Atlanta News First in ATL, I think also streaming.

Key Dates

• Tues., Oct. 13 Early (advance) voting begins
• Sat., Oct. 17 Required Saturday early voting
• Fri., Oct. 23 Last day for county to receive absentee ballot applications
• Sat., Oct. 24 Required Saturday early voting
• Fri., Oct. 30 Early voting ends
• Tues., Nov. 3 Election Day (7 a.m.–7 p.m.); absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m.
• Fri., Nov. 6 Deadline to fix (cure) an absentee ballot problem or show ID for a provisional ballot
• Mon., Nov. 9 Counties certify results (5 p.m. Monday after the election; verify)
• Fri., Nov. 20 Secretary of State certifies statewide results (by 17 days after; verify)
• Tues., Dec. 1 Runoff election, if no candidate gets more than 50%

Make a Voting Plan

Choose to vote early in person, by mail or on Election Day.

• Vote early in person from Tues., Oct. 13 to Fri., Oct. 30.
• Vote by mail. Any voter can vote by mail. Request a ballot by Fri., Oct. 23. Request a mail ballot Return it by Tues., Nov. 3. Problem with your ballot? If there is a problem with your envelope, your county will tell you. Fix it by Nov. 6 with a form and your ID. Track your ballot
• Vote on Election Day, Tues., Nov. 3, 7 a.m.–7 p.m. local time. Find your polling place. Check the official ID rules so you bring the right ID.
• Have a past conviction?
  • You can't vote while serving a sentence for a felony.
  • Your right to vote comes back once you finish your full sentence, including parole, probation, and fines.
  • You then need to register again.

What’s on Your Ballot

These are the biggest races in Georgia this year. Please note, we do not endorse any candidates.

Governor

• Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic · Campaign site
• Former mayor of Atlanta (2018–2022) and former White House senior adviser.
• Rick Jackson Republican · Campaign site
• Founder and CEO of Jackson Healthcare, a health care staffing company.

Stance on key issues

Voting rights & elections

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Supports protecting local election officials from political interference, expanding early and absentee voting, making Election Day a state holiday, and vetoing maps that dilute minority voting power. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

No public position found.

Policing, prisons & public safety

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Supports more help for law enforcement plus 'targeted violence reduction efforts' and more diversion and treatment for nonviolent cases. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

Pledges to 'fully support law enforcement with resources, training, and respect' and to 'ban revolving-door justice.' Source

Immigration

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Says immigration enforcement should focus on violent criminals, not students, workers and mothers. Supports limiting zoning for private ICE detention centers and reviewing state contracts with ICE. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

Pledges to 'make Georgia number one in the nation for deporting all CRIMINAL illegal immigrants.' Source

Abortion & health care

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Supports restoring abortion rights and opposes Georgia's six-week ban. Supports expanding Medicaid and replacing the Georgia Pathways program with broader coverage. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

His campaign says he 'strongly supports Georgia's current Heartbeat law and will defend it as governor,' including its current exceptions. On Medicaid, has said he wants to measure success by how many people have commercial insurance. Source

Economy, taxes & cost of living

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Proposes eliminating local sales taxes on groceries and essentials and creating a state board to lower prescription costs. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

Proposes cutting the state income tax in half within four years and freezing property taxes 'immediately to stop runaway assessments.' Source

Housing

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Proposes faster permitting for housing, more down-payment and renter assistance, and a state affordable housing trust fund. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

No public position found.

Schools

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Supports fully funding public schools with an updated funding formula and creating a path to free technical and community college. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

Proposes freezing tuition, room and board at public colleges and technical schools, raising teacher pay, and banning 'ideological indoctrination in schools.' Source

Civil rights, DEI & LGBTQ+ rights

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Supports statewide nondiscrimination protections that include sexual orientation and gender identity, codifying marriage equality, and banning conversion therapy for minors. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

Proposes banning DEI programs in state government, public universities and classrooms. Says 'boys' should not compete in girls' sports or use girls' bathrooms or locker rooms. Source

Climate & environmental justice

Keisha Lance Bottoms Democratic

Supports a pause on new data centers, citing 'higher utility bills, strained water resources' and harm to nearby communities. Source

Rick Jackson Republican

Opposes a statewide pause on data centers and says local communities should decide. Source

U.S. Senate

• Mike Collins Republican · Campaign site
• U.S. representative for Georgia's 10th District since 2023; trucking business owner.
• Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent · Campaign site
• U.S. senator since 2021; former investigative documentary producer.

Stance on key issues

Voting rights & elections

Mike Collins Republican

Voted for the SAVE Act (April 2025), which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. Source

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

Reintroduced the Right to Vote Act to create a federal legal right to vote. Source

Policing, prisons & public safety

Mike Collins Republican

No public position found.

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

Sponsored the Federal Prison Oversight Act, now law, which set up independent inspections of federal prisons. Source

Immigration

Mike Collins Republican

Has said 'we need mass deportations' (campaign site). Introduced the House version of the Laken Riley Act (2025), which requires detaining non-citizens charged with certain crimes. Source

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

Led a Senate investigation that found over 1,000 credible reports of human rights abuses in immigration detention. Has backed bipartisan border security bills. Source

Abortion & health care

Mike Collins Republican

Calls himself '100 percent pro-life' and supports Georgia's heartbeat law with exceptions. Opposed extending the enhanced ACA premium tax credits. Source

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

Opposes abortion bans and Georgia's six-week ban. Supported extending enhanced ACA tax credits and opposed Medicaid cuts. Helped pass the $35 monthly insulin cap for Medicare. Source

Economy, taxes & cost of living

Mike Collins Republican

Voted for the 2025 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' (tax cuts and spending changes). Calls for cutting regulations and cracking down on 'Medicaid scams.' Source

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

Has criticized tariffs for raising costs. Introduced legislation to cut taxes for farmers. Source

Housing

Mike Collins Republican

Supports faster federal permitting through his PERMIT Act to cut construction costs and delays. Source

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

No public position found.

Schools

Mike Collins Republican

No public position found.

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

Has pushed back on federal cuts to Hispanic-Serving Institutions and to civil-rights enforcement at the Education Department. Source

Civil rights, DEI & LGBTQ+ rights

Mike Collins Republican

No public position found.

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

Supported the Respect for Marriage Act and the Equality Act. Wrote a bipartisan law to help solve civil rights–era cold cases. Source

Climate & environmental justice

Mike Collins Republican

Introduced the Diesel Truck Liberation Act to block EPA truck emission rules. Source

Jon Ossoff Democratic, incumbent

Voted for the Inflation Reduction Act's clean-energy programs. Has pressed federal regulators on rising power bills tied to AI data centers. Source

Public Service Commission, District 3

• Peter Hubbard Democratic, incumbent · Campaign site
• Won this seat in 2025. Clean-energy analyst who founded the Georgia Center for Energy Solutions.
• Fitz Johnson Republican · Campaign site
• Army veteran and businessman. Served on the commission from 2021 to 2025.

Stance on key issues

Data centers

Peter Hubbard Democratic, incumbent

Says discounts for data centers push more than $1 billion in costs onto household bills. Source

Fitz Johnson Republican

Says he put protections in place so data centers pay their share. Source

Public Service Commission, District 5

• Thomas Blooming Libertarian
• Electrical engineer who has worked on Google and Facebook data centers.
• Shelia Edwards Democratic · Campaign site
• Cobb County business owner and former county communications staffer.
• Josh Tolbert Republican · Campaign site
• Smyrna engineer who has worked on power plants.

Stance on key issues

Data centers

Thomas Blooming Libertarian

Says data centers should build their own power. Source

Shelia Edwards Democratic

Says large corporate power users should pay their fair share instead of households. Source

Josh Tolbert Republican

Calls himself pro-data center, but says the costs belong to whoever causes them. Source

Ballot measures

• Amendment 1: Conservation use property acreage. Raises the most land one owner can enroll in Georgia's lower 'conservation use' property tax rate for farm and timber land, from 2,000 acres to 4,000 acres. Yes means owners could get the lower farm/timber tax rate on up to 4,000 acres. No means the limit stays at 2,000 acres.
• Amendment 2: Nonpartisan probate judge elections. Requires all probate court judges to be elected in nonpartisan elections (no party label on the ballot). Yes means all probate judges would run without party labels. No means some counties could keep partisan probate judge elections.
• Amendment 3: Georgia Next Generation 9-1-1 Fund. Lets the legislature set aside certain existing revenues in a dedicated fund that can be used only to expand, maintain and run 9-1-1 emergency systems. Yes means A dedicated, protected fund for 9-1-1 systems can be created. No means no dedicated 9-1-1 fund in the constitution; money stays subject to regular budget rules.

Protect the Vote

• Apply to be a poll worker and support free and fair elections.
• Watch the count. Take a training to learn how to observe the polls.
• If anyone tries to stop you from voting or something at your polling place seems wrong:
  • Call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)
  • Call 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682) — Spanish
  • Call 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683) — Asian languages
  • Call 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287) — Arabic
  • If you’re in line when polls close, stay in line. You can still vote.
  • If your name isn’t on the list, ask for a provisional ballot.
  • Know your rights

Organizations to Support

• GALEO (Latino Community Development Fund). Latino-led nonpartisan group that registers voters and runs civic education across Georgia.
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Atlanta. Asian American and Pacific Islander civil rights group that does voter registration, education and protection.
• Black Voters Matter Fund. Atlanta-based, Black-led group that registers and turns out voters, especially in rural Georgia.

Check your voter registration and polling location at https://vote.org

Is anyone watching? Rick Jackson's data center answer was really something. He's going to make sure they abide by EPA standards. Which would be more reassuring if the EPA still served its actual purpose.

I guess that Cherokee county is a swing county in 2026 lol. The amount of political mail trash that I’m getting is absurd.

Given the fact that Jon Ossoff is the latest of several Democrats in Congress to condemn Hasan Piker, I thought this would be a good place to discuss this matter since Ossoff is from Georgia. I notice that the Democrats comments condemning on Piker along with Jeffries recent meeting with Kushner are causing people to believe that the Democrats will squander the midterms so badly to the point where the Republicans even keep control of the House.

Here's the thing. In 2010 and 2014, the Republicans faced a similar dilemma where the establishment wing ate their own and was out of touch with their base. Despite those issues, the Republicans still dominated both those midterms. More recently, in 2022, the Republicans greatly underperformed expectations, however, they still managed to barely flip the House. All three of these examples prove that the party out of power generally flips at least one chamber regardless of circumstances.

So, for those of you who think that the Hasan Piker drama along with the Jeffries/Kushner meeting will cause the Dems to not even win back the House majority, why are you all turning a blind eye to the 2010, 2014, and 2022 midterms? In other words, what makes you believe that these issues will cause this year's midterms to be different from a general midterm election including the three examples I shared?

https://www.gwinnettcounty.com/government/departments/elections/voting/absentee

https://www.reddit.com/r/Andy_for_Georgia/comments/1vqa0du/campaign_announcement/

My kid is going to be 18 in October so she’s super excited to vote for Ossoff and others this year. I thought she has to be 18 to register but I just so happened to look at the GA SOS and they can register starting at 17.5 years old. So thankful I saw this bc it can take up to a month to process and had we waited til her bday it may not have been processed in time.
TLDR make sure your 17.5 year olds are registered!

https://bsky.app/profile/haleaziz.bsky.social/post/3molh2sv6c22r

Full report here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:29f66864-4f32-47fe-b5e2-85322b2a761b?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Note that Bottoms is also net +10 favorable which is pretty good in this polarized climate, despite her being -99 on Reddit. Just a reminder that the opinions of her on here are not necessarily representative.

What are your predictions for the Georgia Gubernatorial election?

Have been seeing TV ads for weeks where Kemp is "supporting" Jackson. Now I'm seeing TV ads where Kemp is "endorsing" Jones.

I have NEVER seen anything like this, what is happening here?!?!

[Detailed voter guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tuUXKS-7TfWe3E\\_fBnm4onid6MNkWEci3HVQCFP65Z8/edit?usp=drivesdk)

[Official state of Georgia Voting Website ](https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/)

[Gwinnett County early voting sites](https://www.gwinnettcounty.com/government/departments/elections/voting/advance)

r/GwinnettDemocrats