The Senate dominoes are falling. U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, has ruled out a challenge to Democratic
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff
in 2026, according to a senior aide.
The decision provides more clarity for a growing GOP field that already includes U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter and Insurance Commissioner John King. Former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley is expected to join the race.
And U.S. Rep. Mike Collins appears poised to announce his campaign at any moment after a not-so-subtle post on social media.
“Tires kicked. Fueling up,” the Jackson Republican
posted to X
on Monday. The accompanying 15-second video shows clips of President Donald Trump speaking about and appearing with Collins.
“Who can beat
Jon Ossoff
?” the video says. “Stay tuned.”
McCormick is an emergency room physician and U.S. Marine veteran who was considered a wild card in Georgia’s GOP congressional delegation. He narrowly lost a swing seat in 2020 before winning a redrawn, Republican-friendly district two years later.
He quickly carved out a maverick image, posting fitness feats and polar plunges on social media. Also, he was one of the few prominent Georgia Republicans to back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Donald Trump for president, though he later aligned himself with the MAGA wing of the party.
He’s made waves with provocative remarks, including
recent criticism
of federal school lunch programs. A February town hall in Roswell went viral after he was
bombarded with jeers
, underscoring the squeeze some Republicans face.
In response to the backlash, McCormick urged the White House
to slow federal layoffs
— a hot-button issue Democrats have seized on ahead of 2026.
Things to know
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
Good morning! We’re just 31 days away from the deadline for municipal candidates to qualify for the November election.
Here are three other things to know for today:
-
State and local leaders say they’re cooking up something big in Fulton County. But they won’t say anything about it, only referring to it mysteriously as “Project Sasquatch,” the
AJC’s Zachary Hansen reports
.
-
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call between a military aircraft and a SkyWest Airlines plane operating under the Delta Connection brand,
the AJC’s Emma Hurt reports
.
-
The State Ethics Commission rejected Attorney General Chris Carr’s complaint seeking an investigation into the source of a $10 million loan Lt. Gov. Burt Jones made to his campaign for governor,
Greg Bluestein reports
.
Sneak peek
Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC
Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC
Georgia’s top elections official is defending the state’s mass voter roll cleanup — and urging Congress to follow suit.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger sent U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., a
four-page letter this morning
ahead of a House hearing on “voter list maintenance standards,” promoting Georgia’s process as the national “gold standard.”
The timing is notable. Just this month, Raffensperger’s office began canceling nearly half a million inactive voter registrations,
one of the largest such purges
since 2017.
In the letter, Raffensperger said Georgia has issued more than 4 million “mass list maintenance notices” during his tenure. But he also pushed for a series of changes to federal voting rules, including relaxing the 90-day blackout period before federal elections.
He also called for a federal photo ID requirement for all forms of voting, a ban on ballot harvesting in federal elections, mandated risk-limiting audits after votes and a federal law barring non-citizens from voting.
Raffensperger, who’s often at odds with his own party over election conspiracies, has leaned into the security of Georgia’s voting system ahead of a potential bid for governor.
Job’s not done
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Politicians and parents alike decried the rise of distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic. But now some are eyeing it as a way to reach students who have never consistently returned to the classroom.
Chronic absenteeism in Georgia schools surged to
20% after the pandemic
, where it has stayed ever since. State lawmakers
passed a law
earlier this year requiring some districts with the worst problems to create special attendance review teams to tackle the issue.
But lawmakers still want to do more. Today,
a House study committee
led by state Rep.
Chris Erwin
will hold its first meeting on the issue. The Republican from Homer noted districts have embraced the work-from-home concept during snow days and other disruptions.
“Can we do that same type of philosophy for the weather that we have for a chronically absent kid?” he said. “That is definitely an area we are going to explore.”
And they won’t explore it alone. The Senate
also has a committee
studying the issue, led by
Republican John F. Kennedy
of Macon, who is also running for lieutenant governor. Erwin said he hopes for the two committees to have a joint hearing in September.
From Buckhead to Belgium
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Bill White will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning for his
confirmation hearing
to be the U.S. ambassador to Belgium.
White was the often combative driving force behind the ill-fated attempt to slice the wealthy Buckhead neighborhood apart from Atlanta a few years ago. He then moved from Atlanta to Palm Beach, Florida, where he was a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago.
He’s known President Donald Trump for more than 30 years since their days in Manhattan, so a nomination of some sort for White was not a surprise, although a role in diplomacy might have been.
If confirmed, White has said his priority will be advancing Trump’s “America First” policies overseas. But first, he’ll have his hearing, where we’re told to expect Buckhead to get an honorable mention.
Listen up
Today on the “
Politically Georgia
” podcast Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell discuss where U.S. Rep. Mike Collins fits into the broader Republican landscape as he prepares for a U.S. Senate run.
You can listen and subscribe to the show for free at
Apple Podcasts
,
Spotify
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at
or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.
No meetings
Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Republicans say they won’t hold any more meetings of the U.S. House Rules Committee this week out of concern that Democrats would force a vote on legislation to compel the release of files related to the investigation of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019 while in a New York correctional center.
Without a meeting, the House can’t advance
any legislation to the floor that can pass by a simple majority vote. That means the only things the House will consider this week before taking it’s summer recess are non-controversial bills that can be fast-tracked but require a two-thirds majority for passage.
Republicans say they are robbing Democrats of an opportunity to grandstand on the Epstein controversy, which has caused a rift among MAGA Republicans. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican on the committee,
told Politico
that his party refused to give Democrats “an endless microphone.”
Today in Washington
Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Happenings:
- President Donald Trump will meet at the White House with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., president of the Philippines.
- The House has afternoon votes scheduled.
- The Senate will vote on more of Trump’s nominations.
-
Bill White, Trump’s nominee to be
ambassador to Belgium
, meets with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
MLK files
Credit: AP file photo
Credit: AP file photo
The Trump administration on Monday
released more than 240,000 pages
of FBI records related to its surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. until his 1968 assassination.
King’s family, including his two living children, Martin Luther King III, 67, and Bernice King, 62, opposed the document dump, which they were informed of about two weeks ago. They encouraged people reviewing the files to consider the historical context.
“As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met — an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,”
they wrote
. “We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief.”
But Bernice King also had a bit more to say on social media, where she posted a picture of her father giving a side eye
with the caption
: “Now, do the Epstein files.”
Now, do the Epstein files.
pic.twitter.com/rzlub3WucQ
Shoutouts
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
Today’s birthday:
- State Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper.
Transition:
-
Sheerica Ware Wilkins has been
promoted
to political director of U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s reelection campaign.
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that.
Click here
to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
Before you go
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
Check out what
AJC producer Koralie Barrau found
in the floorboards of a 100-year-old house: a 1907 copy of The Atlanta Journal that reads like a Facebook feed.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to
,
,
and
.
