☘️ Tuesday, March 17, 2026 ☘️
Good morning and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In the news today: Midterm campaigning heats up in Coastal Georgia, Georgia’s two U.S. senators talk (un)affordable housing, and the unclear status of a planned GOP gubernatorial candidate forum in Savannah. Finally, we note some things for your radar. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
NEWS: POLITICS
Heating Up
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Derek Dooley, accompanied by Gov. Brian Kemp, is on a campaign swing through Coastal Georgia, the first leg of his “Georgia First” tour.
Not surprisingly, football metaphors were in abundance yesterday at Seagle’s Seafood in St. Marys in Camden County, the swing’s third stop, The Current’s Jabari Gibbs reports.
“He’s got a record,” Kemp said of Jon Ossoff, the Democratic incumbent seeking reelection, and “we got to have somebody to expose that record and stay on offense.”
Almost on cue, enter Dooley, a former head football coach at the University of Tennessee. “We’re going to stay on offense,” son of the legendary former University of Georgia head football coach Vince Dooley, told some three dozen attendees.
“And I can tell you, I coached offense my whole career. I love scoring points, and so we’re going to be scoring a lot of points on Jon Ossoff.”
On Friday, the tone was far sharper at Spanky’s restaurant in Pooler in Chatham County, where Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson held forth for more than two hours in meetings with dozens of local Republican officials and activists on his first formal campaign swing through the region.
He called rival Burt Jones a “stone-cold liar” over allegations by the lieutenant governor’s campaign that he profited from Planned Parenthood, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
After saying he supported Donald Trump “100%,” Jackson was asked how his Republican brand differs from that of Jones, his rival for the GOP nomination who Trump has endorsed for the nomination, Jackson replied:
“Mine is honest. His is not.”
NEWS: GOVERNING
‘Squeezing first-time homebuyers’
The U.S. Senate has passed a measure to improve access to housing, including a provision pushed by U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock that would ban large corporations from owning too many homes.
“Private equity’s greed is squeezing first-time homebuyers out of the market and pushing the American dream further out of reach,” Warnock, a Democrat, said in a statement following the legislation’s passage.
Georgia’s other U.S. senator, Jon Ossoff, also a Democrat voted in favor of measure. Ossoff last year launched an investigation into out-of-state companies buying up Georgia homes and driving up home prices.
The bill now goes to the House, where its fate is uncertain.
President Donald Trump, who is urging Congress to focus on passing the Republicans’ voter ID and citizenship verification bill — the “SAVE America Act” — reportedly told Speaker Mike Johnson in a private conversation last week that “no one gives a [bleep] about housing.” The account, by Punchbowl News, cited four sources who heard Johnson recount the conversation.
NEWS: POLITICS
‘Working on it’
The plan was simple. Bring the candidates for governor from each major political party to Savannah for separate forums to discuss and debate their views ahead of party primaries in May. Then, convene the winners of those primaries in a face-to-face debate prior to the general election in November.
Organizers of the so-called Savannah Series view the three-part series as an opportunity for the region’s residents to pose their questions and concerns when all too often, Atlanta Metro is the focal point of the state’s politics and electioneering.
The series — sponsored by the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce, WJCL TV, the Chatham County Republican Party and the Democratic Party of Chatham County — got off to an auspicious start in January, with seven Democratic gubernatorial candidates drawing a crowd of nearly a thousand people to a forum at Savannah’s Jonesville Baptist Church.
Now it’s the Republicans’ turn. It’s uncertain, though, whether Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Attorney General Chris Carr, health-care executive Rick Jackson, Savannahian Ken Yasger and any of the other three Republicans in the race will convene in the seat of Georgia’s fifth-largest county. WJCL reported Saturday that the forum will take place in April. A local Republican official says they’re “working on it.”
NEWS: POLITICS
11 things for your radar
• Erin go bragh: To mark Savannah’s high holiday, the Savannah City Council held its annual green edition on Friday, with Mayor Van Johnson issuing a proclamation honoring the 114th birthday of the Girl Scouts of America “recognizing generations of girls who have led with courage, confidence, and character.” If you’re joining the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Savannah, here and here are things you should know. On the grittier side, for revised garbage pickup schedules, click here.
• The most important thing you’ll read all week: To mark Sunshine Week, Susan Catron, The Current’s managing editor and author of our newsletter “Sunday Reads,” looks from several angles at the status of regulations requiring government transparency and accountability by ensuring public access to meetings, records, and decision-making processes — a.k.a. sunshine laws.
• Tax rebates: The state Senate approves rebates of up to $500 to Georgia taxpayers. The measure now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature.
• Okefenokee protection: For those seeking to further shield the Okefenokee Swamp from mining, the news from the state capital isn’t all bad. State lawmakers have approved funding for Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources to purchase 3,900 acres of land previously owned by Twin Pines Minerals and turn it into a new wildlife management area open to the public.
• Dominoes: Former Tybee Island mayor Shirley Sessions has been appointed Chatham County commissioner for District 4, filling seat vacated by Patrick Farrell, who is running for Coastal Georgia’s seat in Congress. The contest to fill Farrell’s unexpired term will now be included on the May 19 ballot. Candidate qualifying will run from March 18-20. Sessions didn’t indicate whether she’ll enter the race.
• More dominoes: The Chatham County school board says applications are being accepted to fill the District 2 seat vacated by Dionne Hoskins-Brown, who is running for board president against incumbent Roger Moss. For more information, click here.
• Water pains: Liberty County doesn’t have enough wastewater treatment capacity to keep pace with growth. It also doesn’t have enough water east of Interstate 95 to fight fires quickly. County leaders are discussing one possible solution to both problems, writes The Current’s Liberty County reporter, Robin Kemp.
• Mental health: “Can’t find a therapist on your insurance plan? That could be a violation of mental health parity law,” GPB’s Ellen Eldrige reports on Georgia’s failure to meet its mental health workforce need and the state legislature’s efforts to enforce the law.
• Savannah candidate forum: Savannah’s NAACP chapter is hosting a forum for 1st Congressional District candidates from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 22, at 4712 Bull St. in Savannah.
• McIntosh listening session: The second of three listening sessions on proposed amendments to zoning ordinances to the Hog Hammock District at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at the First African Baptist Church, 1736 E Perimeter Road on Sapelo Island.
• ‘Inside the gates’: U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock calls bigotry the real “enemy inside” after Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama re-posts a photo of the 9/11 attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center alongside one of the city’s current mayor, Zohran Mamdani, with the caption, “The enemy is inside the gates.” The same day, right-wing activist and presidential ally Laura Loomer ranted about Muslim employees at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. “I am disgusted that the airport in Atlanta has so many Muslims working in TSA,” she wrote on X. “It’s a national security threat for Muslims to be working in TSA. Why do I have to go through the humiliation ritual of showing my passport to some Muslima [sic] bitch in a hijab with a heavy accent?” TSA agents currently are working without pay during the government’s partial shutdown.
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Can’t find a therapist on your insurance plan? That could be a violation of mental health parity law
Insurance company practices, such as low pay, high education costs, and provider burnout, are driving therapists into private practice, leaving many Georgians without access to mental health care.
Georgia lawmakers stall on tax credit for gun safes, defeat silencer bill
Georgia’s House Bill 79, which would have provided a tax credit for the purchase of gun safes, stalled in the Senate, while a bill to remove the state’s restriction on silencers fell four votes short in the House.
Georgia bill may restrict police bodycam footage access, sparks privacy concerns
Senate Bill 482, supported by sheriffs across Georgia, would restrict access to mugshots and police videos, raising concerns among free speech advocates about the public’s right to examine government use of force.
Capitol roundup: Lawmaker calls it quits, governor’s race brings fireworks, calls for gas tax suspension and more
State Sen. Nabilah Parkes announced her resignation to focus on her run for lieutenant governor, while Democratic candidates for governor exchanged barbs in a forum and Democrats in the state Legislature called on Gov. Brian Kemp to suspend the state’s gas tax to provide relief for Georgians struggling with rising fuel prices.
Warnock provision limiting the number of investor-owned homes gets through US Senate
The U.S. Senate passed a bill with a provision backed by U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock that would limit the number of single-family homes an institutional investor can own to 350 homes.
Liberty County considers recycled water for fire safety, community growth
Liberty County is considering using recycled water from a proposed reclaimed water plant to solve its wastewater treatment and fire protection problems, while also providing a solution for the 20,000 people expected to move into the area.
Georgia House, Senate Republicans on parallel courses to reduce state income tax rate
The Georgia House and Senate have passed bills to reduce the state income tax rate to 3.99%, with the House also proposing an increase to the standard deduction, while Democrats argue that the tax cut will disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
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