The Georgia Hour, episode 183: Peach State’s Political Firestorm — Georgia Politics Unraveled: GOP Fractures, and Power Plays

In this live­ly episode of a Geor­gia-focused polit­i­cal talk show, BKP dives into a whirl­wind of local and state con­tro­ver­sies, blend­ing sharp com­men­tary on immi­gra­tion ten­sions, Repub­li­can infight­ing, elec­tion integri­ty, and eco­nom­ic pow­er plays. Kick­ing off with a fresh Atlanta news clip, the dis­cus­sion spot­lights a Tuck­er home­own­er’s refusal to pay $31,000 to a Lati­no-owned con­struc­tion firm (Sun Dry Water­proof­ing) for foun­da­tion repairs, cit­ing con­cerns over work­ers and demand­ing to see their green cards—escalating to threats of call­ing ICE. BKP ties this to nation­al ille­gal immi­gra­tion debates, urg­ing view­ers to watch for esca­lat­ing local inci­dents.

Shift­ing to nation­al rip­ples in Geor­gia pol­i­tics, BKP dis­sects Rep. Mar­jorie Tay­lor Greene’s (MTG) evolv­ing “rebel­lion” against Trump’s orbit, cred­it­ing it to lin­ger­ing bit­ter­ness over denied endorse­ments for her abort­ed 2026 guber­na­to­r­i­al or Sen­ate bids. MTG a “woman scorned” seek­ing “a pound of flesh,” now chart­ing her “own lane” by buck­ing par­ty lines on Afford­able Care Act sub­sidy exten­sions and reject­ing tax­pay­er-fund­ed health­care for “ille­gals.” BKP spec­u­lates MTG’s nation­al back­lash against Trump could fuel a future statewide run, bol­stered by her fundrais­ing prowess and recent media from out­lets like the Atlanta Jour­nal-Con­sti­tu­tion (AJC).

The con­ver­sa­tion turns to the 2026 lieu­tenant gov­er­nor race, where state Sen. Greg Dolezal clar­i­fies rumors via a recent off-air call: He denies los­ing $2 mil­lion in First Lib­er­ty Bank invest­ments, admits minor bridge loan loss­es, and insists he nev­er solicit­ed fel­low sen­a­tors. BKP invites him on-air for a “respect­ful” grilling.

Elec­tion heats up with the Pub­lic Ser­vice Com­mis­sion (PSC) race, where a $2.2 mil­lion dark-mon­ey push tar­gets incum­bents Tim Echols and Fitz John­son for “rais­ing rates” under full Repub­li­can con­trol. BKP warns of Demo­c­ra­t­ic schemes to flip seats via “No Kings” protests—framed as anti-Trump ral­lies but real­ly ener­giz­ing urban vot­ers for Novem­ber 4 munic­i­pal elections—potentially unrav­el­ing GOP dom­i­nance estab­lished since the 2003 PSC break­through. Rumors swirl of Echols’ cam­paign­ers wear­ing “Tim Echols and Geor­gia Pow­er” shirts, under­scor­ing util­i­ty influ­ence.

Deep­er dives expose elec­tion vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties: Geor­gia Pub­lic Broad­cast­ing reports the state will stick with Domin­ion vot­ing machines now owned by Lib­er­ty Vote, a Repub­li­can-linked firm con­trol­ling sys­tems in 27 states. BKP urges scruti­ny of can­di­dates like Ver­non Jones, Kelvin King, Gabe Ster­ling, and Tim Flem­ing in the sec­re­tary of state race. A scathing AJC hit piece dubs Jones a “glut­ton for pun­ish­ment” and “polit­i­cal crash-test dum­my,” prompt­ing BKP’s defense and intrigue over a Fan­nin Coun­ty GOP event fea­tur­ing both Jones and King.

Eco­nom­ic under­cur­rents dom­i­nate the back half, slam­ming Geor­gia’s “wild West” data cen­ter boom. Law­mak­ers’ 2018 tax exemp­tions (extend­ed in 2022) on equip­ment lured giants like Microsoft, but 2024 repeal efforts by three Atlanta-area House Repub­li­cans were vetoed by Gov. Bri­an Kemp. BKP con­nects dots to Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ push for a “cer­tifi­cate of need” over­haul, fast-track­ing a $10 bil­lion rur­al hos­pi­tal project in Butts Coun­ty tied to his fam­i­ly via assem­bled parcels. This “hit job” AJC exposé rais­es crony­ism flags, espe­cial­ly as data cen­ters guz­zle water and pow­er, echo­ing the film indus­try’s post-tax-cred­it exo­dus after Gov. Nathan Deal’s “Hol­ly­wood of the East” incen­tives.

Wrap­ping with fis­cal and wild­card notes, BKP polls view­ers on deploy­ing Geor­gia’s $14.6 bil­lion reserves—dismissing stunt rebates—while flag­ging ex-Lt. Gov. Jeff Dun­can’s Demo­c­ra­t­ic guber­na­to­r­i­al piv­ot as a “gam­ble” backed by Kamala Har­ris’ Geor­gia machine. 

A shoutout goes to attor­ney Ash­leigh Mer­chant, the “nation­al hero” who tor­pe­doed Fani Willis’ Trump RICO case by expos­ing her Nathan Wade affair, with dis­missal eyed for Novem­ber 14. Quick hits include “No Kings” ral­ly optics (mocked as “mighty white” senior turnout), Chero­kee Coun­ty GOP dra­ma, and UGA’s 3‑TD hero Gun­ner Stock­ton.