In January of this year, a runoff election sent two Democratic senators to Washington, tipping the balance of power ever so slightly in the Dems’ favor. The outcome of that election spun Georgia’s GOP into a very public identity crisis—over election security, and over Donald Trump’s double defeat. 2022 is set to be just as frantic as the runoffs, because all those questions are about to be dredged up one more time as Georgia’s Republican governor faces reelection. The gubernatorial field is crowded, but you really only need to pay attention to three people: current Gov. Brian Kemp, former Republican Sen. David Perdue, and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who played a big role in delivering Georgia and its Senate seats to Democrats during the 2020 election. The candidate with the most at stake is the governor himself: He’s a very conservative Republican, who’d vowed to crack down on reproductive rights, champion “religious freedom,” and loosen restrictions on guns—and followed through on these promises. Yet, because he chose to maintain the rule of law in Georgia and certify the election results that gave the state’s electors to Joe Biden, he’s facing a strong primary challenge from his right. On Tuesday’s episode of What Next, I spoke with Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein about the stakes of the Georgia governor’s race—for the GOP, for Trump, for Kemp, and for Abrams. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Mary Harris:...
Business THE management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has noted with concern the circulation of unfounded and misleading claims suggesting that its petroleum products are export...