Major League Baseball’s decision to yank the All-Star game from Atlanta four years ago over Georgia’s new election law ignited a national firestorm. Its return this week hardly elicited a ripple of controversy.
Top Georgia Democrats who were quick to bash the Republican-backed election overhaul mostly stayed quiet about the game’s return. Baseball officials sidestepped the saga altogether.
One sign of just how uncontentious it was: Jason Esteves — a leading Democratic candidate for governor — attended the Home Run Derby on Monday. His rival, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, welcomed the game on Tuesday with her own post: “Let’s play ball!”
Their response shows how much Georgia politics have changed since Stacey Abrams put voting rights at the center of her failed bids for governor in 2018 and 2022. While most Democratic leaders oppose the GOP-led overhaul, they are now focusing on fighting President Donald Trump’s economic agenda and budget overhaul.
Republicans, meanwhile, have repeated Gov. Brian Kemp’s mantra that the law cleared hurdles to voting while safeguarding against fraud. Some, like Republican state Rep. Todd Jones, have demanded that league Commissioner Rob Manfred apologize for “playing politics” by moving it in the first place.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Baseball officials largely acted as if the switch never happened.
Pressed on why the league was comfortable returning to Truist Park even though the law was still intact, Manfred instead praised the metro Atlanta market.
“Walk around here and see the level of interest, the level of excitement, the great facility, the support this market has given to the Atlanta Braves and baseball,” he said.
‘We should have had the game to begin with’
The law, Senate Bill 202, restricted the mailing of absentee request forms to voters, capped the number of ballot drop boxes in each county, required an ink signature on absentee applications, required more proof of ID and shortened deadlines to request ballots.
It also left in place three weeks of in-person early voting and preserved no-excuse absentee voting despite intense pressure from Trump allies to roll it back.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Supporters call it an unequivocal success, pointing to soaring turnout in recent elections — including a record-setting 5.3 million Georgians who cast ballots in last year’s presidential contest.
“It’s easier to vote and harder to cheat in Georgia — just like we said in 2021, when we should have had the game to begin with,” said Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican candidate for governor whose office defended the law in court.
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
But that isn’t the whole story. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis found that absentee voters were significantly less likely to return to the polls in the next election than those who voted early or on Election Day in 2020, when the global coronavirus pandemic upended voting habits.
Democrats, though, are noticeably less likely to bash the law, particularly after Kemp and his allies blamed them for depriving Georgia of a premier event in 2021.
Back then, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms posted on social media that she was disappointed in the league’s decision and predicted it was “likely the 1st of many dominoes to fall” until the law was rolled back. Many other Democrats struck a similar tone, echoing then-President Joe Biden’s call to boycott Georgia.
Now, many are steering clear. One exception is state Rep. Derrick Jackson, another candidate for governor, who criticized the league for returning even though “nothing has substantially changed” with the law.
“The true victory for Georgia won’t just be a successful game,” he said, “but a comprehensive and equitable resolution to the voting rights challenges that continue to cast a shadow over our state.”
Credit: AJC file photos
Credit: AJC file photos
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
