President-elect Donald Trump has picked former Georgia congressman Doug Collins to lead the Veterans Affairs Department in his new administration.

President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F.

Spike Lee had a memorable first trip to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Michael Jordan welcomed a couple newcomers to it.

Vince Carter wowed the basketball world with his high-flying dunks for more than two decades.

Georgia's Republican Party once relied on votes in Atlanta's close-in suburbs, but today the GOP increasingly relies on the mountains of north Georgia for its votes.

Gene Shue, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year who won 784 games with the Bullets, 76ers and Clippers, has died.

The rewards of an early Donald Trump endorsement will be on display Saturday in Georgia.

The rewards of an early Donald Trump endorsement were on display Saturday evening in Georgia.

The divisions among Georgia Republicans after the 2020 election are being laid bare at the party's annual convention.

Georgia Republican Doug Collins, a favorite of former President Donald Trump, says he doesn’t plan to run for governor or U.S. Senate in 2022.

Republicans in Georgia are calling for party unity to avoid more losses to Democrats in 2022.

Former Georgia lawmaker Vernon Jones says he will run against incumbent Georgia governor Brian Kemp in the Republican primary.

Both men say they support Georgia Republicans' efforts to enact an ID requirement for absentee voting that would do away with the state's signature matching system, which Trump heavily attacked. As Trump disputed Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia, Raffensperger argued the election was accurate and fair. A recorded conversation between Trump and Raffensperger leaked to media, allowing the public to hear Trump pressure Raffensperger and his office to “find 11,000-plus votes” to reverse Biden’s win. The House version, which passed Monday on a party-line vote, would require a photo ID for absentee voting and limit the number of weekend days counties can schedule early voting, among many other changes. The Senate bill would limit absentee voting to just seniors, people with disabilities and people who’ll be out of town.

But as the Senate prepares for an impeachment trial for Trump's incitement of the riot, few seem willing to hold the former president accountable. “The political winds within the Republican Party have blown in the opposite direction,” said Ralph Reed, chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and a Trump ally. After Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer backed impeachment, Republican Tom Norton announced a primary challenge. “We’re getting ready for an impeachment trial — that’s really the focus,” said Trump adviser Jason Miller. And that his political activism or whatever role he would play going forward would be with the Republican Party, not as a third party,” Cramer said.

In a state long dominated by Republicans, Democrats won Georgia’s electoral votes for president in November and two U.S. Senate seats in runoff elections Tuesday, defeating Kemp's hand-picked Senate appointee. And the defeats of both Loeffler and fellow Republican David Perdue handed control of the U.S. Senate to Democrats. Some Republicans blame Trump and his false claims of election fraud for hurting GOP turnout in the the Senate runoffs. “I’ll be here in about a year and a half, campaigning against your governor,” Trump said. “I guarantee it.”The strain on Kemp was on display Tuesday when the governor attended an election-night event for the GOP Senate candidates before their defeats were sealed.

Here are some big questions as the 2020 election cycle finally nears a close:DOES TRUMP HELP OR HURT HIS PARTY? While Biden nipped Trump, Perdue led Ossoff by about 88,000 votes in November, finishing just short of the outright majority required to avoid a runoff. Perdue was within a few thousand votes of Trump, leaving Ossoff about 100,000 votes behind Biden’s pace. About 115,000 Senate votes in the Perdue-Ossoff contest went to a Libertarian. Warnock and Ossoff talk often of a “new Georgia” as they concentrate efforts around Atlanta and the state’s mid-size cities.

Perdue got about 88,000 more votes than Ossoff in the general election, but a Libertarian candidate’s 115,000 votes kept him from topping 50%, which is required to win. Warnock got 1.6 million votes, while Loeffler got nearly 1.3 million and Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins placed third with nearly a million votes. No ballots, including absentee ballots received in advance of Election Day, can be counted until the polls close. Second, Republican voters have been more likely to vote in person, either on Election Day or during the early voting period. In November, more than 5 percent of Georgia’s votes were counted after noon on the day after Election Day.

President-elect Joe Biden walks onstage to speak at a drive-in rally for Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Atlanta. This will be the second campaign visit to the state during the Senate runoffs for Trump and Biden. In-person early voting ends statewide Thursday, though some counties observe New Year's Eve as a holiday so Wednesday will be their last day. Perdue and Loeffler both failed to win a majority of votes in the general election last month, forcing the runoffs. Participation by both groups surged in the general election, but they are less consistent voters and will need extra mobilization to turn out, he said.

The president has spread unfounded assertions of voter fraud and blasted Georgia Republican officials, including Gov. Democrats are fine with the GOP senators' decision to run as Trump Republicans and use exaggerated attacks. But the early vote already has set a statewide Georgia runoff turnout record. McNeely, the former state GOP leader, lamented that even if Perdue and Loeffler win, their campaigns move Georgia further away from a more centrist tradition. But he rose through the Georgia General Assembly in an era when Democrats dominated the state.

The president has spread unfounded assertions of voter fraud and blasted Georgia Republican officials, including Gov. Democrats are fine with the GOP senators' decision to run as Trump Republicans and use exaggerated attacks. But the early vote already has set a statewide Georgia runoff turnout record. McNeely, the former state GOP leader, lamented that even if Perdue and Loeffler win, their campaigns move Georgia further away from a more centrist tradition. But he rose through the Georgia General Assembly in an era when Democrats dominated the state.

U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic challenger for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock appear during a debate on Dec. 6 in Atlanta. ATLANTA – When Georgia Republican Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock advanced to the Jan. 5 U.S. Senate runoff, they faced the immediate challenge of winning over the 2 million voters who chose one of the 18 other candidates in November's election. In Georgia's second runoff election, Republican U.S. Sen David Perdue started with an even wider lead, having won 88,000 more votes in November than Democrat Jon Ossoff. Miles Coleman of the University of Virginia Center for Politics said the joint effort has helped Warnock wrap up Democratic voters. Henderson also frets that Loeffler has never been to his county, so far from Atlanta that many watch out-of-state television.

Brian Kemp in December last year was widely seen as a way for the Georgia GOP to appeal to moderate suburban women. Or would she heed the plea for bipartisanship made in a farewell speech by her predecessor, retired Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson? Critics say Loeffler took a hard-right turn once she drew a challenge from staunch Trump ally and fellow Republican Doug Collins. Loeffler's campaign did not make her available for an interview and did not respond to questions sent by email. Loeffler's connection to the company poses potentially deep conflicts of interest on Senate matters dealing with the regulation of financial markets.

There have even been suggestions from some Trump allies that conservative voters should sit out the Jan. 5 Senate runoffs in protest, a notion Pence took head on. Talking to Democrats, Obama struck a different tone, celebrating Biden's Georgia win but warning it's not enough. Pence, as he did two weeks ago when campaigning with the Georgia senators, tried to strike a balance. But this time, Pence's message comes as Georgia completes yet another recount of presidential ballots and in the wake of Trump escalating his attacks on Georgia Republicans. As Pence arrived in the state, Georgia officials were in the final stages of a third count requested by Trump’s campaign.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he chose the presidential race because of its significance and tight margin. Because of the close results, he said, a full hand recount would be needed to complete the audit. The actual number of rejected ballots was about 350% higher, but that matched the overall increase in absentee ballots, the release says. Two years ago, 454 absentee ballots were rejected out of 284,393. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the presidential race in Georgia, where Biden led Trump by 0.3 percentage points.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Georgia election officials have announced an audit of presidential election results that will trigger a full hand recount. “The secretary of state has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections,” GOP Sens. After the Trump campaign asked for a hand recount of all 5 million votes cast in Georgia, Raffensperger chose the presidential election for an audit, which Georgia law now requires for one statewide race each election cycle. Not shying away from the fact that he's a Republican, Raffensperger has said publicly that he wished Trump had won.

This combination of photos shows Democratic candidate for Senate Jon Ossoff, left, on Nov. 10, 2020, and Republican candidate for Senate Sen. David Perdue on Nov. 2, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)ATLANTA – President Donald Trump won’t be on the ballot in January when Georgia voters settle two Senate runoffs that will determine control of the U.S. Senate. The two Senate contests offer an early measure of Trump’s lasting political imprint and whether both parties can sustain momentum in the post-Trump era. For now, both the incumbents and their Democratic rivals are largely avoiding direct mention of Trump, instead focusing on Senate control. Republicans have dominated statewide runoffs in Georgia recently, proving more adept at returning their core supporters to the polls.

An audit of one race is required before election results are certified by the state, and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday that he had selected the presidential race. For the audit, county election staffers will work with the paper ballots in batches, dividing them into piles for each candidate. Then they will count each pile by hand, Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said. There is no mandatory recount law in Georgia, but state law provides that option to a trailing candidate if the margin is less than 0.5 percentage points. Brad Raffensperger was going to get tested and plans to self-quarantine as a precaution even if his test is negative, Fuchs said.

ATLANTA – As Georgia counties prepare for a hand tally of the presidential race, the state's top elections official planned to quarantine after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Thursday. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s wife, Tricia, tested positive on Thursday, the deputy secretary of state, Jordan Fuchs, told The Associated Press. An audit of one race is required by law but it's up to the secretary of state to choose the race. Sterling emphatically denied that the selection of the presidential race and subsequent decision to do a full hand count was the result of pressure from the president. Doing a hand count of the nearly 5 million votes cast in Georgia during the Nov. 3 election is a massive task.

Georgia Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Jon Ossoff rallies supporters for a run-off against Republican candidate Sen. David Perdue, as they meet in Grant Park, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, in Atlanta. But for Democrats, it’s seemingly a more piecemeal, voter-by-voter approach, while Republicans are pushing a broad branding message through mass media. Republicans need one of the Georgia seats for a majority. Democrats must win both to yield a 50-50 Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris then holding the tie-breaking vote. “Runoffs favor strong, well-organized campaigns,” Ossoff campaign manager Ellen Foster told The Associated Press, explaining Democrats' tactical emphasis beyond their public events.

Loeffler, appointed after Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson announced his retirement last year, trailed Warnock in an all-party primary to finish out the final two years of a six-year term. Still, the GOP needs at least one of the Georgia seats to command a majority in January. In a 50-50 Senate, Democrats would have the tie-breaking vote in Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. “But all socialists are Democrats.”Rubio alluded to failed presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, an independent who calls himself a democratic socialist and caucuses with Senate Democrats. Their bet is that Georgia, long a GOP stronghold before Biden’s performance in the presidential race, follows the same path.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Georgia election officials have announced an audit of presidential election results that will trigger a full hand recount. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference that the presidential race makes the most sense. Georgians cast nearly 5 million votes in the presidential race and counties have until Friday to certify their results. In addition to the audit of the presidential race, Raffensperger announced that he's consolidating runoff elections.

ATLANTA – A Republican congressman will lead a Georgia recount team for President Donald Trump’s campaign, as the president continues to make unsubstantiated accusations of large scale voter fraud. U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, who gave up his seat and then came up short in his attempt to reach a Jan. 5 Senate runoff, was tapped Sunday to lead the recount team in Georgia, a campaign news release said. Collins said in the statement that the Trump campaign is “confident” the recounting group will “find evidence of improperly harvested ballots and other irregularities.”“We are concerned about the lack of transparency in the tabulation process,” said Matt Morgan, Trump 2020 general counsel. The AP has not yet called the race in Georgia, where Biden currently leads Trump by about 10,000 votes. County spokesperson Jessica Corbitt said workers are rescanning the batch of ballots in question and they would repost the results later.

ATLANTA – Some Republicans renewed their attacks Monday on Democrat Joe Biden's lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia, with U.S. Sens. Perdue and Loeffler offered no evidence and gave no specific examples of illegal votes or fraud, and their campaigns did not respond to requests for further comment. “Does it rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is given Georgia’s electoral votes? "He has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately.”Other Republicans have been more cautious, with Gov. “We must count every legal vote and cast out every illegal vote in the state of Georgia,” Sonny Perdue said.

Abrams, the onetime candidate for Georgia governor who has become perhaps the nation's leading voice on voting rights, is being credited for paving those inroads. “There’s a lot of work that’s gone into this, but Stacey really is the architect of what’s been built in Georgia,” said Dubose Porter, the former Georgia Democratic Party chairman and an Abrams mentor. The 2018 campaign marked a notable shift in Georgia Democrats’ overall approach. They’d do it by reshaping the electorate, by exciting the expanding universe of potentially Democratic voters: the youngest native white Georgians; whites from beyond Georgia; Black voters who cast ballots sporadically; Black voters moving to Georgia from other regions; and a growing Latino and Asian-American population. “We’ll take on Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Fair Fight, Stacey Abrams and all of them.”Trump himself was an accelerating variable in Georgia’s shift, pushing some white suburbanites toward Democrats.

ATLANTA – Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock advanced to a Jan. 5 runoff in Georgia, the only state with both its U.S. Senate seats on the ballot. Loeffler and Warnock were the top two finishers in a crowded field that also included Republican Rep. Doug Collins. In Georgia’s second Senate race, GOP Sen. David Perdue was seeking a second term against Democrat John Ossoff. That helped clear the field for Warnock on the Democratic side while Loeffler and Collins battled it out on the right. Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in Georgia in two decades.

Republican Sen. David Perdue faces Democrat Jon Ossoff in a race that public polling has shown to be very close. Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in Georgia in two decades. Perdue has sought to cast Ossoff as backing a “radical socialist agenda,” while Ossoff has portrayed Perdue as a “corrupt” Washington insider. Both denied wrongdoing, saying the trades were made by independent advisers and were ultimately cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee. Collins accused Loeffler of ``pandemic profiteering,'' while Ossoff accused Perdue of having ``profited from the pandemic while he downplayed the risk.''

Republican Senate candidate Sen. Mitch McConnell, second from right, and his wife, Elaine Chao, right, look on as aides show him the election results in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)WASHINGTON – Hopes fading for Senate control, Democrats had a disappointing election night as Republicans swatted down an onslaught of challengers and fought to retain their fragile majority. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. The Democrats' gains were in Colorado and Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly beat GOP incumbent Martha McSally. Republican Cynthia Lummis, the former congresswoman from Wyoming, won the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mike Enzi.

Underscoring the high stakes, Trump returned to Georgia on Sunday night for the second time in three weeks for a crowded rally in Rome. Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, was in Georgia on Sunday, and Biden visited the state last week. Ossoff, who joined Obama at the Atlanta rally, slammed Republican leadership throughout the pandemic. “Look, we have to make sure that we keep the Senate in Republican hands,” Loeffler told reporters at small, private air terminal in Savannah. Collins mocked Loeffler, a wealthy businesswoman and political newcomer appointed to the seat less than a year ago.

ATLANTA – Both of Georgia’s Republican senators are on the 2020 ballot, but they’re running campaigns that seem poles apart. Donors from outside the state have poured huge sums into the races, and record numbers of voters cast ballots early. The crowded field virtually assures a January runoff, likely between leading Democrat Raphael Warnock and either Loeffler or Collins. By challenging Loeffler, Collins essentially forced a hyper-partisan fight in which both Loeffler and Collins have sought to win over Trump supporters. Brian Robinson, a Republican strategist, said the battle between Loeffler and Collins has allowed Warnock to “float above the fray.

ATLANTA – The most competitive election cycle in decades could confirm Georgia as a swing state or leave Republicans still in control. Williams, a state senator and chair of the Georgia Democratic Party, wants to use federal power to provide more subsidized health care and guarantee voting rights. The race in Atlanta’s northern suburbs centers around arguments about health care, abortion, support for police and gun control. Bourdeaux, a public policy professor, says government needs to do more to provide access to health care and solve people’s problems. Pandy pledges a bipartisan little-guy approach, saying his priorities include better access to health care, a higher minimum wage and an end to tariffs.

When Republican Kelly Loeffler was appointed to fill a Georgia U.S. Senate seat 11 months ago, she knew she’d have to win with the voters this year. So after Tuesday’s votes are counted next week, both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats -- and perhaps whether the Republicans or Democrats will control the Senate -- may remain in play for another two months. WHO’S WHO: 20 candidates in Georgia’s US Senate special electionPicking favoritesLoeffler, the owner of Atlanta’s WNBA team, was appointed to the Senate by Gov. She has previously loaned her campaign $15 million of her own vast personal wealth, bringing the total self-loan to $20 million. In the other race, challenger Ossoff raised $21.3 million during the period, receiving over 600,000 contributions averaging $35.

Loeffler smiled and nodded as Marjorie Taylor Greene praised her as “the most conservative Republican" running in Georgia's multi-candidate special election for the U.S. Senate seat Loeffler was appointed to 10 months ago. Her choice has many Republicans worried about how she'd fare in an anticipated January runoff election in a state where Republican dominance is slipping and victory could depend on more moderate voters and independents. Loeffler spokeswoman Caitlin O’Dea said Loeffler was not available to be interviewed for this story and declined to answer questions. “Loeffler and Collins are essentially running in a primary within a special election,” said Brian Robinson, a Republican strategist in Georgia. “Whoever emerges between Collins and Loeffler will then pivot the next day to a general election message and they’ll be talking about different topics,” Robinson said.

VOTER’S GUIDE: Races on ballots in SE Georgia counties | Early in-person voting begins this week | 3 ways to vote in GeorgiaGeorgia Gov. She is among 20 candidates in that race -- eight Democrats, six Republicans and six others from smaller parties or not aligned with any party. Stacey Abrams, who came within 2% of defeating Kemp in 2018 and has remained active campaigning for voter registration, has endorsed Warnock. “Don’t anybody get out,” Trump said last month at an event in Cobb County, implying that having two Republicans duking it out in the Senate race would help his own reelection prospects. U.S. Senate (6-year term)The second Senate seat on the ballot is on its normal election cycle.

The protesters began to chant Black lives matter! after one of them shouted questions critical of Loeffler's description of Black Lives Matter. Loeffler's tangle with Black Lives Matter had already made headlines last month in connection with her co-ownership of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. The last words of Loeffler's never-completed speech to about 60 people discussed her brush with Black Lives Matter, with her saying I had to draw the line." When we're talking about Black Lives Matter, were not talking about some Marxist organization. Like we said, were talking about Black lives, like real Black Lives.

File- In this Wednesday, June 17, 2020 file photo, Nikita Gleen, raises his hand towards the sky near a Wendy's restaurant, in Atlanta. The Guard troops will provide support at sites including the Capitol and governors mansion, freeing up state law enforcement resources to patrol other areas, according to a statement from Kemp's office. There was no visible presence of Guard troops at either site Tuesday morning. His choice to deploy National Guard troops for todays selfish purpose is outrageous and will endanger lives, she said in a statement. It happened near the Wendys restaurant where a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by a white police officer June 12.

FILE - In this July 17, 2019, file photo, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks during a Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms invoked that history in a passionate and deeply personal plea for protesters to go home. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms invoked that history in a passionate and deeply personal plea for protesters to go home. When Dr. King was assassinated, we didn't do this to our city, Bottoms said Friday night. The 50-year-old Bottoms was elected mayor in 2017 and previously served on the City Council.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a resolution defining the rules of the panel's impeachment investigation, the first vote the committee has taken related to the potential impeachment of President Donald Trump. Thursday's vote, which does not need to be approved by the full House, gives Nadler the ability to deem committee hearings as impeachment hearings. To Nadler and many on the committee, the committee is conducting an impeachment investigation. "I don't want to get caught in semantics," Jeffries, who is a Judiciary Committee member, said when asked if the probe was an impeachment inquiry. Hoyer said "no" when asked whether the House was in an impeachment inquiry, but he later issued a statement clarifying his comments.