Georgia might be insulated from decline of high school graduates.
Lawmakers air frustrations about abuse of dealer tags.
Savannah mayor discusses his political future.
Out on a limb
Supporters gathered in Jackson on Tuesday as U.S. Rep. Mike Collins launched his campaign for a Senate seat.
Credit: Greg Bluestein/AJC
Almost as important as what U.S. Rep. Mike Collins said at his formal Senate campaign launch last night was who showed up to support him.
The crowd in Collins’ hometown of Jackson included at least a dozen Republican state lawmakers, including state Sens. Greg Dolezal and Sam Watson, and state Reps. Beth Camp, Clint Crowe, Robert Dickey, Karen Mathiak, Holt Persinger and Dale Washburn.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Russ Goodman revved up the audience by calling Collins a champion of farmers. And state Rep. Rey Martinez took shots at Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Bruce LeVell, who once headed President Donald Trump’s diversity coalition, drew loud cheers when he urged former football coach Derek Dooley to quit the race. Afterward, he told us he’s convinced it’s only a matter of time until Trump endorses Collins.
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins formally launched his campaign for a Senate seat at a rally in Jackson, Ga., on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
Credit: Tia Mitchell/AJC
Those lawmakers knew the risk of appearing. By lining up with Collins, they could wind up on Gov. Brian Kemp’s bad side. The governor has put the full weight of his political machine behind Dooley, mobilizing donors and allies to lift the coach’s bid.
That’s why Collins’ rally doubled as an early test of strength in a volatile GOP primary. He pitched himself to grassroots voters and to Trump, while notably holding back from direct attacks on Dooley.
Also making a cameo: Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. He stressed he wasn’t endorsing and would attend rallies for Dooley and U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, too.
But this was home turf for Jones — he lives about 10 minutes from the venue and is holding his own gubernatorial kickoff rally down the road next week.
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Good morning! U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff along with U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop, Buddy Carter, Mike Collins and Austin Scott are all scheduled to appear at the Georgia Chamber’s Congressional Luncheon today in Columbus. Ossoff, Carter and Collins are all running for the U.S. Senate next year.They won’t be on the stage at the same time.
Here are three other things to know for today:
The University of Georgia and Georgia Southern University have removed LGBTQ language from their nondiscrimination policies, the AJC’s Jason Armesto reports.
In Georgia’s Democratic race for governor, state Sen. Jason Esteves and the rest of the field are testing divergent strategies for talking about President Donald Trump, Greg Bluestein writes.
Thomas Worthy says he will step down from the MARTA board to run for a seat on the Atlanta City Council, the AJC’s Sara Gregory reports.
About that decline
Students walked across the campus of Atlanta Metropolitan State College on Monday.
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
We told you last week about how the University System of Georgia was preparing for a massive decline in high school graduates over the next 16 years. But it turns out Georgia might not have to worry about that so much.
The Southern Regional Education Board projects Georgia’s high school graduates will decline by just 1% by 2041, giving its colleges and universities a much more stable pipeline of students than many other states. This could potentially maintain enrollment and lower the risk of sharp tuition increases.
“Our region needs to think about access to affordable college differently than much of the country,” MJ Kim, a senior analyst with the Southern Regional Education Board, told lawmakers this week. “The affordability question for Georgia is not about shrinking demand, but about ensuring students are well prepared and able to enter college without costs being a major barrier.”
Other parts of the country could be in worse shape. Kim said the West is projected to see a 20% decline in high school graduates, followed by a 16% decline in the Midwest and a 17% drop in the northeast. But the 16 states that make up the Southern Regional Education Board are projected to see high school graduates increase by 3%.
Dealer tags
Chamblee Police Department Sgt. Ric Barber spoke to a panel of state lawmakers on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Credit: Adam Beam/AJC
There’s a small, two-story office building in Marietta offering space to businesses that don’t need a lot of room. So far, it’s the home of at least 148 used vehicle dealers.
“There’s no way all of those dealers are there,” said Ric Barber, a sergeant with Chamblee Police Department who owns a consulting firm training officers on how to investigate car thefts.
Barber used the location as evidence of widespread fraud among Georgia’s system of issuing temporary operating permits to dealers. His presentation surprised a panel of state lawmakers on Tuesday who are studying the issue.
“I’m more concerned today than I was before I walked in here,” said state Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell.
Georgia has about 7,000 used vehicle dealers. About 2,500 of them are traditional dealers who have vehicles on site and sell to customers. The rest are “office suite dealers,” or brokers.
A new law taking effect in January requires dealers who sell less than 500 used vehicles per year to have an office of at least 250 square feet. A state board under the secretary of state’s office will enforce it. But the board only has 14 inspectors available — inspectors it also shares among the the state’s 40 licensing boards.
“I don’t think they go far enough,” state Rep. John Corbett, R-Lake Park, said of the new rules. “More work needs to be done to address these issues.”
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Johnson’s future
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson is a guest today on the "Politically Georgia" show.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson says Georgia’s coastal region needs a representative in Congress who better understands and supports the area’s challenges. But it won’t be him.
The second-term Democrat said on today’s “Politically Georgia” podcast that he won’t run for Georgia’s 1st Congressional District, which is being vacated by Republican U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter as he runs for the Senate.
Johnson was on the Savannah City Council for 16 years and has been mayor since 2020. His term ends in 2028 so he cannot run for reelection next year.
“I don’t know if a political future is in mind. I’ve been in this for a long time,” Johnson said. “I have battle scars. And so I think sometimes Ijust want to get my medal and take it to the house. But, you know, we’ll see what the Lord says.”
Packed house
The Senate Special Committee on Eliminating Georgia's Income Tax met on Tuesday at the Capitol in Atlanta.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Legislative study committees that meet during the summer often don’t draw much of a crowd. But Tuesday’s hearing on eliminating the state income tax was packed with lobbyists, many of them representing corporate clients.
They have reason to be worried. The Republican-led committee, created byLt. Gov. Burt Jones and led by state Sen. Blake Tillery, is charged with figuring out how to eliminate the state’s individual income tax. But as our AJC colleague David Wickert reports, the fate of the corporate income tax is ambiguous.
Tillery, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, told reporters on Tuesday he’s focused on the personal income tax. But he said the committee could recommend eliminating both taxes.
Lawmakers might be tempted to keep the corporate income tax to help pay for the loss of revenue from the individual income tax. That would explain the fierce interest of corporate lobbyists.
But doing so would likely have political ramifications. Georgia Republicans,after all, love to boast about Georgia being declared the No. 1 state to do business by Area Development magazine.
Stay tuned.
Listen up
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is a guest today on the "Politically Georgia" show.
Credit: TNS
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Savannah Mayor Van Johnson discusses his thoughts on the Trump administration’s attempt to take over Washington’s police department. Then U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., talks about his recent rally in Georgia and whether he’s looking to run for president in 2028.
You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.
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Chocolate prices
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., did a little work while visiting Xocolatl Chocolate factory in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Warnock, an Atlanta Democrat, heard from owner Matt Weyandt about the impact tariffs have had on his bottom line. Sugar from Brazil now is taxed at 50% while cocoa beans from Peru, Tanzania, Nicaragua and Uganda face tariffs of up to 20%. And there have been fluctuations as President Donald Trump announces new deals or imposes stiffer tariffs only to later say the changes are on hold.
“The lack of certainty is one of the biggest problems,” Weyandt said.
Warnock said it is important to listen to small businesses when they talk about how tariffs are forcing them to make hard decisions in an already tough economy. And he put the blame, in part, on congressional Republicans he said have ceded too much power to Trump.
“Congress could put forward a more coherent tariff policy if it wanted to do so,” he said.
Trump today
President Donald Trump will participate in a ceremonial swearing-in of Andrew Puzder as the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
Shoutouts
State Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, first took office in 2015.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Today’s birthdays
State Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon.
Joi Huff Hunter, a faithful reader of this newsletter.
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
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens held a news conference Tuesday outside of City Hall following his qualification to run for a second term.
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
About 130 of Atlanta’s business and civic leaders, including Mayor Andre Dickens, are traveling to Washington today for a four-day tour of the region’s infrastructure. It’s part of the Leadership Involvement Network Knowledge program at the Atlanta Regional Commission.
The Politically Georgia team starts your day with insights and analysis from Peachtree Street to Pennsylvania Avenue. If you do not want this newsletter, unsubscribe here.
The Politically Georgia team starts your day with insights and analysis from Peachtree Street to Pennsylvania Avenue. If you do not want this newsletter, unsubscribe here.
