James_Sept-Oct_2025_web - Flipbook - Page 7
In August President Donald Trump made his preference
known in Georgia’s 2026 gubernatorial primary race,
endorsing longtime supporter and well-financed Lt. Gov.
Burt Jones. Attorney General Chris Carr, a Jones primary foe, has defeated Trump-backed primary opposition
before, so he’s no stranger to the scenario. But that was
then and this is now. Because of his massive favorability
with Republican and centrist voters right now, the president’s endorsement has Jones’ campaign RISING . . .
When it comes to the 2026 Democratic gubernatorial
primary, former state labor commissioner and ex-DeKalb
County CEO Michael Thurmond joined former Atlanta
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and state Sen. Jason Esteves as perhaps a more politically center-left candidate.
In the months to come it will be instructive to see which
candidate starts to gain traction, as well as which one can
demonstrate effective donor support. Drifting . . .
A recent study shows that University System of Georgia graduates contributed $23.1 billion to the state’s
economy in fiscal year 2024 and can expect to earn $1.4
million more over their lifetimes due to their degrees.
Meanwhile, USG’s 26 colleges and universities generated 168,635 full- and part-time jobs across the state.
Under the steady hand of the USG Board of Regents
and Chancellor Sonny Perdue, Georgia’s institutions of
higher learning are RISING . . .
When it comes to high school football, our state is producing more talent than ever. A whopping 28 Peach State
high schools are ranked in the top 300 of High School
Football America’s annual poll, headlined by Gwinnett
County powerhouses Grayson and Buford. Georgia football under the Friday night lights is RISING . . .
New data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows
Georgia has one of the country’s highest error rates when
determining eligibility for federal food stamps. The
payment error rate was 15.6 percent, while the national
error rate was 10.93 percent. Most abuse came from the
overpayments category, which includes payments to ineligible households (often illegal aliens) as well as to people
eligible who received more assistance than they should
have. At a time when critics decry food stamp “cuts,” this
data underscores a need for cracking down on ineligible
recipients. Food stamp abuse has Georgia Sinking . . .
Atlanta’s State Farm Arena is quite the box office draw.
How big? From October to March, State Farm brought in
$76.2 million across 60 events, making it the third-highest grossing venue in the entire nation, behind only New
York’s Madison Square Garden and the Sphere in Las
Vegas. Nearly 600,000 visitors saw performances from
superstars ranging from Blake Shelton to Usher, plus
Hawks games and events like WWE Raw. State Farm’s
status as one of the premier performance venues in the
world is RISING . . .
Socialist Zohran Mamdani pulled off a major upset in
New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary by defeating
former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, an establishment favorite.
Could this embolden Georgia Democrats looking to pull
their party further to the left? Some younger state legislators are challenging U.S. Rep. David Scott, and party
activists are urging candidates like him to take more
aggressive anti-Trump stances. (U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, for
example, calls for the president’s impeachment.) The far
left of the state’s Democratic Party is RISING . . .
Cobb County Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor has
been indicted by a grand jury for her role in a scheme
to destroy public documents. In 2022, a whistleblower
complaint alleges Taylor told a county worker to destroy a
public records request pertaining to her role in pocketing
over $425,000 in passport fees, stating, “We’re just going
to Donald Trump this thing.” Taylor is charged with two
counts of destroying public documents, and two counts
of violation of oath of office, both felonies with a maximum sentence of up to a decade in prison. Sinking . . .
It was bad news for Georgia’s film industry when the
Marvel Cinematic Universe, (Iron Man, The Avengers,
etc...) started moving productions out of the Peach State
to overseas locations like England. But who better to save
the day than Superman? James Gunn, famed director
who heads DC Studios (Superman, Batman, etc...) loves
to film in Georgia and owns a home in Fayette County.
He filmed his newest Superman movie at Trilith Studios
and filmed the second season of the hit show “Peacemaker” in Georgia as well. Superman has Georgia’s film industry hopefully RISING . . .
S E PT E R M B ER/O C TO BER 2025
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