Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Good morning! In the news today: The field is set for this year’s elections; Okefenokee legislation fails for the sixth consecutive year; and gas prices in Coastal Georgia soar. Finally, we note some things you may have missed. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
Field is set
Candidate qualifying for this year’s elections has ended, and the field is now set in what is expected to be a tumultuous year in politics in Coastal Georgia and across the state.
Maggie Lee, The Current’s data reporter, looks at state legislature races and examines what the numbers suggest about the prospects for contested races that provide a real airing of issues and real choices for voters.
Meanwhile, The Current’s Craig Nelson sorted through Coastal Georgia election races and clocks those that immediately emerge as those to watch.
Finally, for a complete list of candidates in the counties of Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty and McIntosh, click here.
NEWS: LEGISLATURE
Okefenokee legislation stalls
Crossover Day at the state capitol — the deadline for proposed legislation to pass out of the House or Senate to still have a chance of still becoming law in the current session — has passed.
For critics of Georgia’s electoral system, the day was a disaster, with the Senate shooting down the centerpiece of reform legislation — a bill that would have switched the state’s voting method to paper ballots filled out by hand before this November’s elections.
Sports betting went down (again) in flames, with even state Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway), a proponent, voting against it. Measures to protect the Okefenokee suffered a similar fate, Mary Landers, The Current’s environment reporter, tells Soundings.
For the sixth consecutive year, two measures to enact additional protections for the Okefenokee co-sponsored by Reps. Steven Sainz (R-St. Marys) and Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) — House Bills 561 and 562 — stalled in the House Natural Resources & Environment Committee, Landers says.
A bill to curb the growth of data centers did, however, get out of the Senate, with Ben Watson (R-Savannah), Mike Hodges (R-Brunswick) and Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro) voting for it. Critics, including Derek Mallow (D-Savannah) and Chuck Hufstedler (R-Rome), said the legislation didn’t go far enough to protect Georgia’s consumers. It now goes to House.
Of course, no measure is completely buried — it can always be amended to a still viable bill — but its chances of passage this session plummet, which means it must be introduced afresh at the start of next year’s new legislative session.
NEWS: GOVERNING
War & Affordability
“The Long-Feared Persian Gulf Oil Squeeze Is Upon Us,” the headline in Sunday’s Wall Street Journal blared, calling the war-induced crunch “the most severe shock to energy markets since the 1970s.”
Gas prices in Chatham and Glynn counties yesterday reflected the squeeze.
At three gas stations in Brunswick, unleaded regular gas averaged $3.19/gallon — up $0.54/gallon from Jan. 20, The Current’s Jabari Gibbs reports. At four stations in Savannah, the cost of unleaded regular gas was an average of $3.51/gallon — up $0.56 over the same period.
Nationally, gas prices skyrocketed to a national average of $3.47 yesterday, up nearly $0.50 from last week, according to data from AAA.
By the time you read this on Tuesday, prices are expected to be even higher, with the knock-on effects that are expected to boost the cost of synthetic fertilizers for farmers and the price of groceries for a wide swath of consumers.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump called the higher fuel prices a “little glitch” and “a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”
NEWS: POLITICS
ICYMI
• The Chatham County Commission has convened a special meeting this morning during which Chester Ellis, the panel’s chairman, is expected to appoint a temporary replacement for former District 4 commissioner Patrick Farrell, a Republican whose seat became vacant last week after he formally qualified to run in the 1st Congressional District race. Farrell has said otherwise.
• Starting today at 10 a.m. at Lions Club Park in Darien, the McIntosh County Commission will hold the first of three listening sessions on proposed amendments to zoning ordinances to the Hogg Hammock District. Speakers will be allowed three minutes to present and should sign in before the meeting begins. The session will be included in the regular monthly commission meeting, according to the agenda posted Monday.
• Amanda Hollowell, Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional District, told a rally in Savannah on Sunday: “We have an amazing opportunity to not just get rid of Buddy Carter but not to reelect the next one, because what the other side is offering is the same thing —another Buddy Carter copy and nothing innovative and nothing that’s people first.”
• Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Collins told a gathering in Savannah hosted by the Chatham County Republican Party on Saturday that he looks forward to the general election contest with Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, when voters can choose between “just a small businessman and blue collar trucking executive who’s done well in business” and a “trust-fund kid who’s never had a job in his life” and whose campaign war chest consists mostly of donations from “crazy people in California and nut jobs up there in New York.”
• Earlier, at the same gathering, Chatham County school board president Roger Moss says he’s running for another four-year term to continue, among other things, improving literacy and undoing 10 years of “bad” teaching of reading. Jody Voss says she and fellow Republican Chatham County Election Board candidate, Vicki Bradley, are running as a team “committed to secure elections together.” Pitching for the Republican nomination for the 1st Congressional District, Kandiss Taylor says, “This country is founded on the word of God, and so we need someone who’s going to protect our reality.”
• Sen. Mike Hodges (R-St. Simons) and state Rep. Steven Sainz (R-St. Marys) obtain $500,000 in funding to help pay to eliminate and clean up a bat infestation at Camden County’s St. Marys Elementary School.
• With Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on March 17, city officials invite “alcohol stakeholders” to attend an informational meeting tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at the Coastal Georgia Center.
• State Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, posts a video warning of a Muslim invasion of the U.S. and vowing to keep Georgia “sharia-free.” Democratic gubernatorial candidate Geoff Duncan calls the video “disgusting.” Rev. Rev. James “Major” Woodall, Sr., of Atlanta describes it as “deeply racist.”
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Georgia legislative primaries see 537 candidates vying for 236 seats
The winners of 236 Georgia legislative elections this year will get a say on tax rates,
health care, gun laws and more. Both of the state’s major political parties have candidates in most state House and Senate races, though most incumbents want to return and about a fifth of those running will face no opposition.
Election 2026: Races to watch in Coastal Georgia
With candidate qualifying now over, the race for Coastal Georgia’s U.S. House of Representatives seat is wide open, with 14 candidates from both parties vying for the seat, while other races in the region are also hotly contested.
Candidates for Coastal Georgia county offices in 2026 primary election
Candidates for county races in Coastal Georgia counties have qualified to appear on the May 19th primary ballot, with a possible runoff election on June 16th and the general election on November 3rd.
Candidates for Georgia state offices in 2026 primary election
Candidates for statewide offices for the Georgia primary election have qualified for the primary ballot on May 19 with a potential runoff election on June 16.
Georgia job losses mirror national trend in February report
The February jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor shows the nation lost about 92,000 jobs in January, with Georgia seeing its share of job losses as well, with over 1,700 jobs lost from companies with at least 100 workers.
Senate votes to broaden ‘stand your ground’ laws in Georgia
The Georgia Senate passed a bill that would expand “stand your ground” self-defense protections, a move that critics say could help protect defendants such as those who murdered Ahmaud Arbery.
Efforts to legalize sports betting in Georgia stall as lawmakers reject bill
A bill to legalize sports betting in Georgia failed to pass the state House on Friday, falling short of the 120 votes needed to pass, with 63 votes in favor and 98 votes against.
Georgia Senate votes to end tax breaks for new data centers
The Georgia Senate passed a bill that critics say does not protect consumers from data center costs, instead largely maintaining the status quo.
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