Political questions for Ga. in 2016 answered

Before the start of the new year, erstwhile Political Insider Daniel Malloy and I laid out the nine questions in Georgia politics that we’d be watching this roller-coaster year.

We’re reprinting that column in full below, with our end-of-theyear answers attached beneath each question. Take a trip down memory lane with us:

1. How will the SEC primary shape the presidential race? Georgia saw unprecedented presidential traffic in 2015, in part because of its status at the heart of the March 1 SEC primary. With two months to go until the vote, and four momentum-swinging states ahead of us in line, it’s impossible to tell how the race will shake out. But we do know that Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been developing the strongest Republican networks, while Donald Trump has been romping in the polls — and March 1 could well be a showdown between those two. Meanwhile, for Democrats, it could be the moment when Hillary Clinton This Q&A is among the many items readers could find this past week in the Political Insider blog on AJC.com. Look there for breaking news and to gain insight about Georgia’s political scene. uses her “Southern firewall” to knock out Bernie Sanders.

Answer: A lot. The Southern-flavored vote orchestrated by Secretary of State Brian Kemp indeed helped Trump rise above a crowded Republican field, and it propelled Clinton to a commanding lead over Sanders.

Through the end of the year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is revisiting the stories that our subscribers valued the most this year. We’ve put them all in one place for you to explore and share with your friends and family. In addition, we’ve pulled together other specials like our features on holiday entertaining, photos of the year, and holiday travel just to name a few.

This week’s focus: Unforgettable stories about extraordinary people.

This year in Personal Journeys, we told stories about people who have overcome devastating health challenges, from the victim of a horrifying motorcycle accident to a man’s death-defying battle with sepsis.

We have told stories of extraordinary people dedicated to making life better for others, including a woman who’s turning apartment complexes into communities and a grandmother doing her best to raise five grandchildren on a limited income.

And we have told stories about people who, despite the odds, are so determined to achieve their goals that they will never give up — like the retired private detective who is still haunted by a case he has yet to solve.

These are the Personal Journeys that our readers loved the most, the ones they shared liberally on Facebook, that elicited letters of praise from people so moved they were compelled to respond.

In tumultuous times when news so often seems bad, it’s reassuring to read stories that amaze and inspire. These are the stories that give us faith in our fellow man.

In addition to checking out these stories at our site online, you can revisit a few of the people in follow-up stories in today’s edition of The Atlanta JournalConstitution on pages A1 and E1.

But it certainly wasn’t smooth sailing for either; both faced stiff challenges over the next few months.

2. Will Georgia lawmakers embrace “religious liberty” legislation? State Sen. Josh McKoon’s controversial proposal is seen by supporters as a way to protect people of any religion from government interference and by critics as a last gasp from opponents of gay marriage. But both sides agree on one certainty: The debate is sure to roar back to life after the legislation failed in 2015. We’re likely to see another proxy battle pitting establishment forces — including iconic Georgia businesses — who cite the uproar over similar bills in Arkansas and Indiana against grass-roots conservatives who have for months clamored for the proposal. Lawmakers, with one eye on potential primary challenges, will be left navigating the divide.

Answer: Yes, they did. But Gov. Nathan Deal did not.

3. Are more vast changes to Georgia’s transportation network in the works? Georgia lawmakers narrowly approved a roughly $1 billion package of fees and taxes for infrastructure improvements in 2015. But that could be just the start. Gov. Nathan Deal and others who backed the tax are looking to consolidate their gains — and defend the Republicans who voted for it. The hotel industry and other lobbies want to chip away at the new charges. And MARTA wants permission to ask voters in Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties for a half-penny share of a sales tax to launch what could be an $8 billion expansion up Ga. 400 and along I-20.

Answer: Yep. MARTA got permission to pursue a $2.5 billion expansion, and the transit agency hopes to push into new territory next year. And the Republican lawmakers who seemed most vulnerable for supporting the new package of taxes and fees easily survived primary challenges. 4. Will Johnny Isakson coast to re-election? The state’s Republican senior senator has been hit from the right for one vote after another, has announced a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and faces a changing electorate. But with qualifying a little more than two months away, no Democrat has stepped up to challenge him and the only declared Republican had his campaign account disbanded by the feds. Isakson seems to be taking nothing for granted — he’s been running web ads for months, and his team said the two-term incumbent is ready for a fight.

Answer: It wasn’t even close. Democratic newcomer Jim Barksdale poured more than $3 million of his own fortune into the campaign, but his confusing hat-themed message and quixotic strategy — few Democratic leaders would even appear in public with him — hardly earned him 41 percent of the vote.

5. Are Georgia leaders really willing to overhaul the education system? Governors and lawmakers have complained about Georgia’s school funding formula almost since it was enacted 30 years ago, but none have succeeded in significantly changing it. A sweeping change is on the table again this year, along with a host of other measures that could transform how students learn and what teachers teach. Among the most contentious ideas is a plan floated by Deal to tie teacher pay to how they perform in the classroom. But even dipping a toe in this debate is likely to invite a tidal wave of blow-back. Deal and lawmakers must decide whether the changes are worth the risk of getting washed out.

Answer: Not yet. Deal kicked off the session by delaying broad changes to education policy recommended by a task force he appointed. And voters showed no appetite for his failing schools initiative, which was soundly defeated at the polls.

6. What red meat will be on the table this year? Georgia Republicans in 2015 endorsed legalizing medical marijuana, approved new fees and taxes to raise $1 billion a year for transportation and backed a new mandate for health care coverage, all while failing to adopt the “religious liberty” bill, another expansion to gun rights and new limits on abortions. Which is to say Republicans will be hungry for crowd-pleasing measures they can take home to their voters. Democrats, too, will want to score political points with the base by pushing their own wish list — even if it has an infinitesimally low chance of passing.

Answer: Plenty. The illfated “religious liberty” measure filled much of the vacuum left when Deal bypassed a broader education overhaul. So did a campus gun bill that he also nixed. And a range of other debates, from a fight over casinos to battles over booze, grabbed legislators’ attention.

7. Can Gov. Nathan Deal make the most of his political capital? The jockeying has already begun to replace Deal, who still has three years left in his final stint in public office. But it will probably be raging by this time next year, meaning that 2016 may be his last chance to wield his full muscle before his potential successors step up their game — and he lapses toward lame-duck status. How he will use it will also help determine what his political legacy will be.

Answer: That’s a better question for next year. After nixing both a campus gun bill and a “religious liberty” bill — and getting roundly criticized by GOP activists for both vetoes — the rift between the governor and his party deepened considerably.

8. Will the push to legalize gambling defy the odds? Casino interests are ready to spend big money on Georgia, armed with teams of lobbyists, plans for eye-popping resorts and promises of a new wave of cash for the HOPE scholarship. Deal and other Republican leaders remain opposed to the idea, but even the staunchest critics have said they are open to a debate. While it may be a long shot for 2016 — “don’t bet on it,” Deal said — supporters could be trying to lay the groundwork for a 2017 push.

Answer: Nope. But casino advocates are rolling the dice again next year.

9. Is there a path for a conservative version of Medicaid expansion? It’s hard to imagine Georgia Republicans voting to expand Medicaid in an election year. But 2016 could be the year when Deal and others pave a way toward a halfhearted embrace of the Affordable Care Act. The governor has for years held that an expansion would be too costly in the long run. But GOP leaders elsewhere have expanded their programs, defended previous expansions or signaled they were willing to give it a fresh look. Georgia toyed with a Medicaid “experiment” in 2015 seeking more federal funding for struggling rural hospitals. Next year could be a pivotal one for those working toward a middle ground.

Answer: No, but they were hoping 2017 was the year to do it. Trump’s victory seems to have put an end to that.