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Greg Bluestein

@bluestein.bsky.social
18K followers 29 following 1K posts

Husband, father, aspiring mensch. AJC politics reporter 🗞 analyst 📺 Politically Georgia podcast host 🎧 Sirius Radio 📻 Author of FLIPPED📕 Jolt Newsletter 💻

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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 11h
When our leaders talk about the “other Atlanta,” they usually mean the neighborhoods and communities that have been left behind by the city’s boom times. But this is quite literally the other Atlanta. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Welcome to Atlanta. No, the other one.
When local leaders mention the "other Atlanta," they mean the neighborhoods left behind by the city's success. But there is an other Atlanta in Texas connected to Georgia.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Gas prices topping $4 a gallon have opened a new front in Georgia’s race for governor, with both candidates pitching tax cuts to ease the fuel squeeze on household budgets. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
With gas above $4, Bottoms and Jackson compete to ease costs
In the Georgia governor's race, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson are pushing competing plans to lower prices for drivers.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“This thing smells.” A $3B Georgia pipeline changed course — away from a utility leader’s property #gapol www.ajc.com/business/202...
ajc.com
A $3B Georgia pipeline changed course — away from a utility leader’s property
A Georgia man is fighting the proposed route of a pipeline after learning the original path was diverted from land belonging to a manager for a Southern Co. subsidiary.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“If Rick Jackson does well, all of them will do well.” Georgia’s downballot Republicans tie their hopes to Rick Jackson -- and focus their fire not on their opponents or Jon Ossoff, but on Keisha Lance Bottoms. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Georgia’s downballot Republicans tie their hopes to Rick Jackson
At a rally in Forsyth, Republican contenders focused their attacks on Democratic nominee for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The paved road abruptly ends near a sprawling collection of rusting military vehicles off a lonely Texas highway, where a dirt trail splinters toward hundreds of acres of scrubland that have improbably been thrust into Georgia’s race for governor. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
A Texas data center project puts Rick Jackson’s Georgia promises to the test
How a $6 billion Texas data center landed in Georgia’s governor’s race.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Gov. Brian Kemp just suspended Georgia’s motor fuel tax for 30 days as the war with Iran sends gas prices soaring and voters press leaders to ease the strain on household budgets ahead of the November elections. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Brian Kemp suspends Georgia’s gas tax as Iran war squeezes drivers
The move suspends Georgia's 33-cent-per-gallon tax on gas beginning at 12:01 AM Tuesday.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Another notable Georgia Republican is backing Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s bid for a second term. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Georgia Peanut Commission chair is latest Republican to back Jon Ossoff
Donald Chase has voted for Republicans for nearly his entire adult life. He joins other Republican officials in backing Ossoff, including the mayors of Tifton and Valdosta.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“If a guy is already being eaten by sharks, do you throw him a life raft?” www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
As GOP weighs Senate map, Mike Collins fights to stay in the mix
National Republicans are weighing whether to continue pouring money into the Georgia Senate race as Collins lags in the polls and fights off scandals.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
When Gov. Brian Kemp and Senate Majority Leader John Thune headline a fundraiser Thursday for Mike Collins, the closed-door gathering will carry stakes well beyond whatever high-dollar checks are forked over to help the GOP Senate nominee that day. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
As GOP weighs Senate map, Mike Collins fights to stay in the mix
National Republicans are weighing whether to continue pouring money into the Georgia Senate race as Collins lags in the polls and fights off scandals.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
No state has a larger National Guard contingent in DC than Georgia. A coalition of churches, advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers is pressing him to bring them home. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Churches, lawmakers press Kemp on Georgia troops in Washington
More than a year after Gov. Brian Kemp sent Georgia National Guard troops to Washington, a coalition of churches, advocates and Democrats is pressing him to bring them home.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
For the first time since Roy Barnes’ 2002 defeat, Georgia’s next governor will be rooted in metro Atlanta. And the result of that vote and other statewide races will cement a transformation that’s been decades in the making. #gapol t.co/I8QKRRTFps
t.co
https://www.ajc.com/politics/2026/09/georgias-center-of-political-gravity-is-shifting-toward-atlanta-why-it-matters/
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Reposted by Greg Bluestein
Jeremy Redmon @jeremylredmon.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Thank you to my dear friend, @bluestein.bsky.social, for interviewing me about my memoir, "Tell the Kids I Love Them," on @ajc.com’s Politically Georgia Podcast. I'm grateful. m.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Rq...
m.youtube.com
Why Jeremy Redmon Kept Returning to War Zones | Politically Georgia
YouTube video by Politically Georgia
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
MAGA or the Middle? For Georgia Republicans, the debate has taken on new urgency as Trump casts November as a referendum on his presidency, delighting Democrats who have long framed the midterms exactly that way. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Trump or the middle? Georgia Republicans test two paths to victory
The disagreement is becoming one of the defining tensions of Georgia’s 2026 campaign.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Ad spending figures showing Rick Jackson’s massive edge brought Democrats face-to-face with a stark reality that has hung over the race from the start: Can Keisha Lance Bottoms overcome a financial disparity of this scale? #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Can Keisha Lance Bottoms withstand Rick Jackson’s spending blitz?
The Republican billionaire is pouring unprecedented sums into the Georgia governor's race. Bottoms, the Democratic nominee, is looking for other ways to break through.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is tapping his fundraising operation to transfer more than $3.6 million into the Democratic Party of Georgia’s coordinated campaign, deploying his resources in a race tilting in his direction to help down-ballot candidates. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
A $3.6M bet from Jon Ossoff that goes beyond his own reelection
The Democratic U.S. senator is putting money and people in the Georgia Democratic Party in a plan he hopes can boost candidates up and down the ballot.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The candidates for governor are drawing a stark contrast over Georgia’s data center boom, but their past involvement with the industry adds a new layer to the fight. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Bottoms, Jackson clash over data centers. Both have history with the industry.
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson are drawing a stark contrast over data centers in the Georgia governor's race. Both have a history with the industry.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon argued the election will not be decided by “some mythical group” of undecided voters but by making sure Trump's core supporters still support the party’s ticket even though he isn’t on the ballot. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Trump or the middle? Georgia Republicans test two paths to victory
The disagreement is becoming one of the defining tensions of Georgia’s 2026 campaign.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is calling for far-reaching new safeguards on artificial intelligence, joining a growing debate in Washington over whether the technology is outpacing efforts to contain its risks. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Jon Ossoff calls for inspectors at AI research labs amid industry fears
The Democratic U.S. senator is running for reelection in one of the most closely watched races in the country.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
ATHENS — A month before Georgians begin casting ballots, the state’s U.S. Senate race played out Sunday in an unusual split screen. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Georgia Senate split screen: Ossoff rallies a crowd as Collins counters nearby
The dueling Athens events captured two very different arguments about the state of the race a month before the Oct. 13 early voting period begins.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Former Vice President Kamala Harris is headed back to Georgia to campaign with U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in the closing days of his reelection fight against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Kamala Harris to campaign with Jon Ossoff as 2028 speculation swirls
The former vice president will campaign in Fulton County at the end of October, just days before the election.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If Rep. Mike Collins needed to justify why he was one of the few Republicans in a competitive Senate race willing to trek to the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, the scene last night gave an answer. Democrats: “It has moth to flame energy.” #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Trump tells midterm voters to ‘pretend I’m on the ballot’
The president's comment effectively invited voters to treat the midterms as a referendum on himself. Democrats are only too happy to oblige.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Jodi Sonenshine built a charity around delivering moments of joy. Then cancer struck the son of her closest friend. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
She created YES DAY for children in crisis. Then her godson needed it.
Jodi Sonenshine built a charity around delivering moments of joy. Then cancer struck the son of her closest friend.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
The post-Labor Day questions hanging over Georgia politics
This week alone, all four nominees in Georgia’s marquee races are making big moves.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s reaction to Republican Senate nominee Mike Collins’ upcoming appearance at President Donald Trump’s midterm convention was not alarm. It was amusement. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Jon Ossoff on Mike Collins’ Trump trip: ‘We are delighted’
Collins is set to speak during the GOP's midterm convention in Dallas this week. The speech highlights the very different bets the two Senate campaigns are making.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The question hanging over Georgia Republicans isn’t just whether Jon Ossoff can beat Mike Collins. It’s whether a big Ossoff win could swamp Republicans down the ballot. That’s one of five big questions shaping the final weeks of Georgia’s midterms: www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
The post-Labor Day questions hanging over Georgia politics
This week alone, all four nominees in Georgia’s marquee races are making big moves.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
For six years, Georgia politicians barely had to ask for national attention. It came looking for them.... Now there's a concern that Georgia may not be at the top of the battleground pyramid. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Is Georgia losing some of its political battleground luster?
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Friends, I wrote about two families I’ve known for decades. I’d be honored if you checked out my latest. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
She created YES DAY for children in crisis. Then her godson needed it.
Jodi Sonenshine built a charity around delivering moments of joy. Then cancer struck the son of her closest friend.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Keisha Lance Bottoms wants Georgia to pause development of new data centers. When she was Atlanta mayor, her administration helped advance a smaller version of the type of projects drawing scrutiny across the state. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Bottoms’ data center stance reflects a fast-changing Georgia debate
The Democratic nominee for governor once advocated for a data center at Georgia Tech's Technology Square. Now, she wants to pause new data center developments.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
DSA’s growing visibility is colliding with a GOP strategy that makes socialism and far-left politics the villain of Georgia’s midterms. There’s just one problem: The socialists aren’t claiming the Democrats at the top of Georgia’s ticket. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Democratic socialists aren’t taking over. But their influence is growing.
The movement has more success nationally than in Georgia. But its members are working to push Democrats to the left at a moment when they are gaining momentum.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Georgia’s leaders are endorsing new guardrails around Flock cameras and other license-plate readers. The harder question is how far should Georgia go to restrict a technology that has fast become an effective law enforcement tool. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Georgia leaders agree Flock needs guardrails. The rift is over how far to go.
Misuse of the technology by law enforcement has made Flock cameras an issue in Georgia's political campaigns.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr told the SEC today he is prepared to “use all legal means necessary to protect the University of Georgia, student athletes, and the integrity of college athletics.” #gapol www.dawgnation.com/football/geo...
dawgnation.com
Georgia Attorney General tells SEC to use ‘all measures available’ against LSU
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is the latest player in the escalating saga of LSU’s attempt to allow former NFL players to join the Tigers’ football team.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Keisha Lance Bottoms says Georgians deserve multiple debates in the race for gov. “It’s like going on a date,” she said, adding: "This is not ‘Married at First Sight.’” #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
AJC Interview: From grocery taxes to Trump, Bottoms sketches her agenda
The Democratic nominee for governor told the "Politically Georgia" podcast she wants to push a law letting local governments suspend sales taxes on groceries.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Democrats have spent years chipping away at GOP dominance in Atlanta’s suburbs. Now they’re targeting some of the toughest voters left to crack: Georgians who will vote D at the top of the ticket but still back Rs for the state Legislature. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Democrats challenge the ‘moderate Republican’ brand in Atlanta suburbs
At a fundraiser, state House candidates Adam Cleveland and Beth Fuller argued voters should judge GOP incumbents not by their brands, but by their party's policies.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
As Republicans target Bottoms’ record as Atlanta’s leader, Mayor Dickens pushes back “I watched her do the hardest version of this job in one of the hardest years in the history of the United States. She cared and she led.” #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Prominent Black Democrats rally behind Keisha Lance Bottoms
Republicans want to make Bottoms' record as Atlanta mayor a major liability in the governor's race, but her successor, Andre Dickens, offered an unequivocal defense on Sunday.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins keeps trying to pivot away from the controversies surrounding people in his political orbit. And each time the Senate nominee tries, another one seems to surface. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Mike Collins struggles to outrun his aides’ problematic posts
The Republican U.S. Senate nominee has been plagued by scandals among his current and former staff. Now, he's facing a new one.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
“I’m open for discussion but it’s their move to make, to have a genuine conversation about it,” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones told me. “Let’s not forget they filed a defamation lawsuit against me.” #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
‘It was small talk’: Burt Jones pours cold water on Rick Jackson reconciliation
The lieutenant governor disputed a report that President Donald Trump offered to make him the U.S. ambassador to Germany in exchange for endorsing Rick Jackson for governor.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Even as governors from Texas to Pennsylvania are pumping the brakes on data centers, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is pressing ahead with full-throated support for the industry in his final months in Georgia’s top job. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
How Brian Kemp became the champion of Georgia’s data center future
Governors from Texas to Pennsylvania are pausing data center development in response to voters' concerns. But Kemp, who leaves office in January, is defending the industry.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The assertion by the GOP nominee for governor comes amid an ongoing fight over whether the military will be deployed to polling sites across the country during the election. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Jackson suggests Kemp will use National Guard to monitor polling places
The Republican nominee for governor told a rally attendee that Kemp would use the National Guard to "watch it for us."
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
GOP nominee for governor Rick Jackson is still running against the establishment, even with the state’s top Republican for much of the last decade standing beside him. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Backed by Brian Kemp, Rick Jackson sticks to outsider message
At a weekend rally, the GOP nominee for governor leans hard into his anti-establishment pitch, even with Georgia’s top Republican for much of the last decade beside him.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Ossoff and Collins are both multimillionaires. Both have much of that money in investments. But they manage their portfolios very differently. A closer look: #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Ossoff, Collins are millionaires. Here is how they manage their money.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and his challenger, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, both recently filed financial disclosure paperwork that provides insight into how they make their millions.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
It was a remarkable campaign moment between the two rivals for Georgia governor, one more suited for a debate stage than a parking lot outside a swanky Atlanta hotel. But the confrontation has jolted the race for Georgia governor. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
A rare face-to-face clash jolts Georgia governor’s race
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms confronts Republican Rick Jackson outside a National Business League event on Saturday.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Weeks after Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins sought to put the furor surrounding his son-in-law’s extremist posts behind him, David Alan Scheer II is still stirring online outrage. 1/ #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Mike Collins’ son-in-law sparks fresh outrage online
As the Republican U.S. Senate nominee tries to put the furor over his son-in-law's extremist posts behind him, David Alan Scheer II continues to stir online outrage.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson are teasing new ethics overhauls as they race for Georgia’s top job, putting public trust at the forefront of a contest where both are trying to fend off fierce attacks on their own records. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Why Bottoms and Jackson are trying to ‘out-ethics’ each other
The Democratic and Republican candidates for governor are floating expansive ethics overhauls amid increasing scrutiny of their own records.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The decision extends a four-decade DNC drought for Atlanta and is a stinging disappointment for boosters who mounted a more aggressive campaign to land the convention after losing the 2024 event to Chicago, which was also eliminated on Thursday. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Atlanta falls short again in Democratic convention sweepstakes
The city had been one of five finalists to host the 2028 convention. Party leaders on Thursday narrowed their choices to Boston, Denver and Philadelphia.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
GOP Senate nominee Mike Collins is trying to exploit one of Ossoff’s most personal fault lines: his criticism of the Israeli government, which has put Georgia’s first Jewish U.S. senator at odds with some influential members of his own community. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
For some Jewish voters in Georgia, neither U.S. Senate choice is simple
Democrat Jon Ossoff, Georgia's first Jewish senator, faces a backlash over Israel. Republican challenger Mike Collins is confronting his son-in-law's antisemitic rhetoric.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Sen. Jon Ossoff leads Republican challenger Mike Collins in every major public poll, holds a massive fundraising advantage and is now trying to peel away GOP voters. At his Sunday rally in Atlanta, Ossoff made plain that he sees no reason to let up. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Jon Ossoff wants more than a win against Mike Collins
The Democratic U.S. senator is pitching himself as a check on President Donald Trump, hoping it will propel him to a runaway win.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
substack.com/@gregblueste...
substack.com
Greg Bluestein (@gregbluestein)
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
President Donald Trump is trying to play peacemaker between Rick Jackson and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, personally stepping in to try and broker a truce after one of the nastiest Republican primaries for governor in Georgia history. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Trump tries to broker truce between Jackson, Jones after bitter GOP primary
Trump is hoping to help mend a rift between the two Republican rivals who clashed during the GOP primary for governor. But two lawsuits are complicating things.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The GOP nominee for Georgia governor is entangled in a costly battle to keep a Montgomery hospital from shutting its doors. Here’s what it tells us about his healthcare strategy. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Why Rick Jackson poured millions into a failing Alabama hospital
What Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson’s involvement in an Alabama hospital tells us about his healthcare strategy.
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Greg Bluestein @bluestein.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Rick Jackson spent more than $108 million of his own cash during the GOP primary. But new reports show he is taking outside money, including $10 million from a Republican PAC. #gapol www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
Rick Jackson raises $13 million in outside money for Georgia governor bid
Jackson self-funded his Republican primary run, but new reports show he is taking outside money, including $10 million from a Republican PAC.
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