Georgia
Drawn into friendly political fire, new Georgia redistricting maps prompt lawmaker reshuffling – Georgia Recorder
When a federal judge gave the final OK to newly-drawn electoral maps last month, it spelled curtains for the political careers of at least four state reps who had been drawn into the same district as a member of their own party.
Two Democratic state representatives have agreed not to run against their colleagues, while a pair of Democrats and a pair of Republicans say they’ll let the voters decide in this spring’s primaries.
On Tuesday, Smyrna Democratic state Rep. Doug Stoner announced he will step down at the end of the year rather than face fellow Smyrna Democratic Rep. Teri Anulewicz.
The two have served together in local and state government.
“I have known Rep. Anulewicz for over 20 years as we have served together in the legislature and on the Smyrna City Council,” Stoner said in a statement. “She will serve my former constituents in the new House District 42 well. I look forward to finding other opportunities to serve my community.”
Stoner also served in the state Senate and was a candidate for the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2018.
In a statement, Anulewicz praised Stoner’s knowledge and policy understanding.
“I have no doubt that Rep. Stoner will continue to serve Georgia in the future, and I wholeheartedly support him,” she said.
Over in Gwinnett, Democratic Rep. Gregg Kennard has signaled he will not run against Democratic Rep. Sam Park, whose districts were combined in the new maps.
Park was the first Asian-American Democrat and the first openly gay man elected to the Georgia Legislature. He is the Democratic whip in the House and is considered a rising star in the party.
“Gregg is a good and honorable man and a friend,” he said. “I’m humbled and honored by his decision not to run against me. I look forward to doing my best to continue to serve the people of Gwinnett County and to build a better Georgia.”
But not all paired-up lawmakers are stepping aside so easily. Atlanta Democratic Reps. Becky Evans and Saira Draper both said they are not done trying to represent parts of Atlanta and DeKalb County.
“It was never a question,” Draper said in a tweet on X Tuesday. “The bulk of #HD90 hasn’t changed. Voters elected me because they saw the value of a voting rights expert in the legislature- and the work isn’t done. Protecting democracy has never been more critical.”
Draper assumed office last year. She is an attorney and voting rights advocate who has worked for the campaigns of President Joe Biden and Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Evans took office in 2019. Before that she worked as an educator for a health care technology company and has a long history of volunteering for Democratic candidates.
“After a lot of thought and conversations with my husband, my family, my faith community and community leaders I know and admire, I know that my job here is not yet done,” Evans said in a Dec. 19 video announcement.
On the Republican side, Reps. Beth Camp and David Knight, the only GOP lawmakers to have been paired, have been resigned to a primary battle since before the proposed House map was passed, releasing a joint statement Nov. 28.
“I have the utmost respect for Rep.Knight and appreciate our working relationship,” said Rep. Camp. “This is an unfortunate situation, but I have faith that the best interests of all citizens of Lamar, Pike and Spalding will be served. It is my honor to represent my constituents.”
“I am saddened by the outcome of the new map which places me, along with my friend and trusted colleague Rep. Beth Camp, together in the new District 135,” said Rep. Knight. “No matter the future outcome of elections, I know the constituents of Spalding, Pike, and Lamar will be well represented.”
Knight was first elected in 2004 and serves as chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education. Camp was elected in 2020 and serves as chairman of the Intragovernmental Coordination Committee.
In Georgia’s Congressional delegation, Democratic Congresswoman Lucy McBath, currently of the 7th District, announced plans to run in the 6th District after the new maps make the 7th less friendly to a Democrat.
“I refuse to allow an extremist few decide when my work in Congress is complete,” she said in a statement.
McBath may be getting used to running in new districts by now.
She was first elected to represent the 6th District from her Marietta home in the northern Atlanta suburbs in 2020, flipping what was previously a Republican stronghold.
In 2022, GOP state lawmakers drew the 6th District to favor a Republican, and McBath switched to the 7th District concentrated in Gwinnett, where she defeated fellow Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux and went on to win re-election there.
Current 6th District Congressman Rich McCormick, a Republican, announced he plans to run in the new 7th District.
Georgia
LSU Falls to Georgia in Series Finale
ATHENS, Ga. – Designated hitter Daniel Jackson and centerfielder Rylan Lujo combined for nine RBI Sunday, leading fifth-ranked Georgia to a 12-1 win over LSU at Foley Field.
Georgia improved to 41-11 overall, 21-6 in the SEC, while LSU dropped to 29-24 overall and 9-18 in conference play.
The Tigers return to action at 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday when they play host to Florida in Game 1 of a three-game SEC series in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Thursday’s game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed on SEC Network +.
“Georgia won the moments in this series,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “They’re going to score, so you’ve got to capitalize against them when you have scoring opportunities on offense.”
Georgia starting pitcher Caden Aoki (8-0) was the winner, limiting LSU to one run on four hits in 5.0 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.
LSU right-hander Casan Evans (2-3), making his first appearance since April 17 versus Texas A&M, started the game Sunday and was charged with the loss, working 1.2 innings and allowing four runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
“I thought Casan’s stuff looked great, and that’s good for him from a health standpoint,” Johnson said. “He’s a guy that the more he pitches, the better he is, so there might have been a little bit of rust, but I thought he competed fine.”
Georgia struck for four runs in the bottom of the second inning in an outburst highlighted by Jackson’s two-out, two-run single and an RBI single by second baseman Ryan Black.
The Tigers narrowed the gap to 4-1 in the third when designated hitter Omar Serna Jr. delivered an RBI single.
Georgia extended its lead to 7-1 in the fourth as Jackson launched a two-run homer and centerfielder Lujo lined a run-scoring single.
Lujo unloaded a grand slam in the fifth, giving the Bulldogs an 11-1 advantage.
Georgia
‘We’re champs’: How Georgia baseball soaked up first SEC title in 18 years
The Georgia baseball team had long since poured out of the Foley Field home dugout and the water bottles that were thrown on the field in jubilation had been cleaned up.
The Bulldogs celebration that carried into center field after a 13-8 victory on Saturday night over LSU on May 9 had ended and players had doused coach Wes Johnson with blue sports drink.
Now, some 20 minutes later, it was postgame photo time for the freshly minted 2026 SEC regular season champions.
They gathered in front of the spot on the right field wall where the previous seven seasons of Georgia SEC championships were listed, the last in 2008. Above them on the video board was a graphic that recognized this year’s team as SEC champions.
“Watching the program grow in such a shot amount of time, it’s awesome,” said pitcher Paul Farley, who has been with the Bulldogs for all three seasons with Johnson and got the win in relief Saturday. “We’ve got four SEC games left and to be able to hang that up there the SEC champs already it’s amazing.”
Farley was speaking figuratively because the 2026 numbers weren’t on the outfield fence just yet.
Fifth-ranked Georgia (40-11, 20-6 SEC) still has a chance to put a College World Series trip up there in left field for the first time since 2008 and in a best case scenario add another national championship year in right field with the 1990 season.
“SEC champs is great, but obviously we want to do bigger and better things,” Farley said.
LSU, the team that won it all last season, was still around having a postgame talk on the artificial turf field long after the game ended.
Johnson was with LSU in 2023 as pitching coach when it won another College World Series.
“It’s massive,” Johnson said of this latest championship. “Anytime you can win this league, man, it’s so hard. Then win it outright. It’s something you want to check off on your list of things you’ve ever accomplished. It’s 10 weekends of just meat house grinding.”
Johnson said he didn’t know that the dominoes had fallen Saturday to set up Georgia being able to clinch except that he saw that Texas lost at Tennessee as the result flashed on the scoreboard.
Texas A&M also lost twice at Ole Miss to set up the clinch for Georgia.
“I’m calling pitches, I’m locked in,” Johnson said.
He said assistant coach Will Coggin told him when the game ended that ‘We’re champs.’”
Many of the players knew.
“We had a few inside operatives, I’d say, tell us,” Farley said.
Shortstop Kolby Branch said he didn’t know “until the water bottles started flying.”
Branch said another Georgia team loaded with transfers grew closer in the fall and built relationships that have turned into wins this season.
Johnson said winning the regular season title in his third season as coach in the age of the transfer portal and NIL “means a lot.”
Johnson mentioned Farley, Branch and Tre Phelps being at Georgia for all three of his seasons.
“Seeing where we were in the first fall, we forget this used to be dirt and grass,” Johnson said standing on on turf field. “And we didn’t have the cool building and we only had one batting cage, all the stuff we’ve been able to do since we’ve been here. The other side is just understanding true belief and understanding what guys can do.”
Georgia
Leschber Named to 2026 ACC All-Tournament Team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Georgia Tech softball (30-27, 10-14 ACC) collected its second postseason conference honor as first baseman Addison Leschber was named to the 2026 ACC All-Tournament Team, as was announced by the conference following the 2026 ACC Softball Championship game on Saturday.
Leschber is Tech softball’s first All-Tournament honoree since Emma Kauf during the 2023 season. During the First Round of the ACC Championships, Leschber was nothing short of exceptional as she went 2-for-4 with one home run, one double, and five RBI. Leschber’s first-inning home run brought her to 13 home runs this season, the third most of any Yellow Jacket this season. In Tech’s fourth meeting of the season with Notre Dame, Leschber saw her 12th multi-RBI game and ninth multi-hit game of the season. The senior finished the season with 26 runs, 37 hits, seven doubles, 13 home runs, 42 RBI, and 83 total bases.
2026 ACC Softball Championship All-Tournament Team
Jessica Oakland, Duke
Addison Leschber, Georgia Tech
Bri Despines, Louisville
Madison Pickens, Louisville
Bree Carrico, Virginia Tech
Michelle Chatfield, Virginia Tech
Emma Mazzarone, Virginia Tech
Jasyoni Beachum, Florida State
Ashtyn Danley, Florida State
Jazzy Francik, Florida State (MVP)
Isa Torres, Florida State
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will await their fate in the NCAA Tournament Selection show on Sunday, May 10, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech softball team, follow us on Twitter (@GaTechSoftball), Facebook, Instagram (@GaTechsoftball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
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