Bipartisanship was once common under Georgia’s Gold Dome. Here’s what changed.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Over breakfast, before we hit the Senate floor, he would share stories of decades in the General Assembly, reminding us that disagreement and respect once comfortably coexisted.

He admits that culture hasn’t disappeared, but it is changing rapidly. As a freshman senator, it’s hard for me to imagine that a culture of respect beyond party lines was once so commonplace.

I suspect that the change isn’t simply that politics have become more partisan, it’s that Georgia politics is no longer just Georgia politics. As our state has become one of America’s premier battlegrounds, Washington’s incentives have moved under the Gold Dome. Increasingly, local politics is shaped by national campaigns, national media and even international events.

Trump visit to school turned into political rally

Credit: Georgia General Assembly

Credit: Georgia General Assembly

We saw a clear example of this last week in our own backyard. President Donald Trump’s visit to Wheeler High School in Cobb County, which could have been remembered simply as a presidential visit, instead became a campaign-style rally.

What would normally be a local event became a political stage for Republican candidates seeking higher office. When President Trump declared, “Iran will never have nuclear weapons,” the crowd erupted.

Whether one supported the administration’s approach or not, the moment illustrated how foreign policy debates are no longer confined to Washington — they now shape political conversations in places like Cobb County.

What happens overseas no longer stays overseas. Conflict in the Middle East can send gasoline and diesel prices higher, disrupt global fertilizer markets that Georgia agriculture depends on, and increase shipping and transportation costs.

For Georgia farmers, that means higher operating expenses. For Georgia families, it means paying more at the pump, more at the grocery store, and more for the everyday necessities that keep a household running.

Here in Georgia, lawmakers responded to high gasoline prices, caused by the Middle East conflict, by suspending the state gasoline tax to help families. I supported that decision. As a result, there were difficult budget tradeoffs. The governor balanced the budget by line-item vetoing roughly $300 million, illustrating how events overseas can shape priorities here at home.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

National pressures are getting to local politicians

So how did we get here?

Part of the answer is a media environment that rewards conflict over compromise. Twenty-four-hour news cycles and algorithm-driven social media encourage us to consume national political battles while paying less attention to our own communities.

Politicians are increasingly rewarded for becoming national personalities rather than effective local public servants. Compromise rarely goes viral, outrage does.

Under the Gold Dome, I still see lawmakers who genuinely like and respect one another. Those relationships remain one of Georgia’s greatest strengths. But I also see how quickly national political pressures can strain them. The residue of an earlier era remains, yet each year it becomes a little harder to separate Georgia’s interests from Washington’s priorities.

As national politics becomes intertwined with international events, perhaps the old saying that “all politics is local” no longer describes the world we live in.

Our legislative priorities are increasingly shaped by national political strategies and international events rather than the pressing needs of our own communities. Maybe all politics are international.

State Sen. Jaha Howard, D-Smyrna (in Cobb County), represents District 35 in the Georgia General Assembly.

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