(The Center Square) – The dismissal of an election interference case against President Donald Trump and the resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene led Georgia’s news cycle in 2025.
Election interference case dismissed; Willis testifies before committee
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia announced it was dismissing the case against Trump and 18 others on Nov. 26. Executive Director Peter Skandalakis took over the Georgia case after Willis lost a state Supreme Court bid to keep it. He said he could not find another prosecutor willing to advance it, and moved to drop it “to serve the interest of justice and promote judicial finality.”
On social media, Trump called the case the “Fani Willis Witch Hunt” and accused Democrats of orchestrating it. A bill passed by Georgia lawmakers earlier this year allows defendants in cases dropped for prosecutorial misconduct to bill counties for legal fees. This will allow Trump and others to collect attorney’s fees from Fulton County.
Willis appeared before the Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations to answer questions about her prosecution of the case. When asked why she took on the case, she said, “Because people came into my jurisdiction and they broke the law.”
Greene steps down amid feud with Trump
The two-term congresswoman from Rome cited personal attacks from the president as her reason for stepping down.
“I have too much self-respect and dignity, love my family way too much and do not want my sweet district to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the President we all fought for, only to fight and win my election while Republicans will likely lose the midterms,” Greene said in her statement posted on X.
Greene was at odds with Trump and the Republican party over the release of the Epstein files and health care.
Trump called Greene a traitor.
“Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown, because of PLUMMETING Poll Numbers, and not wanting to face a Primary Challenger with a strong Trump Endorsement (where she would have no chance of winning!), has decided to call it ‘quits,'” Trump said in his post on Truth Social.
Green’s last day in office is Monday. A special election will be held to fill her seat.
Hyundai plant raid
A raid at the Hyundai-LG Battery plant in south Georgia netted 475 arrests. Most of those detained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were South Korean nationals who were sent back to their native country.
The Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution announced the battery plant in 2023. The plant will produce batteries for vehicles produced by the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in a televised news conference that the raid could chill business with America.
“Companies will inevitably be concerned about any disadvantages or difficulties they may face in building factories over there,” he said. “Under current circumstances, Korean companies may become hesitant in making direct investments in the United States.”
Data center debate
Georgia’s growing number of data centers continued to dominate headlines in 2025.
The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a plan from Georgia Power on Dec. 19 that allows the utility to add nearly 10,000 megawatts of power by offsetting costs to ratepayers with revenue from large-load customers, including data centers.
In late December, a report from the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government said that only 30% of data centers could be traced back to a 2018 tax break. The university’s 2022 study had estimated 90% of data center activity was because of the tax break, but researchers said they did not have accurate information then.
A 2024 bill that would have paused the data center tax incentives was vetoed by Gov. Brian Kemp, who said it would undermine investments in projects already being developed.
Tort reform
Gov. Brian Kemp made tort reform a priority during the 2025 legislative session and threatened lawmakers with a special session if they didn’t pass a package of bills.
The bill package did pass. They required attorneys to focus on actual pain and suffering in trials, and shielded businesses from liability for issues outside their control. They also allowed juries to consider seat belt usage in auto accident cases and limited awards to actual paid medical costs, a change intended to eliminate inflated or “phantom” damages.
Georgia dropped off the American Tort Reform Foundation’s list of “Judicial Hellholes” for the first time in seven years. While the Peach State is off the list for this year, some county courts, specifically in Gwinnett, Fulton, and Cobb were called out as “problematic” for lack of fairness and lawyers exploiting the system for their own financial benefit, the report said.
Democrats win Public Service Commission Seats
Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard defeated incumbent Republicans Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson for two seats on the commission in November.
While former President Joe Biden won Georgia’s presidential nomination in 2020 and Democratic U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were elected in federal contests, it marked the first time Democrats won a statewide race since 1998.
Papermill closures hurt south Georgia
The closing of five area paper mills in southeast Georgia will have $2.9 billion economic impact annually, according to testimony during the House Rural Development Committee meeting in September.
International Paper announced in August that it was closing two mills in Riceboro and two in Savannah at the end of September. Georgia-Pacific closed its paper mill in Cedar Springs at the end of July.
The closings will have a direct economic impact of $1.7 billion, according to Devon Dartnell, Forest Utilization Chief for the Georgia Forestry Commission to the committee. The indirect impact is $845 million. The effect due to the loss of wages is $318 million.
New Georgia fine
The New Georgia Project and the New Georgia Project Action Fund received a record $300,000 fine for failing to disclose that it was campaigning for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in 2018.
Abrams founded the organization but was not a part of it during the 2018 campaign.
The New Georgia Project announced in October that it was dissolving. The Senate Special Committee on Investigations expanded its scope during the 2025 session to include the New Georgia Project.
