Originally posted by MCO Group on September 11, 2026

01. Georgia Governor Race in Dead Heat

The open race to succeed term-limited Brian Kemp has narrowed to a coin flip between Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms (former Atlanta mayor) and Republican Rick Jackson (founder of Jackson Healthcare). InsiderAdvantage's mid-August poll put it at a statistical tie — Jackson 46.3%, Bottoms 46.2% — while the FiftyPlusOne polling average as of Sept. 8 shows Bottoms +4. Affordability is the defining frame both campaigns are fighting on.

02. Georgia Income Rate Reduction Plan

The headline structural story is HB 463, the nine-year plan lawmakers passed in the 2026 session that cuts the income rate to 4.99% (retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026) and steps it down toward 3.99%. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute frames the plan as potentially eliminating up to one-third of the state's income tax over time. The FY 2027 budget runs on a $38.5 billion revenue estimate, and the state entered the year sitting on roughly $9+ billion in undesignated surplus.

03. Data Centers Continue to be Top Regulatory Issue

In late August, Georgia Power agreed to stronger protections shielding residential ratepayers from data-center costs, raising its guaranteed rate offset to $15/month after the surprise announcement of a massive OpenAI-linked facility in Effingham County with 3,200 MW of new demand. Load-growth projections have exploded from 400 MW (2022 estimate) to 8,500 MW. Simultaneously, the state's data-center sales-tax exemption is projected to cost ~$2.5B in FY26 and nearly $3B in FY27, and a bipartisan wave of 2026 bills (SB 408, SB 410, moratorium proposals) targeted those incentives.

04. Medicaid Expansion Heading to Decision

Georgia's partial expansion, Pathways to Coverage (80-hour work requirement, coverage to 100% of poverty), runs on a temporary federal extension that ends December 31, 2026. In August, state officials warned that new federal Medicaid rules threaten the program's structure, and the administration opened a public comment period (closed Sept. 14) on a waiver amendment to capture enhanced federal funding. Democrats, including Keisha Lance Bottoms, continue pledging full expansion to 138% of poverty, which would draw a 90% federal match versus the ~66% Pathways currently gets.

05. Record-Breaking Year for Economic Development Incentives

On Sept. 3, Kemp announced a record $35.2 billion in FY26 project investments, including $7.8 billion in foreign direct investment, capping a term that saw $125.6 billion and roughly 164,900 jobs recruited across FY22–FY26.