Georgia
Georgia president vetoes ‘foreign agents’ law
President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili on Friday vetoed a controversial “foreign agents” law that has been decried as “Russian-style” legislation and has sparked massive protests in the country.
Zourabichvili took to her Twitter account to announce the veto, saying, “Today, I vetoed the Russian law. This law, in its essence and spirit, is fundamentally Russian, contradicting our constitution and all European standards. It thus represents an obstacle to our European path.” Zourabichvili said the veto was legally sound because the law was not “subject to any changes or improvements.”
Georgia’s parliament adopted the controversial law on May 14th, which would have designated civil society organizations that receive funding from abroad as “foreign agents.” The law, which is known as the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, would require any organization in Georgia that receives more than 20% of its income from foreign sources to register as a foreign agent.
The adoption by parliament sparked widespread protests as critics viewed the bill as directly inspired by Russia and said the government was trying to isolate Georgia from the rest of the world. The backlash has been so severe that several Georgian officials have stepped down in protest, most notably Gotcha Javakhishvili, the current ambassador to France.
The legislative process has spurred local protests and provoked the ire of international advocacy groups, which argue the law stifles civil society and fundamental freedoms. Marie Struthers, Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International, stated the law “contravenes Georgia’s international obligations on the rights to freedom of expression and association and strikes at the heart of civil society’s ability to operate freely and effectively.”
People wait in a line at a precinct before voting during a Georgia primary.
Brynn Anderson/AP
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Brynn Anderson/AP
The race for the Republican nomination for Georgia governor is headed to a runoff, according to a race called by the Associated Press.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones will face off against healthcare executive Rick Jackson on June 16. The result advanced two candidates who aligned closely with President Trump over two others, who had opposed his attempts to overturn Georgia’s outcome in the 2020 presidential election.
Jones, who has served as lieutenant governor since 2023, is endorsed by Trump, whom he has backed since early in Trump’s first run for president. Federal prosecutors investigated Jones for allegedly serving as a fake elector in a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, but declined to charge him in 2024.
While Jackson, owner of a healthcare company, is not endorsed by Trump, he has closely aligned himself with the president, and has compared himself to him as a fellow billionaire.
Jackson and Jones have spent millions of dollars on TV attack ads against each other since Jackson entered the race at the beginning of this year.
The primary tested the strength of Trump’s endorsement and the MAGA base in Georgia. Trump lost Georgia by about 11,000 votes in 2020 and won the state in 2024.
Georgia, which has a Republican-controlled state government and two Democratic U.S. senators, will be a key state in November and could help decide the balance of parties in the Senate. Meanwhile the primary elections for governor serve as a temperature check for what each party’s voters are prioritizing.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state Attorney General Chris Carr also ran on the Republican ticket for governor, but did not win enough votes to advance to the runoff. Raffensperger and Carr took a less Trump-centric approach to their campaigns. Carr in campaign ads described himself as a “Brian Kemp Republican,” after Georgia’s Republican governor, who has at times been at odds with Trump.
Raffensperger famously butted heads with Trump in 2020, when Trump asked him to “find” about 11,000 votes to help him win the state. Carr, as attorney general, had also supported the state’s vote results, which went to Joe Biden.
Georgia voters are also waiting for results in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, and the Republican Senate primary. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff was unopposed for his party’s nomination as he runs for a second term in November.
On the Democratic side of the governor’s race, primary voters are choosing between former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is endorsed by former President Joe Biden, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who was a Republican but became a Democrat, former state Sen. Jason Esteves, and former labor commissioner Michael Thurmond.
The top vote-getters from that race can provide a glimpse into the divide between moderate and progressive Democrats in the state.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
Sarah Kallis covers politics at GPB.
More than 1 million Georgians voted early in the Democratic and Republican party primaries. But many more have waited until Tuesday to cast their ballots.
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Depending on your time and polling location, prepare for a bit of a wait before voting.
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What to bring
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Some other things to remember
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