Georgia
Georgia again in the spotlight less than 100 days before election
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Saturday marked 100 days until the monumental general election that could decide whether Kamala Harris becomes the Oval Office’s first woman of color or if former President Donald Trump becomes only the second man ever elected to non-consecutive terms.
Harris will be in Atlanta on Tuesday, marking her sixth appearance in the Peach State this year. But this week’s visit will be her first as the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee after President Joe Biden dropped a political bombshell last Sunday when he announced he is ending his 2024 reelection bid.
Harris has previously appearing at events focused on topics like gun safety and economic opportunity. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has endorsed Harris, as have all Georgia Democrats in the state House and Senate and much of Georgia’s congressional delegation.
Biden’s withdrawal quickly become the nation’s hottest political topic and, for the moment, eclipsed the attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, along with a completely unified GOP after the Republican National Convention.
Trump, for his part, held a rally last week in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which he attacked Harris for the first time as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The rally was his first since Biden ended his reelection bid.
“I was supposed to be nice,” Trump said. “They say something happened to me when I got shot, I became nice. If you don’t mind, I’m not going to be nice. Is that okay?” he continued, as the crowd roared.
Several polls came out last week that all show a potential Harris-Trump race to be virtual tossups. An NPR/PBS News Marist Poll conducted July 22, 2024, shows Trump leading Harris 46% to 45%, with 9% of voters undecided. Marist’s one-day survey of 1,309 adults was conducted July 22, 2024.
In a Reuters poll, Harris has opened a two-percentage-point lead over Trump, as she continues to consolidate the Democratic Party’s support after Biden’s stunning Sunday announcement he is ending his 2024 reelection bid.
Those polls were released after Monday’s national poll by Quinnipiac University that also showed the potential matchup – Harris has not been officially chosen as the Democratic Party’s White House nominee – a dead heat.
The Quinnipiac poll, conducted from Friday, July 19-21, showed Trump receiving 49% support and Harris receiving 47% support.
Had Biden faced Trump, it would have been the first time two presidential candidates would have faced each other in consecutive elections since 1956, when GOP President Dwight D. Eisenhower again defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson in a repeat of the 1952 election.
The Democratic National Convention is set to convene in Chicago Aug. 19-22, 2024. Harris seems to have secured enough delegates to win the nomination; now, all eyes are focused on who she will choose as her vice presidential running mate.
Trump’s GOP White House nomination was already unprecedented:
- First time the GOP has nominated the same candidate for three consecutive years;
- First time the GOP has nominated a president who lost a reelection bid for another term;
- First time an impeached president has been nominated for another term;
- First time any major political party has nominated a convicted felon for president.
Since the Pennsylvania shooting, Trump is now a major political party’s first White House nominee to have survived an assassination attempt.
On Oct. 14, 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt – already nominated by the independent Bull Moose Party – was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (site of the recently ended 2024 GOP convention). Roosevelt not only survived but refused medical attention until he delivered his almost-90 minute speech.
Biden is the first sitting president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to end his reelection bid. He is also the first presidential candidate in modern political history to withdraw from the race after winning virtually all of his party’s delegates.
Full political coverage from Atlanta News First
Also, for the first time since 1976, a general election presidential ballot will be without the names “Biden,” “Bush” or “Clinton” appearing on the ticket:
- Bush – George H.W. was Ronald Reagan’s vice presidential running mate in 1980 and 1984; he ran for president in 1988 and reelection in 1992, when he was defeated by …
- William Jefferson Clinton – Clinton won the presidency in 1992 and won reelection in 1996. His wife, Hillary Clinton, was the Democratic White House nominee in 2016, when she was defeated by Trump.
- Joe Biden – Barack Obama’s vice presidential running mate in 2008 and 2012. He ran for and won the presidency in 2020.
Trump’s selection of U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio is the first time a so-called millennial has appeared on a presidential ticket.
If Trump wins in November, he will become the second former President – the first being Grover Cleveland in the 19th century – to be elected to the White House after losing his reelection bid.
Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.
Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.
SCREVEN COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) – A parasite not seen in the United States since the 1960s is making a comeback, and Georgia cattle producers are watching closely.
The New World Screwworm has been confirmed in Texas and New Mexico, raising alarms across the South. The pest — eradicated in the U.S. more than 60 years ago and driven all the way to Panama — has been working its way back north through Mexico.
Screven County cattle producer Lindy Sheppard says he learned about screwworm in agriculture college and heard stories from his father, who dealt with the parasite in the 1950s and ’60s.
“I never thought I would have to deal with it,” said Sheppard.
Now, with confirmed cases edging closer to Georgia, Sheppard isn’t so sure.
“We hope they keep it on that side of the Mississippi River,” he said. “We don’t want it over here.”
How screwworm spreads
The New World Screwworm spreads through flies whose larvae burrow into the open wounds of living animals. Livestock, horses, pets and wildlife are all at risk. Newborn cattle are especially vulnerable; their exposed navel cords provide an entry point for flies.
Sheppard says calving season, which begins as early as late August in Georgia, is his biggest concern.
“When we start calving in late August, September, because the navel cords are so exposed. That’s a red flag in my mind that it could be a real problem when we start calving this fall,” he said.
Georgia’s response
The Georgia Department of Agriculture is already taking action. Officials are monitoring livestock movement into and out of the state around the clock and have prepared traps ready to deploy if needed.
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said the state is stepping up protocol checks on all animals entering Georgia.
Sheppard says he is confident in the state’s leadership.
“We’ve got Tyler Harper, our commissioner of agriculture. He’s all over it,” Sheppard said. “I feel like they’re doing everything they can. I really do.”
Economic concerns
The screwworm threat comes as Georgia’s cattle industry is already under significant pressure. Rising costs, shrinking profit margins, dwindling access to markets and an aging workforce have pushed many farmers to the brink.
Sheppard, 65, notes the average age of a cattle farmer is 58, and says screwworm could be the breaking point for some.
“We’re losing cattle in this state anyway, so that may accelerate it,” he said. “It might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, it sure might. It makes them go ahead and sell all of the cattle.”
The USDA has allocated $100 million toward screwworm eradication efforts. In South Texas, federal officials are already releasing sterile flies, the same method used to eradicate the parasite in the 1960s.
Food supply not at risk
Despite the growing concern, both Sheppard and state officials say the food supply is not in danger.
“It does not affect the food supply,” Sheppard said. “The quality of the food has nothing to do with it… it only really affects those of us here producing it. And we just have to manage it the best we can.”
What to do if you suspect screwworm
The Georgia Department of Agriculture is urging farmers and pet owners to report any signs of screwworm immediately, including unusual wounds, maggots or strange behavior in livestock or animals.
To report a suspected case, contact the Office of the State Veterinarian:
- Phone: 404-656-3667
- Email: AnimalHealth@agr.georgia.gov
Copyright 2026 WTOC. All rights reserved.
PERRY, Ga. (WALB) — The Georgia National Fair announced ticket pricing changes for 2026 in a Facebook post.
Children ages 3-10 will now require a $5 admission ticket.
Adult tickets purchased with cash at the entry gate will cost $20, excluding discounted admission days. Adults paying with a card at the gate will pay $15.
All online transactions will include a processing fee.
Discounted admission days will be $10 for everyone. Seniors 60 and up are $10 every day.
For more ticket information and fair dates, visit https://www.georgianationalfair.com/p/getconnected/pricing.
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Copyright 2026 WALB. All rights reserved.
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