The European Parliament approved €489.15 million in financial assistance for Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta on Wednesday, 21 October, following severe storms and flooding that damaged infrastructure and disrupted communities across southern Europe during the opening months of 2026.
The allocation from the European Union Solidarity Fund was approved by 651 votes to 17, with three abstentions. Portugal will receive the largest share, approximately €261.5 million, followed by Spain with €149.1 million, Italy with €74.9 million and Malta with €3.7 million.
The funding is intended to support recovery operations and help national authorities meet the costs of restoring essential public infrastructure and services damaged by the disasters.
Portugal’s €261.5 million allocation follows flooding and storms that affected the country during January and February.
The Portuguese authorities applied for assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund after assessing the extent of the damage and the associated costs of emergency operations and infrastructure recovery.
The funds will contribute to eligible public expenditure arising from the disasters, potentially including the restoration of transport links, damaged public facilities and other essential infrastructure.
Portugal has already received approximately €65.37 million in advance funding, according to the figures accompanying the parliamentary decision.
Spain will receive €149.1 million following destructive weather during the same period, including severe flooding in February.
The Spanish government had also requested European assistance to cover part of the expenditure associated with recovery operations.
Approximately €37.26 million of Spain’s allocation has already been paid in advance.
The two countries together account for the substantial majority of the assistance approved on Wednesday, reflecting the scale of their eligible recovery costs.
Italy and Malta will receive assistance following Storm Harry, which struck parts of the central Mediterranean in January 2026.
Italy’s allocation amounts to €74.9 million, while Malta will receive €3.7 million.
The storm caused significant disruption in affected Mediterranean areas, with heavy rainfall, strong winds and damaging sea conditions placing pressure on local infrastructure.
Italian authorities sought European support for recovery operations in the affected territories, while Malta submitted its own request following the damage sustained during the storm.
The Maltese allocation includes approximately €931,000 already made available through an advance payment.
The final assistance amounts were proposed by the European Commission after examining the applications submitted by the four governments.
The Commission’s September proposal to mobilise the EU Solidarity Fund set out the amount of assistance required for each country.
The total proposed mobilisation was €489,148,220.
The European Union established the Solidarity Fund in 2002 to assist member states and certain countries participating in the EU accession process following major natural disasters.
The mechanism provides financial support for public emergency and recovery expenditure rather than operating as a general insurance scheme for individuals or businesses.
Eligible expenditure can include emergency accommodation, restoring essential infrastructure, securing protective infrastructure, cleaning disaster-affected areas and protecting cultural heritage.
National authorities submit applications to the Commission, which evaluates them against the relevant eligibility requirements and financial thresholds.
Assistance depends on the assessed disaster damage and applicable regulatory criteria, rather than simply reimbursing every euro of economic loss.
The fund is financed through EU budgetary arrangements and is mobilised following the required institutional approvals.
Payments are made to the countries concerned, which remain responsible for ensuring that assistance is used in accordance with EU financial rules.
The Solidarity Fund can therefore help governments manage exceptional recovery costs, but it does not replace national budgets, private insurance or other financial arrangements.
The latest allocation comes against a background of increasingly frequent demands on European disaster-response mechanisms.
Southern European countries have experienced damaging floods, storms, heatwaves and wildfires in recent years, leading to repeated requests for assistance.
Recovery expenditure extends beyond immediate emergency operations. Damaged roads, bridges, coastal defences, water systems and public buildings can require prolonged reconstruction.
These costs can place considerable pressure on local authorities, particularly where a disaster affects tourism, transport or economic activity.
The EU faces the additional challenge of maintaining sufficient funds to respond to major disasters affecting several countries within a relatively short period.
Extreme weather events can also expose weaknesses in existing infrastructure, prompting governments to consider whether reconstruction should incorporate additional protection against future disasters.
However, such investments must be assessed against the eligible spending categories of the Solidarity Fund and the availability of other EU financing programmes.
Wednesday’s vote represents parliamentary approval of the mobilisation proposed by the European Commission.
The decision concerns disasters that occurred earlier in 2026 and does not constitute a new emergency response operation.
The funds will support eligible recovery measures carried out by the national authorities in the four countries.
The payments already made to Portugal, Spain and Malta will be taken into account when the remaining assistance is disbursed.
EU authorities will retain responsibility for monitoring compliance with the relevant financial and reporting requirements.
The substantial parliamentary majority indicates broad support for assistance to the affected countries, although future disaster-funding arrangements will continue to depend on the resources available in the European budget.
For the four governments, the immediate task is to use the approved assistance to meet eligible recovery costs and restore damaged public infrastructure following the storms earlier this year.
In this segment of Free Media, Reason Senior Editor Robby Soave and Daily Caller Editor in Chief Amber Duke discuss Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad against his opponent Amy Acton in Ohio's gubernatorial race.
If you enjoy Free Media, come watch Robby debate at our upcoming Reason Versus in Washington, D.C. Tickets are available here.
The post Vivek Ramaswamy Is Defending Controversial Ad With Amy Acton's Mother appeared first on Reason Magazine.
Modern Times Café, a Minneapolis restaurant that attempted to eliminate prices, has announced it will be closing for good by the end of the year.
"For the last six years, I’ve been trying to prove that Modern Times can continue to exist," owner Dylan Alverson wrote on social media Saturday. "I’ve exhausted every option without compromising the core fundamentals that make Modern Times what it is."
He added that he plans to spend the next two months celebrating the 16-year-old business and discussing ways for a business like his to continue.
"The only way for places like Modern Times to exist in the future is to actively challenge the reasons why it can no longer exist," Alverson wrote.
Alverson announced on Instagram in January that his business, which rebranded as Post Modern Times, would operate as a "free and donation-based restaurant" where everyone would be welcome "except ICE" in protest of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations happening in his state, partly in response to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
"We absolutely cannot go on as we have. I am sick of generating money for the soldiers in our streets and for a government that won't protect us — a government who is actively inflicting daily harm on its citizens," Alverson wrote. "Effective tomorrow we are done making money for the fascists that occupy our city."
The decision was made after Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents.
The Modern Times Café operated without prices for about six months until it briefly closed in July. The establishment returned to using prices once the store reopened in August but announced that it would continue serving 25 free meals per day.
By October, Alverson told The New York Times he was operating under a "zero profit margin," hoping that his place could be used as a model for other restaurants.
BELOVED LA RESTAURANT HIT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA BACKLASH AFTER OWNERS SPOKE POSITIVELY ABOUT TESLA
‘WE’RE BACK TO COVID’: MINNESOTA RESTAURANT OWNERS SAY ICE ENFORCEMENT IS CRIPPLING THEIR BUSINESSES
"If I can create a fundraising mechanism that can raise money to provide hospitality, we can take that program and add restaurants to it," Alverson said.
However, he acknowledged that the process was taxing for his staff and led to customers waiting up to two hours for a meal, half of which would usually be given for free. Neighbors also expressed concerns that homeless and drug-addicted people would take advantage of the offer.
In a comment to Fox News Digital, Alverson stood by his remarks to The New York Times and suggested that the bigger issue was other restaurants that were struggling.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
"I think a bigger question right now is how many independent restaurants are close to collapse?" Alverson said.
Since transitioning, Lane Michael Stanley has struggled with his interactions with straight men—especially the classic ‘man-hug’: brief, side-angled, all back slaps and no stomach touching. As he navigates this new territory, he reflects on his other relationships and forms of physical intimacy, examining his life and gender norms from both sides of his transition.
Straight men are generally more standoffish with me than I remember them being before. They make less eye contact, they touch less, they smile less. Do I not know how to read their friendship cues? Maybe straight men befriend other men differently from how they befriend women: no more touch of the arm that they swear is innocent, no more questions they feel entitled to ask or basic facts they appoint themselves to explain. Maybe I should learn to read a curt nod as a sign of camaraderie from men now, replacing whatever a straight man’s sly smile was supposed to convey before.
Or are they more standoffish because they can tell I’m gay? Maybe straight men want to keep me at a distance. Maybe there is a reality to the coldness I read from them, a hostility they throw my way unconsciously. Most of the gay men I know are friends with other gay men, so I’m not sure how gay/straight male friendships function, or if they really exist. My partner (a cis gay man) did have a close straight male friend, but they went barhopping and ended up trading blow jobs, so that doesn’t really count anymore.
Former President Bill Clinton has jumped into the midterm fray, stumping for Democrat David Jolly in his race against Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds in the bid to replace outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
The post Bill Clinton Quotes Bible in Effort to Flip Florida Blue: This Is ‘One of the Bible’s Most Important Promises’ appeared first on Breitbart.
A crise da habitação e a pressão demográfica foram os pontos mais quentes da segunda ronda do painel Decisão política: O que falta ao OE e o que vem a seguir?, da conferência “OE2027” organizada pelo Jornal Económico e pelo EY, esta quarta-feira, 21, cruzando o mercado de arrendamento com a chegada de novos residentes ao país e culminando nas “acampadas”.
O painel, moderado por André Cabrita Mendes, jornalista do Jornal Económico, sentou à mesa os deputados Paulo Núncio, presidente do grupo parlamentar do CDS, Frederico Francisco, do PS, e Rui Afonso, do Chega.
“O INE já confirmou. Entraram um milhão de estrangeiros, de imigrantes, em Portugal nos tempos do governo socialista e depois, com total descaramento, os socialistas gritam ‘faltam casas’… se entrou um milhão de novos residentes em Portugal, e se no tempo dos governos socialistas construía-se em média 10 mil casas por ano, como é que é possível que não faltem casas!?…”
O deputado do PS, Frederico Francisco rebateu a acusação da política de “portas escancaradas”, argumentando, de forma pragmática, que o fluxo migratório veio suprir falhas críticas no mercado de trabalho em setores essenciais como a construção, a agricultura e o apoio a idosos.
Na sequência propôs um exercício de reflexão à plateia, questionando qual seria o impacto devastador no PIB, na riqueza nacional e na receita fiscal, se esse contingente de imigrantes abandonasse o país de um dia para o outro.
Paulo Núncio defendeu na mesa as opções legislativas do Governo centradas na restauração da confiança dos senhorios, responsabilizando as políticas dos anteriores executivos socialistas — marcadas por maior tributação e propostas de arrendamento forçado — pelo recuo na oferta de habitação.
Rui Afonso, do Chega, contra-argumentou carregado de números. “Neste momento há mais de 723.000 casas vazias em Portugal, das quais 485.000 estão em condições de habitabilidade. Citou dados do Banco de Portugal, que referem uma necessidade de 300 mil casas e apontou projeções de lançamento de mais de 180 mil novas casas no mercado ao longo da próxima década.
“O problema não é a falta de casas, é a falta de colocações de casas no mercado. O que é importante neste momento é fomentarmos a colocação dessas casas no mercado”, afirmou.
Considerou que a prioridade urgente do Governo deve ser o fomento e a criação de incentivos para a mobilização do edificado que já existe e que se encontra devoluto e defendeu uma vasta panóplia de medidas, entre as quais, a criação de uma garantia pública de apoio ao rendimento, isenções de IMI e o incentivo a métodos construtivos inovadores, como a construção modular e rápida.
“A curto prazo, temos que criar, efetivamente, medidas e incentivos para mexer o mercado da habitação e, a médio e longo prazo, temos que realmente fomentar a construção, e, nomeadamente, da habitação, não a habitação pública. Eu acho que devemos fomentar, sobretudo, a habitação custos controlados para rendas acessíveis”.
Virando-se para Rui Afonso, Paulo Núncio disse esperar que as recentes manifestações em Lisboa e no Porto não atemorizem os partidos que aprovaram na generalidade a lei das rendas.
Frederico Francisco levantou ainda a questão do “défice brutal nas infraestruturas de transportes”, considerando-o um dos maiores entraves à atividade económica e à competitividade das empresas. “Isto só se vai resolver à custa de investimento e investimento público. O Governo tem anunciado milhares de milhões de euros em investimento na rede rodoviária para os próximos anos, eles também não vêm refletidos neste Orçamento de Estado…”
No final, regressou às “portas escancaradas”, questionando: “Quem é que vai construir as casas? Quem é que vai construir os hospitais? Quem é que vai construir as estradas? Quem é que vai construir os caminhos de ferro? Se calhar nós precisamos desse milhão e meio de pessoas para fazer esse trabalho todo, além de outros. Há setores da sociedade neste momento… eu destaco só no setor dos cuidados sociais, dos cuidados dos idosos em que 70% a 80% dos trabalhadores são imigrantes, fazem parte deste tal milhão e meio das portas escancaradas”.
Os impostos: IRC, derrama, IVA dos Combustíveis.
Nesta ronda, Paulo Núncio corrigiu o deputado Rui Afonso, do Chega, esclarecendo que a descida do IRC não se discute diretamente no Orçamento de Estado, estando blindada por uma lei autónoma. “A redução do IRC, já está prevista. Vai ser realizada”, afirmou.
O vice-presidente reafirmou o compromisso de baixar a taxa nominal de IRC de 21% (em 2024) para 17% até 2028 (um alívio de 4 pontos percentuais).
O IVA dos combustíveis foi outro tema quente em cima da mesa, envolvendo Paulo Núncio e Rui Afonso.
O deputado do CDS recordou que a redução do IVA dos combustíveis viola as regras fiscais da União Europeia e citou o exemplo de Espanha, onde o governo socialista tentou avançar com a redução e foi advertido por Bruxelas e obrigado a recuar. Acusou o Chega de submeter no Parlamento, poucas semanas antes, uma proposta para baixar este imposto mesmo sabendo de forma “clarinha” que a medida era ilegal, acusando-o de atuar sem critérios ou limites apenas para agradar ao eleitorado, promovendo a ilusão de que colocaria o IVA a 6%, 3% ou 0%.
Rui Afonso, do Chega, rebateu as acusações de populismo sobre o IVA dos combustíveis, confrontando Paulo Núncio com as promessas eleitorais do seu parceiro de Governo (PSD), que, referiu, incluiu exatamente a mesma medida no seu “Programa de Emergência Social” em 2022. Salientou que esse plano da AD previa uma redução drástica e ainda maior do IVA dos combustíveis, passando de 23% para 6%, e não apenas para a taxa intermédia de 13%.
Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was once again called a "son of a b***h" by a group of fed-up Spaniards during his official visit to the town of Oliva, one of the worst affected by Storm Adam's torrential rain.
The post ‘Son of a B***h!’ Fed-up Spaniards Jeer Socialist Pedro Sánchez During Visit to Flood-hit Town appeared first on Breitbart.
Norway has put into force a new round of sanctions against Russia that hits banks, listed oil refineries, ports, airports, and suppliers of Russia’s military industry, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry announced. The rules mirror the EU’s 21st sanctions package, which Brussels adopted in July.
The EU’s 22nd package, adopted on 12 October, is principally a list of names, while the 21st brought significant new measures, lawyers noted. Among them are new tools against the shadow fleet, the tankers with murky ownership that Russia uses to move oil around sanctions. That fleet also sails along Norway’s coast, and a new Norwegian Coastal Administration report found that it poses a growing threat to security and the environment there.
Norway is not an EU member, but it has joined every EU sanctions package against Russia, with a few exceptions and national adjustments. Oslo backed this one politically on 11 August, and the rules took effect on 21 October. Part of the package was already in force. It placed travel restrictions and asset freezes on 48 people and asset freezes on 168 entities, and it listed 41 shadow fleet vessels on 14 August.
Norway’s transaction ban now covers 33 more Russian credit and financial institutions. A separate ban covers 22 more abroad, including in India, Mongolia, Nigeria, and the UAE.
Another transaction ban reaches listed refineries in Russia and third countries that process Russian oil or help dodge sanctions. A Georgian refinery joins that list on 25 January 2027. The same ban adds two Russian ports and four Russian airports, including Moscow’s Sheremetyevo.
Export curbs on dual-use goods now cover 51 new entities that back Russia’s military industry. Some are in China, including Hong Kong, and others are in India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, and the UAE. The banned-exports list adds nickel and beryllium powder, along with drone gear such as jamming and interception systems, launchers, and servo motors.
Oslo can now also list ships that service sanctioned shadow fleet tankers or swap cargo with them at sea. Elsewhere in Europe, France’s navy and UK forces have boarded sanctioned shadow fleet tankers this year.
Yield on 10-year government bonds passes 5% amid failure to pass budget and fallout from violent street protests
France’s borrowing costs have climbed above 5% for the first time in 24 years as political concerns and the government’s failure to agree a much-delayed budget spook the financial markets.
With some civic buildings still smouldering from recent riots, a fresh bout of selling pushed up the yield – or interest rate – on bonds issued by the second largest economy in the eurozone.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
© Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
© Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
Yield on 10-year government bonds passes 5% amid failure to pass budget and fallout from violent street protests
France’s borrowing costs have climbed above 5% for the first time in 24 years as political concerns and the government’s failure to agree a much-delayed budget spook the financial markets.
With some civic buildings still smouldering from recent riots, a fresh bout of selling pushed up the yield – or interest rate – on bonds issued by the second largest economy in the eurozone.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
© Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
© Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
Carrie Berk
My 21st birthday party was packed with a dozen faces I half-knew. They all smiled as I blew out the candles and made a wish, yet I felt as if I were surrounded by strangers.
As I looked out into the crowd, I realized that most of my friendships were surface-level, rather than genuine connections. We talked about upcoming school assignments, trending TV shows, and our favorite restaurants, but I wanted more.
What was supposed to be a celebration turned into a rude awakening: Did these people even know me at all?
I've always been someone with many hobbies, which meant making friends across all walks of life. Although I'm lucky to have so many people in my corner, there came a point where it felt like I was collecting friendships like tokens rather than forming meaningful relationships.
The realization set in: I had tons of friends, but somehow, I was lonely.
Carrie Berk
Even years after graduating from college, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd been collecting the wrong type of friendships.
I realized many of my relationships had been rooted in transactions or shared activities, which may explain why I was still feeling lonely.
Upon reflection, I noticed that the most genuine friendships I had involved some emotional depth and connection. I only have two of these in my life — one who lives close by, and another who is across the country.
Regardless of where they are, the empathy goes both ways — I share in their joys and sit with them through their struggles, and they do the same for me. We're not just shoulders for each other to cry on, but supportive pillars who help each other walk through life.
These were the friendships that fulfilled me most, and I needed to make more room in my life for them.
Carrie Berk
In order to do this, I needed to figure out what was holding me back. I came to the conclusion that, when it comes to friends, I'd kept many people at a distance, afraid that opening up would make me seem like "too much" or leave me hurt again.
I'd also been spreading myself too thin, trying to maintain too many relationships instead of investing in the ones that mattered most. For example, I felt like I rushed through dinners to mentally check a box that I was keeping up the relationship. Not only was that a waste of time, but it led to major emotional burnout.
Now, I focus on a handful of friends with whom I can build a deeper bond. Even though I only have time to see a select few people, I make sure the few hours we spend together are packed with thoughtful, not superficial, conversations.
Recently, I spent some time with a work colleague outside the office, and we discussed how fitness helped us during difficult points in our lives. We connected on something beyond our jobs, and for the first time in a long time, I felt less lonely.
Carrie Berk
At first, it was difficult to let go of my larger circle. There's nothing wrong with casual friendships, but they couldn't give me the depth I was craving.
Instead, the friends I need are the ones who will hold me up at my worst and cheer me on at my best without expecting anything in return — and I never think twice about doing the same for them. These connections take more time and care to develop, but are well worth the wait.
Once I started watering the friendships I truly valued, I noticed our moments together aren't rushed, and our connection is stronger now because of the care we put into each conversation.
This year, I'm thinking about having a birthday dinner with two or three close friends rather than a larger celebration. Ironically, when I began filtering superficial relationships out of my life, I felt less lonely — and that's all I could have ever wished for.
Elon Musk ordered the speed cap on Starshield, the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink network that Ukraine’s drones rely on, The Wall Street Journal reported on 20 October. Earlier, Musk said that such limits are decided by the US military and “ultimately POTUS.” Speaking to reporters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on 20 October, according to WSJ, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We haven’t made any directives or anything like that,” CBS News reported.
For a week, no one with a hand on the system said the decision was theirs. Musk pointed to the US military and the president, and Trump said he did not know who it was. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said the cap has hampered the drones they use to intercept Russian Shaheds and to strike Russian forces in occupied territory. Kyiv says the cap remains in place, and at about 160 km/h it makes intercepting jet-powered drones and missiles that fly about twice as fast virtually impossible.
Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the network, people familiar with the matter told WSJ. The slowdown, which began on 14 October, left some of Ukraine’s strike and interceptor drones virtually useless, WSJ said.
WSJ’s sources differ on Trump’s role. Some US officials said Musk acted on his own and that Trump did not specifically order any retribution against Ukraine. One person said Musk spoke with several senior administration officials, Trump among them, before imposing the cap. Two people said Musk and Trump discussed the decision by phone soon after the slowdown became public.
During the uproar, SpaceX representatives called White House counterparts. They asked for a shared message that the company and the administration had coordinated before Musk’s directive, the people said. The White House ran an informal inquiry into who ordered the slowdown, WSJ said.
Musk held several conversations with administration officials before the order to understand the president’s thinking, CBS reported, citing sources. He dislikes his company being seen as profiting from the war, and it is unclear how his order was carried out, CBS said.
Hegseth said the US had not pulled anything back. He said Starlink “has the option” to make decisions under its terms of service, and that from the Pentagon’s view nothing had changed, CBS reported.
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on 16 October, Trump said he did not think either he or Musk was responsible, The Telegraph reported. On 19 October, he said, “I don’t know who it was, but I’d like to find out.”
Last week, a bipartisan group of senators asked the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate whether officials “directed” or “authorized” changes to Starlink and Starshield services and intelligence sharing affecting Ukraine.
On 15 October, Reuters reported that the order came from inside the White House. The officials said Pentagon leaders received a message that the Starshield service for Ukraine’s military needed to be slowed, but did not say who made the decision or who carried it out. A senior US official said “No such request was ever made by the president.”
On 16 October, The Telegraph reported, citing four sources, that Musk approached Trump with the idea of the speed limits. One of the sources said Trump agreed.
Michael Kofman, a war analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, said, according to WSJ, that Ukrainian strike and interceptor drones remain limited to 160 km/h. He said actual connections run below 130 km/h, which still hampers strikes and air defense.
On 20 October, Ukraine’s top diplomat in Washington, Denys Sienik, said Kyiv was still waiting for answers from the Pentagon and SpaceX, WSJ reported.
When Americans vote in the midterm elections next month, it seems likely that Democrats will see decisive victories across the country.
This trend seems likely to affect Georgia's two most high-profile races differently. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, is running for reelection against Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican who represents the state's 10th congressional district, while in the race to replace Gov. Brian Kemp, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms faces Republican billionaire Rick Jackson.
Ossoff and Bottoms may both be Democrats, but their prospects look very different: A recent poll put Ossoff nearly seven points ahead of Collins, but Bottoms was a point and a half behind Jackson, trailing the senator from her own party by more than five points.
Democrats hope that if Ossoff does well enough, it will boost their other candidates. But it's worth asking why Bottoms, who was feted as a possible vice presidential candidate, is struggling to break even against someone with no prior name recognition, in a year expected to be a boon for her party.
It's possible that the crime and protests of 2020 could be weighing down Bottoms' candidacy in an otherwise auspicious year for Democrats.
Bottoms' single term as mayor of Georgia's capital city would be defined by summer 2020. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, violent crime rose across the country, but it was worse in Atlanta—homicides were up 59 percent, while most other cities averaged 33 percent. Bottoms herself later called it the "COVID crime wave."
Then on May 25 in Minneapolis, a police officer killed George Floyd, an unarmed black man accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Footage went viral, and protesters across the country took to the streets.
In some places, including Atlanta, protests turned destructive, and the police responded in kind.
Bottoms called for peace. "If you care about this city, then go home," she exhorted rioters in a news conference. "When you burn down this city, you're burning down our community."
She won bipartisan praise. "Your passion, your composure, your balance, has been really incredible," then-presidential candidate Joe Biden told her.
But just days later, Atlanta police officers shot and killed a black man, Rayshard Brooks, in a Wendy's parking lot. Protesters gathered the next day and burned the restaurant to the ground.
Meanwhile, after the district attorney announced charges against the cops involved in Brooks' shooting, more than 170 officers called out sick in protest. Bottoms admitted that officer morale "is down tenfold."
Then on July 4, less than half a mile away from the site of Brooks' death, protesters shot into a car, killing 8-year-old Secoriea Turner.
The crime spike persisted into 2021, and in May of that year, Bottoms announced that she would not run for a second term.
Officially, she said, it was "time to pass the baton on to someone else," though her announcement "came as the city faces a homicide rate topping that of this time last year—a historically deadly one in Atlanta," Henri Hollis wrote at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Indeed, it seems the "COVID crime wave" had caught up with her: A September 2021 poll found that while 57 percent of city residents approved of the job she was doing, 53 percent also felt the city was on the wrong track, including 48 percent of Democrats. The top issue was crime, which 70 percent of respondents felt was headed in the wrong direction.
She later told New York that by stepping down, she was "putting my emotional and mental health first"—a worthy reason, though a bit odd since she now seeks an even higher office.
Then again, she also had higher aspirations. Bottoms was one of the first officeholders to endorse Biden for president in 2020, and she later made his shortlist of potential running mates. After the end of her term, she joined Biden's White House as director of the Office of Public Engagement, after which she moved over to the President's Export Council for the remainder of his term.
Bottoms announced her run for governor just four months after leaving Washington. And while she locked up the Democratic nomination easily, winning 56 percent of the vote among seven candidates, she didn't exactly fire up the base, and it seems like she just expected to coast to victory.
"It feels a lot like she gained the nomination…largely from name identification," progressive journalist Zaid Jilani tells Reason. "She really wasn't raising that much money or spending that much on television….It should be a high-profile race in many ways, but the ideas she's putting forward are fairly rehashed," and "she doesn't have that much creative advertising."
Rick Jackson, meanwhile, seemed to come out of nowhere.
President Donald Trump endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in August 2025, and Jones led the Republican primary field at the end of that year.
While Kemp famously resisted Trump's efforts to subvert Georgia's presidential election results in 2020, Jones was a willing participant in the scheme.
"I've been the Trump guy since 2015, not '16," Jones bragged. "I've taken all the battle scars and everything else. I know who ran and hid during 2020 and everything else."
Then in February 2026, just three months before the primary, Jackson entered the race. He was a septuagenarian with no name recognition, but he was also quite wealthy, so he blanketed the state with ads to introduce himself to voters.
In six weeks, he spent over $30 million—"more than any candidate has ever spent in a primary race for Georgia governor, with more than two months before the May 19 election," wrote Jeff Amy of the Associated Press.
It worked: Jackson beat Jones in a primary runoff with 53 percent of the vote. By then, he had spent $108 million on his campaign while raising less than $400,000 from donors.
Jackson has made much of his background, as a child of poverty who entered the foster system at age 13 to escape a dysfunctional household. As an adult, he started in sales and worked his way up to entrepreneurship, starting Jackson Healthcare in 2000 and growing it to more than $1 billion in annual revenues. He is also a generous donor to charitable causes, particularly those relating to foster care.
But with no political record, Jackson can be hard to pin down on certain issues.
For example, one Jackson ad criticizes Bottoms for the rise of data centers in Atlanta, even though he has also spoken positively of their economic potential.
Georgia Democrats have tarred Jackson as a Trumpian election denier, singling out a comment he made at a campaign event: When asked if the 2020 election was stolen, Jackson replied, "That was totally ridiculous what happened in 2020 and our people really let us down." ("Just as Governor Kemp did, Rick acknowledges both Biden's win and that there were issues in the 2020 election that needed to be resolved in order to ensure Georgians have faith in our electoral system," a campaign spokesperson told CNN.)
During the primaries, he even took heat from both sides on abortion: Jones accused Jackson's company of working with Planned Parenthood, while Jackson himself seemed to suggest he wanted to change the state's abortion ban to remove exceptions for rape or incest. ("Rick believes we have a strong pro-life law in place and he wants to keep it as it is," his campaign said in a statement.)
And while he made Trump-like pledges, like to "make Georgia No. 1 in the nation for criminal deportations" and keep "the religion of woke ideology" out of schools, his platform calls for an "intelligent Medicaid expansion" in the state.
Jackson has also pivoted just over the course of the campaign.
He bragged in his campaign announcement video that he "donated a million bucks to Trump," and he's said that if elected, he would be "just like" Trump but "with a southern tone."
He said Trump had "no bigger supporter" than himself, and he could not name a single Trump policy he disagreed with. When Trump endorsed Jackson at a campaign rally in July, the candidate pointed to the president and said, "I'm going to be this man's favorite governor."
But like many other Republicans, Jackson has distanced himself from the president, whose approval rating is at an all-time low. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that in campaign appearances, Jackson has stopped mentioning Trump directly, preferring to compare himself to Kemp, the sitting governor who remains popular.
He apparently also scrubbed all mentions of the president from his campaign website.
But one thing that has remained consistent in Jackson's campaign strategy is criticizing Bottoms' record as mayor.
Some of Jackson's campaign ads feature grateful children who grew up in foster care and benefited from his philanthropy, but for the most part, they have targeted Bottoms over her record.
One ad, titled "Disaster," paints Bottoms' tenure as exactly that, with the city becoming practically unlivable during summer 2020.
"Keisha ended cash bail, gutted the corrections budget, let Atlanta burn, and unleashed a crime wave," Jackson wrote on X to accompany another ad. "Then she walked away."
"If Keisha wants to run from her record," according to a campaign email, "we're going to make sure Georgia remembers exactly what that record was."
Many Jackson ads, flyers, and mailers have featured images of Secoriea Turner, the 8-year-old girl killed by gunfire. (Turner's parents have asked Jackson's campaign to stop.)
But is it fair to blame everything on Bottoms? While Atlanta was worse than most, many major cities saw large homicide spikes: Chicago's murder rate climbed more than 50 percent that year, while New York City's went up nearly 40 percent. Murders in Columbus, Ohio, rose a staggering 67 percent.
Regardless, Bottoms was in charge at the time. And the attacks do seem to have an effect, as she's locked in a dead heat against Jackson.
Granted, Bottoms was never a particularly strong candidate. When she ran for mayor in 2017, she won the runoff election by fewer than 800 votes, even with the endorsement of the outgoing mayor.
Georgia also has not elected a Democratic governor in nearly three decades, though it has elected Democrats to the U.S. Senate three times since 2020 and seems poised to reelect one this year.
There's also the fact of Jackson's money, saturating the state with eight-figure ad buys while Democrats were spending only a fraction of that.
Of course, money alone can't buy a victory: Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams in each of the last two races for governor, despite being comfortably outraised and outspent each time.
But Bottoms currently trails Ossoff by five points in an election cycle expected to be quite beneficial to their party.
It seems the race will serve as an indicator of how fresh the summer of COVID-19 still feels for Georgians.
"To the kind of voter that Jackson is courting, it probably is true that had Democrats [instead] nominated the mayor of Macon [a smaller Georgia city], they would be in a stronger position than nominating the mayor of Atlanta, especially one who was in power during those years," Jilani tells Reason. "If he wins, it demonstrates that that is still a fairly potent line of attack."
The post Atlanta's Former Mayor Is Running for Georgia Governor. The 2020 Protests Could Cost Her the Race. appeared first on Reason Magazine.
Login