Political Rewind: Raffensperger Sets Primary Date, Thousands Lose Medicaid Benefits

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Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during an election commisison meeting in Macon. On Wednesday, Raffensperger annonuced Georgia will hold its presidential primary on March 24, 2020. / GPB News

On this edition of Political Rewind, President Donald Trump's internal polls show him behind in Georgia, Florida and other key states. His campaign rally in Orlando gave the audience a glimpse of the themes on which he will run.

After reports that the Secretary of State would not select a primary date until issues with new voting machines were resolved and implementation plans were put forth, Brad Raffensperger's office announced that Georgia will no longer hold its presidential primary on 'Super Tuesday.' Instead, voters in the state will take to the polls on March 24, 2020. 

As Emory Political Science Professor Andra Gillespie points out, the date was already going to be crowded with California opting to also vote on the first Tuesday in March, "that already had the possiblity of sucking the air out of the room."  

Will the field be narrowed after Iowa, New Hampshire and other states vote earlier in 2020 or will the momentum continue through to the end of March? 

RELATED: White House Hopefuls Swing Through Atlanta

Reporters at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution uncovered new data that revealed the number of poor, disabled or elderly citizens of Georgia suddenly stripped of their Medicaid benefits by the Department of Community Health may be twice as high as previously reported. Who bears the blame for terminating coverage to some of the state’s neediest people?

RELATED: Georgia To Cut 30,000 Poor, Elderly And Disabled From Medicaid

The question of reparations for slavery is being address during a Juneteenth House hearing. Author Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover are set to testify before the Judiciary sub-committee. However, Mitch McConnell states why he believes reparations is not in the cards.

WATCH: House Judiciary Hearing on Slavery Reparations

Panelists:

Greg Bluestein -- Political Reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Andra Gillespie -- Political Science Professor, Emory University

Mary Margaret Oliver -- Democratic State Representative

Brian Robinson -- Republican Strategist