By Jill Nolin | Editor
Today, opinion writer Jay Bookman explains why he thinks Tuesday’s election could usher in a new era of Georgia politics. We bring you his latest commentary as well as a look at a consequential down-ballot race.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff campaign together earlier this month in Cobb County. Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder
COMMENTARY
By Jay Bookman
If you believe the polls, Jon Ossoff will easily win re-election to the U.S. Senate, and Keisha Lance Bottoms is right on the heels of Rick Jackson in the governor’s race despite being badly outspent. She might even have a slight lead.
Once upon a time in a not-too-distant past, this whole thing would have been unthinkable. For some, it still is. But Georgia has changed, the times have changed and under Donald Trump, the Republican Party has changed.
After Tuesday, even more change is likely.
The two candidates for secretary of state, Republican Tim Fleming (left) and Democrat Penny Brown Reynolds (right) face off at a debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club. Photo by J Glenn Photography
2026 ELECTION
By Maya Homan
The race to become Georgia’s next top elections official is heating up as Election Day nears, and the two candidates on the ballot are offering starkly different visions for the future of voting in the Peach State.
The role soared to national prominence in the aftermath of the 2020 election when Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger resisted President Donald Trump’s request to overturn his loss in Georgia. Georgia’s status as a battleground state means the next secretary will likely continue to administer elections with national consequences, including the 2028 presidential race.
Tanya Tomanek poses for a photo outside of the Brantley County Courthouse on Sept. 23, 2026. Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight/Report for America
PARTNER CONTENT
By Justin Taylor, The Current
For most of her life, Tanya Tomanek thought of herself as a businesswoman, mother and grandmother, someone who moved to her quiet 13-acre land in Brantley County three years ago. She was more concerned with her family than politics.
That changed this summer, when Tomanek was led out of a county commission meeting in handcuffs and spent three nights in jail after delivering an impassioned plea for transparency and accountability over the hot-button issue of data centers.
On Wednesday, Tomanek, 53, is going to court to fight charges of criminal trespass. She says the accusations are politically motivated and meant to silence her coalition of residents against tech firms and developers that are scouring Georgia for places to build data centers and the local officials tempted to bring them to her county.
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ICYMI FROM THE RECORDER
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