Election Day, 2025
Good Morning! Elections top the news today. We start with the races and ballot measures we’re watching for in Coastal Georgia. We then look at the crisis roiling Georgia’s health insurance market and campaign contributions to Public Service Commission candidates. Finally, we note a few things for your radar.
NEWS: ELECTIONS
What we’re watching
It’s Election Day, and here are some of the races we’re watching in Coastal Georgia.
The headline races are the statewide, special election races for two seats on the powerful five-member Public Service Commission, which regulates all investor-owned utilities in the state. The races pit two incumbent Republicans — Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson — against two Democratic challengers — Peter Hubbard and Savannah’s Alicia Johnson.
Highlighting the various municipal races across Coastal Georgia is the mayoral election in Brunswick, the region’s second-largest city, where voters will decide whether to give Democrat Cosby Johnson another four-year term or replace him with Vincent Williams, who has declared no party affiliation. Meanwhile, voters in in Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, McIntosh and Glynn will decide on countywide tax measures.
Voter turnout is expected to be low, which means that victory or defeat for candidates and ballot measures could be decided by very margins. Less than 7% — 6.8% — of the 434,212 registered voters in the Coastal Georgia counties of Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn and Liberty cast early, in-person ballots.
By the last weekend before the election, some 930 absentee ballots had been returned to the election board offices in these counties, raising the percentage of early participation by voters in these counties to just over 7%.
For election results, stay clicked on the The Current’s home page. For more information on the candidates and issues in the PSC races, click here. For interviews with the Brunswick mayoral candidates by The Current’s Glynn County reporter, Jabari Gibbs, click here. For more information on the special tax votes in Liberty County, click here for an FAQ by The Current’s Liberty County reporter, Robin Kemp.
NEWS: HEALTH CARE ACCESS
‘Probably go up’
Georgia’s health insurance market is open for re-enrollment for the more than 1.5 million small business owners, gig workers and families that relied on what’s commonly known as Obamacare plans for health coverage.
Yet many of those Georgians don’t yet know how much they will have to pay for Affordable Care Act insurance next year, as federal lawmakers argue about whether to extend the federal subsidies expiring at the end of the year that approximately 450,000 state residents rely on, The Current’s Margaret Coker and Jabari Gibbs report.
Speaking in Savannah on Monday, John King, who oversees the Georgia’s the health insurance marketplace as the state’s insurance commissioner, acknowledged Monday that health insurance premiums “will probably go up” in 2026.
He declined, however, to say what percentage of Georgians may be in danger of losing health insurance if the enhanced federal subsidies for marketplace plans are not extended.
In his remarks to members of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, King encouraged Savannah businesses and individual consumers to secure their coverage options despite the uncertainty of costs as the federal government continues to debate whether to extend federal subsidies.
NEWS: INVESTIGATIVE
Utility workers contributions to PSC race
Dozens of executives and employees of Georgia’s largest energy utilities have contributed at least $77,000 to the two Republicans running for re-election to the Public Service Commission, the state body charged with regulating them, according to filings with the state ethics commission, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
The campaign committees of incumbents Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols have been beneficiaries of contributions from people working for Southern Company and its subsidiaries including Georgia Power, Southern Company Gas and Atlanta Gas Light, as well as donations from Gas South employees — in Johnson’s case, to the tune of almost a quarter of his campaign war chest since 2021.
Campaign financial documents show that no one identified with the regulated utility companies has donated to the Democrats on the ballot Tuesday: Peter Hubbard, who is challenging Johnson for the District 2 seat on the PSC, and Alicia Johnson, Echols’ opponent for the commission’s District 3 seat.
This financial support highlights a core theme for voters ahead of the PSC elections: whether the current five-member commission has favored the corporate interests over consumers who are struggling to afford basic services, including their energy bills.
A spokeswoman for Fitz Johnson’s campaign said the candidate has focused on keeping energy rates in Georgia below the national average and “prioritized Georgia’s families and job creators.” Echols said Democratic-leaning PACs have plunged more money into this year’s PSC races than he has raised in 15 years.
NEWS: UPDATES
3 things for your radar
- Savannah Mayor Van Johnson delivers his “state of the city” address on Wednesday, Nov. 5, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Otis Johnson Cultural Center, 201 Montgomery St.
- “I think Tuesday night’s going to be a great victory for Republicans,” Coastal Georgia Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Earl “Buddy” Carter says on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
- A majority of Americans, 55%, expect political violence to increase, according to a new poll from Politico and Public First. Also, Perhaps a significant minority of the population — 24% — believes that there are some instances where violence is justified.
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Georgia energy workers donate thousands to GOP regulators
Dozens of executives and employees of Georgia’s largest energy utilities have contributed at least $77,000 to the two Republicans running for re-election to the Public Service Commission, with the majority of the contributions coming from individuals associated with Southern Company and its subsidiaries.
FAQ: Georgia Public Service Commission election
The Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities and affects nearly every Georgian, is up for election in November, with two Republican incumbents running against two Democrats.
Courts order federal government to fund food program, but some still prepare for disruptions
Judges in two federal lawsuits have ordered the Trump administration to continue funding its food assistance program during the government shutdown, but uncertainty remains as to when payments will resume to recipients.
Flemington mayoral race pits incumbent vs. pastor
Six candidates are running for the six at-large seats. Two are newcomers to the seats.
Trump administration to pay about half of November SNAP benefits amid shutdown
The USDA will use a contingency fund to pay out half of November SNAP benefits, though it could take months to reach recipients due to administrative hurdles.
Uncertainty over federal subsidies impacts Georgia’s Obamacare premiums
Georgia’s health insurance market is open for re-enrollment, but many Georgians are uncertain about the cost of insurance next year due to federal lawmakers debating the extension of subsidies, which could lead to premiums rising between 6% and 40%.
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