Sonny Perdue touts Georgia university’s research funding.
Jon Ossoff floats tax break for workforce training.
Federal court to hear arguments about Georgia election law.
Not so fast
Brant Frost V, a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, has been chair of the Coweta County GOP.
Credit: Screenshot
A few days ago, Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon announced that Brant Frost V, the son of the embattled founder of First Liberty Building & Loan, was resigning from both the party’s state committee and as chair of the Coweta County GOP.
But it’s not quite clear that Frost V has stepped down yet from the latter post. The Coweta GOP website still lists him as chair and includes a statement urging members to let due process “take its course regarding the situation surrounding the family business of our chairman.”
“Just as President Trump faced many legal challenges that received media attention without all the facts being brought forward,” it reads, “we ask that the investigation be allowed to continue without speculation or prejudice.”
McKoon said records show Frost V resigned on Aug. 1 from the state committee. Coweta GOP officials didn’t return calls about whether an election has been scheduled to replace him, though McKoon said he was told one would take place within 30 days.
First Liberty Building & Loan advertised itself as a trusted, faith-based lender across conservative media in Georgia and beyond. Credits: AJC | First Liberty Building & Loan | Northern District of Georgia | Brant Frost V/Facebook | The Macon Telegraph
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Frost V’s father, First Liberty founder Brant Frost IV, of orchestrating a $140 million Ponzi scheme that funneled millions to enrich the family and boost conservative causes. Frost IV has publicly apologized and urged investors to work with a court-ordered receiver.
The Georgia Republican Assembly PAC he led is accused of 61 violations by the State Ethics Commission, which says the group illegally influenced elections with more than $220,000 in unreported expenditures.
In addition, regulators with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office subpoenaed Frost V for documents tied to a new lending firm he sought to incorporate shortly before First Liberty’s collapse.
Frost V hasn’t returned numerous calls and messages seeking comment.
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Good morning! It was 104 years ago today that former Gov. Thomas Hardwick signed a law effectively giving women the right to vote in Georgia. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had already done this in 1920, but Georgia law kept barriers in place until the 1922 election.
Here are three other things to know for today:
A new report from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce says President Donald Trump’s new tariffs are causing uncertainty and “significant challenges” for Georgia businesses, the AJC’s Zachary Hansen and Gray Mollenkamp report.
Lawyers for the state of Georgia and a local development authority are scheduled to go to court today seeking to recoup more than $540,000 in legal fees accumulated in two unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the zoning for Rivian’s planned electric vehicle factory near Atlanta, Hansen reports.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is finding more support for his recent votes against sending certain weapons to Israel, the AJC’s Tia Mitchell reports.
Keep calm
Sonny Perdue was appointed chancellor of the state's public university system by the Georgia Board of Regents in 2022.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue wants everyone to take a breath.
The former Georgia governor on Tuesday acknowledged concerns about President Donald Trump’s budget proposal, which would slash research funding for universities.
But Perdue, a Republican, is taking solace in the system’s latest record-breaking research expenditures. He said Georgia Tech spent $1.43 billion on research last year, an all-time high. The University of Georgia spent $654 million, also a new record.
Perdue believes this spending is “growing the U.S. economy” and predicted “the trajectory of what we are seeing is going to continue.”
“We’re trying to convince the federal government right now (that) a partnership between expenditures on the federal government side and our university system of over 70 years has created amazing new results for humankind everywhere,” he said.
Congress is starting to push back some, too. The Senate Appropriations Committee, which includes Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, last month rejected Trump’s proposed cut to the National Institutes of Health — a major source of funding for research universities across the country. Instead, they voted to increase its funding.
Dueling videos
As a college football coach, Georgia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Derek Dooley said he would often show his players video of their performance to explain why they weren’t getting much playing time. Now he’s making the same argument for why voters should reject Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
“Your film is your resume,” Dooley posted in a video on X. “We have the same eye on Jon Ossoff. We have a four-year record of everything the Biden administration did, and he sat there and rubber stamped it.”
In coaching, we have a saying, “Your film is your resume.” One look at Jon Ossoff’s film shows he doesn’t represent Georgia. pic.twitter.com/m7HwVvJQze
Democrats, however, did not let Dooley have the last word. They posted a video on Wednesday featuring conservative talk radio hosts discussing how Dooley “failed as a football coach.”
“I hope he campaigns better than he coached,” said Steve Gill, a former college basketball player who is now a conservative commentator.
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Court watch
In this 2015 file photo, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis (right) discussed her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses.
Credit: AP file photo
The U.S. Supreme Court has a chance to upend the 2026 midterm elections.
A former county clerk in Kentucky has asked the court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark decision that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
If the court were to take the case, it would dramatically reshape the contours of 2026 races across the country — much like the court’s decision in 2022 to hear a challenge to Roe v. Wade.
The case concerns Kim Davis, the former Rowan County clerk who stopped issuing all marriage licenses shortly after the Obergefell decision in 2015 because she said it violated her religious beliefs.
Davis has consistently lost at all levels of the court, including being rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court before in other cases.
Still, politicians will be watching the case closely, especially after Justice Clarence Thomas called for reversing the Obergefell decision in 2022.
Overturning the Obergefell decision would return the decision of same-sex marriage to the states. Georgia voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2004 limiting marriage to between a man and a woman — a law that is still on the books today but is not enforced.
Car talk
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., spoke with members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday.
Credit: Adam Beam/AJC
Mercedes-Benz partnered with Gwinnett Technical College nearly a decade ago to let students train on its vehicles — essentially producing ready-made employees upon graduation.
Now, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., wants to reward them and other companies for investments like this with a new tax break. He’s introduced a bill that, if it becomes law, would make companies be eligible for a competitive tax credit of up to 30% of their investment.
Eligible industries include semiconductors, nuclear and solar energy, construction and transportation. Ossoff’s office said the bill, endorsed by 10 local chambers of commerce, was directly inspired by the Mercedes-Benz program.
“When I arrived in the Senate what I noticed was the conversation on higher education was almost exclusively focused on four-year college,” Ossoff told the Rotary Club of Atlanta this week. “But for a lot of folks, the path to economic stability and savings for retirement and a middle class standard of living is trade school, vocational training, skills training and the careers that that kind of training opens up.”
Listen up
Former University of Tennessee coach Derek Dooley is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia.
Credit: AP
Today on the “Politically Georgia” Tennessee sports radio veteran Jimmy Hyams joins the show to share stories from covering Derek Dooley as the head football coach at the University of Tennessee.
Then Georgia state Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, talks with Greg Bluestein about tackling chronic absenteeism in public schools, his approach to prevention over punishment, and why he thinks it’s an economic issue for the state.
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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Election law challenge
Voters waited in line outside an Atlanta polling site in 2024.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Georgia state officials and civil rights groups will be back in court today to argue about provisions of a 2021 election law.
The big issue is a provision that bans people from handing out food and water to voters standing in line at polling places. The court will also hear arguments about the law requiring election officials to reject absentee ballots of people who don’t write their birth dates on the envelope.
Republicans who control Georgia’s Legislature passed the law shortly after the 2020 presidential election, when then former President Donald Trump falsely said the race was stolen.
The law caused a big backlash, including prompting Major League Baseball to remove the 2021 All-Star game from Atlanta. The law was also mocked in a major storyline of the final season of the HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
The hearing is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. at the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The AJC’s Mark Niesse will be there.
Trump today
President Donald Trump will announce this year’s Kennedy Center Honors recipients.
Shoutouts
Transition:
Sandra Neuse, vice chancellor of real estate and facilities for the University System of Georgia, will retire in November. She’ll be replaced by Frank Smith, the deputy executive director of the State Properties Commission.
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
Students walk across the campus of the University of Georgia.
Credit: University of Georgia
The University of Georgia contributed $23.1 billion to the state economy while generating more than 168,000 full and part time jobs, according to a new analysis announced Tuesday by University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue.
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.
