(GA NEWS NETWORK UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE)
*Stacey Abrams is condemning the nationwide “rush” to congressional redistricting. The Democrat and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate spoke at a coastal Georgia voter rally Saturday in Midway. “What’s unfortunately happening across this country, starting in the south but across this country, is that politicians are deciding the outcome of elections before they’re even voting, and that happens when you strip communities of their right to be represented.” No redistricting plans yet in Georgia but Gov. Kemp says he may call lawmakers to redraw congressional districts before the 2028 election.
*Keisha Lance Bottoms leads all other Democrats in that party’s primary in the race for governor. Bottoms – a former Atlanta Mayor – leads in the latest AJC poll with 39% of likely Democratic voters, almost neck-and-neck with the undecided at 35%. Michael Thurmond is 3rd with 10% followed by Jason Esteves at 8% and Geoff Duncan at 5%. The primary is May 19.
*Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Friday against school officials in Vidalia after they punished the director of a Christian released-time education program for allegedly exercising his First Amendment right on Facebook and engaging in religious instruction. For more than a decade, Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center provided optional, free, off-campus religious instruction to students at Vidalia High School. This released-time program continued without problems until the ministry’s executive director, Rev. Gady Youmans, criticized a proposed tax increase on his Facebook page, according to a ADF news release. Vidalia School District officials have not commented on the suit.