Political Breakfast from WABE

Georgia’s tenure at the center of the political universe continues, with part of the impeachment case focused on the state, and a criminal investigation into former president Donald Trump now underway. Also continuing is the debate over how and when to safely open schools in the pandemic. And what could be an extended fight for the future of the state Republican party is just starting. Republican...

Republicans have introduced a wide variety of election bills ranging from extra ID's for absentee voting to restricting drop boxes saying it's all meant to make voting more secure. Democrats say Republicans want to restrict voting access. Host Lisa Rayam talks with WABE reporters Emma Hurt, Emil Moffatt and Christopher Alston about which proposals may actually pass Georgia's Republican controlled...

In the fight against the deadly coronavirus, Georgia has now given out more than a million vaccines—but there still aren’t enough to go around, and there are questions about whether the state could have done better with the supply it does have. Meanwhile, questions about what to do with a single new member of Congress continue to divide Georgia Republicans. And two of Atlanta’s most controversial...

A mid-year budget and a voter ID bill move forward in the 2021 legislative session that's beset by Covid-19 worries. Host Lisa Rayam talks with WABE politics reporters Emma Hurt and Emil Moffatt about the latest efforts to pass legislation and a state budget during a pandemic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic shows its first signs of levelling off in Georgia, a new and more contagious strain appears, further intensifying the race to vaccinate, along with the debate over whether the state can do more for its public health department. Meanwhile, a brand-new Georgia congresswoman is under increasing scrutiny. We’ll navigate all this and more in this edition of the Political B...

Governor Brian Kemp presented at $27 billion dollar budget to lawmakers who will now get a chance to make minor changes. Host Lisa Rayam talks with WABE politics reporters Emma Hurt and Emil Moffatt as well as education reporter Martha Dalton and health reporter Sam Whitehead about what made it into the spending plan and what was left out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a new president in the White House, two new Georgia Senators at the U.S. Capitol, and a new legislative session underway at the Georgia Capitol. But the problems they face are not new--especially the spiraling numbers of COVID-19 cases, and the struggles to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and its economic fallout. We’ll look at the chances for new hope on this edition of the Political...

Georgia's legislative session has started with Republicans still in control of all branches of state government, but Democrats are making their new found statewide election power known. Host Lisa Rayam talks with WABE Politics reporters Emma Hurt and Emil Moffatt about the first week of the 2021 legislative session. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now that the United States House has voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, does this mark the beginning of a new era in American politics—or the continuation of the toxicity of the last four years? Georgia and its leaders played a prominent role in the historic process. But Georgia also faces a health-care crisis, as the state tries to get COVID-19 vaccines distributed, while...

Following the pivotal Jan. 5 Senate runoff elections in Georgia, in which Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff beat incumbent GOP Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, a deep dive into whether Georgia is now a "50/50" state, or just plain "blue." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we approach the end of 2020, a year of pandemic that is unprecedented and challenging in so many ways, there are also signs of light and hope. We’ll explore the nuances in this edition of the podcast. One of the major stories of 2020 continues into 2021 as many voters head to the polls in Georgia’s critical U.S. Senate runoffs. And as the City of Atlanta prepares for its own election year,...

Federal stimulus funds will soon be coming to many Georgians, but the flow of political campaign advertising money this year hasn't stopped—and neither have the visits from the very top ranks of both the Democratic and Republican parties. As they battle for both of Georgia’s Senate seats in January, some House Republicans continue to try to undo the last election. All this as the coronav...

In the last few weeks, Georgia has welcomed an outgoing president, a president-elect, an outgoing vice president, teams of outside lawyers and their conspiracy theories, and hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising cash for the two Senate runoffs on Jan. 5. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer welcomes Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson, al...

It was a week of risings around here. The sharply rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Georgia, the rising political heat brought by outgoing president Donald Trump on rising numbers of state political leaders, and the staggering rises in the dollars spent by the campaigns—and their outside support groups—on the two January 5th Senate runoffs. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer gets...

As President Donald Trump continues to make baseless claims of a rigged election, and plans to campaign in Georgia in advance of the Jan. 5 Senate runoff elections, a Georgia elections official angrily pleaded with the president to speak out against death threats directed at election workers. Meanwhile, there are warnings the state's hospitals face staffing shortages, just as case numbers are...

With the national election—or the voting part at least—behind us, Georgia took its place at center stage in the political universe. And it immediately used that stage to produce tons of drama: threats of legal action, charges of incompetence, countercharges of interference—and that was just among Republicans. This, at a time when health authorities were warning folks around here to...

There's a hand recount underway of the 5 million ballots in Georgia’s presidential race. And two Republican U.S. Senators, who’d just been pushed into runoffs, attacked the Republican Secretary of State who supervised Georgia's elections. Other GOP members of Congress joined in—with a letter that misspelled the name of the state. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer navigates it all...

The morning after Election Day 2020, there was still a lot of uncertainty in Georgia. The presidential race hinged on some uncounted absentee ballots; one Senate race was headed to a runoff and it was not clear if the second one would, too. And there were some close contests for the U.S. House and the state legislature. But there were some trends to follow, and lessons to learn. In a live special...

We’ve had some great guests on the Political Breakfast; they were most welcome. Zeta was not welcome, but the storm barged in, anyway—delaying production of this edition for a few days. But it’s here—just in time for some thoughts on the final frenzied days of campaigning, and what Election 2020 might bring. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer is your host, joined this time by...

The early voting surge continued this week in Georgia—and there was another wave of visits by folks at the top of the presidential campaigns. Unfortunately, while there hasn’t been a surge in new Coronavirus cases, they haven’t dropped lately, either. And in some places, schools are telling students and parents it’s still not safe to go back to in-person learning. It’s another full menu...

Everyone expected Georgia voters would jump at the chance, but the first few days of early voting were overwhelming--and sometimes not in a good way, when it came to long waiting times and glitches in the state’s new voting system. The COVID-19 numbers grew, too, as the White House continued to urge the state to do more to slow them down. But there was no slowing down for candidates—incl...

With early voting underway in Georgia, host Lisa Rayam and WABE Elections Reporter Emil Moffat break down the big questions about how, when and where to vote in Georgia. They're at State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta, which serves as the largest early voting site in the state. Still haven't gotten your mail-in ballot? Emil will tell you how to track it. Don't know where to go vote? Emil will expl...

WABE politics and state house reporter Emma Hurt talks with Gold Dome Scramble host Lisa Rayam about competitive state house and state senate races in the November election. Many of the tight races that could shift the power under Georgia's gold domed capitol are in Metro Atlanta, where demographic shifts are changing the political landscape. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Early voting is about to begin in Georgia, but how we’ll vote in this historic election is still the subject of legal battles. Meanwhile, President Trump’s Coronavirus diagnosis, and his response, have changed the landscape in many of the contests on the ballot. And Atlanta marked the passing of a police chief who made history. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer looks into all...

Can Georgia Republicans hold the state for President Trump after his burn-it-all-down debate performance? Can Georgia Democrats rely on polls that show them tied or leading in the race for the White House and both Senate seats? Meanwhile, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control tries to send out consistent COVID-19 prevention messages, amid a lot of public and political pressure.&n...