First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day’s most important political stories and why they matter.
WASHINGTON — If it’s Thursday ... Breaking news: WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian custody in prisoner swap. ... President Biden delivers remarks on the economy, union workers and retirees. ... The Jan. 6 committee plans to release final report, vote on criminal referrals on Dec. 21, per NBC’s Ryan Nobles, Haley Talbot and Ali Vitali. ... The U.S. Supreme Court searches for middle ground in North Carolina redistricting/elections case. ... And the House Ethics Committee investigates Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
But first: Not a single Georgia county flipped between Democrats and Republicans from the Jan. 2021 Senate runoff (which Raphael Warnock won with 51.0%) and the Dec. 2022 runoff (which he won with 51.4% — and counting), according to an NBC News Political Unit analysis.
And just two of the state’s 159 counties — Baldwin and Washington — changed party hands from the Nov. 2022 general election to Tuesday’s runoff. (Those two counties went for Republican Herschel Walker in November and then to Warnock in the runoff.)
That’s it.