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Gov. Brian Kemp says he won’t run for Georgia Senate seat

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Gov. Brian Kemp says he won’t run for Georgia Senate seat


Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will not seek the GOP nomination in next year’s Georgia Senate race, a key contest for control of Congress’ upper chamber as Republicans look to unseat vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

In a post on X, Kemp said, “Being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family.”

He added that he spoke with Senate GOP leadership and President Trump and “expressed my commitment to work alongside them to ensure we have a strong Republican nominee who can win next November.”

Kemp led Ossoff 49%-46% in a hypothetical Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll of the 2026 Senate race taken last month, within the 3.1-point margin of error.

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The Georgia Senate race is one of next year’s most closely watched contests, and retaining the seat could prove essential to Democrats’ efforts to regain control of the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 edge. 

Elections in Georgia — once a consistently red state — are perennially close. Ossoff won his Senate seat by under two points in a 2021 runoff against GOP Sen. David Perdue, driven by strong performance in the Atlanta suburbs and among Black voters — helping to cinch the Democrats’ narrow Senate majority. And Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock was reelected by fewer than three points in 2022, beating Trump-backed ex-football star Herschel Walker.

Kemp’s plans for the Senate race were closely watched due to his popularity in the state. The term-limited governor defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams by just 1.4 points in 2018, but improved his margin to 7.5 points in a 2022 rematch against Abrams. Kemp also easily staved off a Trump-backed primary challenge by Perdue in 2022, beating him by over 50 points.

Kemp and Mr. Trump have a rocky relationship, dating back to the governor’s refusal to help the president overturn his narrow 2020 election loss in Georgia. Mr. Trump endorsed Perdue’s primary election, calling Kemp the “WORST Governor in the Country on Election Integrity.” Kemp later endorsed Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign, and Mr. Trump won back Georgia.

With Kemp out of the race, it’s unclear who will seek to run against Ossoff. 

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Mr. Trump said in 2023 he would “fight like hell” for Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene if she runs for Senate. The firebrand lawmaker said earlier this year she’s “considering all possibilities” when asked if she will run for statewide office in 2026. 

Candidates other than Kemp could face a tougher path: In last month’s Journal-Constitution poll, Ossoff led Greene 54%-37%. The incumbent senator also led Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King 51%-38%, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — another Trump foe — 48%-39%.

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Man accused in fatal Georgia shooting spree dies in jail, officials say

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Man accused in fatal Georgia shooting spree dies in jail, officials say


(WSAV) — The man accused of shooting and killing three people in Dekalb County April 13 was found dead in his jail cell, officials confirmed Monday night.

Olaolukitan Adon-Abel was found unresponsive in his jail cell at 6:48 p.m., a Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said. Life-saving measures were performed, according to officials.

He was pronounced dead at 7:17 p.m.

Adon-Abel was charged with malice murder, aggravated assault and firearms counts in connection to the shooting deaths of Prianna Weathers, Tony Mathews and Lauren Bullis.

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In 2025, Adon-Abel plead guilty in Chatham County Recorder’s Court to multiple misdemeanor counts of sexual battery for groping women in Chatham County under the name Adon Olaolukitan.

According to court documents, he was banned from Savannah for four years and ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation.

The official cause will be determined by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office, and a standard internal review has been launched, according to officials.

At this time, the sheriff’s office said there are no indications of foul play. No additional details were released.

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2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report — Christen Miller, DT, Georgia

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2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report — Christen Miller, DT, Georgia


If you want proof that context matters in NFL Draft evaluation, look no further than Christen Miller’s career arc at Georgia. He arrived in Athens as a four-star recruit and spent his first two years buried behind first-round picks Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, and Jalen Carter — three players who all heard their names called on Day 1.

The defensive tackle assembly line at Georgia is nothing short of extraordinary, and Miller patiently waited his turn. By 2024, his turn had arrived, and what NFL scouts saw was a prototypically built interior defender who carries his 321-pound frame with impressive athleticism and natural leverage.

Miller’s greatest asset is his run defense. He is a solid anchor — quick to press his hands into blockers, disciplined about maintaining gap integrity, and stout enough to hold the point of attack against double teams that would cave lesser prospects — but he’s not dominant.

His lateral mobility is a genuine differentiator for a man his size; he can scrape down the line to close on outside runs or loop inside on stunts without losing his footing or pad level.

That combination of power and movement is why Georgia trusted him on the field for passing downs, and it’s why scouts project him as an immediate contributor against the run at the NFL level.

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The legitimate questions surrounding Miller center on his pass-rush production and his still-developing anticipation skills. Over his entire collegiate career, he accumulated only four sacks — never cracking two in a single season.

Still, Miller’s athleticism stands out immediately — he carries his size well and shows the lateral quickness you don’t always find at his frame. His hands have some pop, and he’s flashed the ability to jolt interior linemen off their spot. But he’s a prospect defined more by his floor than his ceiling.

Source: Mockdraftable

No single trait rises above average, which means his pass-rush production will hinge on technique and motor rather than any physical advantage. He also needs to improve as a finisher — getting close isn’t enough at the next level.

The traits for pass-rush development are present: he has good first-step quickness, flashes as a one-gap penetrator, and showed enough in stunt packages to keep offensive linemen honest. But he has yet to build a consistent, go-to counter move when his initial rush is neutralized. Against better competition, his reaction time to the snap can be late, and he can drift out of his gap assignment when he tries to freelance for a big play.

What Miller offers any franchise is a high floor with a realistic upside trajectory. He comes from one of college football’s most technically demanding defensive line programs, coached by coaches who regularly develop NFL talent.

He plays with a motor that never stops. He competed in SEC trenches for two-plus seasons and was named to the All-SEC First Team as a senior. The experience and winning culture he brings — two state championships in high school, a national championship at Georgia — will matter to coaches who value locker-room character.

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The ceiling here isn’t flashy, but it’s tangible: a reliable, two-down starting defensive tackle who keeps blocks clean and lets linebackers run free. In a league that increasingly prizes versatile, multi-technique interior linemen, Miller’s ability to play the nose or the B-gap makes him a schematic asset for even-front and two-gap systems. Don’t sleep on him because his sack totals are modest — evaluating him solely by that metric would miss the forest for the trees.

Miller’s fit in Green Bay is an interesting one. The Packers are switching to a 3-4 base defense under new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, and they lack a proven run-stuffing nose tackle while being long overdue for a meaningful investment on the defensive interior — which is exactly the profile Miller fits.

The team brought him in for a pre-draft visit, signaling genuine interest, and his skill set maps cleanly onto what Green Bay needs. His calling card — an elite run defense grade that ranked second among all FBS defensive tackles — translates directly to what Gannon will ask of his interior linemen, and his versatility to play nose in an odd front or kick out to three-technique in sub packages only adds to the appeal.



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Democrats Are Ready to Reclaim Georgia. Is a Former Republican the Man for the Job?

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Democrats Are Ready to Reclaim Georgia. Is a Former Republican the Man for the Job?


NORCROSS, GEORGIA — Geoff Duncan, former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, won’t stop apologizing.

He’s sorry for supporting the state’s 2019 “heartbeat bill,” which bans abortion at around six weeks, after a fetal heartbeat is detected. He’s sorry for facilitating the passage of a “constitutional carry” bill in 2022, which allows most people to carry a concealed handgun with no license or background check. He’s also sorry for opposing Medicaid expansion, arguing at the time that it was not fiscally responsible.

“I’m sorry for those positions and any harm that they may have done,” Duncan told me.

Duncan first rose to prominence as one of the Republicans who resisted President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 win in Georgia. Duncan has been speaking out against what he calls Trump’s “toxic” and “dangerous” Republican Party since leaving office in 2023, and even endorsed Kamala Harris and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2024. After being excommunicated from the Georgia Republican Party in January 2025, Duncan switched parties in August. He is now running for governor as a Democrat in what will be one of the most closely watched races in the midterms.

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