Georgia voters flex their political muscles like never before in 2022

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - During a year when Georgia’s campaigns were dotted by occasional pop-ups from Hollywood (Oprah Winfrey), legal (Gloria Allred) and national political (Barack and Michelle Obama, Mike Pence and Donald Trump) celebrities, 2022 belonged to Georgia voters, who broke virtually every early voting number on record and cast more absentee ballots than ever before.

For a state whose voting laws continue to be labeled “Jim Crow 2.0″ by progressives and Democrats, 2022 proved absentee balloting and early voting are among the most popular and widely used electoral measures by the state’s ever-changing electorate.

Early voting and absentee ballots cast in every statewide election - from the May primaries to the U.S. Senate runoff - provided more ammunition for Republicans and conservatives to debunk claims they are trying to disenfranchise minority voters.

Atlanta’s political headlines began the year with the inauguration of its 61st mayor, Andre Dickens.

Later that summer, the city’s political, business and social leaders were stunned when Atlanta Medical Center announced it was closing Nov. 1.

But the biggest political stories of 2022 were Georgia’s nationally watched midterm elections and the record-breaking early voting numbers and large numbers of absentee ballots that were cast.

While Dickens and city Democratic leaders cast a bid to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, President Joe Biden and national party leaders are trying to place to Georgia as one of the first five states to start the presidential election season.

Georgia’s other top political headlines of 2022 included:

• Georgia House Speaker David Ralston dies at 68
• U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock wins re-election, defeats Republican Herschel Walker
• Marjorie Taylor Greene is 1st Georgia U.S. rep to endorse Donald Trump
• Trump-backed Burt Jones wins Georgia’s lieutenant governor’s race
• Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr wins re-election bid
• Mableton votes to become Georgia’s newest city
• Brad Raffensperger wins re-election as Georgia Secretary of State
• Gov. Brian Kemp wins re-election in nation’s most watched governor’s race
• ‘It’s hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker:’ Chuck Schumer to President Biden
• Stacey sweeps | Abrams’ clout shows in Tuesday’s Democratic runoffs
• Georgia will be front and center in nationally televised Jan. 6 commission hearings
• Kemp wins Georgia GOP governor’s primary, facing Stacey Abrams again
• Raffensperger wins GOP secretary of state primary, joins Kemp in Trump rebuke
• Democrats, GOP follow parallel paths to Georgia political dominance
• Why does Georgia have so many counties?
• State house elects Jon Burns as speaker, joining Burt Jones as new Senate leader

Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ continue to provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues to be at the forefront of the nation’s political scene.

Copyright 2022 WANF. All rights reserved.