Today: Metro Atlanta voters to pick state senator in District 35’s special election runoff
It’s the very last election of the year for metro Atlanta voters in Senate District 35, which covers parts of Atlanta, Smyrna, South Fulton, and Vinings. In today’s special election runoff, Senate District 35 voters will decide between former Cobb County School Board member Jaha Howard and former state Rep. Roger Bruce – both Democrats – to replace State Sen. Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta), who has resigned to run for governor.
Out of a field of six candidates, Howard was the top vote-getter with 33% of the vote, while Bruce followed with 25%, in the Nov. 18 special election. Since both are Democrats, the balance of power won’t change in the State Senate, no matter who wins. Republicans hold a strong majority, with 32 Republican senators, compared with 23 Democrats.
To see if you are in Senate District 35, and find your polling place, check the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page. Polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There is one other vacancy in the Senate, created after State Sen. John Kennedy (R-Macon) stepped down to run for Lt. Governor. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Dec. 10 that there will be a special election on Jan. 20 to fill Kennedy’s District 18 seat. The candidate qualifying period started Dec. 15 and goes until Dec. 17. District 18 residents who aren’t registered to vote have until Dec. 22 to register for the special election. Early voting starts on Dec. 29.
Legislative session begins in January
While exact dates haven’t been finalized, the 2026 Georgia legislative session is expected to begin Jan. 12 and run through early April. State lawmakers will gather at the State Capitol in Atlanta for 40 working days over about three months to pass a $62.7 billion state budget for fiscal year 2026, and enact new laws.This is the second year of a two-year legislative cycle, so bills that didn’t make it through committee to final votes last year could get a second chance.
There are 236 state legislators, with 56 senators and 180 House members. Republicans continue to hold majorities in both chambers, with 32 Republican senators and 98 House members – despite a surprise Democratic pickup in Athens-area House District 121. Democrat Eric Gisler narrowly defeated Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest by just 198 votes in a special election on Dec. 9, according to unofficial results.
There’s potential for another Democratic pickup on Jan. 6 in the special election runoff for Cherokee County’s House District 23. Just 33 votes separated Republican Bill Fincher, a retired assistant district attorney who owns an RV Park, and Democrat Scott Sanders, a tech executive at AT&T, in the low-turnout Dec. 9 special election. Fincher secured his runoff spot with 27.4% of the vote to Sanders’s 26.7% out of a total of 5,011 votes. The seat opened, because State Rep. Mandi Ballinger (R-Canton) died after a battle with cancer.
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It’s a wrap, until 2026
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2026 elections on the horizon: Aaron Baker challenges State Rep. Esther Panitch
We’ve still got two weeks left in 2025, and the 2026 election season is already upon us. The Democratic and Republican primaries are approaching fast in May for next November’s statewide elections – and one Democratic legislator, State Rep. Esther Panitch (D-Sandy Springs), is already facing a primary challenger.
Aaron Baker, a Democratic Socialist, kicked off a campaign to Panitch’s left last week at Pontoon Brewing Co. in Sandy Springs.
ICYMI: Atlanta Board of Education approves 16 school closures
The Atlanta Board of Education voted unanimously on Dec. 3 to close or repurpose 16 schools under Atlanta Public Schools’ (APS) Forward 2040 plan – despite significant pushback from local families. Most of the closures will affect schools in Southeast, Southwest and West Atlanta, in historically Black and lower income neighborhoods.
The school board has said the closures were prompted by declining APS enrollment, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintaining underutilized facilities places a financial strain on APS’s budget, so the school board formulated the redistricting plan to consolidate students in fewer schools and save money.
It is unclear when exactly closures will go into effect, but they are expected to start as early as Fall 2026. The closed schools will be repurposed to other uses, with input from the community, or potentially sold.
WHAT WE’RE READING
Georgia Power’s December surprise
Georgia Power is trying to pull a fast one before two newly elected Democrats take their seats on the five-member Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates the utility monopoly. That’s according to Alander Rocha’s report in The Georgia Recorder.
In a surprise move, Georgia Power asked the PSC on Dec. 10 to allow it to increase statewide power capacity by 10,000 megawatts over the next five years to accommodate the booming expansion of high-consumption data centers. The all-Republican PSC is set to vote on the plan at a special administrative session on Dec. 19. The two new Democratic members, Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson, won’t join the PSC board until Jan. 1.
Georgia Power claims the money they will make selling electricity to data centers will lower bills for individual rate-payers in the long run, but critics say the proposal would actually raise rates, because consumers would foot the bill for Georgia Power’s new power plants.
Today’s Democracy Digest newsletter was written by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon. It was edited by Meredith Hobbs. As always, thank you for reading. Have tips, corrections, or questions? Just reply to this email.