Georgia legislative shift: Democrats flip House

And so obviously after last night's results, what does Georgia's political future look like? Which voters drove the shift and what it will mean for issues that will affect your family? We're obviously tracking that and our Kevin Stewart joins us now live from the state capitol. And Kevin, obviously there's a lot at play here and we're going to have to see how things progress. But this was a big change with a lot of Georgia voters deciding that they wanted Democrats in office. Yeah, the state legislature, the Gold Dome here, we are under the Gold Dome right now, is going to look very different in the upcoming session. For the first time in two decades, Democrats will lead the House. They have control of the House. The numbers as a state right now, 93 to 86, the final numbers are still coming in. On the Senate side, Republicans still have that lead, but it's a 29-27, so it's a very narrow gap. So Democrats do feel like they have a mandate. How far will that go? We will find out. But it is very clear that they have priorities, priorities like affordability, priorities like Medicaid expansion, priorities like housing, the heartbeat bill. And they said they are willing and are looking forward to working with Republicans on these issues. And they say there are good relationships. They said this is different than Washington, where there's going to be a lot of fussing and fighting. They say, hey, there are relationships here that they want to build on and that the voters Voters have spoken and that... Republicans are going to have to work with them for the first time in an earnest manner in a very long time. I had a chance to talk to the current minority leader in the House who is likely going to be the next House Speaker. Take a listen. Thank you very much. Thank you. With anything, it will take a little bit for new leadership on both sides to develop the working relationships that we would like to see. But we're fully prepared to do that and we have a head start on that because the Lieutenant Governor was a member of our caucus and as I said, Larry Walker, Senator Walker, is the son of one of my former colleagues, his dad, Larry Walker, and I served together at the moment. So I've known his family group quite a bit, so we look forward to working with them. And at the end of the day, we're all looking to forge those policies that are going to benefit the people of our state. And I believe that's what the senators want to do as well. And as long as we keep the people of Georgia and what's best for them as our North Star, I believe we'll be able to work through and manage any challenges that we might have. Have you had conversations with Republicans either on the House or the Senate side? Well, I've gotten some messages from some of my Republican colleagues of congratulations. Congratulations. And, you know, we are not like Washington. Our members know each other and have worked with each other across the aisle year after year after year. And so that's the good thing about the Georgia House of Representatives. All right. So there you have it. We are looking at an opportunity now for bipartisanship to work across the aisles. You've heard Democrats said that's exactly what they want. I had a chance to get a statement from the soon outgoing House Speaker John Burns. And I want to see if I can get that up for you to take a look at here that we were seeing earlier today. If you just bear with me for a moment, I will find that for you. Did he send something? And I can read it. So it says, quote, While a few key seats remain within the recount margin, we still have a strong, resilient and committed caucus. Our dedication to protecting Georgia's conservative values has not and will not change. We will continue showing up for the job we were elected to do each and every day, defending our future, uplifting our neighbors, strengthening opportunity, and keeping Georgia the great state we all know and love. Tyler? And so, Kevin, let me ask you this. Obviously, with Democrats taking over the House chamber at the state legislature, I mean, are they already coming up with some big plans of what they want to change? Well, there's some things, say, like we just heard in a news conference at 1.30 by Josh McLaurin, the new Latunic governor, the elected, soon to be elected, I like the... Josh McLaurin, I'm sorry, he talked about some of the procedural changes that you have on some of the committees. For instance, he noted he's an attorney but does not sit on the Judiciary Committee. He says right now you're going to have to have some changes in rules for some of the things that they want to get done. But again, expanding Medicaid is going to be a top priority. Looking for affordability issues that they can work with. They didn't get into a lot of specifics. That could be text, taxes, something along those lines. But those are some of the real priorities they want to tackle. Kevin Stewart live for us at the state capitol in downtown Atlanta. I really appreciate you breaking all this down for us and we'll be checking in with you throughout the afternoon. Kevin Stewart, thanks so much.