Politics

These are Atlanta's 500 most powerful leaders. We spent months consulting experts and sorting through nominations to get a list of the city's most influential people—from artists to chefs to philanthropists to sports coaches and corporate CEOs. In this section, we focus on civic leaders, government and politics, transportation, and utilities.

If the word “redistricting” is giving you deja vu, you’re remembering correctly. Georgia just drew new district maps in 2021, but in October, a federal judge threw out those maps, calling them racially discriminatory, and instructed Georgia lawmakers to draw new ones. On Wednesday, the legislature convened for a special session to draw the new district maps. To help you understand what’s happening, here are some of your redistricting questions, answered.

Once again, Georgia is at the center of the biggest story in American politics, after former President Donald Trump and 18 others were indicted in an alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. This is the fourth indictment for Trump this year—here is what is unique about the Fulton County case, including that it could be televised and a conviction here would be more difficult to pardon.

Bill Nigut is the highly regarded former host of Georgia Public Broadcast (GPB) political talk show Political Rewind, and the new role comes at an interesting time. In June, GPB announced Political Rewind was set to sunset at the end of June, disappointing longtime listeners. This fall, he returns to airwaves to co-host the Politically Georgia podcast alongside the AJC’s award-winning reporters, Greg Bluestein, Patricia Murphy, and Tia Mitchell.

The District Attorneys Oversight Commission is in, school vouchers are out. Here’s a look at which laws passed, which didn’t, and who’s salty about it

These are Atlanta's 500 most powerful leaders. We spent months consulting experts and sorting through nominations to get a list of the city's most influential people—from artists to chefs to philanthropists to sports coaches and corporate CEOs. In this section, we focus on civic leaders, government and politics, transportation, and utilities.

It was a busy first week back for Georgia’s elected officials. Freshmen lawmakers were sworn in, new congressional leadership was elected, and Governor Brian Kemp was inaugurated for his second term. Now, with the 2023 legislative session in full swing, here are five new developments that will likely shape this year’s lawmaking agenda.

Taking the stage around 11 p.m., Warnock thanked God, his congregants, his family, and supporters. “After a hard-fought campaign—or should I say campaigns?—it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever said in a democracy: The people have spoken."

Despite a high-profile challenge from Stacey Abrams, Brian Kemp won re-election by seven points, a wider margin than in 2018. The rest of the Republican ticket rode his coattails to victory—everyone but Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who’ll head to a runoff against incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock, in a race that could, once again, decide party control of the Senate.

Tuesday night marked the second time Stacey Abrams had come up short in a bid to claim the state’s top job, after losing to Brian Kemp in 2018, and she lost this year’s election by a wider margin. Speaking to voters at her watch party, Abrams said, “While I may not have crossed the finish line, it does not mean we will ever stop running for a better Georgia.”