SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene told NBC News this week...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: I'm not some sort of blind slave to the president, and I don't think anyone should be. And I'm not elected by the president. I'm not elected by anyone that works in the White House. I'm elected by my district. That's who I work for. And I got elected without the president's endorsement. And, you know, I think that has served me really well.
SIMON: Representative Greene is calling on her fellow Republicans to end the government shutdown by working with Democrats to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. Her outspokenness on this issue and others is just one item of Georgia politics these days. We're joined now by Greg Bluestein. He's chief political correspondent for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Thanks so much for being with us.
GREG BLUESTEIN: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: How much does this most recent break from Republican leadership fit into Marjorie Taylor Greene's broader moves?
BLUESTEIN: I mean, she's always been such a maverick in Georgia politics. But lately, it's really felt like she's even more of a wild card ever since she decided not to run for U.S. Senate for the spot challenging Senator Jon Ossoff, maybe the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent on the midterm ballot. Ever since she made that decision, she has been even more of a maverick, even more of a wild card. For the first time, really, that I can remember in Georgia politics, a bunch of Democrats are now praising Marjorie Taylor Greene, saying, I didn't think we could ever say this, but I agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene.
SIMON: How have her constituents reacted?
BLUESTEIN: Well, she is in a very, very red district up in northwest Georgia. There's been Democratic challengers to her that have raised lots of money but really made no headway. So she's safe politically. Her constituents - by her accounts, about 60% of them have agreed with her stance. Time and time again, we will talk to her constituents who say they might not like everything she says on Twitter, or on social media or on TV, but they agree with most of her votes. By some projections, ending these federal subsidies could affect more than 1.4 million Georgians. So to many of her constituents, she's not just speaking as a lawmaker; she's speaking as a mom whose children will have to pay more in health care insurance.
SIMON: And, of course, this comes as there are two big races next year in Georgia for the Senate and for governor. What, so far, seems to be the major themes for both those campaigns?
BLUESTEIN: Well, the biggest theme, I think, is it is wide open for both races. Other than Jon Ossoff, the incumbent Democratic senator, there seems to be a candidate for every lane. You have candidates in the governor's race from the far left to former Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, now running as a moderate Democrat. And then, of course, on the Republican side of that governor's race, you've got MAGA allies. You've also got Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state, who famously defied Donald Trump's demand to find just enough votes to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
SIMON: What about the economy? What kind of issue is that?
BLUESTEIN: Yeah. Every poll that I've seen in Georgia, economy and jobs and inflation have always been the top issue, and I don't think that's going to change. But we have started to see - at least in polls of Democratic voters - number two is standing up to Donald Trump. And that reflects a lot of Democratic voters - especially the more liberal and progressive ones - who want a more confrontational, aggressive approach to the president. And there's candidates who are promising to do that in 2026, and there's others who are saying, no, look, we need to figure out ways we can work with the Republicans.
SIMON: OK. And what are the issues on the Republican side?
BLUESTEIN: Trump shadows everything as well. On the Senate race, for instance, there's pretty much a three-person race for Donald Trump's endorsement right now. There's former football coach Derek Dooley and Congressmen Mike Collins and Buddy Carter. Derek Dooley is probably the least known of any of them. He has a famous last name, thanks to his father, the legendary University of Georgia football coach. He has Governor Kemp's endorsement, though, so that helps him a lot. On the other side, the other two candidates, Collins and Carter, they're both depicting themselves as MAGA warriors who are going to be President Trump's biggest ally in the Senate should they win.
SIMON: Where do a lot of Georgians see themselves fitting into the national landscape of politics now?
BLUESTEIN: You know, we went from a state that was an afterthought - I remember in the 2016 presidential election, neither Trump nor Clinton even came to Georgia after the primary. They never had substantial operations in Georgia or big campaign rallies, and nor did they really need to. I mean, Donald Trump was always favored to win Georgia. He did. But in the process of 2016, he lost the Atlanta suburbs, and that was the first real inkling that Georgia was being competitive. And now we're used to being competitive. Now there's even voter fatigue because there have been so many competitive elections.
You know, close to a billion dollars was spent in Georgia during the 2020 campaign. About 500 million was spent in 2022. So you're going into 2026 - yes, Georgia's still a battleground. Is it blue? No. Is it red? No. It's probably a sort of darker shade of purple right now but certainly still one of the most competitive places in the nation.
SIMON: Greg Bluestein is chief political correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Thanks so much for being with us.
BLUESTEIN: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
