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Georgia again in the spotlight less than 100 days before election

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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.

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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.

Political Update: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris potential race too close to call

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.

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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.

President Joe Biden has now become the first sitting president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to end his reelection bid.

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.

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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.

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Georgia OC Mike Bobo gets giant pay raise, salary matches DC Glenn Schumann

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Georgia OC Mike Bobo gets giant pay raise, salary matches DC Glenn Schumann


Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann will be paid equally in 2026 after receiving raises, according to an Athens Banner-Herald report.

Coach Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs are coming off a second consecutive SEC championship season and College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl quarterfinal appearance.

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Georgia Lt. Gov. announces bill inspired by Charlie Kirk to protect student speech

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Georgia Lt. Gov. announces bill inspired by Charlie Kirk to protect student speech


Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones on Monday unveiled legislation inspired by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk that he says would expand students’ free speech rights in public schools, making Georgia the first state in the nation to pursue such a measure.

Jones announced the “True Patriotism and Universal Student Access Act,” known as the TPUSA Act, on Monday as a priority for the 2026 legislative session. The proposal, sponsored by State Sen. Ben Watson (R–Savannah), would strengthen First Amendment protections for public school students by safeguarding their right to speak, organize, and express political and religious views on campus.

The bill is explicitly shaped around the work and legacy of Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA and its political arm, Turning Point Action. Jones and others have framed the legislation as a way to honor Kirk’s efforts to mobilize young conservatives and defend free speech in schools and on college campuses.

“In the spirit and memory of Charlie’s work, the TPUSA Act in Georgia would ensure that students’ First Amendment rights to organize, gather and speak are protected, regardless of their religious, political, or social viewpoints,” Jones said in a press release. “Georgia is leading the way as the first state in the nation to do it.”

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Founder and President of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk speaks during the Turning Point Believers Summit at the Palm Beach County Civic Center on July 26, 2024. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Miami Herald


Jones, who is running for governor and is endorsed by both former President Donald Trump and Turning Point Action, also emphasized his broader commitment to free speech rights as part of his campaign rhetoric. 

“Georgia is building on the work of Charlie Kirk to ensure students can speak, organize and express their beliefs freely,” Jones posted on social media. 

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The TPUSA Act would require public schools in Georgia to permit political expression before, during and after the school day to the same extent that non-political expression is allowed. It also would let students form political clubs and groups during non-instructional time, bar discrimination against groups based on viewpoint, and guarantee that students could wear politically themed clothing and accessories under the same standards that apply to other permitted attire.

Supporters say the legislation would ensure that school administrators cannot block students from engaging in peaceful political activities and that all viewpoints, partisan and nonpartisan, would have equal access to meeting spaces and facilities.

Sen. Watson said the move reflects the belief that schools should not restrict students’ free speech or prohibit them from organizing around their beliefs. 

“School officials should not have the power to enforce their own ideologies on students,” he said.

Josh Thifault, senior director at Turning Point Action, praised Georgia’s effort, asserting that Kirk “lived and died for the First Amendment.” He added that the legislation will benefit students “for decades to come” by removing barriers to student expression.

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Georgia lawmakers stall car boot ban, leaving frustrated drivers with no relief from predatory parking enforcement

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Georgia lawmakers stall car boot ban, leaving frustrated drivers with no relief from predatory parking enforcement


Daryl Terry II had exited a popular wing restaurant, only to discover a heavy metal boot clamped to his car’s wheel. “I think booting should be banned because it’s predatory. You’re preying on people who are just trying to visit business establishments,” Daryl said, shaking his head while holding a $100 boot removal receipt.

Daryl explained that the parking lot was confusing, with faded signs barely visible even in broad daylight. “At night, you can’t see the sign at all,” he said. “By the time I got to my car, there were already two boots on it. The guy told me I left the property and didn’t pay, so he was entitled to boot my car.”

He’s not alone. Maddie Yoder, who works at a nearby bakery, has experienced the same fate. “I’ve worked here for five years. One morning, I quickly grabbed a spot and came back to a boot. The attendant literally waits for people to make a mistake,” she said, pointing out the tricky signage that designates spots for specific businesses.

Both drivers are among many Georgians who hoped a recent State Senate bill would end what they call predatory booting. Democratic State Senator Josh McLaurin, the bill’s sponsor, says the practice is a form of extortion. “Georgia needs to ban the boot. You’re trapped when it happens.”

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Despite gaining bipartisan support, the bill was abruptly killed in a procedural move. It was sent to a committee that, due to the chairman’s resignation, couldn’t hold hearings or move bills forward. 

“That committee is essentially dead,” McLaurin explained. Efforts to get comment from the Lt. Governor’s office about the bill’s demise went unanswered.

McLaurin isn’t giving up. He plans to reintroduce the legislation later this session, hopeful that relief is still possible for Georgia drivers. He also points out an inconsistency: “Towing companies in Georgia are regulated and can’t just wait in a lot for you to mess up. Booting, on the other hand, is barely regulated at all.”

For now, drivers like Daryl and Maddie keep a closer eye on the signs—and their wallets—hoping that lawmakers will finally put the brakes on predatory booting.

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