Political Breakfast With Denis Ohayer

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 Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Breakfast. Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson join WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 hospitals are stretched to the limit. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer welcomes Republican strategist Brian Robinson and former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard, filling in for Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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, leaders are already caught in a fierce debate about how to respond to the spike in deadly violence the city is seeing. Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson dig into these issues and more with WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 coronavirus surge poses big challenges for the health-care system. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer talks it all over with Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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, along with our guest for this special live edition: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 some insight into all of it from Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 rising again. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer gets into all of it with Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 pay a little more attention to stopping the Coronavirus from killing people. Did we expect 2020 to end any other way? WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer tries to make sense of it all with Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 with Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 broadcast edition of the Political Breakfast, WABE political contributor Denis O'Hayer welcomed back our regulars: Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson and Republican strategist Brian Robinson. Also joining for this edition: Emory University political scientist Dr. Andra Gillespie; WABE political reporter Emma Hurt; and Gabe Sterling from the Georgia Secretary of State's office.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Republican strategist Brian Robinson and former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 for this Political Breakfast. Our regulars—Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson and Republican strategist Brian Robinson—are both doing paid work on campaigns that are the subjects of this edition. Filling in for them: former Republican Georgia Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, and Nabilah Islam, a former Democratic congressional candidate in Georgia’s 7th District. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer is your host.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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—including the presidential ones—in some very tight contests in Georgia. WABE political contributor Denis O’Hayer wades through it all with Republican strategist Brian Robinson and former Cobb County Democratic chairman Michael Owens, who’s filling in for Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 explain your options. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 of it—and more—with Republican strategist Brian Robinson and former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard, who’s filling in for Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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. Filling in for Demoratic strategist Tharon Johnson this time: former 7th District Democratic congressional candidate Nabilah Islam. Substituting for Republican strategist Brian Robinson: Heath Garrett, former chief of staff for Senator Johnny Isakson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.