state.

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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89 Days and Counting: What We Learned in Savannah, and What's Next for Our Four Candidates.

There are just 89 days until the 2026 midterms. Whether at the federal, state, or local level, the upcoming elections are sure to be a pivotal moment in American history. While Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington D.C. have plunged us deeper into an affordability crisis, started pointless wars, threatened democracy, and have operated with an increasing lack of character and integrity, Republicans in the Georgia State House have similarly failed to address the needs of their constituency.

Victory in these midterms will result in new leadership, new policies, and the protection of democratic institutions, while defeat will lead to more of the status quo: corruption, incompetence, and more economic hardship on those already struggling the most.

Voters are already proving they are ready for a change. This past weekend at the Democratic Party of Georgia Convention in Savannah, hundreds of organizers, volunteers, and candidates gathered to align on their strategy for the final stretch. Charlie Bailey, Chair of the DPG, stated, “Something is happening in our state. The country is taking notice. This is our year.” Democrats, he said, are offering solutions. The atmosphere was clear: Georgia Democrats are united, focused on competitive districts, and running on a platform of real results.

Georgia is not alone in their rejection of the status quo. On Tuesday, Democrats in Michigan sent a shockwave heard around the country by nominating Abdul El-Sayed to be their Senate candidate over Haley Stevens. El-Sayed won despite being outspent 11 to 1. Michigan Democrats voted against half-measure policies and corporate interests, and instead voted for bold policy initiatives and keeping money out of politics.

Elsewhere around the country, Democrats have shown a similar motivation for change. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, primary elections in battleground states have consistently seen higher turnout among Democrats than Republicans. Interestingly, over the last five midterm elections, the party with the highest turnout in primaries has gone on to win control of Congress.

The national trend of high democratic turnout is present in Georgia as well. In the primaries for Governor, over 150,000 more Democrats than Republicans cast their votes, and in the Senate race, Senator Jon Ossoff has raised over $80 million, dwarfing Mike Collins’ $7.4 million.

Despite the positive signs, there is work to be done. While Democrats are energized and motivated, the hardest work is yet to come. Republicans know they are fighting an uphill battle and are sure to start putting on the pressure. In fact, gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson just launched an $87 million (self funded) ad campaign, while outside organizations have spent over $1 million in opposition to Senator Ossoff.

Just like the candidates at the top of the ballot, our candidates at the 2030 Project are in a good spot and are preparing to face the challenges of the upcoming election season. This issue of our newsletter will dive deep into each of our candidate’s campaigns: what’s going well, what we’re working on, and what you can do to help.

Democrats are in a good position – but it's not about how you start, it's about how you finish. The positive momentum is no reason to take the foot off the gas; if anything, it's time to put the pedal to the metal.

(Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight/Report for America)

The Faces Shaping Georgia’s Future

With the 2026 election cycle approaching, Georgia has three of the most winnable state legislative races. Identified by the DLCC’s Top 50 spotlight, Michelle Kang, Beth Fuller, and Farooq Mughal are leading the way for Georgia Democrats. All three also carry an Oath rating of 9.4 or higher. Ethan Wolfe is running in Americus and the Sumter County area, a rural southwest Georgia district that's never had this kind of attention, and he's already Oath rated at 7.9. We’ve highlighted everyone in the graphic below. 

Support the slate

1. Ethan Wolfe: Donate via ActBlue

2. Michelle Kang:  Donate via ActBlue

3. Beth Fuller: Donate via ActBlue

4. Farooq Mughal: Donate via ActBlue

Ethan Wolfe is Fighting for Southwest Georgia

Ethan Wolfe is bringing a lifetime of service and leadership to his campaign for Georgia House District 151. A native of Americus and a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, Wolfe spent more than 30 years serving his country before returning home to serve the community that raised him.

Now, he's running to ensure southwest Georgia families have a representative focused on strengthening local communities, expanding economic opportunity, and delivering practical solutions to everyday challenges.

Wolfe's campaign is centered on issues that matter most to rural Georgians. He supports expanding Medicaid to improve access to healthcare, increasing investment in public education, strengthening workforce development, expanding broadband access, and repairing critical infrastructure.

He has also emphasized protecting Georgia's agricultural economy, supporting veterans, promoting responsible stewardship of natural resources, and making the government more accountable to the people it serves. Throughout his campaign, Wolfe has focused on listening to local residents and advocating for policies that help working families and rural communities thrive.

House District 151 has long been held by the opposition, but recent shifting election results prove it is a battleground ready for new leadership. As Democrats continue making gains across Georgia, competitive rural districts like HD-151 represent genuine opportunities to expand the map. That's why The 2030 Project is proudly supporting Ethan – because he’s the right candidate to win this seat in Southwest Georgia.

With a tough, proven leader like Ethan Wolfe on the ballot, HD-151 is fully within reach for Democrats this November. Candidates with deep local credibility and a history of service are exactly how we win competitive territory and deliver the representation rural Georgia deserves.

Michelle Kang: Representing the American Dream

I first saw Michelle Kang this summer at the Korean American Convening hosted by NAKASEC, AAAF, and Demo Lab South. It was an event that captured exactly who she is: showing up to listen to her community about what's affecting them, then turning that into action. When I canvassed for her campaign later this summer, she greeted me and said, "I've seen you somewhere." It was a small moment, but one that reflected the kind of leader she strives to be. In politics, where people can easily become numbers on a voter file, Kang makes a conscious effort to remember the people behind them.

Kang is a first-generation Korean American who came to Georgia in 1992 and has called the state home for more than three decades. Before immigrating, she worked as a paralegal at a major law firm in Seoul, South Korea. Upon arrival in the U.S., however, limited information about the local job market and barriers for newcomers led her to work as a cashier at a dry cleaner.

Experiencing firsthand the significant impact of public programs and policies on the lives of everyday working families, Kang decided to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Georgia at the age of 41, all while raising three children.

She later became the manager of the Asian American Resource Center, working closely with immigrant families and local community members. In 2022, Kang joined Senator Raphael Warnock's re-election campaign, helping mobilize voters across our state. Two years later, she ran for Georgia House District 99, finishing just 621 votes behind the Republican incumbent in one of the state’s closest legislative races. She is back on the ballot for a 2026 rematch that both parties are watching closely.

Kang is running to stand up for families like her own who face a rising cost of living. Her common-sense platform includes expanding access to universal childcare, lowering taxes on families earning $100,000 or less, reducing housing costs for renters and homeowners, expanding Medicaid, and holding health insurance companies accountable to make quality, affordable healthcare accessible. These priorities are directly shaped by her own experiences navigating life as a working mother.

Kang also advocates for restoring reproductive freedom in Georgia, arguing that personal healthcare decisions should remain between patients and their doctors rather than politicians. Beyond healthcare, she emphasizes expanding opportunities for small businesses by improving access to capital, addressing workforce shortages, investing in vocational training for an AI-driven economy, and strengthening local infrastructure.

Kang's previous campaign demonstrated exactly how competitive House District 99 has become. Falling only 621 votes short, she proved that this seat is entirely flippable. Now, she is building on that momentum, proving that structured, everyday grassroots organizing is exactly how we deliver a brighter future for Georgia.

• Chloe, Intern, The 2030 Project

Listening First: Beth Fuller’s Vision for Georgia

The first person I ever canvassed with was Beth Fuller.

I'll be honest, I was nervous. Going door to door, talking politics with complete strangers, and potentially getting rejected at every house wasn't exactly my comfort zone. But Beth walked alongside me the entire time, and as the day went on, I learned a lot more than how to canvass.

I got to watch Beth interact with her community firsthand, and what stood out wasn't just her knowledge of the issues, it was how she listened. Whether someone agreed with her or not, she treated every conversation with respect. She asked questions, listened to concerns, and made people feel heard.

As someone who loves debating, that really stuck with me.

Over the last several years, politics has felt increasingly divided. It seems like people are more interested in proving each other wrong rather than finding solutions. We've gotten so used to seeing politics as a fight that we've forgotten what it's supposed to be about: listening, communicating, and working through disagreements to solve problems together.

Watching Beth talk with people reminded me of that.

Between houses, we talked about the issues that motivated her campaign. We discussed healthcare, education, and the everyday challenges facing Georgia families. But the conversation that stuck with me the most wasn't about policy at all.

It was about why she decided to run.

Beth told me stories about growing up with a father who was a Georgia Superior Court judge. One story that made me laugh was hearing how he was known for carrying around a miniature copy of the Constitution everywhere he went. Hearing that background, I assumed law was the obvious path for her.

So I asked her. Why public health? Why not law?

Her answer was surprisingly simple.

She said she loved working with people. That answer caught me off guard because it wasn't the kind of polished political response candidates usually give. It was honest. And the more I learned about Beth, the more it made sense. For over 25 years, Beth has worked in public health, helping communities tackle real-world problems and working alongside policymakers to improve health and safety outcomes. She later spent a decade supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta before federal budget cuts eliminated her position. That experience ultimately pushed her to stop advocating from the sidelines and seek a seat at the table where decisions are made.

Today, Beth is running for Georgia House District 53 because she believes families.

• Isabella, Intern, The 2030 Project

Farooq Mughal’s Road Back to the State House

Farooq Mughal is an experienced public servant—beyond that, he is a small business owner, husband, and proud father. In 2022, he made history as the first Pakistani-American elected to the Georgia State Legislature, representing Gwinnett County with a focus on practical, community-first solutions.

As a freshman lawmaker, Mughal built a reputation for working across the aisle, co-sponsoring bipartisan bills that supported local small businesses, increased hospital safety, expanded mental health access, and protected workers.

Following a close redistricting cycle, he missed retaining his seat by a mere 80 votes in 2024. Because of this thin margin, House District 105 is not a distant possibility—it is a top-tier, highly winnable flip opportunity for Gwinnett families this November.

Three Issues Anchoring the Campaign

• Economic Relief and Lower Taxes: Mughal is focused on reducing the daily financial squeeze on suburban families. He is committed to expanding the homestead exemption and value offset exemption in Gwinnett County to lower property taxes, while pursuing an income tax rebate of at least $500 to keep money in taxpayers' pockets.

• Small Business Support: Drawing directly from his professional career advising minority-owned businesses, Mughal emphasizes cutting red tape, protecting worker rights, and providing local entrepreneurs with the incentives they need to grow and thrive.

• Healthcare Access: Mughal continues to advocate for common-sense health solutions. His platform focuses on expanding Medicaid to lower overall care costs, increasing targeted mental health support for veterans, addressing regional disparities in care, and capping the cost of life-saving medications like insulin.

Beyond these pillars, his platform remains committed to fully funding public education, ensuring community safety, protecting voting access, and defending personal reproductive freedom.

The Road Ahead

The general election is set for November 3, 2026. With a margin of just 80 votes in 2024, every single conversation on the doors matters. The 2030 Project is proud to help Farooq and his team to deliver the pragmatic leadership House District 105 deserves.

If you’re reading this and in the Gwinnett area, Farooq’s fall canvass launch is this Saturday at 10 AM in Buford, Georgia. We would love to see you there!

Saturday Canvass Link: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/992704/

What’s Inspiring Us This Week:

A new weekly feature, written by one of our interns. Because we all need a pick-me-up.

College Football in Georgia Returns

As we enter August, the best season, college football season approaches us. Every Saturday we’re able to experience the thrills of college football and demonstrate our pride for our teams. The tailgating, the outfits, and the camaraderie are all things I look forward to. Whether I’m in Sanford Stadium or around Athens, I can’t wait to be back cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs. As a student at The University of Georgia, I’m biased. But all Georgia teams deserve love and support. We wish the healthiest and best football season possible to all of Georgia's college football teams. 

• Azha, Intern, Project 2030 (Go Dawgs!)

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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Rural Georgia Deserves Repsect. So Does Bottoms.

“Where is Keisha Lance Bottoms?” A question many Democratic voters seem to have following Rick Jackson’s on-the-ground efforts in Atlanta. Amidst the backlash and commentary surrounding Rick Jackson’s efforts, Keisha Lance Bottoms has launched her very own Southeast Georgia Healthcare Tour. 

Bottoms commenced her on-the-ground efforts yesterday, July 29, 2026. Her tour will feature six stops in Statesboro, Jesup, Woodbine, Brunswick, Richmond Hill, and concluding in Savannah at the Georgia Democratic Convention. As Jackson made his rounds, voters questioned where Keisha was and how she was going to “get out the vote.” Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Keisha Lance Bottoms made her first stop in Statesboro Thursday as part of a Southeast Georgia healthcare tour, hosting a roundtable with local healthcare workers and the Statesboro mayor to hear concerns about rural healthcare access. Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor and Democratic nominee for governor, said the feedback gathered during the tour will help shape policy. “It’s always great to get feedback on the ground because it helps shape policy and helps shape the vision for how we can accomplish things quickly when, God willing, I’m elected governor,” Bottoms said.

However, it feels reminiscent of the 2024 Presidential Campaign with Kamala Harris. No matter what these Black female candidates do, the complaints never cease to end. “You have to be twice as good to get half as far,” embodies the struggles that these candidates seem to face. Despite the ridicule, Bottoms continues to fight for her respect and share of Georgia. While Jackson has made billions exploiting Georgians and their healthcare, Bottoms embraces the journey to making healthcare better for Georgians. She's fighting for a state where being a billionaire isn't a prerequisite for being heard.

A National Directive With a Georgia Address

A year ago, President Trump signed a national security memo most Americans never heard of. Now, its effects are showing up in a federal courthouse in Atlanta.

The directive is called NSPM-7, "Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence." Signed in September 2025, it doesn't create new legal powers. Instead, it redirects existing counterterrorism tools, built for foreign threats, toward domestic political targets. The memo instructs the FBI, DOJ, Treasury, and IRS to investigate individuals and organizations tied to vaguely defined ideologies, including "anti-Americanism," "anti-capitalism," and hostility toward "traditional American views." 

This is no longer theoretical:

• The Atlanta Charges: In June 2026, federal prosecutors charged two activists, Katie Kloth and Tyler Norman, with federal arson offenses connected to the "Cop City" protests, the same week Georgia's Attorney General secured a new state indictment against them. Federal and state officials are now pursuing parallel prosecutions, both invoking the "anti-Antifa" framing that defines NSPM-7 itself. 

• The SPLC Fraud Charges: In April 2026, the DOJ aggressively deployed its financial toolkit, indicting the Southern Poverty Law Center on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges over its tracking and informant operations. The SPLC has fiercely denied the charges, calling the case a weaponized retribution campaign.

The administration’s expanding definition of domestic terrorism has triggered a wave of resistance across civil rights groups. NAACP President Derrick Johnson responded plainly: "Trump's DOJ has been weaponized by dangerous forces. Every organization and individual engaged in social justice should be alarmed."

The actions by the Trump Administration fit a pattern Georgians have watched all year: an FBI raid on the Fulton County election hub, the firing of election commissioners who wouldn't fall in line, and now federal and state prosecutors moving in lockstep against activists and civil rights organizations. The tools change. The target doesn't.

Leading national advocacy groups are choosing to fight the narrative publicly before they face the crosshairs. Color Of Change launched a sweeping public awareness campaign warning its members that NSPM-7 intentionally blurs the line between violent acts and protected dissent. In public alerts, the organization stated that Black organizers and justice movements historically pay the heaviest price when the federal government treats political disagreement as a national security threat. By forcing these directives into the light, civil rights groups are trying to ensure that the right to organize does not disappear by executive memo.

Heroes vs. Villains: Who Republicans Really Are.

Despite the current levels of partisanship and division within the country, there are still many issues where an overwhelming majority of Americans agree. One issue with broad  bipartisan support is the banning of elected officials from trading stocks.  According to a study conducted by the University of Maryland, a congressional stock trading ban is supported by 86% of Americans with equal support on both sides of the aisle.

With congress so divided and seemingly unable to accomplish anything of substance, passing a stock trading ban would be the perfect way to tear down partisan divides and help restore trust in the government, while also taking steps towards reducing corruption. However, rather than come together to pass an agreeable, comprehensive law that would actually prohibit elected officials from trading stocks, Congressional Republicans have opted for political theater and public relation stunts.

Just two months ago, Senator Jon Ossoff introduced the “Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act,” a comprehensive, detailed bill which would require all sitting members of congress to either divest their holdings or place them in a qualified blind trust. However, Senate Republicans took issue with the bill, largely due to its rigidity and language surrounding cryptocurrency.

When Senator Ossoff attempted to pass the bill by unanimous consent, Senator Lummis of Wyoming (a Republican) objected, and instead voiced her support for a Republican backed House bill titled the “Stop Insider Trading Act.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht32Yroyqu0

Last week, the “Stop Insider Trading Act” passed the House of Representatives in a vote of 218-211, thanks to overwhelming Republican support. Despite the bill’s similar name to the one proposed by Senator Ossoff, its content could not be more different.

While Senator Ossoff’s bill would prohibit members of congress from buying, selling, or holding individual stocks, the Republican bill only prohibits the purchasing of publicly traded stocks. This means members of congress would still be able to sell their private holdings based on their access to privileged information and make decisions that directly influence the value of their personal assets.

Perhaps more egregiously, at the last minute, Republicans tacked on a measure to the act that imposes unnecessarily burdensome voting restrictions. As such, the “Stop Insider Trading Act” would be more aptly titled the “Stop Buying One Specific Type of Stock and Restrict Voting Rights Act.”

Thus, rather than pass a bill which would actually solve a problem the vast majority of Americans agree on, Republicans have chosen to promote a bill which only provides minor restrictions on insider trading while simultaneously threatening voting rights. 

But here’s the thing: Republicans know this bill will fail. They know Democrats who care more about governing than optics will vote down this nonsense bill, preventing what little stock trading restrictions are included from going into effect, while going on the record opposing a bill titled the “Stop Insider Trading Act,” a win win for Republicans.

As such, when this bill inevitably stalls in the Senate, Republicans will have successfully dodged passing a stock trading ban while trying to make it seem as if they are the ones pushing for change. Republicans in congress have proved time and time again they care more about optics and reelection than passing laws which benefit the American people. 

Don’t fall for their act.

A $20 Billion Data Center Deal, and a One-Day Notice

Georgia Recorder

Data centers, the physical facilities that power everything from cloud storage to AI chatbots, are popping up across Georgia faster than almost anywhere else in the country. Georgia now hosts more than 200 data center facilities statewide, driven by low business costs and generous tax exemptions that have made the state one of the most attractive locations in the Southeast.

The latest and largest example: OpenAI announced a $20 billion data center campus in Effingham County, called "Project Camellia." Georgia Power will supply the facility with 3.2 gigawatts of power, enough for roughly 2 million homes, delivered in phases through 2032.

Effingham County's own Board of Commissioners, Industrial Development Authority, and school district approved the deal, calling it one of the largest private investments in coastal Georgia's history. But residents got just one day's notice before a public open house on July 23, and nearly 1,000 people showed up, many of them frustrated that a deal this size moved forward before they had any real chance to weigh in.

Water is one of the biggest concerns driving that frustration. According to the International Energy Agency, a typical 100-megawatt hyperscale data center in the U.S. uses about 2 million liters of water a day, roughly the water use of 6,500 homes. OpenAI says Project Camellia will use a closed-loop cooling system designed to minimize water draw, but concerns like these have fueled growing opposition to data center construction across the state.

That opposition now includes a candidate for governor. Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms has proposed a statewide moratorium on new data center construction if elected. Gov. Brian Kemp pushed back this week, calling artificial intelligence "scary" but "essential," and calling Bottoms' proposed pause "irresponsible."

Data centers aren't going anywhere in Georgia. But Project Camellia is a preview of the fight ahead: a state government eager to attract massive investment, and residents increasingly asking to be part of the conversation before the deal is done.

What Georgia Learned From Apalachee, and What It Still Hasn't

As students across Georgia prepare to return to classrooms this fall, the shadow of the Apalachee High School shooting still lingers. Just days ago, Colt Gray, the gunman responsible for the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to 55 charges related to the attack that killed two students and two teachers. The sentencing closed one chapter of a tragedy that shocked Georgia, but it did not close the larger conversation about school safety.

School shootings have long felt like tragedies that happened somewhere else. Then it happened in Barrow County. In a Georgia school. To Georgia families. The attack exposed weaknesses in how schools, families, law enforcement agencies, and mental health systems identify and respond to warning signs before violence occurs.

Now as another school year begins, state leaders say they are taking action to make schools safer.

Following the Apalachee shooting, lawmakers passed House Bill 268, the Comprehensive School Safety & Student Well-being Act, one of the most significant school safety packages in Georgia history. Signed into law in 2025, the legislation requires major security and mental health upgrades across Georgia schools. Its panic-alert provisions are formally known as "Ricky and Alyssa's Law," named for Richard "Ricky" Aspinwall, the Apalachee coach and teacher killed in the shooting, and Alyssa Alhadeff, killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting in Florida.

Most notable changes are:

• Every public school must have a mobile panic alert system connected to emergency responders.

• Schools must maintain digital campus maps that can be accessed quickly during emergencies.

• Districts are required to provide anonymous reporting systems so students can report threats or suspicious behavior.

These measures aren't untested. Barrow County had tested its panic button system at a school near Apalachee High just hours before the shooting began. During the attack itself, teachers and administrators sent more than 20 alerts through the system, helping direct police to the shooter's location and cutting short what could have been an even deadlier attack. The state budget also included funding for school security grants and behavioral health initiatives, signaling that school safety is no longer being treated as a secondary issue in Georgia politics.

Despite reforms to school safety procedures, very little has been done to address the broader issue of gun violence. After Apalachee, Democratic lawmakers introduced bills that would have required Georgians to safely store firearms in homes with children. Republican leadership did not bring those bills to a vote. Instead, the GOP-controlled legislature moved to block local governments from enacting their own gun storage requirements, like an ordinance in Savannah requiring firearms to be locked up when left in unattended cars. Gov. Kemp vetoed that specific bill in May, citing concerns about police liability, not the underlying policy, and Republicans have already revived a similar measure this year. For gun safety advocates, it's a reminder that Georgia's response to Apalachee was significant on school security, but incomplete on the question of how guns are stored in the first place.

The question facing Georgia isn’t only which laws passed and which didn’t. It’s whether the ones that did will work statewide the way they worked that morning in Barrow County.

Legislation can create requirements, but implementation determines success. Schools must train staff, maintain emergency plans, educate students on reporting systems, and ensure that mental health resources are available when students need them, all while already-stretched school staff and administrators absorb new responsibilities on top of existing ones. Georgia law already requires schools to conduct emergency planning and safety drills, but those measures are only effective if they are taken seriously and consistently, and if schools have the staffing and funding to do it. 

For parents dropping their children off on the first day of school, the hope is simple: that no community will have to endure what Barrow County experienced.

Georgia Deserves Better than a Formula Created in 1985

Georgia is booming. Over the past decade, private investment has flourished, and the state has welcomed thousands of new residents annually. And yet, too many Georgia students attend underfunded, understaffed, and unequally resourced schools. State leaders laud increased education budgets, but spending into a structurally broken system fails to serve every child.

The current funding formula was created in 1985 through the Quality Basic Education (QBE) Act. It has changed very little in the past forty years, failing to account for modern classroom technologies, school safety initiatives, and an ever-worsening youth mental health crisis. Georgia remains one of only six states that doesn't provide extra funding for students living in poverty. Lawmakers piloted a small $15.3 million "opportunity weight" grant in 2025, a first step advocates had sought for years, but let that funding expire this session rather than making it permanent or building it into the formula itself.

During the 2026 session, lawmakers did make one genuine investment in QBE: $70.4 million for literacy coaches in every elementary school, funded permanently through the formula. It's real money and a real win. But it illustrates the same structural problem. That funding flows equally to every school regardless of how many of its students live in poverty, the exact kind of targeted, needs-based investment the expired opportunity weight was designed to provide. So the story ultimately remains the same: the QBE formula is not a reflection of the needs of students today.

Beyond this formula, Georgia relies heavily on local property taxes to fund public education. This means wealthy districts can raise millions while rural and low-income communities struggle to provide basic services. Access becomes reliant upon zip code rather than universal. This, in turn, only furthers a cyclical stagnation.

Even Georgia's most celebrated education program reflects this same divide. The merit-based HOPE Scholarship provides tuition assistance for Georgia students, which sounds great in theory. But as the graph above shows, the pattern is stark: at the University of Georgia, where median family income tops $100,000, 81 percent of in-state students receive HOPE or the full-ride Zell Miller Scholarship. Statewide, only 44 percent of bachelor's degree students receive either scholarship. The higher a school's median family income, the larger its share of HOPE scholars. This is not a representation of academic ability. It is a socioeconomic reflection. Thanks to a state budget surplus of $14 billion, improving public education is not a financial issue. What it is and what it has been for forty years now, is a problem of political will.  

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Okefenokee Swamp becomes a Heritage Site

Georgia Recorder

On July 25th, the Okefenokee Swamp officially became a UNESCO World Heritage Site during the World Heritage Committee Meeting in Busan, South Korea.

As a 438,000-acre wetland, the Okefenokee is the largest intact blackwater swamp ecosystem in North America. Historically, the swamp has been an important ancestral site to the Indigenous Muscogee Nation.

Since 1982, Georgians have been advocating for the Okefenokee Swamp to be designated as a World Heritage Site. In 2026, this has finally come true, thanks to a bipartisan group of Georgia congressmembers, led by Sen. Jon Ossoff and Rep. Buddy Carter, who urged the Department of the Interior to pursue UNESCO designation.

This UNESCO designation officially means the Okefenokee Swamp is now globally recognized as a place of outstanding universal value to humanity. The United States government is now internationally obligated to protect this area's ecosystem. Now, the Okefenokee joins the list of sites that includes the Great Pyramids, the Galapagos Islands, and the Grand Canyon.

In a statement, Stacy Funderburke, vice president of the central Southeast region at the Conservation Fund, expressed the importance of this designation.

"This designation isn't just an honor for all Georgians, it's a validation of all of the conservation work we've been doing around the Okefenokee for the last 25 years," said Funderburke. "Today the world is recognizing what we've always known, that this area is irreplaceable and worth protecting at every turn."

This designation serves as a testament to the power of Georgians' collaboration and perseverance. After decades of persistence, the Okefenokee's UNESCO designation is more than a label, it is a reminder that dedicated advocacy can have a lasting impact.

- Marin, Intern, The 2030 Project

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America’s Reputation Reconsidered

For generations, Americans have been taught that the United States is a global force for freedom, democracy, and opportunity. Yet beyond our borders, that image is becoming increasingly complicated. 

From Europe to Latin America, from the Middle East to Africa, people view the United States through the lens of wars, foreign interventions, economic sanctions, and political polarization. While many admire American innovation, universities, and democratic ideals, others question whether our country lives up to the values it claims to embody.

These perceptions matter more than many young voters realize. In an increasingly interconnected world, America’s reputation shapes everything from international alliances to economic partnerships and global security. As young voters step into politics, understanding how the rest of the world sees the United States is no longer just a foreign policy question. It is a question about America’s future place in the world.

Latin America offers one of the clearest examples of U.S perception. During the Cold War, the United States intervened politically in efforts to combat communism. Those memories still shape public opinion today. Most recently, the U.S arrested Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian president. To many Americans, arresting Maduro is a justified response to authoritarianism. Yet to critics around the world, efforts by the U.S to influence the fate of another country’s president can look like a dangerous overstep of power. The concern is not necessarily support for Maduro, but rather the precedent it sets: should one nation have the ability to decide the political future of another?

Europe, one of America’s closest allies, has also grown more critical. One of the most significant sources of tension has been America’s continued support for Israel during the war in Gaza. American support for Israel has led some Europeans to question whether the United States applies human rights standards consistently. Critics argue that the United States is quick to condemn human rights abuses by adversaries while being reluctant to hold allies accountable. European concerns have also been fueled by America’s political polarization, debates over immigration, and uncertainty surrounding its role in global conflicts. Again, raising the broader question: can the United States continue to present itself as a global moral leader if its actions appear inconsistent with the values it promotes?

Recent tensions with Iran have further shaped international perceptions of the United States. The Strait of Hormuz remains an area of conflict, disrupting global energy markets and economies. In Africa, cuts to foreign aid and public health programs have also drawn criticism as parts of Central Africa face a growing Ebola outbreak. Together, these developments have led some international observers to question whether the United States is committed to long-term global leadership or engages only when its strategic interests are at stake. 

According to a 2026 Pew Research survey, the majority of international respondents now view the U.S. as less favorable than China. This shift largely occurred during the beginning of the second Trump administration. With unstable, aggressive rhetoric and action, Trump has alienated even traditionally strong allies—as well as their populations. The simultaneous decline of American legitimacy and Chinese ascendance has contributed to an increasingly fractious image of the United States

The debate over America’s global image is not simply about popularity but credibility. Whether discussing Venezuela, Gaza, Iran, Europe, or Africa, many of the world’s opinions about the United States are rooted in history. Some view America as a defender of democracy, while others see a country too willing to intervene abroad while struggling with challenges at home.

For young voters, this presents an important challenge. The next generation will help determine what role America plays in the world. Will the United States continue to rely on military and economic power, or can it rebuild trust through diplomacy, cooperation, and consistency? The answer may determine not only how America sees itself, but how the world sees America.

– Lorin Hsieh, rising senior at Oconee County High School & Isabella Carvajal, rising junior at Georgia State University

The ROAD to Somewhere, Someday

Congress just passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act—the first major federal housing law in three decades, with bipartisan margins so wide they'd make you forget what year it is. Don't get me wrong, that's notable. In a Congress that can't agree on what day it is, this one got 358 votes in the House. A win is a win.

But read past the headline, and the bill is thinner than the applause suggests. Its marquee provision bars large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes once they own 350 of them. Sounds tough, until you remember that single-family homes were never where the affordability crisis was actually happening. Institutional investors own less than five percent of the single-family homes in this country. 

Here's where the real story is: apartments. My generation can't afford to buy, so we rent. And developers followed the money straight to us. In 2024, the U.S. built roughly 600,000 new apartment units, the most in 38 years. I watched it happen in real time in my own home city of Smyrna, Georgia, where cranes went up over what used to be parking lots and empty stretches of Cobb Parkway, and buildings that didn't exist during COVID were fully leased by the time I signed my own lease this year.

So now we're drowning in apartments, and the numbers say that should be great news for renters. Nationally, close to 40% of listings are dangling move-in incentives—a free month here, waived fees there—because property managers have more units than tenants to fill them. But the actual number that matters isn't dropping to match. And that's not landlords being stingy out of habit, or at least not only that.

It’s debt. America runs on debt.

Complexes are financed with loans that were underwritten against a projected property value. That value is tied directly to how much rent the building is expected to bring in. Drop the rent enough, and the property's appraised value drops with it, which can breach something called a loan-to-value covenant, a threshold the lender set to protect their own collateral. Breach that covenant, and you can trigger a default. Not a metaphorical one. An actual, contractual, the-bank-can-come-for-this-building default.

So landlords hand out a free month instead of cutting the sticker price. It moves the needle for a new tenant without moving the number the bank is watching. 

I want to be extremely clear: I am not here to defend landlords. I will not be doing that today, tomorrow, or during the ceremony they hold when I die. But a wave of defaults doesn't stay a landlord problem. It becomes a renter problem fast—foreclosures, ownership churn, buildings sold off to whoever's left holding the loan, and tenants caught in the middle of a fight they didn't start and can't afford to lose.

The ROAD to Housing Act doesn't touch any of this. It caps a number that was never the problem, while the actual mechanism reshaping how millions of us rent—leverage, appraisals, and covenants none of us signed, but all of us are bound by—sails on completely untouched. "Bipartisan" doesn't mean "sufficient." 

- Nakyla Stallings, Upcoming 1L at GSU Law

America’s Gun Problem, By the Numbers.

According to Pew Research, about 44,000 people died of gun-related injuries in the United States in 2024. In Georgia, 17.6 people per 100,000 died from guns. 76% of homicides and 57% of suicides involve a gun. More children die from firearms than any other cause in the United States. More than 200 Americans visit the emergency department for firearm injuries every day, according to John Hopkins. 

It’s clear that the United States has a gun issue.

Despite these statistics, the Trump administration has taken major strides to relax gun regulations. One such regulation is eliminating the “gun show loophole,” which allows private sellers to deal firearms at gun shows without licenses and background checks. Donald Trump showed interest in reversing the restriction on this loophole, among other restrictions such as on bump stocks and short-barrel rifles. Lifting restrictions on bump stocks would be especially problematic given their usage in the infamous 2017 Las Vegas shooting. 

As a young voter, I believe this crisis is especially important given its simplicity. Gun control is on the easier side of issues that a willing government can address, since the top priority of gun law reformists is policy change. Countries with stricter gun laws actually see a decrease in gun-related crimes, contrary to the typical “protection” defense. Australia, Japan, and Canada are all examples of this phenomenon.

I care about gun control because I care about people. Our government should do the same. 

- Shaheer Ul-Islam, UGA Student

Priced Out of Public Service

As a first-generation college student preparing to graduate and pursue a Master of Public Administration, paying for graduate school is something that requires real planning. Tuition, loans, work, and future earnings all have to be considered when paying for a master’s degree independently. It makes education policy feel personal because changes made at the federal level can completely reshape a student’s plans.

First, here is a breakdown of what these changes mean: 

Federal support for graduate education changed significantly on July 1, 2026. New borrowers can no longer use Grad PLUS loans, which previously helped cover the cost of attendance after other federal loan limits were reached. Graduate students are now generally limited to $20,500 per year and $100,000 overall. Students in designated professional programs may receive up to $50,000 per year and $200,000 overall. This creates a difference of nearly $30,000 in annual borrowing based on how a degree is classified. Some students who borrowed before July 1 may remain under the former rules for up to three years if they continue in the same program. J.P. Morgan’s overview⁠ breaks down these changes.

Under the policy, “professional degree” is an administrative category that determines eligibility for higher loan limits, not a judgment about a career’s value. Medicine, law, and dentistry qualify, while a temporary court order has added certain nursing, psychology, and therapy programs. An MPA remains a regular graduate degree subject to the lower limit. The current classifications are available through Federal Student Aid⁠.

Once the numbers are explained, the bigger concern is what they mean for students. The limits are intended to reduce excessive borrowing and encourage universities to control tuition. This issue is significant: according to the Department of Education, graduate students received more than half of newly issued federal student loans in recent years, and graduate debt accounts for approximately half of the nation’s outstanding $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio.

Reducing debt that students may struggle to repay is a worthwhile goal. At the same time, a lower borrowing limit does not automatically mean a lower tuition bill. If universities do not reduce their prices, students will have to make up the difference through scholarships, additional work, family assistance, or private loans. For students paying their own way, that could mean working more hours, changing programs, or reconsidering graduate school altogether.

Past research shows why this deserves attention. A 2023 analysis of student debt and the low-wage workforce⁠ found that debt can discourage graduates from continuing their education. Another study included in the analysis found that 20% of graduates with more than $20,000 in student loans said their debt discouraged them from pursuing an advanced degree.

Debt can also limit what students do after graduation. Research cited in the analysis found that graduates with debt were more likely to choose higher-paying positions and less likely to enter lower-paying public interest careers. For someone considering government or nonprofit work, that choice can be difficult. A student may want to serve a community but still needs to earn enough to repay the education required to enter the field.

These pressures are not felt equally. Low-income and first-generation students may have less family wealth available to cover tuition or help with repayment. Black and Latino borrowers can also experience student debt alongside broader income and wealth disparities. When students begin from different financial positions, the same loan policy can affect their choices very differently.

These studies were conducted before 2026. This shows that student debt was already shaping educational choices, career decisions, and economic mobility before the restrictions. The new rules are being introduced into a system where those differences already exist.

Education policy matters to more than students. Graduate programs help prepare future public administrators, healthcare providers, educators, mental health professionals, and nonprofit leaders. If fewer students from rural, working-class, or underrepresented communities can afford these programs, the institutions serving those communities may lose future professionals who understand their needs firsthand.

Each of these factors comes down to opportunity and representation. A strong democracy depends on people from different backgrounds being able to participate in public institutions and help make decisions that impact those from every background. Accessibility to graduate education is part of that path.

- Ava Mulkey, Senior at UGA 

Growing Up in the Trump Era

There have been quite a few significant events that have shaped my formative years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of social media, and the rise of artificial intelligence. However, above all of these things, the most defining characteristic of this moment in history has been Donald Trump's rise to power. 

I first learned about Donald Trump back in 2015, when I was 10 years old. While my parents knew him as the host of The Apprentice and a notorious sleazebag, I was only made aware of him when he decided to run for president.

To people my age, it's impossible to remember politics before Trump. Though I remember going to the polls with my mom to vote for Obama in the 2008 election, like most three year olds, I just wasn’t keeping tabs on politics. By the time I was old enough to understand the basics, Trump had already entered center stage.

The debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was my first presidential debate; suffice it to say, it did not make a good first impression. My teachers had always described presidential debates as these formal, almost boring, discussions of policy, but the 2016 debates were anything but formal.

Insults, name calling, childish retorts, divisiveness, baseless accusations, and lies had all become defining characteristics of American politics by the time I was old enough to pay attention. 

There were audio recordings of the President saying words that I would be grounded for repeating and videos of him approaching girls no older than myself. I first learned the word “pornstar” thanks to the Stormy Daniels scandal. This pattern of immorality didn’t stop.

For most of my life, the most prominent figure in American Politics has been a lying, cheating, Epstein Island-visiting, 34-count felon who has seen his net worth increase by billions of dollars while the American people continue to suffer under his watch. He has falsified business documents, desecrated the White House, scammed his own supporters, undermined trust in elections, started pointless wars, stolen classified documents, scapegoated immigrants, and inspired a violent mob to attack the nation’s capital for the first time since the war of 1812.

This article is not long enough to list every misdeed of Donald Trump, due in large part to the fact that he’s mentioned in the Epstein files more than 38,000 times. However, even if it is impossible to enumerate all the ways in which Donald Trump is evil, from the time I was 10 years old, it has been clear that this man is not fit to lead a conga line, let alone the most powerful and influential nation on Earth.

Despite all of the harm and negativity to come out of Trump’s presidency, thanks to the plainly visible corruption and incompetence, he has indirectly inspired young people like me to try to right the ship. My generation has grown up knowing nothing but Trump’s failed politics. Now, we begin to enter the workforce and gain a voice of our own. My vote will be heard, and it won’t be to repeat this last decade. America deserves better. You deserve better. 

- Isaac Fleischer, Rising Senior at the University of Georgia

The Veins That Run Through Georgia

When people think about elections, they often picture campaign ads, debates, or Election Day itself. But the moments that have shaped my perspective haven't happened at the ballot box, but instead over phone calls with students I've never met.

As a College Organizer with the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, one of my responsibilities is calling young people and inviting them to civic engagement and community organizing events. Before I started, I expected many conversations to end with a quick "no thanks." Instead, I've been surprised by how many students ask questions, wanting to learn more about what's happening in Georgia and appreciating being invited into a space where they can get involved. Those conversations remind me that young people aren't disconnected from politics, but more often, they're waiting for someone to show them that there's a place for them in it.

That realization has stayed with me beyond GYJC. Through my work with the Asian Student Alliance, I've seen how creating opportunities for young people to gather, learn, and organize builds confidence that lasts far beyond a single event. Whether it's discussing issues affecting our communities, volunteering together, or simply helping someone attend their first civic meeting, every interaction makes participation feel a little less intimidating and a little more possible.

I know how important that first invitation can be because I once needed it myself. Before I became involved in organizing, I often felt overwhelmed by the number of issues facing my community and unsure where I could make a meaningful difference. Finding organizations that welcomed young people into the work transformed that uncertainty into action. It taught me that civic engagement doesn't begin when someone turns eighteen or casts a ballot. It begins the moment someone realizes their voice belongs in the conversation.

Young people are often told that these are the years to build a resume, secure internships, prepare for graduate school, and figure out the rest of our lives. Those pressures are real. They can make civic engagement feel like something to care about "later," after everything else is settled. But the world we will inherit isn't waiting for us to finish our to-do lists. The decisions being made today will shape the communities we graduate into, work in, and eventually raise families in.

That's why youth organizing has become so meaningful to me. It's not about asking students to put their ambitions aside, but about reminding them that investing in their communities is also an investment in their futures. The skills we develop by listening to our neighbors, organizing around shared concerns, and participating in local elections don't compete with our personal goals. They help shape the kind of society those goals exist within.

- Chloe Lee, student at Emory University

The Veins That Run Through Georgia

“A society—any society—is defined as a set of mutual benefits and duties embodied most visibly in public institutions: public schools, public libraries, public transportation, public hospitals, public parks, public museums, public recreation, public universities, and so on.” - Robert Reich, former United States Secretary of Labor. 

It is our duty to create a functioning society for ourselves but also for future generations. With no functioning public systems, is there a functioning society? The answer to that isn’t black or white; it’s grey. So far, the state of Georgia has functioned and profited with a broken public transportation system. In 2026, Georgia’s GDP has reached $717.4B, which is only a 2.2% increase from the last five years. So, Georgia has done a pretty good job in exceeding economic expectations. 

However, the residents of Georgia bear the brunt of our society’s shortcomings. Georgia residents are struggling with public transportation. Most of Georgia’s essential resources lie in the heart of the state: Atlanta. With the new closures in rural hospitals and healthcare facilities, rural families have to commute at least one hour to receive the proper care and treatment. However, it doesn’t stop there. 

The increase in traffic in metro Atlanta makes the everyday commute a stressful experience. Traffic times exceed at least 45 minutes to a destination that should only be 20 minutes away. Residents are hoping for an expansion in public transportation services. In fact, the city of Atlanta and MARTA were hoping to expand to the metro Atlanta counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton, and Cobb. However, voters in Cobb and Gwinnett County voted against the proposal. The proposal included a 1% sales tax increase to cover the funding of MARTA expansion, but voters were not pleased with the proposal.

Georgia residents desire public transportation as a means to alleviate travel concerns, but the state has manufactured holdups to prevent funding. Instead of leaving the issue of public transportation to the counties and individual cities, the state government should step in. Allocate more funding to public transportation services and create more opportunities for people. If the state is going to deprive rural residents of essential resources, provide for them with alternative, efficient ways to receive what they deserve. Public transportation is the health of our society. It’s the veins that run through the body of Georgia. 

We have a great economy, but we can be even better if our society functions at the best interests of our residents. 

- Azha Mosley, Rising Senior at UGA

Labor on My Mind

Right before this piece, you read about MARTA. About the delays, the underfunding, the sense that the system limps along because no one in power has to answer for it. Here's a fact that piece probably didn't have room for: MARTA workers are unionized. They have been for years. And under Georgia law, they are not allowed to strike.

O.C.G.A. § 45-19-2 makes it plain: no public employee in this state may promote, encourage, or participate in a strike. Break that rule and you don't just lose your job. You forfeit your civil service status, and you're locked out of public employment for three years. So the next time you wonder why your bus is late or your kid's teacher is burnt out and underpaid, remember: they are legally barred from the one tool that has ever forced anyone to take workers seriously. They can organize. They can vote. They cannot withhold their labor. A union that can't strike is a union that can ask nicely.

And Georgia wants you to believe that's just how organizing goes, that strikes don't work anyway.

But is that true?

Ask the dockworkers at the Port of Savannah. In October 2024, the International Longshoremen's Association walked off the job for the first time since 1977. Three days later, they had a tentative deal for a 61.5% wage increase over six years. That's not a coincidence. And it is likely not a coincidence that you haven’t heard about it. That's what happens when workers are legally allowed to make themselves expensive to ignore.

Which is the point. Georgia isn't short on labor protections by accident. It's a right-to-work state, a phrase that's done more marketing for the business lobby than any ad campaign could. It guarantees your employer the right to fire you for nearly any reason, any time, without so much as an explanation. Call it what it actually is: a right-to-fire state. You can be let go for asking about overtime, for mentioning a union, or for being inconvenient.

None of this happened by accident, and if you trace it back far enough, the through line is obvious.

When the National Labor Relations Act passed in 1935 as a part of the New Deal—the law that still underwrites the right to unionize in this country—it carved out two categories of workers who wouldn't be covered: domestic workers and agricultural workers. 

In the South, those two categories consisted mostly of sharecroppers and migrant workers. It was the price of Southern Democratic votes, the compromise that let the New Deal pass at all. Extend federal labor protections to sharecroppers, and you extend them the power to organize, to demand better terms, and to withhold their labor. But class and race have always been intrinsically linked.

It's why the Poor People's Campaign never took off the way it should have here. It didn't fail in Georgia because it was unpopular. It failed because it worked, because it started pulling together poor Black and poor white Southerners around the thing they actually had in common: class. That kind of coalition, the same one Fred Hampton was building in Chicago with the Rainbow Coalition before he was killed under COINTELPRO, has always been unnerving to the status quo. 

Which is why it's worth paying attention to what's happening now.

As DSA-aligned candidates keep winning, the response from the right has been to reach for the oldest playbook available, but I was sure that we left McCarthyism in the 70s. But we are older and wiser now, I hope. The world has changed. The Scandinavians and Europeans have shown us that universal healthcare can work, that education should be funded by the state, and that protections for workers are fundamental rights.

It is my promise to myself and to my community that I can only vote for candidates who stand with workers and unions. Economic rights are human rights. If a candidate cannot stand by their values, by the people, then they don’t have my vote. 

- Nakyla Stallings, Upcoming 1L at GSU Law

What the New ESA Revisions Mean for America’s Wildlife

Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced proposed revisions to regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the landmark 1973 law that has protected America’s threatened and endangered wildlife for decades.

Since its passage, the ESA has been one of the nation’s most effective conservation laws, safeguarding species not only from direct harm but also from the habitat destruction that has driven countless populations toward extinction.

Among the most significant changes is the elimination of the “blanket rule”, which provides certain protections for newly threatened species. These protections (named “take”) include attempts to “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.”

The proposal would also require federal agencies to weigh economic and national security interests more heavily when designating critical habitat. With these Trump-spearheaded revisions, any area can be excluded from being designated as a critical habitat so long as doing so would not cause a species’ extinction. 

The Trump Administration has defended these changes by arguing that current ESA regulations are “outdated” and that the revisions would reduce what it describes as years of federal overreach.

In practice, these revisions could leave formerly protected habitats vulnerable to expanded oil and gas drilling, mining, and other industrial development. 

The consequences are already evident in the Gulf of Mexico, where regulatory changes have allowed increased oil and gas activity within habitat used by Rice’s whale.

For a species with an estimated population of only about 50 individuals, the stakes could not be higher. 

Oil spills are a known threat to whale populations, with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill killing around 17% of the Rice’s whale population. 

These implications extend far beyond a single species. If habitat protections continue to be narrowed in favor of short-term economic interests, exemptions may become routine. 

For species already hanging on by a thread, the difference between recovery and extinction often depends not on whether they are legally protected, but whether the places they call home are.

- Elina Flinn, rising sophomore at the University of Georgia

Healthcare is on Life Support

I’m part of the Covid generation. We were introduced to Zoom on a random Friday in March, given an extra long spring break, and told to figure out the new normal. Our graduations, sporting events, drivers education programs, and other notable life events were fundamentally altered by the pandemic. Every time I put on a mask, I’m reminded of just how much healthcare affects my life.

COVID made precarity the norm. Today, I am just as uncertain of the future of American healthcare. COVID should have rallied the country behind our healthcare workers and researchers, who created a vaccine at unprecedented speed and efficiency. Instead, we’re more skeptical of science than ever. Child vaccination rates have fallen below the 95% rate most scientists recommend (1)—any lower, and the population no longer achieves herd immunity. There have been over 4,500 cases of measles since 2025, more than the past two decades combined. Public trust in the Centers for Disease Control has also declined since 2021. When we can’t trust our experts, we can’t implement their best practices. When we can’t implement their best practices, we open the door to pandemics we shut out long ago and begin the cycle of doubt anew.

Figure 1, Child vaccination rates for Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) and Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTaP)

The skepticism towards public health initiatives will only worsen with funding cuts. The Trump administration has cut over 20,000 public health jobs and $600 million in public health funding. It slashed $3.8 billion in NIH grants - many of which were directed towards cancer and HIV research. This research, which could have led to the next medical breakthrough, will likely be abandoned indefinitely. The One Big Beautiful Bill’s medicaid cuts are estimated to kick ten million people off of health insurance. The damage of these cuts isn’t limited to low-income Americans. It forces hospitals and taxpayers to foot the bill for those who are unable to afford care, handicaps workers, and takes the lives of beloved members of our communities. 

America is more vulnerable in the absence of federal support for public health. Private companies are capable of medical breakthroughs, but increasing our dependence will lead to worse outcomes in the long-run. Seven companies owned 75% of the healthcare market at the beginning of the Trump administration. More concerningly, this ownership is at every stage of the healthcare process (2). 

Figure 2: A chart detailing vertical integration within the healthcare market

The parent company that owns the primary care clinic you visit will likely own the pharmacy where your medicine is sent. The price of the medicine will be decided by a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), who will charge a fee to decide the price of the medicine. The PBM will work for the same company. If your primary care doctor decides that you need more extensive care, they will refer you to a specialist owned by the same parent company. Then, when it is all said and done, the parent company will decide what price it wants to charge its hospitals. That’s right: your hospital can make up how much its services are worth, and can give itself whatever discount it wants.

It seems unfair because it is. 

Moreover, these companies often refer patients to their hospitals, which are more expensive than stand-alone clinics. Researchers estimate that a fully integrated healthcare network would lead to hundreds of millions in extra costs. Hospital networks have no incentive to make their care cheaper. In fact, insurance companies have an incentive to deny coverage. 

As we increasingly depend on these companies, we provide them leverage to pursue anti-competitive policies at the expense of patients. We cannot continue with our consolidation of care. People are being left behind by the government and priced out by the private sector. It is an unsustainable trend, and one we will pay for in the long-run.

The COVID era began six years ago. I’ll have to pay for my own health insurance a few years from now. When I go to the ballot box, I’ll be asking, “Who will take our health seriously?” My body will grow old, and I’ll eventually have health problems. My generation will look to the government, politicians, and researchers to solve our pressing health concerns. However, I worry that by the time our leaders address them, it will be too little, too late. 

- Andrew Burchett, rising-senior at Emory University

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In Memorial,

The 2030 Project family lost two members last week, Karen Menke of Athens and Larry Pellegrini of Atlanta. Both were supporters of The 2030 Project from the start. More than that, they spent their lives fighting for justice, equality, and a politics of compassion and inclusion.

Karen Menke was a force of nature. Athens won the lottery when she and her husband, Bruce, moved here more than a decade ago. Karen got to work immediately, joining nearly every progressive organization in town and hosting event after event. A small desk right inside the front door. Name tags. Sign-in sheets. A jar of crisp, black Sharpies. A long table of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. You'd be taking food home. Karen made sure of that.

Karen and Bruce hosted a Meet and Greet every time I ran for office. They hosted the Athens launch of The 2030 Project. They hosted a volunteer event for Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign when I asked them to. Every election cycle, they opened their home to candidates from Board of Education and Commission races all the way up to the State House and Congress. If you’re exhausted thinking about all that hosting and prepping and cleaning up, you are not alone. But there was no keeping up with Karen and Bruce. Driven does not even begin to describe their passion for making the world a better place, inch by inch.

Karen, in particular, always made the time to listen, always shared words of encouragement, and always rolled up her sleeves and pitched in. She had the strongest North Star of anyone I knew, for what was just, for what was right—and how to get there. She was unbelievably kind and giving toward anyone trying to make things better. It is impossible to overstate how much she was loved and how much she will be missed. Rest in peace, Karen.

The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement also wrote this beautiful tribute to Karen this week. You can read that here: Honoring the Legacy of Karen Menke

I won the Larry Pellegrini lottery back in 2023, when we started The 2030 Project. He first came to the Oconee launch of The 2030 Project, then the Athens launch, then the DeKalb launch. To say he believed in us was an understatement! Getting Larry's seal of approval was no small feat. He was the first political director of Georgia Equality, and for more than four decades, he advocated for LGBTQ+ rights, working with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Georgia Rural Urban Summit, among others.

Larry became a mentor and friend over the last few years, always quick with a smile and a story every time I saw him. Many people knew Larry much better than I did. They had won the Larry Pellegrini lottery decades before. AIDS assistance funding. Civil rights. Labor rights. Women's issues. Environmental issues. Wherever there was a good cause, that's where you'd find Larry.

He loved talking politics and loved working with people on important issues. We talked and met often during the last couple of years, and I was fortunate enough to speak with him for several hours in the days leading up to the June runoff. Jones vs. Jackson. Collins vs. Dooley. The Lt. Governor race for the Democrats. The Special Session. It was a wide-ranging call, as conversations with Larry always were. It was two hours, but it felt like ten minutes. I think we both got off that call more excited about the day, more committed to the work ahead, and more optimistic about the prospects of a big November for Georgia Democrats.

That is the Larry I will remember, and the one I will carry with me going forward. Rest in peace, my friend. And thank you for everything.

Sincerely,

Andrew Ferguson, Executive Director of The 2030 Project

First Person Perspective: Canvassing with Michelle Kang

This past weekend, we canvassed for Michelle Kang, Democratic Nominee for HD-99. I was paired with a member of Michelle’s team, along with other members of The 2030 Project, as we knocked on doors across several neighborhoods. We also canvassed for Laura Murvartian, Democratic Nominee for SD-48. My experience canvassing was exciting and, in many ways, indicative of our political climate.

The most striking observation to me was the level of interest (or lack thereof) among potential voters. Many people were in a rush to collect our pamphlets and close the door, if they opened it at all.

Politics is something a lot of people don't believe they have the time for, or don't think they have a stake in. This is why canvassing matters. Many of the people we spoke to didn't know Michelle was running, and appreciated us for telling them. Too many Americans only vote in presidential elections, if they vote at all. State-level elections matter just as much.

The second trend I noticed was party polarization. One moment stood out: a man opened his door and reached to take our pamphlets. The moment my canvassing partner mentioned these were Democratic candidates, he pulled his hand back and turned around. I believe the divide between the two parties has gotten in the way of our responsibility to evaluate candidates on their experience and platform, not just their party.

That said, canvassing for Michelle Kang was a wonderful experience. I loved speaking with Georgians about the issues that matter most to them. I look forward to canvassing more and to continuing to raise awareness about our candidates. 

Shaheer, Intern, The 2030 Project

Bi-Partisan Housing Bill Enacted, Without Trump.

During his tenure from 1934 to 1945, former New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia said, "There is no Democratic or Republican way to clean the streets." The quote illustrates how, above all, people want to see tangible solutions. The passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644) is a clear example of this belief, even as the country feels more divided than ever.

America's housing crisis has only ballooned since the 2008 financial crisis. Since 2019, the housing shortage has grown by just under a million homes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that home values are up nearly 33% over just the past five years. This trend is even more severe in Georgia, where the median home price grew by 141% over the prior decade. The housing crisis isn't limited to those who pay a mortgage. Since 2001, the median rent has increased 21% while the median household income has only grown by about 2%.

The problem of affordable housing is widespread, affecting rural and urban, old and young, liberal and conservative. Thus, targeting housing prices was a no-brainer. The bill will expedite building permits, limit private equity stockpiling of single-family homes, and is predicted to generate around 2.5 million homes in the next decade. The bill had widespread bipartisan support, passing 358-32 in the House and 85-5 in the Senate. Yet a moment of celebration was spoiled by a man more focused on the party cleaning the streets than on the fact that the streets were being cleaned. President Trump refused to sign the bill, opting instead to let it pass the ten-day review period threshold and automatically go into effect. Trump's reasoning? Congress wouldn't pass his draconian 'SAVE America Act,' which would force states to submit voter registration lists to DHS and require nationwide proof of citizenship to vote. 

In comparison to the housing crisis, the voter fraud rate was between .0003 and .0025 percent, or, at its highest estimate, 1/400th of a percent. What should have been a victory for bipartisanship and affordability was overshadowed by yet another display of political pageantry by President Trump. Tenants are struggling to pay rent, and the former real-estate con-man doesn't bat an eye.

Trump's theatrics shouldn't distract voters from the major takeaway: real concerns prevailed. Congress almost unanimously came together to put forward substantive legislation and put culture war pontificating to the side. Our elected officials are beholden enough to follow through with pragmatic solutions, but that is only possible if we continue voicing our concerns and holding our representatives accountable. Our concrete problems can and should take precedence over an ideological battle. Presidential overreach only goes so far. Manic social media posts only go so far.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo killed by ICE. Death ruled a homicide.

Joan Sebastian Guerrero, from Family

When does immigration enforcement become something else entirely? That question is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore after the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Houston construction business owner who was killed by an ICE agent during a traffic stop on July 7. He did not have a criminal record and had been living in the US for 35 years. He raised three children as an American citizen, hoping to achieve the "American dream."

There are contested claims as to the true situation. ICE states he was using the vehicle he was operating as a weapon. His colleagues state it was unprovoked. Calls from the mayor of Houston, John Whitmire, and civil rights groups are asking for an independent, transparent investigation.

Less than a week later, another fatal ICE shooting occurred in Biddeford, Maine. Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian man, was also fatally shot during a traffic stop on July 13. He was reportedly also not the intended target of the enforcement operation. Once again, officials justified the shooting by claiming the victim used a vehicle as a weapon.

These incidents are not occurring in isolation. They are unfolding amid one of the most aggressive expansions of immigration enforcement in modern American history. The most troubling aspect of the recent shootings is not simply that people died. It is that the public has little way to verify what happened. In the case of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, DHS stated that the agents involved were not wearing body cameras, despite the $20 million appropriated by Congress specifically for this task. Body cameras have become standard practice in many law enforcement agencies because they protect both officers and civilians. When deadly force is used, footage provides evidence rather than competing narratives. Democracy should never require blind trust.

The debate is also about due process. The Constitution guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. That protection applies to people, not just citizens. Regardless of immigration status, every individual deserves basic rights and accountability from the government agencies that exercise power over them.

Supporters of aggressive immigration enforcement argue that agents face dangerous situations and must be able to protect themselves. But transparency and accountability are not obstacles to law enforcement. They are what make the public trust it. Independent investigations and body camera requirements should be seen as necessary protections, not political demands.

Immigration policy will always be one of America's most divisive political issues. What should not be controversial, however, is the belief that government power must be transparent, accountable, and constrained by the rule of law. The deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Joan Sebastian Guerrero, and the eleven other deaths at the hands of the Trump administration deserve a full and transparent investigation. And above all, we deserve a system that remembers every person, regardless of immigration status, is entitled to dignity, rights, and due process under the law.

Though ICE agents prefer to act outside of the law, for more information about your rights, the Immigration Defense Project has made helpful guides in English and Spanish.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, from Family

DPG’s Statewide Early Office Push Reaches Athens

Credit: Oconee Dems

On Saturday, July 11th, the Democratic Party of Georgia opened a field office in Athens, Georgia. Ground Game Georgia, the DPG's 2026 Coordinated Campaign, is an initiative that aims to mobilize voters up and down the ballot. Field offices under this campaign have opened across the state, including in East Point, Cumming, Smyrna, and Athens.

These new offices now provide a home base for support and direct voter outreach. Local canvassing, phone banking, and many more volunteer opportunities will be hosted at DPG offices around Georgia. Ground Game Georgia's goal is to equip local areas with the resources to register voters, distribute campaign materials, and organize campaign events.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the opening of the Athens field office. The energy throughout was palpable. Despite stormy weather, turnout was significant. Many Athens candidates were in attendance, including Representative Eric Gisler, Democratic State Senate Nominee Ray Smith, Democratic State House Nominee Suzanna Karatassos, and more. Moving through the office space, it was evident that people were optimistic. Attendees traveled from across counties to celebrate the opening of this office and the effort placed into this location.

This year's office opening was especially significant given that it marked the earliest a field office had opened in Athens before the midterms. Georgians are fired up to turn the tide at the ballot box in 2026. That won't happen without the mobilization of volunteers and the support of organizers, but clearly, motivation won't be hard to find. It is abundantly clear that Athens and all of Georgia are ready to fight to flip Georgia blue up and down the ballot.

Marin, Intern, The 2030 Project

Trump Fires the Referee, Then Complains About the Score

There are 110 days until the 2026 midterm elections, and Donald Trump can feel the imminent blue wave building. The President and the Republican Party know that their failed policies have left Americans desperate for real leadership and stunned by the immense corruption and incompetence within the current administration. Campaigning on their policies and recent actions is sure to lead to defeat in the midterms.

So, rather than articulate viewpoints or plans of action, Donald Trump's campaign strategy heading into the midterms is to sow chaos, a hardly surprising move coming from the man who, in all three of his presidential bids, asserted that either he would win or that the election would be stolen.

Donald Trump's streak of using playground retorts and embodying the textbook definition of a sore loser continued last week when, in a move akin to firing the referee when your team is losing, he exerted his new presidential power granted by the recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter to dismiss the heads of a nonpartisan agency (the Election Assistance Commission) dedicated to ensuring that elections run fairly and smoothly.

As reported by PBS, Trump dismissed the commissioners because they "may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America's elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted."

Formed by Congress in 2002, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has been responsible for helping state and local election officials to properly, efficiently, and securely administer elections. Unlike many other federal agencies, the EAC is inherently bipartisan. There are always four commissioners: two Democrats and two Republicans. All decisions made by the board must receive at least three votes in order to move forward. This means that any and all actions undertaken by the EAC must receive bipartisan support.

As such, dismissing the Democratic commissioners (which in turn prompted the Republicans to resign) will neither make elections more secure nor ensure that every legal vote is counted. Instead, Trump's actions will leave the EAC without leadership, leading to further chaos and confusion heading into the rapidly approaching election.

While Democrats from around the country are organizing around the principles of hope, prosperity, and democracy, Donald Trump and the Republican party are actively working to create chaos, confusion, and corruption.

Tonight, President Trump is expected to address the nation, with reports suggesting he may claim, without evidence, that the Senators from Georgia, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, were fraudulently elected in 2020.

As Senator Ossoff put it, "Donald Trump's spiral continues. The failed president, pocketing billions as he drives up prices, is afraid to lose the midterms. So he will reheat debunked election conspiracy theories and tell bizarre new lies to deny his 2020 defeat and attack voting rights."

Whatever Trump says tonight, Georgians know the pattern by now. He has spent years working to undermine confidence in our elections, from the debunked fraud claims after 2020 to the raid on Fulton County's election hub to the firing of the officials meant to keep elections secure. None of it has produced evidence. All of it is designed to make voters doubt a system that works. The real defense against that strategy isn't outrage; it's turning out to vote in November.

Twitter tweet

Public Health Suffers Under “MAHA”

For the past month, an uncharacteristically large outbreak of gastrointestinal sickness caused by the Cyclospora parasite has impacted thousands across the country. There have been confirmed cases across 34 states, with cases surging in Michigan, New York, and North Carolina. Spreading through contaminated produce, no specific food source has been linked to this parasite.

Despite the uncertainty revolving around cyclospora, it is worth knowing that President Trump's administration cut surveillance of this specific parasite, which raises questions about the current outbreak's severity and how quickly it can be traced. In 2025, FoodNet, a collaboration with the CDC, the FDA, and the Department of Agriculture, made the specific surveillance of cyclospora optional. Trump's consistent cuts to research funding and the consolidation of the United States' health resources are raising real questions about the country's ability to detect and respond to outbreaks like this one.

The cyclospora outbreak is not a standalone event raising these questions. Earlier this year, the Hantavirus outbreak served as yet another example that Trump's actions have far-reaching consequences for both the national and international stage.

Public health surveillance exists for a reason. Tracking outbreaks early allows officials to identify sources, issue warnings, and prevent additional infections. When surveillance efforts are scaled back, health agencies lose valuable data that can help contain diseases before they spread. The cyclospora outbreak emphasizes how difficult it becomes to respond effectively when monitoring systems are weakened or underfunded.

The Trump administration has frequently framed cuts to health agencies and research programs as efforts to reduce government spending and increase efficiency under “Make America Healthy Again.” However, disease outbreaks do not become less dangerous just because fewer resources are devoted to tracking them. If anything, reducing surveillance makes public health threats harder to detect and contain, leaving Americans with fewer answers when outbreaks occur.

The cyclospora outbreak raises questions about the role of disease surveillance and public health preparedness. While no single policy decision can be blamed for every outbreak, reducing monitoring efforts makes it more difficult to track illnesses and understand how they spread. As policymakers debate the future of public health funding, this outbreak is a reminder that disease surveillance is not a bureaucratic luxury. It is one of the basic tools used to protect public health and provide answers when questions arise.

What’s Inspiring Us This Week:

 A new weekly feature, written by one of our interns. Because we all need a pick-me-up.

Credit: Emory University

This summer in Georgia has been weird, with days of forecasted rain and then the kind of heat and humidity that sits on you all afternoon. But that same unpredictable weather has had one unexpected upside, as the sky here has been putting on a show. The rain droplets and the angle of the sun this time of year keep producing these incredible clouds and rainbows, as if the state is compensating for the heat advisories with a little beauty.

Coming from out of state, this is the first summer I've stayed here instead of going home, and somewhere in between the heat and the storms, I found myself falling in love with the trees and the sky in a way I didn't expect. Emory's campus has even shown me a side I hadn't noticed before. Trees I'd always assumed were just green year-round have started flowering, heat waves and all. It's a small thing, but it's been a good reminder that even a rough week of weather can hand you something worth looking up for.

- Chloe, Intern, The 2030 Project

👀Next week: The Intern Takeover

Every article, every decision, every word in next Thursday's newsletter comes from The 2030 Project's summer interns. They're setting the agenda around one question: what does Georgia look like for young people in 2026? Same newsletter, entirely their voice. If you know a young Georgian who should see it, this is a good week to share, forward this newsletter, or send them the sign-up link.

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

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Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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Georgia’s War on Mothers

Georgia is in the midst of a major election year, with control of state government up for grabs this November. The choices voters make will shape healthcare policy for years to come. Maternal healthcare is one of the clearest examples of why. It touches families in every part of the state, and it hits rural Georgia hardest of all. Today, only 36% of Georgia’s rural hospitals still offer labor and delivery services.

As more and more maternity wards close, the effects aren't just limited to a hospital building. They ripple through families, children, and entire communities. Rural Georgia is experiencing exactly that as growing gaps in maternal healthcare are forcing mothers to travel farther for care and creating new risks during one of the most important moments in a family's life.

The challenges facing maternal healthcare in Georgia are not new, but they have become impossible to ignore. More than one-third of Georgia counties are considered maternity care deserts, meaning they lack hospitals offering obstetric care or maternity healthcare providers. The burden falls especially hard on rural communities. Nearly 16% of women in Georgia live more than 30 minutes from the nearest birthing hospital, a rate significantly higher than the national average. In some rural areas, women may travel more than an hour to reach maternity services. What might seem like a minor inconvenience quickly becomes a serious challenge when appointments become weekly, complications arise, or labor begins earlier than anticipated. For many families, healthcare decisions become financial decisions, forcing parents to weigh the cost of transportation, childcare, and missed work against necessary medical care.

The consequences extend far beyond the delivery room. Research consistently shows that rural communities experience higher rates of maternal mortality, infant mortality, and pregnancy-related complications. Hospital closures, provider shortages, and limited access to specialized care have left many communities without the support systems needed to ensure healthy pregnancies. These challenges disproportionately affect low-income families and communities of color. Black women in Georgia continue to face significantly higher risks of maternal mortality, showing how race, income, and geography intersect to create barriers to care.

Despite these challenges, Georgia has begun taking steps to improve maternal healthcare access. State lawmakers expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage, allowing many mothers to receive healthcare beyond the previous 60-day coverage window. Georgia has also invested in telehealth initiatives through the Healthy Babies Act, aiming to connect expectant mothers with remote monitoring and prenatal support services. These programs recognize an important reality that when healthcare providers cannot always come closer to patients, technology can help bridge the gap. While telehealth cannot replace every in-person visit, it has become an increasingly important tool for improving access in rural communities.

For families seeking assistance, here are resources you can turn to: 

• South Georgia Healthy Start offers support for expectant and postpartum mothers, fathers, and young children in participating counties. 

• Local health departments across Georgia provide prenatal services, health screenings, and referrals to specialized care. 

• The Georgia Department of Public Health's Healthy Pregnancy Program offers case management and support for high-risk pregnancies.

• Programs connected to Wellstar's Rural Healthcare Access Partnership can also help families connect with doulas, educational resources, and care coordination services specifically for rural communities.

Maternal healthcare is about more than statistics and policy debates. Behind every number is a mother preparing to welcome a child. The progress being made across Georgia is encouraging, but challenges remain. As policymakers, healthcare providers, and community leaders continue working to expand access, one thing should remain at the center of the conversation, especially as we head into November, and it is this: every Georgia mother deserves quality healthcare, regardless of her ZIP code.

March of Dimes

Collusion of Powers: The President’s Court

This term, the Supreme Court handed down a string of decisions that will shape American life for years. Most split the Court's conservative and liberal justices along familiar lines, and most moved power in the same direction: toward the presidency and away from the checks that used to constrain it. 

The Court’s lurch to the right continues, and while birthright citizenship survived (barely), almost everything else reinforced the need for court reform of some kind.

The decision in Trump v. Barabara has been in the public eye and has garnered major media coverage. In the decision, the Supreme Court, acknowledging the plain text of the Constitution, ruled Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship to be unconstitutional. This decision was a rare instance of conflict between the President and the Supreme Court, as President Trump repeatedly voiced his displeasure with the ruling. However, this ruling should be alarming, not reassuring. The decision was 6-3, but only five justices affirmed birthright citizenship as constitutional. Justice Kavanaugh sided with the majority on narrower, statutory grounds, meaning the Court was one vote away from a decision that legal commentators compared to Dred Scott. 

The fact that ending birthright citizenship was ever a live question at the Supreme Court says everything about where the Court is headed. 

While most media coverage of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings addressed Trump v. Barbara, many less-discussed rulings pose major implications.

One of the most significant decisions released by the Court concerns campaign finance. Given the Court’s recent history of dismantling campaign finance regulations, it came as no surprise that in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, the Court removed all federal limits on the amount of money that political parties can spend in direct coordination with candidates for federal office. 

If an individual chooses to donate to a political party, they are permitted to send $3,500. But now, thanks to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, this massive sum of money can be sent from the party directly to an individual candidate, allowing for campaign finance restrictions to be bypassed.

Mullin v Doe: In a 6-3 decision, the Court gave the Trump administration a green light to remove Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian nationals. Trump has demonized Haitian immigrants since the 2024 presidential campaign, when he spread a baseless and widely debunked claim about them. This ruling immediately puts the immigration status of over 350,000 people at risk. The fate of the remaining one million TPS holders is now more uncertain than ever. 

Trump v Cook and Trump v Slaughter: Two of the Court's cases, Trump v. Cook & Trump v. Slaughter, asked the same question: Can Trump fire members of independent agencies? Trump v. Slaughter said yes, while the ruling in Trump v. Cook prevented the President from firing members of the Federal Reserve. Humphrey's Executor v. United States, the 90-year-old case that affirmed the independence of these members, has now been gutted. The President can now fire the heads of independent watchdogs like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board, agencies Congress built specifically to be shielded from political pressure, for any reason at all, and replace them with loyalists who will do his bidding.

West Virginia v. B.P.J.: States are now free to ban transgender athletes from women's sports teams. The decision opens the door for states to bar participation even if it goes against the policies of a sport's governing bodies. For instance, a state's athletic association might get overruled if it decided to allow transgender women to compete in track and field against cisgender women, even if the sport's own governing body permitted it. It could prevent transgender women from competing in school-sanctioned intramural sports. Ultimately, it takes away the decision-making from the experts and prevents transgender women from reaping the benefits of being on a team and competing in a sport. 

Youth Voters Under Economic Strain

Politics and economics are no longer separate issues. The rising cost of rent, groceries, healthcare, and education has transformed economic struggles into political ones. When affording a home feels impossible, student debt continues to grow, and financial security feels increasingly out of reach, trust in the institutions responsible for addressing those challenges begins to erode. Young Americans are not only questioning their economic future, but they are also questioning whether the government is capable of improving it.

Recent polling shows nearly half of young Americans report struggling financially, while inflation, housing costs, and healthcare remain among their top concerns. As wages fail to keep pace with rising expenses, many young adults are delaying milestones such as homeownership, marriage, and starting families.

These financial pressures shape more than personal budgets; they influence how young people engage with democracy itself. Research from Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement found that young people facing financial hardship are less likely to vote, participate in civic life, or believe that their voices matter in government. When daily life becomes focused on affording rent, paying medical bills, or managing student debt, civic participation can feel like a luxury rather than a responsibility.

The consequences of this go beyond voter turnout. The latest Harvard Youth Poll found that only 13% of young Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction. Just 26% say they feel hopeful about America's future, a dramatic decline from levels recorded only a few years ago. At the same time, 50% of young people say that people like them have little or no influence over what the government does. These numbers point to a generation that is not simply frustrated by economic conditions, but increasingly skeptical that the political system is capable of addressing them.

That skepticism is reflected in declining trust in public institutions. The Harvard Youth Poll found that trust in the federal government has fallen to just 15%, the lowest level recorded in the survey's history. Only one-third of young Americans say they trust that elections will be conducted fairly. When financial insecurity is paired with a growing sense of political powerlessness, it becomes harder for young people to believe that participation will lead to meaningful change.

This growing disconnect should concern anyone invested in the future of American democracy. As young Americans lose faith in their economic future, they often lose faith in the political system alongside it. The American Dream was once built on the belief that each generation would have greater opportunities than the one before it. Today, many young Americans are struggling to see that path for themselves.

Yet distrust hasn't translated into disengagement, at least not yet. In the last two midterm elections, the ones most comparable to what's ahead in November, young voters turned out at the highest rate in decades: 2018 set a modern record, and 2022 came in as the second-highest in 30 years. The instinct to show up hasn't disappeared. What's cracking is the belief that showing up changes anything. 

Rebuilding that belief will take more than encouraging participation. AI reshaping entry-level jobs, a first home that feels further away every year, student loan debt that never seems to shrink, these are the issues shaping young people's daily lives, and they deserve to be at the center of the conversation, not an afterthought raised only when it's time to get out the vote. Speaking to what young people are actually facing, and listening when they answer, has to be central to any campaign looking to win in November.

Behind the Scenes: Ossoff's Bipartisan Fight for Georgia's Kids 

Atlanta has long ranked among the 14 U.S. cities with the highest rates of child trafficking, according to the FBI. It's one of the most devastating crimes occurring in our communities.

Senator Ossoff has made confronting child trafficking a defining piece of his work in the Senate, building bipartisan coalitions to strengthen protections for Georgia's children and hold predators accountable. Whether it’s fighting for veterans, farmers, or Georgia’s children, Ossoff has made solving problems, not chasing headlines, his focus in the United States Senate.

Recently, Ossoff joined a bipartisan coalition supporting the Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online (ECCHO) Act, legislation that would make it a federal crime to coerce a child online into harming themselves or others. The bill would require these crimes to be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline, which would help investigators identify offenders more quickly and intervene before more children are harmed.

"Nothing matters more than the safety and wellbeing of children, and we must protect every child in Georgia from exploitation and abuse," says Senator Ossoff. "That is why I am working to pass this bipartisan legislation to make sure that law enforcement can prosecute criminals targeting children."

Georgia Recorder

Earlier in 2025, Senators Ossoff and Grassley authored the Preventing Child Trafficking Act, legislation that strengthened coordination between the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to better prevent child trafficking and protect vulnerable youth. 

In addition to this, Ossoff has also co-sponsored the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, the Strengthening Child Exploitation Enforcement Act, and the REPORT Act. These pieces of legislation respectively expand support for runaway and homeless youth, make prosecuting child exploitation cases easier to prosecute, and require social media platforms and websites to report suspected child trafficking and enticement.

These bipartisan efforts reflect Senator Ossoff's commitment to equipping law enforcement with stronger resources, improving protection for vulnerable youth, and ensuring that child predators are held accountable. Atlanta's place on that FBI list isn't just a statistic; it's a call to action for every Georgian, regardless of party, to keep pushing until that ranking is history. 

DREAMS of Georgia’s Students: 25 Years Overdue

On top of new laws that hit the books July 1st, this year's legislative session reshaped two very different parts of student life for young Georgians: what the day looks like for K-12 Georgia students, and how college students pay tuition.

The primary classrooms in Georgia are changing. Last year, Georgia banned personal devices, phones, tablets, and smartwatches in elementary and middle schools, bell to bell. This spring, Kemp signed a bill extending that ban to high schools statewide, effective by the 2027-28 school year.

Supporters point to strong teacher backing, arguing it cuts distractions and discipline problems. But the debate split lawmakers. One state senator argued that treating a 17-year-old like a second grader ignores that many older teens already juggle jobs or even kids of their own. Safety advocates raised a separate concern that cutting off phone access could matter in an actual emergency, a worry with extra weight after the Apalachee High School shooting last year. The law carves out exceptions for medical needs and emergencies, and districts get some flexibility in enforcement.

For decades, Georgia's signature scholarship has been HOPE, merit-based and rewarding GPA rather than financial need. That's left a real gap: strong students from low-income families could have HOPE and a maxed-out Pell Grant and still not have enough to finish school. Until this year, Georgia was one of only two states in the country, along with New Hampshire, without a need-based college aid program.

Governor Kemp proposed the DREAMS Scholarship, Georgia's first need-based college aid program, in his January State of the State. It nearly didn't survive intact. The House cut $25 million, and the Senate cut $200 million, leaving just $100 million before Kemp came back with a revised revenue estimate and lawmakers restored the full $325 million. Of that, $300 million builds a long-term endowment, while $25 million is available immediately this fall.

To qualify, students must be Georgia residents with demonstrated financial need after other aid is factored in and working or volunteering at least part-time. Eligible students can get up to $3,000 a year for up to eight semesters, which could be the difference between finishing a degree and dropping out. It's meant to work alongside HOPE, not replace it. Students should watch their school's financial aid office and FAFSA deadlines this fall.

For young Georgians, both changes are critical: real investment in affording college, and real questions about how much the state should control the day-to-day of getting through it.

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

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Rick Jackson, Self-Funding, and How Funding Has Changed

This week's newsletter is dedicated to recognizing America at 250; the good, the bad, and what 250 years of American democracy looks like here in Georgia. We're starting with a question that goes back further than the country itself: who gets to run, and what does it cost them?

Georgia's most competitive State House races this year won't be decided by the candidate with the biggest bank account. Beth Fuller, Michelle Kang, Farooq Mughal, and Ethan Wolfe are running grassroots campaigns, funded by small donors, built on canvassing, postcards, and people showing up. That is a democracy driven by the people, earning one vote at a time.

Compare that to Rick Jackson. The Republican gubernatorial nominee who has poured over $100 million of his own money into his campaign, shattering fundraising records and turning the GOP primary into the most expensive in Georgia history. By pouring massive amounts of his own money into the race, he proved what the system quietly rewards: candidates who can self-fund.

In the earliest American elections, winning a campaign didn't require Super PACs, billionaires, or targeted digital ads. Sometimes, all it took was a barrel of whiskey. After George Washington lost his first campaign for the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1750, he began to “treat” voters with large amounts of liquor to help secure his victory. From the beginning, candidates largely funded their own campaigns, and influence could be bought, it just looked more honest. 

As the country expanded, that model shifted and the tactics got less obvious, but more powerful. Political parties replaced face-to-face persuasion with systems of patronage, where loyalty and money went hand in hand. By the late 1800s, corporations and wealthy industrialists weren't just participating in politics, they were shaping it.

The modern system began to take shape in the 20th century with federal regulation, including the Federal Election Campaign Act, which established contribution limits, disclosure requirements, and oversight through the Federal Election Commission. But the system was never fully controlled, because the courts kept protecting political spending as "free speech," opening the door for money to keep flowing in new ways.

Then came the turning point: the Citizens United decision. In 2010, the Supreme Court allowed corporations, unions, and outside groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. The result wasn't just more spending, it was a complete shift in power. Billionaires and special interest groups gained unprecedented influence, while campaigns became increasingly dependent on outside money.

And the door keeps opening. This week, in NRSC v. FEC, the Supreme Court, with a 6-3 vote, struck down decades-old limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with their candidates. This decision gives parties the ability to funnel unlimited money directly into campaign strategy, messaging, and ad buys. It's the latest in a 20-year trajectory of the court chipping away at campaign finance rules, one ruling at a time.

250 years later, the system has become more sophisticated, but not more democratic. Methods have evolved from barrels of whiskey to billion-dollar networks, but the outcome is the same: money continues to shape who runs, whose voices matters, and too often, who wins. And that should raise a question that's long overdue: not whether money influences elections, but whether American democracy can function when so much of that influence is hidden.

Department Of Homeland Security (Now Deleted)

Soccer, Diversity, and Immigration

Ninety minutes before the USMNT's June 19th win against Australia, the Department of Homeland Security posted a graphic on Twitter of three American players celebrating in front of an American flag. The caption read: "Defend the Homeland. One Nation. One Homeland. One Team." After the 2-0 victory, DHS followed up with an AI-generated image of the U.S. starting eleven standing behind a border wall, captioned "Built the Wall." Both posts were later deleted, but the messaging was emblematic of DHS's attempt to stoke division: immigrants vs. "real Americans," red vs. blue, us vs. them.

Here's what makes it worse. The three players featured in that first post were Chris Richards, Sergiño Dest, and Folarin Balogun, the team's leading goal-scorer. Dest, who plays defender, was born in the Netherlands. Balogun is an American citizen for exactly one reason: birthright citizenship. The same right that President Trump's executive order was, at that very moment, trying to end. 

This week, in Trump v. Barbara, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump's executive order was unconstitutional. Birthright citizenship stands. Balogun thanked the court in the only way an athlete can, scoring his third goal of the tournament in the 45th minute of last night's Round of 32 match to put the U.S. up 1-0 over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was sent off in the second half on a harsh red card, but the U.S. held on for a 2-0 win and advances to the Round of 16 to face Belgium on Monday.

While DHS was trying to draw lines between Americans and everyone else, the World Cup has done the opposite. Take a survey of Georgia students, whose concerns for traffic weren't outmatched by their excitement to host people from across the world. Or the city of Lawrence, Kansas, which has welcomed the Algerian national team with open arms. Or the hundreds of social media posts, most notably those from viral German sensation Freddy, that depict foreigners enjoying American delicacies like Waffle House and In-N-Out.

Foreigners don't "put our culture at risk," like many parroting the Trump administration claim. Foreigners enhance our traditions. They allow us to enjoy them anew as we share them with a new group of people. Immigrants are the foundation of America's melting pot, and Trump v. Barbara is a reminder that the constitutional promise to include them isn't going anywhere.

The USMNT is led by Argentine head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, who has coached across Europe. More than half of the roster holds dual citizenship, and six were born outside the United States. The US won their group for the first time since 2010, and last night's win came largely on the shoulders of a birthright citizen.

The World Cup is a perfect example of the struggle between our country's identity and the leaders who seemingly fight against it. Trump rallies around the call to "protect the homeland" against the foreigner. On the field, the defenders are foreign-born. On the world stage, the foreigners are the ones doing the protecting for Team USA. 

The Obama Legacy

Ten years after his presidency ended, former President Barack H. Obama opened the Obama Presidential Center in his hometown of Chicago, IL on June 19, 2026. The center includes a library, event spaces, an athletic center, and public gardens. Ten years after his presidency ended, former President Barack H. Obama remains a visual representation of hope, class, and change.  

Before he became president, no one ever thought that a Black man would be president of the United States of America. When he won his campaign, he introduced a standard for our country. Instead of divisive, hateful politics, he included people from all walks of life; even the ones who weren’t fond of him. Years later, we find ourselves reminiscing on the pure bliss that Obama’s presidency brought to the daily lives of the American people. So much so that the older generation had a closet’s worth of Obama merchandise and regalia. The decision to open his presidential center on Juneteenth was a special reminder to the Black community of what our ancestors experienced, how they survived, and how we will continue to prosper in honor of their memory. 

As we continue to navigate these tumultuous times in our country, Obama hasn’t abandoned the people he vowed to work for. Installing a public center in his hometown of Chicago is one step closer to improving the quality of life and inspiring the young people of Chicago. Outside of Chicago, it’s an inspiration and reminder to public officials all over the country that their vowed duty is to protect and uplift the American people.

As a young Black woman, I’m beyond inspired by the grace the Obama family radiates upon us. Amidst tensions and racial challenges in this country, President Obama and his family are a constant, visual reminder that yes, we can reach higher places and help my community. As a citizen of the United States, I hope that President Obama and his family continue to be a beacon of hope to American citizens, young and old. 

Congratulations to President Barack H. Obama and his family. You continue to make us proud and remind us that “yes, we can” and we will overcome this. 

-Azha M.

Former President Barack Obama speaks during the dedication ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

250 Years of Georgia’s Legacy

Since its founding, Georgia has always been a rather strange state. The youngest of the thirteen colonies, it sat on the periphery of the Revolutionary War, with Savannah falling to British occupation in 1778 and Loyalist sentiment running deep throughout the colony. In the 250 years since, Georgia's history has been defined by contrast: economic development alongside often lethal racial tensions.

Native American. In 1832, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee in Worcester v. Georgia, with Chief Justice John Marshall defining them as "distinct, independent political communities retaining their original natural rights." Still, in 1838, Cherokees were forced from their native lands in Georgia's northwestern territory during the Trail of Tears, as no executive body enforced the Court's decision. Those who survived the brutal journey were resettled in Oklahoma. The Cherokee are still fighting for their sovereignty and land, but Worcester v. Georgia remains a key case for indigenous rights groups.

Civil War and Reconstruction. On January 19, 1861, Georgia became the fifth state to secede from the Union to maintain chattel slavery, though the delegates were deeply divided. Nonslaveholding whites and the state's geographical diversity made the vote closer than the outcome suggests. After the war, planters had land but no money, and formerly enslaved people had labor but no land. Sharecropping became the new name for slavery. The Ku Klux Klan rose at the same time as the Freedmen's Bureau.

Jim Crow. Following Reconstruction, Georgia codified white supremacy through legal segregation. The state became a crucible of racial terror, marked by the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot and the second-highest number of documented lynchings in the nation. Yet beneath that weight, Black Georgians built resilience. Neighborhoods like Atlanta's Auburn Avenue, dubbed "the richest Negro street in the world," became self-sustaining hubs of business, faith, and higher education that would eventually alter American history.

Civil Rights Movement. By the mid-20th century, Georgia became the epicenter of the fight for human dignity. Born on Auburn Avenue, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. co-founded the SCLC from Atlanta, projecting a vision of the "Beloved Community" to the world. John Lewis marched across bloodied bridges. The student-led Atlanta Committee on Appeal for Human Rights desegregated local commerce. Georgia was a battleground where segregation collided head-on with a moral revolution, ultimately forcing the nation to rewrite its laws.

Today. Two and a half centuries in, Georgia's core duality remains unchanged. It is a cinematic epicenter, an international logistics titan driven by Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, and a cultural beacon that continues to project global influence three decades after the 1996 Olympics. It is also, once again, a place where the fight over who belongs is playing out in real time.

Last week, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians, opening the door to mass deportations. Georgia is home to one of the largest Haitian communities in the South, concentrated in metro Atlanta and Clarkston, where a generation has built lives, businesses, and families under TPS. The pattern from 1832 repeats itself, just in a different direction. Then, the Court protected the Cherokee and the executive ignored it. Now, the Court clears the way for the executive to remove people from homes they've built here. Different populations. Same result.

If I could write you a love letter for Georgia, it would be this:

It is easy to fall in love with Georgia. Her swampy, humid summers grow the sweetest peaches and the best pecans in the South. The sweet smell of magnolia trees and the ashen swinging moss in Savannah almost makes you forget whose bodies the cobblestone is paved over. The lines and lines of farms in South Georgia where you drive through cotton fields in heavy silence. The northern entrance to the Appalachian Mountains, where Native American folklore mixes with old West African slave legends, is haunted by sundown towns and the Color Line. A trip to metro Atlanta feels like another world, economic bustling and never-ending traffic on I-85. Shotgun houses sitting just below skyscrapers on cracked pavement and old train tracks.

Our people, no matter their background or race or religion, are some of the toughest, most pragmatic Southerners around.

The land, our land, is built with bodies and curses, and still, it flourishes. But imagine what Georgia could be if we allowed her to flourish without being bound to hatred and injustice.

Georgia is home, and it is because it is home that we must fight hard for it to be what we envisioned her to be. The past 250 years must be our blueprint for the next 250. We must take the lessons we have learned and the hope for our future to build a Georgia worth fighting for.

Savannah’s River Street offers a glimpse into Georgia’s beginnings. The waterfront helped shape the state’s economy and growth, connecting Georgia to trade networks around the world. While its history reflects both achievement and hardship, the cobblestone streets remain a powerful reminder of the people and events that shaped Georgia’s past.

Candidates Fighting for Georgia’s Future

Over the last 250 years, the United States has developed from a disjointed group of coastal colonies to the most influential nation on the planet. Central to this development has been the quest to answer questions of power: who gets to participate, who gets to lead, and who gets to decide what comes next?

When the Constitution was first ratified, political power was reserved for landowning, white, Christian men. After two and a half centuries of hard-fought progress, political participation has become an inalienable right held by all American citizens.

Yet our democratic institutions are under threat unlike any other time in American history. The current administration is consolidating power in the executive branch, denying election results, and undermining the very principles the country was built on.

A quarter millennium into American history, there is no more important time than now for capable Georgians to step up and defend the values that have carried the country this far.

Among them:

Beth Fuller of Sandy Springs, a public health professional with over 25 years of experience advocating for healthy communities. She is running for HD-53 because the chaos coming out of Washington is hurting her community, and she refuses to stand by while hardworking Georgians lose their jobs and their health care. She wants to bring that expertise to the Gold Dome to take on the cost of healthcare, community safety, and investment in students.

Michelle Kang, a first-generation Korean American who has called Georgia home since 1992 and built her life in Gwinnett, the most diverse county in the state. She is a small business owner and community organizer running for HD-99 because she believes Georgia should be a place where working families can thrive, not just survive. In 2024, she lost her race by just 621 votes. She decided the fight was too important to walk away from, and she is running again.

Farooq Mughal, the son of Pakistani immigrants who arrived in Lawrenceville in 1995 and raised him on the values of hard work, integrity, and service. In his single term representing HD-105, he passed ten pieces of bipartisan legislation. Ten bills both sides agreed on, in this political climate, from a legislator whose family story is the American story. He lost reelection by 80 votes, and he is running to return to the Gold Dome more determined than ever.

Ethan Wolfe of Americus, who served his country for 30 years in the Air Force. He is running for HD-151 in rural SW Georgia, where resources are scarce and families are too often forced to choose between groceries and doctor visits. His approach to the campaign is the same one that carried him through three decades of service: showing up when it matters, one door at a time.

The American experiment doesn't continue on its own. It continues because people like Beth, Michelle, Farooq, and Ethan show up here in Georgia, now in 2026, because their districts deserve better representation. The courage to fight for change is the only way this country has ever moved forward.

How Trump Represents America at 250

As America approaches its 250th year since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, one would be remiss to look back on this time without acknowledging the Trump Administration. Across his two terms, Donald Trump has contributed to the continual undermining of constitutional law, historic levels of deregulation, and the enforcement of hardline immigration and mass deportation policies.

To many, these tactics stand out as radical change from prior political campaigns, especially within the past few decades. Yet, when looking back at the past 250 years of the United States, the pattern Donald Trump follows is not unfamiliar.

Andrew Jackson built his political legacy by presenting himself as the voice of "real Americans" while expanding executive power and dismissing the institutions that challenged him. Woodrow Wilson used the Sedition Act to prosecute political dissent and resegregated the federal workforce. Joseph McCarthy weaponized fear of a hidden enemy to justify sweeping attacks on civil liberties. Richard Nixon compiled enemies lists and pushed executive power to the edge of constitutional collapse.

None of these were anomalies. Each was a president or political figure who tested how much American democracy would tolerate before it pushed back.

Trump has embraced a similar political formula: portraying himself as the sole representative of "the people," vilifying the courts, the press, and political opponents, and insisting that any institution that limits his power is fundamentally illegitimate.

American history is filled with leaders who have exploited fear of outsiders, racial resentment, and nationalist rhetoric for political gain. Some of the nation's greatest failures were not the product of one extraordinary individual but of political leaders who saw an opening and took it.

Trump did not create these impulses. He inherited them, amplified them, and built a political movement around them.

As the United States commemorates 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, the greatest mistake would be to treat Trump as a historical anomaly. What we are living through is less a revolution than a revival, drawing on traditions of exclusion, executive overreach, and grievance politics that have surfaced throughout the nation's history.

America's next chapter will not be determined by whether Donald Trump fades from public life. It will be determined by how strongly the country's institutions, its courts, its press, its state legislatures, and its people, respond when the pattern shows up again.

American Dream or American Nightmare?

The American Dream is older than the country. It began as land, a homestead, room to build a life on. Then it became a job, a factory shift, a union card, a paycheck that could raise a family. By the middle of the last century it had become a house, a suburban lot, a college degree, a desire to have a life better than your parents'. At each turn the Dream was refined, but the promise stayed the same. What has changed for young Americans today isn't ambition. It's the rising cost of reaching the same goals.

Major milestones once considered normal parts of adult life, buying a first home, paying for college, starting a family, now often require years of financial planning and strain on households. The American Dream has long been associated with opportunity, but the economic realities facing younger generations have turned optimism into anxiety since the early 2000s.

Nowhere is that shift more visible than in the housing market. Between 2005 and 2024, the number of people living in U.S. households grew from about 288 million to nearly 332 million. During that same period, the number of vacant homes available for sale fell from roughly 1.3 million to fewer than 850,000, tightening the market despite continued population growth. The median age of a first-time homebuyer has risen from 32 in 2000 to a record 40 today. Homeownership, long considered a cornerstone of building wealth, is now harder to reach than it was just two decades ago.

The effects of these economic pressures extend far beyond homeownership. For much of the twentieth century, the American Dream was not only about individual success but also about building a family and creating a stable future for the next generation. Many immigrants arrived in the United States with little wealth but found opportunities to secure steady employment, purchase homes, and raise larger families. While their journeys were often marked by hardship and discrimination, the possibility of upward mobility made those sacrifices feel worthwhile. 

Georgia families are feeling that squeeze as sharply as anywhere in the country. In May 2020, the median home sale price in metro Atlanta was about $254,000, and the average monthly mortgage payment on that home ran about $873. By 2024, the median had climbed to nearly $400,000, and the average monthly payment had jumped to $2,128. That is a 60% jump in home prices and a mortgage payment that has more than doubled in four years. For a young family in Sandy Springs, Gwinnett, or Lawrenceville, the math has shifted from difficult to nearly impossible.

What’s Inspiring Us This Week:

 A new weekly feature, written by one of our interns. Because we all need a pick me up.

The Foothills Land Conservancy recently completed the acquisition of the Oliver Tract, 638 acres of land bordering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The FLC plans to transfer the land to the National Park Service to expand the park, one of the largest such additions in nearly 20 years. The purchased land was once one of the biggest remaining privately held areas bordering the Great Smokies. I'm inspired by this because it reminds me that even during a time when so much federal land protection is being rolled back, steps are still being made in the right direction.

📢 Call to Action

Venezuela Earthquake Relief – Here's How You Can Help:

Venezuela is facing one of the deadliest natural disasters in its modern history. On June 24, the country was struck by two powerful earthquakes measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 just 39 seconds apart. The rare "earthquake doublet" caused widespread destruction across northern Venezuela, including Caracas and the coastal state of La Guaira, collapsing buildings, damaging hospitals, and leaving entire communities in crisis.

Rescue crews continue searching for survivors as the death toll climbs. As of July 1, at least 2,295 people have been confirmed killed and more than 11,200 injured, with tens of thousands still unaccounted for. The earthquakes were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century, and ongoing aftershocks have complicated relief efforts. Aid organizations warn that the country's already strained healthcare system is struggling to meet the overwhelming demand for emergency care, shelter, and essential supplies.

For many of us, Venezuela is more than a headline. It is a home to families, friends, and communities now facing unimaginable loss. In moments like these, politics takes a back seat to humanity. Behind every statistic is a child without a home, a parent searching for loved ones, or a family wondering how they will rebuild.

This country has a history of stepping up to help when tragedies occur outside our borders. It is one of the most patriotic things about America. If you are able, please consider supporting relief efforts. Every donation, no matter the size, can help provide emergency medical care, food, clean water, shelter, and critical supplies to those affected by the disaster. Together, we can help Venezuelan communities recover and remind them that they are not facing the tragedy alone.

If you can, please join us in donating to one of these verified organizations making efforts to help communities in need. 

Donate Here:
UNICEF
Convoy of Hope
World Central Kitchen
Project Hope
Caritas Venezuela
GEM

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Special Session: Why Republicans Ruled No New Maps

Protesters gathered at the Georgia Capitol this past Wednesday. Signs were made, chants were rehearsed, the mood was somber. Georgians were prepared for the worst.

And then, nothing. Republican legislative leaders rejected Governor Kemp's redistricting plan, leaving many jubilant yet confused.

Kemp had asked lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional districts ahead of 2028, as other Southern states have done, and to alter state legislative districts as well. This would have made Georgia the first state to do so. House Speaker Jon Burns wasn't ready to chart those uncertain waters, saying lawmakers wanted to wait and see how courts ruled in other redistricting cases and didn't want to wade into culture-war issues.

Job well done, right? Well, for the moment.

While Republicans declined to redraw Georgia's congressional maps this special session, it's clear the issue has only been delayed. Burns emphasized the need for a more transparent process with more public input. Senate Majority Leader Larry Walker said lawmakers wanted more time to understand the legal implications of recent Supreme Court decisions before acting on lines that wouldn't take effect until 2028 anyway.

There's also the timing to consider. Redistricting in one of the nation's most competitive swing states would have become a defining issue ahead of major statewide elections. These lines, delayed and not defeated, will determine how communities are represented, how competitive elections are, and who holds political power in Georgia for the next decade.

This week's outcome is a reminder that democracy requires constant vigilance. Thousands of Georgians paid attention, organized, and made their voices heard. That work can't stop now. The conversation on redistricting is far from over, and neither is the importance of staying informed, holding elected officials accountable, and fighting for fair representation.

The GOP's decision to postpone redistricting wasn't out of benevolence. It was political, and it will stay political.

Georgia, do not get comfortable. The conversation didn't end. It was delayed. Be ready to make your voice heard.

Credit: Elijah Nouvelage / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Special Session: Property Taxes

One of the most significant fights of Georgia's June 2026 special session was over a Local Homestead Option Sales Tax, or LHOST, pushed by Republicans to lower property taxes for homeowners. The debate exposed a real partisan divide, not just over tax policy, but over the politics of the ballot itself.

Under the GOP proposal, local governments would have placed referendums on the November ballot asking voters whether to adopt the new system. Local sales taxes would rise to fund property tax cuts through homestead exemptions. The result? More strain on working families.

Republicans argued the measure would help residents struggling with rising property tax bills. But Democrats, including state Rep. David Wilkerson, pushed back hard. "You don't create relief by creating a tax," Wilkerson said. Democrats also called out the timing: Republicans pushed to schedule these referendums for the same November ballot as the general election, a move political observers said was designed to drive conservative turnout in a critical election year.

Despite extensive debate, Republicans couldn't secure the two-thirds majority needed to put the referendums on the ballot. Democrats held the line and protected the people in the process.

Special Session: The QR Code Fight 

Georgia's special session lasted just one week, but two of its decisions will shape the state for years. Republicans abandoned their redistricting push on day one. The bigger fight was over how Georgia counts votes.

SB 189, the 2024 law Fair Fight Action called a "voter suppression bill," banned QR codes for tabulating ballots starting July 1, 2026. The catch: the Republican-led Legislature never passed a replacement system or the money to pay for one. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had estimated the equipment overhaul would cost roughly $66 million, but lawmakers never appropriated it. That funding gap is what forced Kemp to call this special session in the first place.

Lawmakers were left with two options. Rush to fund and install new equipment statewide in under 180 days, an unrealistic timeline even before accounting for the $66 million price tag. Or they could push the deadline to 2028 and buy time to get it right.

They chose the delay. Some Democrats objected to an added hand-recount provision tacked onto the bill, but ultimately voted for it anyway to avoid a worse outcome, hand-counting the entire 2026 midterm by hand. It passed largely along party lines, 94-79 in the House and 36-16 in the Senate, with a handful of Democrats joining Republicans to avoid that alternative.

The bottom line: the QR codes stay through this November. After that? Anyone’s guess.

Credit: Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder

Governor Brian Kemp's Voting Rights Legacy

Over the past decade, Georgia has become the epicenter of the national fight over voting rights and election security. Striking a balance between protecting elections and guaranteeing every voter equal access to the ballot is hard. It's also necessary to protect democracy. In charge of finding that balance has been Governor Brian Kemp.

Nearing the end of his term and fresh off Georgia's special legislative session, there's no better time to look at Kemp's voting rights record. In office since 2019, he has overseen nearly eight years of Georgia elections, most notably the 2020 presidential election.

So how did Governor Kemp do? It's complicated, to say the least.

Just months into his first term, Kemp signed HB 392 and HB 316 into law. These bills strengthened protections against foreign cyberattacks and ensured valid provisional ballots get counted. The Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan policy organization focused on protecting democracy, praised the moves, saying they helped safeguard Georgia voters.

In the months after the 2020 election, as President Trump claimed widespread voter fraud in Georgia, Kemp pushed back and defended the security of the state's elections. Yet that same spring, with Georgia still at the center of those false claims, Kemp signed SB 202, the Election Integrity Act, into law the same night it passed. The law replaced signature matching with voter ID requirements for absentee ballots, capped drop boxes at one per 100,000 registered voters and moved them indoors, banned handing out food or water to voters waiting in line within 150 feet of a polling place, and shortened the runoff period from nine weeks to four. President Biden called it "Jim Crow in the 21st Century." Kemp defended it as a way to "restore confidence in Georgia's elections," even as he rejected the premise that fraud had been a problem in the first place.

As the 2024 election approached, Kemp pivoted again toward measures aimed at combating voter fraud, the same fraud he had consistently said didn't exist in Georgia.

Chief among them was SB 189, which phased out QR codes for counting ballots (a deadline that became one of the reasons Kemp called this month's special session, after the Republican-led Legislature failed to pass a replacement system in time), expanded the criteria for removing voters from the rolls, and allowed those removals up until 45 days before an election, a window that conflicts with the federal 90-day rule against systematic voter roll changes. The law also changed registration requirements for voters without a permanent address. Fair Fight Action, the voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams, called SB 189 a "voter suppression bill that emboldens right-wing activists in their efforts to kick Black and brown voters off the rolls."

Kemp never wavered in denying claims of widespread fraud in Georgia, a position that put him at odds with President Trump. But across SB 202 and SB 189, he also signed off on a stream of restrictions that made it harder for some Georgians to vote. Kemp's voting rights legacy is complicated at best, and undemocratic at worst.

Homelessness in Atlanta and the International Stage

As the FIFA World Cup brings global attention to Atlanta, the city is once again forced to confront how it handles homelessness—especially when the world is watching. City leaders have emphasized a different approach this time, promoting a “housing-first” strategy through initiatives like Atlanta Rising, which has helped move hundreds of people into temporary or permanent housing. Officials frame this effort as a clear break from the past, an attempt to house people rather than arrest them.

These concerns are rooted in Atlanta’s response to the 1996 Olympics, widely criticized as a moral failure. In the months leading up to the games, more than 9,000 unhoused individuals were arrested under minor or newly expanded offenses designed to clear the streets. Others were given one-way bus tickets out of the city, effectively removing them from public view rather than addressing their needs. The result was not a solution, but rather a temporary façade.

Today, Atlanta’s strategy looks different in its intent, with greater investment in housing, outreach, services, and a public commitment not to criminalize homelessness. Still, the reality on the ground is more complicated. Encampments and long lines outside shelters show that the crisis has not disappeared, and advocates warn that limited resources could push the city towards quieter forms of displacement. The true difference between 1996 and now will not be measured during the tournament but in whether those pushed to the margins are still supported once the crowds leave.

Top: Michael Robinson, June 2026. Bottom: Jeff Haynes, July 26, 1996

Lesson from to be Learned from Puerto Rico

For nearly two months, residents of Puerto Rico have had no running water. They’ve had to ration out water and derail their daily routines, all while continuing to be a vacation destination for many Americans and others. 

From the very little that has been reported, the shortage began due to ruptures in aqueduct systems and aging infrastructure. Since then, residents have been required to pay for delivered potable water to bathe and wash dishes, among other things. The National Guard has been deployed in Puerto Rico to help distribute water, aid, and other resources. No relief legislation is moving. Puerto Rico has already been allocated $43 billion in federal disaster funds, billions of it earmarked for water infrastructure, but bureaucratic delays have kept much of it from reaching actual repairs. Meanwhile, the one active bill in Puerto Rico's legislature, backed by the House Speaker, would weaken protections on the island's water-rich karst region rather than shore it up.

But how have we as Georgians and fellow Americans turned a blind eye to it? How does Puerto Rico spell danger for our own state as well?

Georgia has 14 major river systems and multiple various groundwater aquifer systems, which is enough to supply its 11.2 million residents. However, with the current data center dilemma that Georgia residents are fighting against, our own residents are struggling with adequate water usage. In no way, shape, or form are we engaging in a “struggle contest”. We are simply stating the obvious: there is a war on water.

Between data centers robbing the Georgia citizens of usable water and the underfunded infrastructure and aquatic systems in Puerto Rico, people are experiencing unprecedented strife. People are being deprived of their right to an essential resource of water. This is an issue that has recurred in Puerto Rico for years, and as humans, it is our duty to advocate for ourselves and each other. We believe that everyone has the right to usable water. The best way to support Puerto Rico is to contact your representatives, U.S. and state, to raise awareness and advocate for Puerto Rico’s sustainability and resources. 

To find your U.S. & State Representatives, please use these links:

U.S. House of Representatives:  https://www.house.gov/representatives

U.S. Senators: https://www.senate.gov/senators/

Georgia House of Representatives: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/house

Georgia Senators: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/senate

Georgia's Data Center Crisis

In May, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walked into a congressional subcommittee hearing carrying two mason jars of brown water. She carried the reality of Morgan County, Georgia, where residents say their well water turned murky and undrinkable after Meta began construction on its massive Stanton Springs data center complex nearby.

Meta disputes responsibility, commissioning a third-party study claiming no connection between its operations and the contaminated wells. But for families who watched their tap water change color as bulldozers moved in next door, that explanation doesn't quite add up.

Morgan County isn't the only case. In Newton County, where Meta's data center accounts for roughly 10% of daily water use, officials raised serious concerns about long-term sustainability. The county's water authority warned that Newton is on track to face a water deficit by 2030, and water rates are set to increase by 33% (Newton County Water and Sewerage Authority). These costs are borne by ordinary residents, not the corporations draining the supply.

In Fayetteville, residents reported drops in water pressure after a data center began drawing from local systems without proper authorization. All of this is unfolding amid a statewide drought, with southern Georgia already experiencing severe to exceptional conditions and destructive wildfires burning through dry land.

The water crisis doesn't exist in isolation from Georgia's energy crisis. To power the hundreds of data centers now operating across the state, Georgia Power is extending the life of fossil fuel plants slated for retirement and building new gas infrastructure. This locks Georgia into decades of additional carbon emissions at exactly the moment climate action is most urgent.

Seven bills were introduced in Georgia targeting data center accountability, requiring water and energy consumption reporting, sunsetting tax exemptions, and temporarily pausing new construction. Each one failed to reach a final vote. Lawmakers adjourned without passing a single regulation on an industry reshaping the state's land, water, and power grid.

Communities don't have time to wait, though. Residents can attend Public Service Commission hearings to oppose new fossil fuel infrastructure, pressure local water authorities to require disclosure agreements before approving data center permits, and support organizations like Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and the Sierra Club's Georgia chapter, both of which are tracking these issues on the ground.

Georgia's water doesn't belong to Meta. It belongs to the people of Morgan County, and every Georgian who turns on their tap expecting clean water to come out.

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Editor’s Note

This week's newsletter covers the runoff results and what comes next, and there's a lot to unpack. Rick Jackson will carry the Republican banner for Governor, with Mike Collins their nominee against incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff. While Brian Kemp went 0 for 2 with his endorsements, he wasted no time falling in line behind Jackson, a reminder that the Georgia Republican machine consolidates fast. Democrats head into the general with Keisha Lance Bottoms positioned to make history as the first Democrat elected Governor of Georgia since 1998, and Josh McLaurin as a sharp, well-resourced standard-bearer down the ticket. The opportunity is real, but so is the work. Every State House seat we flip this November doesn't just build Democratic power in the legislature; it builds the turnout infrastructure, the volunteer energy, and the organizing muscle that gives Bottoms and McLaurin a better shot at winning statewide. The races are linked — and in the weeks ahead, that work begins in earnest.

Runoff Fatigue: Georgia Gets Round Two

Georgia voters went back to the polls on June 16th for a Republican gubernatorial runoff that felt like a sequel nobody asked for. After a crowded May primary, neither Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones nor billionaire businessman Rick Jackson managed to secure the majority needed to win, dragging the race into another round of spending, attacks, and party infighting.

The result was a stunner. Jackson, the outsider, took 52.6% of the vote, beating the candidate endorsed by both President Trump and Governor Brian Kemp.

Jones entered the race as the favorite. He's been in Georgia politics for years, had Trump's backing, and leaned hard into experience and party loyalty. For many Republican voters, he was the safe choice, the continuation of the Kemp legacy. That message got a boost right at the end when Kemp stepped in with a last-minute endorsement on Sunday, clearly trying to pull the party together before the runoff.

It didn't work. Jackson, a wealthy healthcare executive who largely funded his own campaign, branded himself as an outsider willing to shake things up. His message hasn't always been clean. At times, he tried to be both the disruptor and the successor, aligning himself with Trump while also promising to carry on Kemp's legacy. It's a strategy that tries to appeal to everyone but doesn't fully land anywhere.

Credit: Joe Hotchkiss, The Augusta Chronicles

Runoff elections are supposed to produce consensus. Instead, this one amplified division. And that division comes at a cost. While Republicans regroup, Democrats have already moved on. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms secured her spot in May, avoiding a runoff altogether and giving her campaign a significant head start heading into November.

Time matters in politics, and Republicans just spent a lot of it fighting each other. Like most runoffs, turnout was lower, meaning a smaller, more motivated group of voters decided the outcome. That raises a bigger question about how representative the result really is.

Now that it's over, the question isn't just who won. It's what kind of party Republicans are walking into November with.

McLaurin Wins Democratic Nomination for Lieutenant Governor

State Senator Josh McLaurin of Sandy Springs won Tuesday's Democratic runoff for Lt. Governor, defeating former State Senator Nabilah Parkes by 10 points to claim the party's nomination for Georgia's second-highest office.

Several factors secured McLaurin's decisive margin. Most significantly, he entered the runoff with an overwhelming institutional advantage. McLaurin was endorsed by over 60 state legislative colleagues, as well as Stacey Abrams, Senator Warnock, and Senator Ossoff.

His campaign also countered plummeting runoff turnout by targeting core voters expected to participate, a disciplined ground game that proved decisive when overall Democratic participation dropped from over one million voters in May to roughly 300,000 on Tuesday.

McLaurin also benefited from a contrast in commitment. He argued that Parkes had resigned her Senate seat during the busiest part of the legislative session to raise money, leaving her district potentially vulnerable ahead of a Republican special election. McLaurin framed himself as the candidate who showed up.

McLaurin now faces Republican State Senator Greg Dolezal in November. With eight years of legislative experience, a sharp anti-Trump record, and Georgia's Democratic establishment behind him, McLaurin heads into the general election as a strong standard-bearer for the party.

Collins Wins GOP Senate Runoff, Sets Up Showdown with Ossoff

Mike Collins won the Republican Senate runoff on Tuesday, defeating Derek Dooley 55-45 and setting up a November matchup with Democratic incumbent Senator Jon Ossoff.

Collins, a trucking company owner who has represented Georgia's 10th congressional district since 2023, leaned hard into his MAGA credentials throughout the campaign. He is the son of the late Mac Collins, who represented Georgia's 8th district from 1993 to 2005. Collins has also served as Chairman of Georgia's Associated Credit Union, one of the state's largest, and ran on a pro-Trump, pro-life, Second Amendment platform.

Dooley is an attorney and former football player who built a decades-long coaching career across college and the NFL. He announced his Senate bid in August 2025 and ran on a "Georgia First" campaign focused on safer communities, higher wages, and reducing Washington spending.

The endorsements told the story. Trump came in late, backing Collins on Truth Social on Sunday, two days before the runoff. Kemp had championed Dooley from the start, arguing the GOP needed a political outsider to take on Ossoff. The result was a clear win for Trump's hand in Georgia politics. Combined with Rick Jackson's gubernatorial runoff win over Burt Jones, Tuesday's results sent Kemp 0-for-2 on his major runoff endorsements in a single night.

Collins now faces Ossoff in November, in a race expected to be one of the most expensive and consequential Senate contests in the country.

Georgia's Special Legislative Session: Updates & Agenda

With the runoffs behind them, Georgia lawmakers are back in Atlanta for a special session on redistricting, property tax law, and election administration.

Going in, the plan was simple: draw new district maps for 2028, since primary voting had already started. That held even as the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais pushed Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana to redraw their own maps ahead of 2026.

Credit: Alyssa Pointer, Reuters

Then came a surprise. At the start of the special session, Georgia Republicans abandoned redistricting plans altogether. On Wednesday, House Speaker Jon Burns (R) told Governor Kemp the legislature won't take up redistricting until after the 2028 cycle, citing ongoing litigation and the need to evaluate recent court rulings.

Redistricting has dominated the headlines. A quieter fight over election administration could matter just as much. That eases one fear for Georgia Democrats—a mid-decade gerrymander—but the special session still carries real stakes for 2026.

Republicans are trying to impose property tax relief this special session, but with property taxes relieved, counties could choose to raise their sales taxes 1% to offset the cost. So instead of paying your yearly tax, Georgians will pay every time they go to the grocery store—where prices are already high enough. But the question remains: if Georgia continues to cut taxes, specifically for the wealthy, where is Georgia going to get the income for its statewide services? 

A Georgia law passed in 2024 bans the use of QR codes to count ballots starting July 1, 2026. Replacing that equipment statewide would cost roughly $66 million, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The Republican-led legislature didn't appropriate that money in either the 2025 or 2026 sessions—leaving county election administrators without clear guidelines and a deadline closing in.

Lawmakers now face two options: push the deadline to 2028, or find $66 million and roll out new equipment in under 180 days. House Democrats call the second option unrealistic.

House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley called the QR code fight a “manufactured issue” and challenged Republicans to come up with a real solution.

Whatever lawmakers decide in the next few weeks will determine how Georgia's elections actually run in 2026—and whether Republicans treat that responsibility seriously, or leave it for administrators to sort out under deadline pressure.

Down-Ballot Wrap: Every Other Runoff That Mattered

The remaining races yielded plenty of close calls and set the stage for November's general election.

Secretary of State. Penny Brown Reynolds, a former Fulton County state judge, host of Family Court with Judge Penny, and former deputy assistant secretary for civil rights at the Biden USDA, defeated Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett by 26.2 points to win the Democratic nomination. She will take on State Representative Tim Fleming, a battle that will likely be contentious after the FBI raid earlier this year on the Fulton County election office.

Insurance Commissioner. Former Atlanta City Council member Keisha Sean Waites won the Democratic runoff by just under 60,000 votes and will face Republican incumbent John King in November.

Labor Commissioner. Nonprofit founder and Air Force veteran Nikki Porcher won the Democratic runoff and will challenge incumbent Bárbara Rivera Holmes.

U.S. House. In CD-12, Ceretta Smith won the Democratic nomination and will face Republican Rick Allen. In CD-1, where Republican Buddy Carter vacated the seat to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate, Democrat Amanda Hollowell won the Democratic runoff and will face Republican Jim Kingston in November. In CD-7, attorney Tony Kozycki took the Democratic nomination and will take on Republican incumbent Rich McCormick.

State Senate. If you were watching Senate District 7 and thought you were seeing double, you weren't. SD-7 had two races on the ballot. In the special election runoff to finish former State Senator Nabilah Parkes's term, Adrienne White defeated Aizaz Shaikh to keep the district blue through December. White did not seek the full term. Shaikh gets another shot in November, when he will face State Representative Ruwa Romman, who won the Democratic primary runoff over Rahul Garabadu for the full term. Elsewhere, Larry Johnson won the Democratic nomination in SD-10, and Kevin Abel narrowly defeated Nathalie J. Kanni in SD-14.

State House. A swath of HD runoffs was decided Tuesday. Mathewos Samson beat Demetria Henderson in HD-58. Kenn Collier secured the Democratic nomination in HD-62. HD-68 was a tight one, with Timoria McQueen Saba securing the nomination by 186 votes. HD-177 saw another close finish, with Elise Cason Napier winning by 244 votes. Incumbent State Representative Venola Mason soundly won the Democratic nomination in HD-94. And in HD-117, Kim Thomas Smith ran away with the nomination, beating incumbent Mary Ann Santos by over 75 percentage points. Of note, this runoff saw tons of sports betting PAC money flood in behind Smith and ousted Santos, the only Hispanic female in the State House.

Kemp's Social Legacy in a Changing State

Brian Kemp's social policy legacy is among the most consequential—and controversial—of any recent Georgia governor. His administration reshaped reproductive healthcare, LGBTQ+ rights, and public education across the state.

The centerpiece was HB 481, Georgia's six-week abortion ban, which took effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The law ended abortion access for many Georgians before they knew they were pregnant, making Georgia one of the most restrictive states in the South on reproductive rights. 

Kemp also signed SB 140, banning most gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and backed The Riley Gaines Act restricting transgender students from school sports. The ACLU argued that the laws targeted a small, vulnerable population already facing discrimination and political attacks nationwide. 

In education, Kemp championed the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, a voucher program that redirects public funds to private school tuition. The Southern Educational Foundation, among others, warned it would drain resources from public schools—especially in rural and low-income communities—without addressing teacher shortages or chronic underfunding, signing a joint dissent letter. 

Together, these laws put Georgia at the front of the conservative movement's push to restrict abortion access, limit transgender rights, and privatize education. Kemp's legacy isn't just conservative governance—it's rolled-back rights and public investment at the exact moment Georgia was getting younger, more diverse, and more competitive.

The U.S.-Iran Interim Agreement: What We Know

The United States and Iran have signed a preliminary agreement to end the war that began in late February, when the U.S.-Israel-led military campaign launched and sent oil prices surging.

The human cost was real. The war killed American service members, cost billions, and destabilized global oil markets—and ended with a framework that multiple analysts and at least one senator say falls short of the nuclear deal Trump scrapped in his first term. Sen. Tim Kaine put it plainly: "We are giving a lot more to get a lot less than we got in the JCPOA." Bloomberg reached a similar conclusion, finding the emerging accord risks securing fewer nuclear restrictions than the Obama-era deal Trump spent years calling a disaster. Fox NewsBloomberg

Trump announced the agreement Sunday, but details weren't released until Wednesday at the G7 summit. Both sides declare "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts" and pledge not to initiate further conflict. A 60-day window opens for negotiating a final deal. The U.S. will begin lifting its naval blockade immediately; Iran commits not to develop nuclear weapons and will work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Sanctions stay in place until a final deal, though the U.S. will issue oil export waivers in the meantime.

The trouble with this agreement, among many, is the concern around Lebanon. Israel has been gaining ground in sovereign Lebanon under the guise of hunting for Hezbollah, and past peace negotiations have failed because Iran refuses to stand down on keeping Israel out of Lebanon. 

Polling consistently showed Americans disapproving of the attacks, and Trump's economic approval ratings took a hit even among his own base. Whether this framework holds is another question—the hardest issues are all still to be negotiated.

What’s Inspiring Us This Week:

 A new weekly feature, written by one of our interns. Because we all need a pick me up.

Credit: Savannah Morning News

As someone who loves the ocean, I've been excited to follow sea turtle nesting season along Georgia's coast this year. Loggerhead sea turtles have returned to beaches across the state, with some areas reporting a stronger start than last year. Every summer, female loggerheads come ashore to lay their eggs, making Georgia one of the most important nesting habitats for the species on the entire Atlantic coast.

What makes this especially inspiring is that these numbers represent decades of conservation work paying off. Volunteers, researchers, and wildlife organizations spend countless hours protecting nests, monitoring hatchlings, and educating beachgoers about keeping coastal habitats safe. Because sea turtles take 20 to 30 years to reach adulthood, each nesting season is a reflection of efforts that began long before most of us were paying attention.

There's something quietly powerful about knowing these turtles keep finding their way back to Georgia's shores—year after year, right on schedule.

- Ava

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Georgia's Youth Vote: A Gap We Can't Ignore

Georgia's May 19th primary broke records. More than two million Georgians cast ballots, a 27.9% turnout rate—the highest for a primary in state history. But buried inside that headline number is a question worth asking: are young voters showing up at the rate Georgia Democrats will need them to in November?

Early voting data showed 18-29 year olds accounted for just 5.7% of ballots cast, a number that suggests a persistent gap between the youth population and youth participation. In a state where statewide races are decided by tens of thousands of votes and State House seats by hundreds, that gap is worth watching closely. The June 16th runoffs for lieutenant governor and other down-ballot races will help determine the shape of the Democratic ticket heading into November. Low youth turnout in a low-turnout runoff environment could have an outsized effect on who emerges and on the momentum Democrats carry into the fall. 

In 2024, youth turnout held strong in Georgia compared to the nation, yet the partisan margin collapsed. Harris won Georgia's youth vote by a single-digit margin, a large decline compared to Biden's 25-point national advantage in 2020. This drop suggests a persuasion problem as much as a turnout problem, and it hits hardest among young men and non-college youth.

Younger voters are a group that typically lean Democratic, and their support can turn an election. In the 2024 presidential election, many young voters shifted right, securing Trump's victory. According to NPR's Elena Moore, this shift was attributed to economic concerns over party loyalty. Cost of living prices weighed heavier on many young voters' minds compared to ideological debates, creating an opening for Trump's economic messaging to resonate with youth voters. For Democrats to win back youth votes, it is important that they revisit their messaging to reconnect with young voters who may feel their economic concerns aren't being addressed in the party's message.

Persuasion and lack of enthusiasm aren't the only obstacles heading into November, access plays a role as well. Georgia had 23% fewer 18-19 year olds registered in 2024 than on Election Day 2020. This is a pipeline failure compounded by deliberate legal moves: SB 202 restricted drop boxes by 77% in majority-minority counties, eliminated the permanent absentee voter list, and imposed strict photo ID rules for absentee voting. The more recent SB 189 allows private citizens to file mass voter challenges up to 45 days before an election, a direct threat to newly registered young and mobile voters.

Georgia also lacks same-day registration and pre-registration at 16, two policies proven to increase youth turnout by 3-7 points. The path to the ballot is navigable, but only with active support. This means year-round commitment to voting education and registration, such as on-campus collaborations at universities, multilingual outreach, and engagement in underrepresented communities. Organizations like the Georgia NAACP and GALEO Impact Fund have shown how these efforts can be successful, and continue to educate young voters on the importance of their vote. Georgia's youth vote is not lost. It is waiting to be earned. The campaigns that figure that out first will have a significant advantage come November. 

The Hidden Costs of Kemp’s Past Eight Years

It is impossible to reflect on Governor Kemp's legacy without examining his fiscal record. After all, one of his largest selling points is that he has helped make Georgia "the number one place for business." Most rankings have placed Georgia somewhere in the top ten over the past eight years rather than at the very top, but his claim is not without merit. 

Georgia has amassed a budget surplus every year since Kemp took office, currently holding $14.6 billion in General Fund Surplus accounts. Georgia has also attracted major multinational corporations during his two terms, particularly in the automotive sector. This includes the Hyundai manufacturing plant in Bryan County, the Mercedes-Benz North American headquarters in Sandy Springs, and multiple electric vehicle battery factories across the state.

That track record is real, and it reflects Kemp's genuine commitment to attracting business to Georgia. But has that commitment come at the expense of Georgians themselves?

Kemp has supported hefty tax incentives for new AI data centers despite significant environmental concerns and the fact that only 30.6% of Georgians support their development. More broadly, Georgia's high business rankings have not produced a corresponding improvement in quality of life. The United Health Foundation ranked Georgia 38th in its 2025 report, with a 49th ranking in uninsured rates, 47th in avoided care due to cost, and 41st in primary care providers.

Each of these failures has a straightforward remedy: use the surplus, and join the 41 states that have already accepted full Medicaid expansion funds. Both actions would go a long way toward closing the gap between Georgia's business reputation and the lived reality of its people.

The money is there. It has become more plentiful under Kemp's tenure. But money that sits untouched while Georgians go uninsured and avoid doctors because they can't afford them is not a legacy. It's a choice.

Georgia Families Are Feeling This War

For Georgians, the Iran war has never been abstract.

The Strait of Hormuz closure has contributed to the largest global oil market disruption in history, and Georgia families have been feeling it at the pump, especially coming on the heels of the state gas tax suspension expiring last month. Not only that, but Georgia’s military families are facing deployment to the region. At Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins and Fort Stewart in Hinesville, military families are watching the escalation closely. Not to mention how Georgia farmers have been facing higher fertilizer cost which have been passed on to Georgians. 

On June 8th, a U.S. Army Apache helicopter was downed near the coast of Oman. Both crew members were rescued. Following the incident, Donald Trump blamed Iran and vowed retaliation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against U.S. presence in the region but did not claim responsibility.

The United States Central Command launched strikes the following day, continuing for several hours. Iran retaliated with strikes on U.S. military installations in Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Trump then warned that Iran had taken too long to negotiate and that the United States would strike again. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed strikes on key Iranian facilities were imminent. Today, Trump abruptly canceled those strikes against Iran, announcing that a “major diplomatic breakthrough has been reached at the highest levels of Iranian leadership." Thus far, Iranian leadership has not confirmed any such agreement. 

Credit: Ariel Schalit/AP

For Georgia, the stakes of the war continue to be personal. Military families at Robins and Fort Stewart are not watching this from a distance; they are in it. Gas prices are rising with no state relief on the horizon. With Senator Jon Ossoff facing reelection this fall, Georgia's voice on whether Congress reclaims its constitutional war powers has never mattered more. 

The Future Is Already Here

This summer, over 20 interns have shown up at The 2030 Project to help build something real—and they are doing exactly that.

They are coming from UGA, Georgia State, Emory, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, and Duke — and several high school students who decided they weren't going to wait to get involved. Their majors span political science, journalism, international affairs, communications, public administration, English, ecology, economics, and human health. They are not all the same kind of person with the same kind of background. They are exactly the kind of diverse, curious, driven group that a mission like ours requires.

Already, they have written newsletter articles, created social media content, conducted research, knocked doors in our battleground districts, and engaged in youth voter outreach efforts in the communities where our five target races will be decided this November.

The 2030 Project has always believed that young people are not just the future of Georgia politics. They are the present. You will be hearing and seeing more from them soon. But for now, please know that we are excited they are here—and we hope you are, too!

Fundraising Match – Help Us Reach Our $5,000 Goal

This week's newsletter highlights some of the biggest challenges facing Georgia: declining youth voter participation, ongoing fights over voting access, healthcare disparities, transportation concerns, and the long-term impact of state leadership decisions. These are exactly the stakes we're advocating for.

One of our donors believed so strongly in this moment that they're matching every dollar we raise until we hit $5,000. Your $25 becomes $50. Your $100 becomes $200. From Americus and Duluth to Suwanee and Sandy Springs, every dollar donated goes toward flipping our five battleground State House seats this November.

Donate today and join the fight via ActBlue.

Together, we can flip five State House seats this November and change the balance of power here in Georgia.

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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Coming Home: Introducing Ethan Wolfe, HD-151

The 2030 Project is proud to introduce our fourth battleground candidate of the 2026 cycle: Ethan Wolfe, running for Georgia House District 151 in Southwest Georgia.

Ethan came home to Americus the same way he did everything else in his life: with purpose.

After thirty years in the United States Air Force, rising from an enlisted Communications Systems Operator to Lieutenant Colonel, he had every reason to go anywhere. More than 3,800 flight hours. Combat deployments across Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond. A Master Air Battle Manager who commanded the skies and trained some of the nation's finest airmen. Medals that tell the story of a man who showed up every single time.

He chose to come home to Southwest Georgia.

"There is no place like home," he says. "This is where my soul is."

Since returning to Americus, Ethan has served as Commander of American Legion Post 2, Chaplain of VFW Post 4784, and a board member of Friends of Andersonville. The uniform came off. The service never stopped.

Now he is running for the Georgia State House, and the district he wants to represent reflects exactly why he came back. Roads are crumbling. Broadband is spotty at best. Young people are leaving because jobs—and opportunity—are scarce. Healthcare is out of reach for too many families. Ethan's father spent thirty years in Georgia classrooms, and he watched firsthand what it looks like when teachers give everything and receive so little support. Specifically, he says, Georgia needs to update the Quality Basic Education, which hasn’t been reformed since the 1980s.  

He is running on Medicaid expansion, fully funding public education, and bringing real economic investment to rural Georgia.

And Southwest Georgia is ready. On May 19th, Ethan outgained the Republican incumbent in the primary, an early signal that HD-151 is in play this November. As Republicans prepare to redraw Georgia's congressional maps at the June 17th special session, the region faces the prospect of losing Sanford Bishop, one of the last Democratic voices representing rural Georgia in Congress. The stakes for this part of the state have never been higher.

Ethan Wolfe intends to be here for all of it.

"Service doesn't stop when you take the uniform off," he says. "Coming home reminded me why it was all worth it."

We believe Southwest Georgia deserves a fighter, do you? You can support Ethan Wolfe's campaign here: James Wolfe—Donate via ActBlue.

Ethan Wolfe’s Instagram 

Ethan Wolfe’s Facebook

Georgia: Still A Proving Ground For The South

Georgia's May 19th primary told the rest of the South something it already suspected: this state is still the proving ground.

Democrats turned out at historic levels, enjoying a 15-point advantage over Republicans in early voting. And one day after the June 16th runoffs, Georgia lawmakers return to Atlanta for a special session to redraw congressional and state legislative maps. The whole region is watching.

In recent years, Georgia has become one of the country's most competitive battleground states. After voting Democratic in the 2020 presidential election by fewer than 12,000 votes and delivering two Democratic Senate victories in the 2021 runoff elections, Georgia became the political center of the South.

So, what sparked this Democratic shift? Let’s take a quick look back.

Rapid growth in metro Atlanta and surrounding suburbs led to a sharp increase in voter turnout. Since 2010, counties like Gwinnett and Cobb have become significantly younger and more diverse, reshaping voting patterns across the state. That shift didn't happen by accident. Stacey Abrams and the political machine she built spent years registering voters and investing in communities that campaigns had long ignored, laying the groundwork before a single national dollar arrived. This year-long community outreach, particularly among Black voters and young voters, helped turn Georgia from a reliably Republican state into a true battleground.

Because of this, Georgia is now viewed as a model for how Democrats compete across the South. In North Carolina, former Governor Roy Cooper is running for U.S. Senate. In Texas, James Talarico won the Democratic Senate primary this spring, drawing thousands to rallies in Republican strongholds, running on the same coalition-building playbook Georgia Democrats wrote. The Georgia blueprint is being exported—and expanded—in real time.

Republicans continue to fight hard to make sure it stays that way. Five years of new voting laws, gerrymandered maps, and now a special session to redraw districts before 2028 are the clearest signal that Georgia's shift rattled them. Georgia showed the South what's possible. Now both sides are fighting over whether it stays possible.

Georgia is no longer politically predictable. And the rest of the South is paying attention.

Finding Pride in HIV Prevention

Georgia carries one of the heaviest HIV burdens in the South, and this month, the state took a meaningful step toward easing it. Governor Kemp signed bipartisan bill SB 195 into law, and with it, pharmacists in Georgia can now prescribe PrEP and PEP—the drugs at the frontline of HIV prevention. This follows another recent victory worth naming: Congress held the line against a proposed $2 billion cut to HIV prevention, care, and research funding. In a political moment where the destruction of public health infrastructure has become routine, these wins are not small.

HIV—human immunodeficiency virus—spreads through infected bodily fluids and then quietly, methodically dismantles the immune system. Left untreated, it progresses to AIDS within roughly a decade. That progression is not inevitable. It never has been. But access to care has always been the difference between a manageable condition and a death sentence—and access, in this country, has never been equally distributed.

Consider what that looks like in Georgia. Atlanta, the queer capital of the South, is absorbing not only its own swelling case numbers but also those of rural residents who travel in for care they cannot find at home. In rural communities, the silence around sex, STDs, and protection runs deep—and even where resources exist, the fear of walking into a local clinic and being recognized keeps people away. That fear is not irrational. It is the predictable consequence of a culture that has never made space for these conversations.

And we cannot talk about HIV in Georgia without talking about race. Despite the efforts of the Trump administration to excise race from health data entirely—efforts led by an HHS Secretary, RFK Jr., who has made his discomfort with these conversations clear—Black Georgians, and specifically Black cisgender men, are contracting HIV at rates that demand acknowledgment, not erasure. Silence is not neutrality. Silence is a choice that gets people killed.

PrEP and PEP changed the landscape of HIV prevention. PrEP—pre-exposure prophylaxis—is taken by HIV-negative individuals to prevent the virus from taking hold if they're exposed. PEP—post-exposure prophylaxis—is the emergency intervention: it must be started within 72 hours of exposure and can stop an infection in its tracks. These are not fringe treatments. They are life-saving tools. And the pharmacist prescribing pathway created by SB 195 means that the distance between a person and that protection just got shorter.

As we move into Pride Month, we carry all of it with us—the progress and the grief, the legislation and the quilts made for those we have already lost. HIV is no longer what it was during the AIDS crisis, but the weight of that history does not lift easily, nor should it. Our communities remember. And this month, we also celebrate, with gratitude, the legislators who made better access to prevention possible: Sen. Chuck Hufstelter of District 52, Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of District 33, Sen. Ben Watson of District 1, Sen. Elena Parent of District 44, and Sen. Nan Orrock of District 36, alongside every legislator who carried this bill through both chambers.

The work continues. It always does. But this is a moment worth marking.

Which is Worse: An Empty Podium or Burt Jones? You Decide.

With less than two weeks until the Republican runoff for Governor, billionaire Rick Jackson is working to differentiate himself from his opponent, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones. 

Having trailed by 6% in the May primary to the Trump-endorsed Jones, Jackson would need to gain serious ground in order to have any fighting chance at winning the nomination. The Atlanta Press Club debate held on Monday provided a perfect opportunity to demonstrate his character and commitment to Georgia.

Unfortunately for Jackson, he did just that. Both his character and commitment to Georgia were made clear by his decision to skip the Georgia debate in favor of rallying with Republican Florida Senator Rick Scott. 

At the Kennesaw rally, Senator Scott offered his full endorsement of Jackson. Scott drew comparisons between himself and the gubernatorial candidate, noting that they are both businessmen turned politicians and “political outsiders” looking to shake up the system.

It is worth noting that “political outsiders” typically aren’t two-term Governors, two-term Senators, and former nominees for Senate Majority Leader, like Rick Scott.

In front of a crowd of 600, Jackson promised to lower taxes, support law enforcement, and crush “woke ideology.” He further distanced himself from Burt Jones by saying, “I’m the outsider. I don’t know the laws of anything.” 

Hardly a reassuring claim from someone seeking political office.

Meanwhile, on the debate stage, Jones seized the opportunity to clarify his Trump-aligned platform, while dodging difficult questions by pointing out that his opponent didn’t bother to show up. The one-sided debate has already surpassed 2,000 views on YouTube, and Rick Jackson’s absence has become a major talking point in Georgia politics.

While Keisha Lance Bottoms rallies with Senator Ossoff, forms a unified Democratic coalition, and turns her sights towards the general election, the Republican base is split between two candidates: a Trump-endorsed continuation of Governor Kemp’s tenure, and a billionaire who would rather rally with Florida politicians than articulate his views to Georgians.

Showing Up, Giving Up, Catching Up: The Lt. Governor Debate

Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder

This week, Senators Ossoff and Warnock joined Stacey Abrams in endorsing Josh McLaurin in the Democratic runoff for lieutenant governor, a significant show of unified support ahead of the June 16th vote.

On May 31st, McLaurin and runoff opponent Nabilah Parkes faced off in a debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club. Covering a broad range of topics from redistricting to the legalization of recreational marijuana, the debate focused on one particular theme: who would be the strongest fighter for working-class Georgians.

The Central Dispute

A major point of contention centered around Parkes' decision to resign her position as a state senator in the midst of a special election for a highly competitive seat.

McLaurin repeatedly painted this as abandonment: "How could you possibly say you're a fighter to your constituents when you've resigned your seat and left open the possibility that a Republican will fill that seat for a generational civil rights fight in the state Senate?" Furthermore, he stated, "Fighters do not give up. They show up. That defeatism is how we lose to Trump."

Parkes pushed back, arguing that her entrance was out of necessity and that McLaurin had failed to build momentum. "I got into this race because you weren't doing the work for an entire year, and it's evidenced by the fact that I caught up with you in two months." She also reiterated her confidence that Democrat Adrienne White would win her District 7 seat.

To Collaborate with Republicans

A Republican-majority Senate is the reality both candidates would face as lieutenant governor. McLaurin and Parkes presented different approaches: McLaurin pointing to existing relationships, Parkes to the power of the office itself.

McLaurin highlighted several wins while being in the minority: car booting regulations, funding for PTSD research in veterans, and a quiet respect from Republican colleagues. A particular anecdote emphasized this: after speaking out against Trump, four senators privately thanked him for his willingness to do so. He also referenced his endorsements by over 60 state colleagues as a testament to his ability to "get stuff done."

Parkes argued for the leverage yielded by the lieutenant governor's bully pulpit and calendar control. She noted Republican co-optation of her bills on a school supply tax holiday and the sales tax on menstrual products, and raised a moratorium on data centers as a potential bipartisan issue given energy costs and contamination concerns.

Whatever their differences on strategy, McLaurin and Parkes agree on where Georgia needs to go: Medicaid expansion, reproductive rights, raising the minimum wage, legalizing marijuana, and fully funding public education. The question voters will answer on June 16th is simpler: Who do you trust to fight to get there?

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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A Voter’s Guide to the Georgia Runoffs

Last week’s primary elections resulted in former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms securing the democratic nomination for governor with a 56.2% majority vote. In light of this, other statewide races now advance to runoff elections as we prepare for voting in November. 

Overseeing state Senate proceedings, influencing committee assignments, and serving next in line to the governor in the instance the role becomes vacant, the lieutenant gubernatorial race is between candidates Nabilah Parkes and Josh McLaurin. 

CBS News

Josh Mclaurin currently represents Georgia State Senate District 14, who previously served two terms in Georgia’s House of Representatives from the 51st district. His campaign focuses on addressing the rising cost of living, strengthening workers’ rights, and advancing progressive healthcare and reproductive rights legislation. Speaking towards his campaign priorities, he has vehemently affirmed he is “unafraid of cheap political attacks and will fight for the rights, safety, and overall well-being of vulnerable people as if they are my own family,” from Republican policies and the Trump movement. 

Nabilah Parkes recently represented Georgia State Senate District 7 before her resignation in March 2026. She made history as Georgia’s first Muslim and South-Asian woman elected to the Georgia Senate. Moreover, she’s worked as a campaign manager for Mayor Andre Dickens and a campaign member for Jason Carter and Hillary Clinton. Since starting her campaign, she has built a progressive brand centered on healthcare access and affordability, voting and civil rights, and improving Georgia’s education system. Highlighting her campaign’s focus on advocacy and democratic priorities, Parkes said, "When our rights are under attack, we stand up and fight back. It's what I've done as a Senator and a mom. And it's what I'll do as Georgia's next Lieutenant Governor."

One point of controversy in the race emerged after Parkes resigned from the state Senate during the legislative session in order to focus on fundraising and campaigning for Lieutenant Governor. Her resignation left District 7 without representation during the final weeks of the session, while McLaurin remained in office and continued serving his district. 

Fighting for Fair Elections: The Road to a Blue Secretary of State

The Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing state elections, registering businesses and corporations, granting professional licenses, and regulating securities and charities. The office maintains official public records and archives, and protects consumers by regulating various financial and vocational activities. 

The Secretary of State runoff is between Penny Brown Reynolds and Dana Barret. 

Penny Brown Reynolds is a former Fulton County state judge and has served in both state and federal government roles. Her campaign emphasizes a commitment to protecting voting rights and small businesses. 

Dana Barret is a Fulton County commissioner, a small business owner, and a former technology executive. Her campaign focuses on protecting voter rights, strengthening election administration, and supporting small business growth. 

Jackson & Jones: A Billionaire and a Protégé

Georgia Recorder, May 19, 2026

The Republican gubernatorial runoff has handed Georgia Democrats something rare: a head start. While Keisha Lance Bottoms claimed a decisive Democratic primary victory, Republicans are still fighting each other for the right to lose in November.

Rick Jackson, a billionaire himself, described himself as "Foster care to billionaire.” This slogan defines political newcomer Rick Jackson's campaign, the most expensive in Republican ad spending in the nation this cycle. His legislative record is thin, with two foster care-related bills over eight years, but his checkbook has not been. Jackson has poured over $80 million of his own money into the race, more Republican ad spending than any candidate in the nation this cycle. It is hard to believe a candidate of such wealth could truly understand the plight of most Georgians.

Burt Jones is no newcomer. He served as a state senator from 2013 to 2023 before rising to Lieutenant Governor under Brian Kemp. With Kemp's two terms up, Jones has positioned himself as the next Trump loyalist in line. This week, his 2020 record is back in the spotlight, with renewed attention on his role as one of 16 fake electors who attempted to overturn Georgia's presidential results. He was never charged, but the story has not gone away. Nor should it.

A Divide and an Opportunity

The race between them has featured a defamation lawsuit, personal attacks, and the kind of nasty infighting that has come to define today's GOP. It is less a primary than a demolition derby.

Georgia Democrats hope to capitalize. Ossoff has already declared that he and Bottoms will campaign as partners, united at the top of the ticket. Together, they have a real shot at making history, electing the first Black female governor in United States history. That window opens June 16th. Republicans will still be swinging at each other when it does.

The 2030 Project is proud to stand with Beth and Michelle. We've been on the ground with them in their districts and have witnessed firsthand their passion and leadership.

Now the work begins in earnest. Five endorsed candidates. Five winnable districts. Tuesday proved we have the right people to get the job done. However, you can help, wherever you live; we are going to need you between now and November. 

Special Session Preview

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC, April 2, 2026

On May 13th, two weeks after the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais gutted a major provision of the Voting Rights Act, Governor Kemp called the General Assembly back to Atlanta for a special session beginning June 17th. The proposed congressional maps would take effect for the 2028 elections, and early analysis suggests Republicans are targeting around two additional House seats. Georgia's 2nd District, currently represented by Democrat Sanford Bishop, is considered the most likely gerrymandering target. But the session is not limited to congressional maps. Republicans will also redraw Georgia's State House and State Senate districts, meaning the maps that will govern statehouse races through the end of the decade are also on the table. 

The session's agenda goes beyond redistricting. It also includes finalizing funding and implementation logistics for SB 189, a 2024 law that bans QR codes on ballots. The provision passed two years ago but was never fully funded or implemented, and a July 1st deadline is now forcing the issue. Republicans installed the current voting system in 2019 for over $100 million, a move Democrats opposed from the start in favor of hand-marked ballots. Concerns are already mounting about whether a new system can realistically be put in place before November.

Democrats have reserved particular criticism for Lt. Governor Burt Jones, who delayed votes on SB 214 and SB 568 before Sine Die. They allege Jones, now a Republican runoff candidate for governor, deliberately stalled the legislation to create the pretext for a special session, giving Republicans political cover to redraw the maps. With Georgia's Supreme Court now entirely appointed by Republican governors, there is no judicial check on whatever maps emerge.

Democrats have called it what it is: a coordinated effort to dilute Black voting power that echoes the tactics of the Jim Crow era. With the VRA gutted and the courts stacked, the playbook is not subtle.

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

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Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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If you spent any time looking at the primary returns on Tuesday night, you still might be feeling a mix of things today. Anxiety. Frustration. Maybe even a little anger. 

Or maybe even a little… hope.

We are living through a high-stakes political moment. The Supreme Court's decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act opened the floodgates for gerrymandering across the South. Governor Kemp is already calling a special session to redraw Georgia’s maps behind closed doors. It is easy to look at those headlines and feel overwhelmed. 

But we keep seeing hope.

Credit: Michelle Kang

On Tuesday, Georgians in our Battleground State House Districts sent a message. While all five of our candidates cleared the primary, we wanted to highlight our two candidates who had contested primaries.

Michelle Kang won in HD-99 with 71.5%, while Beth Fuller won in HD-53 with 80% of the vote. Both are headed to November with a mandate from Democratic primary voters who looked at two candidates willing to do the hard work of knocking doors, showing up, and making the case—and said yes, unambiguously.

Our organization exists because we refuse to let anxiety dictate the future of our state. We choose to build hope instead.

Hope is 15 students (and counting!) joining us as interns since the VRA was gutted.

Hope is over a million Democrats stepping up to vote because Georgia – and the South – is worth fighting for.

Hope is you, reading this email, and saying, “Damn right, we’re fighting back.”

The primary is behind us. Our candidates are locked in. The path to breaking the gerrymandered stranglehold on Georgia runs through flipping the State House.

And just now, one of our donors who saw Tuesday's results has stepped up with a $5,000 match to make sure we can finish the job. Donate right now!

The other side is relying on backroom maps to demoralize us, but they are miscalculating the resilience of our community.

They are miscalculating our hope.

They are miscalculating Beth, Michelle, Farooq, and their campaign teams.

They are miscalculating the 15 students who walked through that door to join 15 others.

They are miscalculating… you.

Us.

If you are ready to put your energy and your hope to work, every donation you make today is matched dollar for dollar. Your $25 becomes $50. Your $50 becomes $100. 

Let this be the week we turned the corner in Georgia and set the tone for the South.

If Kemp and his allies hold the State House, they get a blank check to rewrite the rules of Georgia's democracy. If we win these five battleground districts, we break that power.

Thank you for standing with us, for believing in Georgia, and for turning anxiety into action.

And hope.

Sincerely,

Andrew Ferguson Executive Director The 2030 Project

P.S. If you’re ready to help us finish the job in these five battleground districts, click here to have your support matched dollar for dollar right now. 

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

Beth and Michelle: Onto November

On Tuesday night, Georgians in our Battleground State House Districts sent a message. While all five of our endorsed candidates cleared the primary and are headed to November, we wanted to highlight our two candidates who had contested primaries.

Beth Fuller won in HD-53 with 80% of the vote, while Michelle Kang won in HD-99 with 71.5%. Overwhelming victories from two strong candidates with two strong campaigns. Both are headed to November with a mandate from Democratic primary voters who looked at two candidates willing to do the hard work of knocking doors, showing up, and making the case—and said yes, unambiguously.

Credit: Michelle Kang

The 2030 Project is proud to stand with Beth and Michelle. We've been on the ground with them in their districts and have witnessed firsthand their passion and leadership.

Now the work begins in earnest. Five endorsed candidates. Five winnable districts. Tuesday proved we have the right people to get the job done. However, you can help, wherever you live; we are going to need you between now and November. 

State Supreme Court

Tuesday's energy didn't carry over to every race. Democratically backed candidates Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin fell short in their Georgia Supreme Court bids. Jordan lost 60-40, while Rankin’s race came down to a razor-thin 51-49 margin, a reminder that down-ballot judicial races require a different kind of voter contact than the candidate-driven campaigns we highlighted above. These seats matter, and Georgia Democrats will need to keep building the infrastructure and awareness to be competitive in nonpartisan races like these. The work continues. 

Bottoms Clears the Field

Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary officially cemented former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as the party’s nominee, setting up one of the country’s most closely watched governor’s races and giving Democrats renewed hope of expanding statewide power in 2026.

Bottoms emerged from a field that included former state senator Jason Esteves and former DeKalb CEO Mike Thurmond, ultimately securing more than 56% of the vote. 

Credit: Natrice Miller, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Her victory was fueled by strong support in metro Atlanta and a late shift from undecided voters who rallied behind her statewide message and national profile.

Throughout the campaign, Bottoms focused on abortion protections, Medicaid expansion, voting rights, and public education funding. She also emphasized economic affordability by addressing housing access and healthcare costs, while criticizing Republican leadership for prioritizing culture-war politics over the everyday concerns of working families. 

Her victory also demonstrated how undecided voters gravitated toward the most recognizable candidate as turnout surged across the state. Georgia shattered primary turnout records, with over two million ballots cast statewide. This was a 27.9% turnout rate, according to the Secretary of State's office. 

With the GOP primary headed to a runoff, Democrats now turn their attention to November. Georgia's changing demographics, a growing suburban coalition, and signs of energy from younger voters set the table for what could be the party's best shot at the governor's office in nearly three decades. 

The Republican Side of the Ballot

Georgia Republicans are headed for several runoffs, largely consisting of a moderate and Trump-allied candidate moving on. In the gubernatorial primary, Trump-backed Lt. Governor Burt Jones advanced with 38.4% of the vote and will face billionaire Rick Jackson. Meanwhile, in the Senate, MAGA-allied Mike Collins will face former college football coach Derek Dooley, with the two collecting 40.5% and 30.2%, respectively.

While neither race will have a nominee until June 16th’s run-off, there are a few key takeaways. For starters, Democrats are going to have to get their checkbook out. While the former Atlanta mayor has a month to garner support from her party, she will need to bridge the spending gap: Jackson has spent over $80 million, while Jones has spent just under $20 million. And while Jon Ossoff has raised over $57 million for his Senate race, almost $50 million more than Collins and Dooley combined, the GOP-backed Senate Leadership Fund pledged $44 million for their nominee in the general election. 

A Jones victory would also signal another win for Trump-backed candidates, as just this week, Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Thomas Massie, two Republicans who have criticized Trump in the past, lost their primaries. Even Dooley and Jackson, the more moderate of the two candidates, have been vocal in their support for Trump, illustrating the continued stronghold the President has on the GOP.

Finally, the results in Atlanta counties suggest that potential election interference weighs heavily on voters’ minds, as Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, who famously refused to overturn the 2020 election, outperformed in these regions. If the GOP nominates Rep. Collins for Senate and Lt. Gov. Jones for Governor, Democrats will need to emphasize this, as both have brought forth election-denial claims, and Collins has gone as far as to blow up voter ballots for campaign ads. If Collins is the nominee, the election-denial playbook that Republicans have been running since 2020 comes back to center stage in Georgia, and that's a fight Democrats will be ready to have. 

Credit: Hyosub Shin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Questions Nobody Warned You About

Tuesday's ballot had more than just candidates on it. Tucked beneath the governor's race and Supreme Court seats were a set of Democratic ballot questions, county by county, that most voters had not seen before. Some were straightforward. Some were deliberately pointed. And most voters had no idea what they were actually being asked. 

Statewide Democratic Ballot: “Is it ethical for political candidates who have used their public offices to enrich themselves and their families, or have had nearly a billion dollars of business dealings with the state of Georgia, to hold statewide office?” 

This question appears to be referring to an actual Republican candidate for governor, Rick Jackson. Jackson leads Jackson Healthcare, to which state agencies have made payments. While Jackson claims to end this practice once in office, this question attempts to make voters aware of any candidates with particularly problematic pasts.

Cobb County: “Do you support legislation that targets a small group of elected officials from one political party?”

The charged language of this question was bound to leave some voters confused. In essence, it is asking if the government of Georgia should pass bills that would not apply to all elected officials equally. This seems so intuitive that some voters may have pondered the question to see if it is getting at something deeper.

DeKalb County: “Do you support your local law enforcement signing an agreement to act on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents?”

“On behalf” is the tricky part. Voters may assume this means law enforcement will begin phasing out ICE and returning things to normal. This is not the case. A “yes” here means local law enforcement should assist ICE in carrying out its orders. This could lead to a wider distrust of law enforcement among citizens and undocumented immigrants alike, when everyone in this country should feel safe from the police, not fear.

These questions weren't accidents. They were Democrats putting Republican overreach on the record, in the one place voters have to pay attention. The execution wasn't always clean, and not every voter walked out knowing what they'd just weighed in on. But the instinct is right. Georgia Republicans are reshaping this state question by question, bill by bill, map by map. Democrats are going to have to get a lot better at meeting voters where they are before they're standing in a voting booth trying to decode it alone. 

Undeterred…

Georgia showed up on Tuesday. Over two million Georgians cast ballots, a record for a primary election, in a state where the right to vote has never felt more fragile. This was the first Georgia primary since the Supreme Court gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and Georgians responded the way Georgians do. 

They voted.

Young people showed up too. The final numbers will tell the full story, but the direction was clear. They will not sit idly by while their future is decided by others.

Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms lead the Democratic ticket into November. The top of the ticket matters—but elections are won and lost up and down the ballot. The Georgia State Legislature is where policy gets made, where maps get drawn, and where the next decade of this state gets decided. That is why the work of flipping our five battleground districts matters as much as anything on the ballot in November. 

And Republicans know it. A Special Session opens June 17 with redistricting on the agenda. They are drawing maps for 2028 in part to distract us from 2026. We will not be distracted. We will show up, organize, and vote. The party that controls the Georgia legislature by the end of 2030 will shape this state for generations. Whatever power grabs and nonsense they throw at us from now until November, our response is simple:

We have elections to win.

Undaunted, A Memory

Credit: Black History in America, “Medgar Evers”

As a reminder of the power we hold today in Georgia and across the South, let us look back at a tragedy that led to a hard-won history that we are fighting to keep.

“Take your names off the books before some other Negro gets hurt…” Those are one of many sentences uttered to Medgar Evers and his brother, Charles, when attempting to register and vote in Mississippi’s primary elections in 1946. It’s no secret that intimidation tactics and trickery were laboriously implemented. But what’s often overlooked as an attempt to “remediate” the past is the emotional, physical, and mental trauma Black Americans went through to secure voting rights. 

It’s astonishing how a World War II veteran, like Medgar Evers, was denied and disenfranchised from voting in the very country he served and risked his life for. Black Americans have fought tooth and nail for this country, abroad, and on American soil. The civil rights and liberties that all American citizens so righteously enjoy were once held in the hands of Black Americans. If it weren’t for the brave actions of people like Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Marcus Garvey, and Claudette Colvin, where would this country be? Black Americans have consistently fought and raised concerns about America’s upholding of its promise of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

The purpose of this article is not to sow sorrow and guilt for what once was, but to refine the perspective regarding how our voting rights came to be. This isn’t a couch debate; it never has been. This is the livelihood of our country that Black Americans fought tenaciously for. Risking their lives and clothes in order to secure an equal future for themselves and generations to come. We’ve come too far to let their work die in vain. It’s time to continue the fight, as it’s never really over. The bar was set; the precedent was created. Undaunted, we must stand against the struggle.

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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The Undecided and Youth Voters.

Georgia’s gubernatorial stage has not been set, and possibly won’t be until June. A large portion of Georgia’s voters are undecided, on both sides, in their choice for the primaries. As a reminder, if no candidate reaches the 50% voter threshold, there will be an election runoff in June. 

According to the AJC, Keisha Lance Bottoms is leading the polls, and it is still possible that she will cross the 50% threshold. On average, she has between 32-43% of the vote. As we’ve discussed in the past, there isn’t a clear picture regarding the other candidates due to the “social media bubble.” It’s extremely difficult to gather and infer what the gubernatorial landscape is for Democrats. 

Surprisingly, Republicans are facing the same dilemma. Rick Jackson is currently leading in the polls, but not without Burt Jones’ momentum. In most polls, the two candidates are closely competing with each other. However, those numbers are still low. They only have between 16-37% of the vote. 

You can speculate for days on end as to why there is no clear candidate. It can be that Georgia voters are preoccupied with the current living, economic, and political situation. Yes, that is why voters should head to the polls and vote. But oftentimes, when life gets extremely difficult to survive, those things get put on the back burner. It’s a never-ending cycle. 

It could be the lack of clarity from candidates. Georgia’s democratic candidates faced scrutiny for their lack of clarity in policy, economic, and community issues, and in dealing with Trump. It feels like the candidates are very distant from voters and, in turn, breeds distrust and uncertainty. Especially within youth voting turnout, despite Gen Z being a particularly active demographic, Georgia Democrats have failed to truly capture their interest.

Here lies the question: Will Georgia voters have a clear understanding and gubernatorial preference by May 19, or will we participate in a June runoff election?

Devil's in the house of the rising maps

Mix greed and fear into a bowl, sprinkle in a little desperation, and you get yourself a Georgia peach cobbler—anti-democratic and straight from the Gold Dome. 

As expected, Governor Kemp has called for an emergency legislative session ahead of the midterms to begin redistricting Georgia’s maps. He postponed this decision only to avoid delaying the May 19th election. Georgia has 14 US House seats; Democrats hold 5, but as we have discussed just last week, with the gutting of the VRA, Republican states are moving quickly to force the makeup of Congress in their favor despite their obvious incompetence at lawmaking. 

They are fearful, and they have every right to be. The economy is on the decline; the administration is asking for more money for a ballroom than for tending to its citizens' needs; and AI data centers are wasting perfectly fine drinking water for an economic bubble. The only wind in the Republican sail is delusional loyalty and corruption. 

Systems are fraying at the edges, and one is not so sure that our elected officials are as vigilant as they should be. And still, we will fight.

The Georgia Supreme Court can strike down congressional maps that are deemed unconstitutional, which places this Tuesday’s election front and center once again. All nine current justices were appointed by Republican governors. That is not a court inclined to check Republican legislative power. Electing Miracle Rankin and Jen Jordan will not flip the Court overnight, but every seat matters. The abuse of redistricting power will continue unabated until the bench looks different.

This Tuesday is where that work begins.

The Real Kemp Legacy

For years, Brian Kemp cultivated a reputation as a moderate—a pragmatic conservative who could work across the aisle and govern responsibly. His actions this week tell a different story.

On May 11th, Kemp signed a tax cut worth $1.3 billion annually, with 74% of the benefits flowing to the top 20% of earners. On May 12th, he cut over $54 million in services—for homeless veterans, domestic violence shelters, sexual assault centers, children in foster care, Georgians with disabilities, and kids who need a bus to school—to pay for it. Some moderate.

He also vetoed SB 478, one of the rare moments this session when Georgia moved to protect its environment and natural resources for future generations. Kemp threw it out the moment it became politically inconvenient. We see who he’s governing for. It is not the future of Georgians. 

He then signed HB 369, making DA elections nonpartisan, but only in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton, and Cobb. The five largest, most diverse metro Atlanta counties. The five counties where Democratic prosecutors have shown a willingness to hold power accountable. 

You are probably ahead of us in connecting the dots: the Supreme Court guts the VRA, Republican legislatures across the South sprint to redraw maps, and Georgia targets its Democratic prosecutors. 

This is a coordinated movement, executed step by step.

Which brings us to June 17th.

Kemp has called a special session to redraw Georgia's maps. Not just congressional maps, but state legislative maps, too. The party that controls the legislature in 2031 draws the maps that shape Georgia politics through 2040. The session opens the day after any runoff elections—including potentially the governor's race on both sides—and two days before Juneteenth. 

The timing is worth noting.

Also on the agenda for the special session: the QR code ballot crisis Republicans created and failed to solve. Georgia law requires QR codes to be removed from ballots by July 1, months before the November election. Democrats pushed for a fix during the regular session. Republicans blocked it and went home. Now they have to come back.

Proving once again, they do not know how to govern responsibly.

The chaos is real. The stakes are real. But our north star remains the same:

We have elections to win.

As we said up top, the response to Republican power grabs is replacing Republicans. 

Because Georgia—and the entire South – is worth fighting for.

Socialist Alternative

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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Votes or Vibes?

If you spent the last few weeks watching Georgia Democratic politics on social media, the energy around this governor's race might surprise you. Multiple candidates have built real momentum online—passionate supporters, strong engagement, and a genuine sense that this primary is wide open and competitive.

Then you look at the polls.

A recent AJC survey of meager 1,000 likely Georgia Democratic primary voters tells a more complicated story. Keisha Lance Bottoms leads the field at 39%, with Michael Thurmond at 10%, Jason Esteves at 8%, and Geoff Duncan at 7%. Perhaps most striking: 35% of likely Democratic primary voters remain undecided with less than two weeks until May 19.

This disconnect matters—not just for this race, but for how we read every competitive primary. Social media rewards engagement, not representation. The voters who comment, share, and post skew younger, more online, and more ideologically activated than the broader electorate. They are not wrong to be enthusiastic. But enthusiasm on a screen does not automatically translate to votes cast on May 19.

The question for every Georgia candidate is the same one it has always been: can you convert impressions into turnout? Building an audience is not the same as building a coalition. And in a primary where early voting is already breaking records, the voters showing up right now are telling us something the algorithm cannot.

Watch the polls. Watch the early vote data. And watch what happens when the enthusiasm meets the ballot box.

VRA Fallout

Taking the focus off of virtual politics, it is time to look at what is happening in state legislators across the Deep South.

Last week we established that the fight over congressional maps is not procedural theater—it is a direct assault on democratic representation, and it has been ongoing for generations. This week, the assault went from methodical to frantic.

In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey called an emergency legislative session—emergency—not for flood relief, not for a public health crisis, but to redraw a congressional map that the Supreme Court had struck down for diluting Black voting power. Tennessee's Governor Bill Lee followed suit, calling his own special session specifically to break apart the one Democratic-held congressional district in the state, centered on Memphis—a majority-Black city. These are not coincidences of timing. This is a coordinated sprint.

Florida offers its own flavor of cruelty. In 2010, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting maps that diminish the ability of racial and language minorities to elect representatives of their choice. Voters decided this—not legislators, not governors, not appointed judges. And still, here we are, watching that protection be tested like a door with a loose hinge. The will of the people, it turns out, has an asterisk attached when it inconveniences power.

Our home state here operates on a different clock, and Governor Brian Kemp knows it. With voting already underway, Kemp has declared it too late to change congressional maps for this cycle—not as a concession, but as a promise deferred. The Supreme Court's ruling, he says, "requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle." Note the verb: requires.

The stakes of all this scrambling become clear in what election experts are now calling a dystopian but real possibility: a dispute over which party actually won control of the House. We said last week that conservatives cannot win by playing fair, and they know it. What we are watching now is not just the endgame of a single election but a reinstallation of a structure that makes future fair elections harder to achieve.

The question for Georgia voters is the same one it has always been. Not whether the system is broken. It is. Not whether bad-faith actors are at work. They are. The question is whether we show up in sufficient numbers and with sufficient organization to overwhelm what they are building, district by district, session by session, map by redrawn map.

Your vote is not the ceiling of democracy. But at this moment, it remains the floor.

Georgia Fighting Back

You just read what we are up against. Here is what we are doing about it.

Early voting numbers for Georgia's May 19 primary are breaking records. More than 230,000 Georgians had cast ballots as of the start of this week, a 28% increase over the same point in the 2022 primary. Of those voters, roughly 55% chose a Democratic ballot and 43.5% chose a Republican ballot. You can track those numbers yourself in real time, as the Secretary of State's office has launched a new party breakdown tool this cycle at sos.ga.gov/page/election-data-hub-unofficial-turnout. Whatever the number is when you read this, it is higher than it was yesterday.

Two of our candidates are in contested primaries on the May 19th ballot. Michelle Kang is running in HD-99, challenging Republican incumbent Matt Reeves, in one of the most competitive State House districts in Gwinnett County. Beth Fuller is running in HD-53, challenging Republican incumbent Deborah Silcox in a district that voted for Harris by four points in 2024.

This past weekend, our team spent Saturday walking neighborhoods and knocking on doors, sharing conversations about Beth and the May 19th primary. What stood out most wasn’t just the number of people who answered; it was how many of them already knew Beth by name.

Going door after door, people smiled in recognition. Some knew her through her professional work, others through years of seeing her as an active parent in her children’s schools, and many had already heard about her campaign. The sense of familiarity was unmistakable. Beth isn’t a distant figure in this community. Beth is someone people have worked with, learned from, or watched show up again and again.

Beth Fuller depicted second to the right on the second row.

One moment in particular stayed with our team. Behind one door stood a woman who told us she had never voted in a Democratic Primary before. She said she was a teacher, and after a recent incident involving a gun on campus, she was deeply worried about safety in schools. She was looking for leaders who understand what educators and students are facing every day.

Her concerns echo what Beth has outlined in her platform. Beth emphasizes safe, well-resourced schools, support for educators, and policies that protect students and strengthen communities. As a mom, Beth is deeply concerned about keeping our children safe through advocating for safe storage laws, with clear protections to prevent children’s access to unsecured firearms, requiring background checks on all gun purchases, and implementing red flag laws to temporarily restrict firearm access for individuals at high risk of harming themselves or others. Her focus on common sense, practical solutions and community‑driven leadership resonated strongly with the conversations we heard throughout the day.

As we continue meeting neighbors and listening to their stories, it’s clear people aren’t just looking for any candidate but for someone who understands their lives and concerns. Beth Fuller fills this void. Saturday reminded us how deeply Beth’s roots run in this district and how many people see her as a trusted voice at a moment when it matters.

The maps are being redrawn around us. The rules are being rewritten above us. The answer to all of it is the same one it has always been—more Georgians, in more districts, voting in greater numbers than the people trying to silence our voices.

Show up. Bring someone with you. And thank you for staying–or getting–in this fight.

The 2030 Project Team

Socialist Alternative

Consider a donation to The 2030 Project!

With year-round organizing, we can support strong candidates, create new Democratic coalitions, and build a better future for all Georgians.

secure.actblue.com/donate/2030project

Until next time,

Fund year-round organizing. Flip the GA State Legislature.

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Michelle and Beth, Leading with Courage & Competence

While primary elections serve as a vital engine for democratic engagement, the 2030 Project recognizes that the high stakes of the 2026 cycle demand a proactive approach. In a year where Georgia stands at the epicenter of the national political landscape, we cannot afford to wait until the dust settles on the May 19 primary. We have made the strategic decision to consolidate our resources behind two specific candidates early to ensure they have the financial and organizational infrastructure needed to withstand a grueling campaign.

This year, the 2030 Project is investing in two truly top‑tier women who can flip critical seats and govern with courage and competence: Michelle Kang and Beth Fuller. 

Michelle is a longtime activist and organizer in District 99 who came within just a few hundred votes of winning her last race and never stopped campaigning—she rebuilt her team, relaunched early, and is now running a multilingual, neighborhood-by-neighborhood operation in one of the most diverse districts in the state. As Michelle told supporters, “That diversity is our strength. It is why our campaign is printing literature in six different languages,” so that volunteers can meet voters where they are and build real relationships at the door. 

Beth is a public health leader with degrees from Emory, UAB, and Columbia, and a decade‑long CDC contract who stepped up after watching science and due process be “dismantled, disrespected, and just unraveled” from the inside. She’s running in one of the most competitive districts in the state, as she puts it, “District 53 is the top-tier critical seat because the margins are small and the electorate is pragmatic.” 

Real human interaction is the gold standard of these campaigns. Join us on the next two weekends, May 2nd & May 9th, in creating neighborhood connections with candidates, Michelle Kang and Beth Fuller. Your support is vital and essential in winning these races.

The Fourth Estate is on its Last Leg

For those who don’t know, journalism & media is the fourth estate. The fourth estate has been compromised. This is not a drill.

The long-standing pillar of the United States is free speech; it's what our founders stood for. "No taxation without representation" wasn't just about money; it was about the right to have a voice in the system you're forced to fund. But what happens when the government keeps the taxes and silences the press? When the media becomes a megaphone for power instead of a check on it, we inch toward a world where we pay into a system we're no longer allowed to question. Propaganda doesn't announce itself; it simply crowds out everything else until the only news you see is the news someone powerful chose for you.

Citizens are consistently deprived of accurate, real-time news. We don’t have a clear understanding of what our country has been propelled into, specifically with the war in Iran. We aren’t sure of how many totalities have already occurred on both sides; we aren’t sure of how severe the military’s actions are. However, what we are sure of is that our media has been compromised. 

Larry Ellison, founder of the software company, Oracle, acquired Paramount for $8 billion dollars, and subsequently, all of the entertainment companies under it. Moreover, Ellison is moving with interest in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns major news outlets such as CNN and CBS News. If the acquisition proceeds, the Ellison family will be able to control and propagate the media in the likes of his best friend, Trump. 

David Ellison, Larry’s son, already owns CBS after merging Skydance with Paramount in 2025, and his first move was spending $150 million to install Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief. Now he's pending the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which would hand him CNN too.

And the kicker that writes itself: On March 13, Pete Hegseth stood at a Pentagon podium and said out loud, "the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better," referring to CNN. 

Whether you realize or not, the media and ability to accurately report news is heavily influential in the success and freedom of our country. When the fourth estate is threatened, so is our right to freedom and democratic society.

Redistricting Democracy

Legislative maps from both Democrats and Republicans have been crossing the Supreme Court’s desk as each party attempts to gain and hold power. This battle over Congressional maps determines the makeup of the U.S. House of Representatives. And without the House, you cannot impeach President Trump. Without the House, you cannot pass or block legislation. 

Hours after the Virginia Supreme Court announced that it would allow the temporary blockage of the voter-approved Democratic Congressional map, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map which would have created a second heavily Democratic Black majority district. This is also a week after the same Supreme Court approved Texas’ redistricting map which would dilute Democratic congressional districts. 

Of the many conservative judges on the Supreme Court, attention has been drawn to Justice Clarence Thomas, and rightfully so. Justice Thomas, who signed on to the majority opinion for Wednesday’s decision, is an example of cruel irony that twist the senses, has personally expressed his disdain for the Voting Rights Act of 1964, as if he would somehow be able to vote without it, as if he has claimed some access to whiteness in his conservatism that is anything more than a temporary, fragile membership card. 

There is this strange misconception that giving equal representation is giving a leg up for Black and Hispanic Americans. Frankly, it is headache-inducing for advocates to explain each time this conversation comes up—Black and Hispanic Americans have been intentionally and explicitly targeted for voter suppression. To even the playing field is equity, to empower suppressed communities to have representation in their government is equity. Those pockets of America where Black Americans populate more heavily is largely because of historical red-lining and housing-based Jim Crow laws, keeping POCs locked within these communities.

And still, we are so eager for racial justice to be colorblind—to be absent of historical reality—that we refused to see the writing on the wall. They weaponized the language of colorblind redistricting to ignore historical harms, to turn back the clock,  and many voters fell for it. 

The question of democracy has always been in question for Black and POC Americans, especially when it comes to voting. One can imagine a perfect world without redistricting of this sort as it is quite undemocratic, but one can also imagine a world where Black voters were never suppressed. The point being that we are here now with the tools we have. There is little hope in both parties dropping their armed weapons long enough to support a fully functional democracy. 

We lament that fascism is here, but it always has been. America, indeed, is returning to her original form as was advertised by Make America Great Again. We can still change course. We can continue fighting for a future worth defending, just as those six decades ago did for us today. Conservatives can never win by playing fair, and they know it. As we have said before—if your vote and your voice wasn’t important, they wouldn’t do everything they could to take it away from you. 

If the Federal government will not stop the spread of the disease, it is up to the states. Which means this midterm election, especially here in Georgia, will determine our federal representation as much as our statewide one.

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