Meet the AJC’s legislative team

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will have the largest group of journalists at the Capitol during the 2017 legislative session, providing expertise that can’t be found anywhere else. Here’s a look at the team:

Bob Andres joined the AJC in 1998. He has held photography and photo editing positions in California, Florida and Georgia. He will produce photos and videos from the Capitol during the legislative session. Greg Bluestein covers the governor’s office and state politics. He joined the AJC in June 2012 after spending seven years with the Atlanta bureau of The Associated Press, where he covered a range of beats that included politics and legal affairs. He also contributes to the AJC’s Political Insider blog. This is his 13th legislative session and his fifth with the AJC.

Jim Denery is an audience specialist. Over the past 33 years he has worked at nine newspapers, mostly in the South. He has been at the AJC for nine years. His primary duties during the session will be editing stories and writing the Capitol Recap, a summary of some of the biggest stories of the week from the General Assembly, with a dash of odd ones thrown in. Jim Galloway has been an editor and writer for the AJC since 1979. He is currently its political columnist and was the creator of its current-events blog, Political Insider, a popular feature that drew 11.5 million page views in 2016.

Ariel Hart has worked most recently on the AJC’s investigative series Doctors & Sex Abuse. She will be covering health care during the session.

Mark Niesse has covered DeKalb County government and politics for the AJC since 2014. He’ll report on proposals for a local sales tax to repave roads, MARTA expansion in DeKalb and potential annexations.

Susan Potter is the senior editor of the AJC’s State Government and Politics Team and has led political coverage for more than eight years. She has been at the AJC for 19 years.

Jeremy Redmon, a member of the AJC’s Enterprise Team, will cover a variety of issues at the Legislature, including immigration, refugees, and the opioid and heroin overdose epidemic.

James Salzer has covered Georgia politics and state government since 1990, including five years on the AJC’s Investigative Team. Prior to that he covered state politics and wrote a political column in Texas. He specializes in stories about state spending and taxes. Isaac Sabetai is an audience specialist who analyzes data, creates interactives and handles social media. He has been at the AJC for nine years and is from Florida.

Aaron Gould

Sheinin has been a reporter and editor for more than 25 years. He’s covered politics and government for the AJC for more than nine years. During the legislative session he will be covering the House of Representatives.

Ty Tagami has covered government, politics, crime and, now, schools for the AJC. During this session, he’ll follow legislation affecting k-12 and higher education. Kristina Torres covers the Senate, along with other aspects of state government and Georgia politics. She has been a journalist for more than 23 years and joined the AJC in 2003. David Wickert will cover transportation issues during the legislative session. He joined the AJC in 2010 and has also covered local government in Fulton and Gwinnett counties. He previously worked at newspapers in Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington state.