Welcome back, folks, and it's time to get serious about the 2026 election cycle as candidate qualifying has now come & gone.
We're going to start w/ the GOP primary for the US Senate (Ossoff) race, then get into the GA Governor's race, local state house & senate races and then finish up w/ the two Newton Co BOC races.
 |
| Your Source for the REAL Story |
US Senate - GOP Primary
Well, friends, this one looks pretty exciting & close at this point.
The three main candidates are Mike Collins, Buddy Carter & Son of Vince - Derek Dooley.
Dooley was kind of a surprise & seems to be the Kemp candidate. Collins, a man I first met 12 years ago when he ran for Congress the first time, has been & still seems to be the odds-on favorite for this one. Say what you will about him - and there's a whole lot that can be said - but he's definitely the MAGA candidate in this race but he also carries legitimate conservative bonafides & is a natural politician.
Buddy Carter, the current 1st US district congressman from Pooler, GA (just outside of Savannah) has the money & campaign apparatus to have a chance, but right now he's polling a good 10-15 points behind Collins.
Dooley seems to be the also-ran at this point consistently polling a distant third; however, with over half of the electorate still undecided, this is still very much a fluid situation.
GA GOV - GOP
So, this is the one that's gonna get real good, I think.
The main players:
Rick "Action" Jackson, self-made billionaire, former ticket scalper & shoe-shiner; son of an absentee father & alcoholic mother (if you've been watching TV at all or listening to the radio you no doubt already know this), is running a self-funded campaign in which he says he won't be beholden to anybody, "just like Trump."
Current GA Lt. Governor Burt "Truck Stop" Jones. The official Trump candidate, but someone that many in the MAGA realm (and a fair number of folks of all political stripes residing in the quad-county area) are somewhat distrustful of.
Brad "Judas" Raffensperger. So Judas (as described by Action Jackson) is absolutely loathed by the MAGA crew but is somewhat liked by some of the more moderate GOP types. He could possibly find a lane in this contest.
Chris "Kemp Boi" Carr. While Kemp hasn't officially endorsed anyone in the race, conventional wisdom seems to think he'd like to see Carr, the current Georgia AG, win this one & Carr is definitely pushing the impression that he is the Kemp Candidate. Regardless, he is polling a very distant 4th so far.
As mentioned, Jackson came up w/ Judas; Yours Truly is responsible for Truck Stop & Kemp Boi.
You're welcome. I do what I can.
Polling is showing Jackson & Jones as the frontrunners at the moment.
The way this thing is going already, it might end up as one of the the dirtiest, nastiest & ugliest primaries in GA GOP history & folks - let me tell you this:
I. AM. HERE. FOR. ALL. OF. IT!
STATE HOUSE & SENATE
The big news regarding the 42nd Senate District of GA is that we have an uncontested GOP primary. In a turn of events that was not surprising to this writer, young lawyer & Marine Bret Dunn is the presumptive favorite to represent our neck of the woods in the General General Assembly.
Technically he will face a Dem challenger in November but considering the numbers in this district, I think it's just a matter of formality at this point.
I've known Bret for about 12 years now & I really like him. He's a good fella & I think he'll represent us well under the Gold Dome.
HD 114
We do have a contested primary for this one.
Brett Mauldin & Wendell McNeal - both Morganites - will face off to determine who will represent the eastern portion of Newton Co & the entirety of Morgan in the lower chamber - The People's House - of our state legislature.
I will take this opportunity to make an official endorsement:
I hereby publicly endorse & support Brett Mauldin for GA HD 114.
I've had the opportunity to meet Brett & have had a few conversations w/ him over the years. I think a lot of him & believe he'll do a fine job representing our interests.
NEWTON CO BOC
It's the even-year, non-presidential cycle this year, so that means it's election time for the 2nd & 4th districts of the Newton Co Board of Commissioners.
Both of these seats are firmly Democrat.
In the 2nd we see Demond Mason running for a 3rd term. A lot of folks like him & as far as I can tell he's done at least a decent job for our county. He'll be running against challenger Tamera Strong.
For BOC 4, JC Henderson is - if memory serves - running for his 8th term this fall.
Well, right off the bat, nobody should be in an elected office for that long. Plus, we're talking about JC here.
He'll be facing off w/ Nytravious "Nytro" Smith. I first met Nytro three years ago & was quite impressed. Seems like a super nice young man. Very intelligent. And I know he's got a lot of supporters out there. If anyone can take down King JC, it just might be him.
You know I'll be keeping an eye on things.
'Til next time,
- MBM