Elections

Georgia has two U.S. senators and one of the two seats is on this ballot. The Senate writes federal law together with the House, but it also does two things the House has no part in: it votes on whether to confirm the president's nominees — federal judges, cabinet secretaries, agency heads — and it approves treaties. Every Georgia voter votes in this race, so your ballot looks the same as a voter's in Savannah or Dalton. A senator's office also does casework, which is the practical reason most people ever contact one: problems with Social Security, veterans' benefits, immigration paperwork, or a federal agency that has stopped answering.

Macon-Bibb is split between Georgia's 2nd and 8th congressional districts, so which race you vote in depends on your address — not everyone in the county votes on the same one. The House writes federal law with the Senate, and every bill that raises federal revenue has to start there. All 435 seats are up every two years, so the entire House is on the ballot in November. Like a senator, your representative runs a district office that handles casework with federal agencies.

The governor signs or vetoes every bill the General Assembly passes; a veto stands unless two-thirds of both chambers override it. The office proposes the state budget, which is where the state's share of school funding, road money, and public health spending is set before any of it reaches Bibb County. The governor also appoints — agency heads, members of state boards, and judges to fill vacancies that open between elections, with the state Senate confirming some of those choices.

The lieutenant governor is president of the state Senate, presiding over its floor sessions, and is first in line to become governor if the office becomes vacant. Georgia elects it separately from the governor, so the two offices can be held by members of different parties. The job matters mostly for what it does to the flow of legislation through the Senate.

Georgia's chief election official. The office runs the statewide voter registration list, the My Voter Page tool you use to register or find your polling place, and the certification of statewide results. Counties run the actual voting — in Macon-Bibb that is the county Board of Elections, which hires poll workers and sets early-voting hours — but they do it inside the system this office maintains. The same office also registers businesses and licenses a long list of professions.

The state's lawyer. The office represents Georgia and its agencies in court, issues legal opinions that state and local officials rely on when a law is unclear, and runs the state's consumer-protection enforcement. When Georgia sues or is sued over a state law, this office argues the case.

Heads the Georgia Department of Education, which administers the state funding formula, the testing program, and the academic standards every public school in the state operates under, Bibb's included. This office does not run Bibb County schools. The elected Bibb County Board of Education hires the local superintendent, adopts the local budget, and sets the school millage rate — which is the larger of the two rates on your property tax bill.

Licenses insurance companies and reviews the rates, rules, and forms they use in Georgia, which reaches almost every household through homeowners, auto, and health coverage. The same elected officer is also the state Safety Fire Commissioner, so the office writes Georgia's minimum fire safety standards and inspects buildings against them. It also investigates insurance fraud.

Runs the Georgia Department of Agriculture, whose inspectors cover the parts of ordinary life almost nobody connects to an elected office. The department licenses and inspects food manufacturers and food sales establishments, and checks that gas pumps and commercial scales measure what they claim to. It also regulates dairy and seafood safety and animal health.

Runs the Georgia Department of Labor, which processes unemployment insurance claims and operates the career centers and job-placement services people use after a layoff. When a large employer in the region closes or cuts a shift, this is the agency the affected workers deal with.

The five-member commission regulates the investor-owned utilities that serve most of Georgia, Georgia Power among them, and decides what those companies may charge — which is why its decisions land directly on a monthly bill. Commissioners have to live in the district they represent, but every Georgia voter votes in every commission race, so the district numbers are about residency, not about who gets to vote. Two seats are on this ballot, Districts 3 and 5, after federal court litigation knocked several of these elections off their normal schedule.

Parts of Macon-Bibb sit in State Senate Districts 18, 25, and 26, so which race is on your ballot depends on your address. The state Senate passes state law jointly with the state House and confirms some of the governor's appointments. Everything in the note below about what the legislature controls in Macon-Bibb applies to both chambers equally.

Macon-Bibb is split among several State House districts, and yours depends on your address — check it rather than assuming, because the district lines do not follow county lines. The state House passes state law jointly with the state Senate, and the state constitution requires that every bill raising revenue or appropriating money start in the House. That makes it the chamber where the state budget is written first each session.