Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 16, 2016

On June 16, 1736, General James Oglethorpe arrived in England with Tomochichi, the Yamacraw Indian chief, Tomochichi’s wife and several other members of the tribe on a trip to meet the Georgia Trustees and King George II.

Creek Indians signed the Treaty of Fort Wilkinson on June 16, 1802, ceding two parcels of land in Georgia to the United States.

On June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln addressed the Illiniois Republican Convention as a candidate for U.S. Senate and warned that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

The Atlanta Constitution was first published on June 16, 1868.

Bob Dylan recorded “Like a Rolling Stone” on June 16, 1965.

The Monterey Pop Festival opened at the Monterey Fairgrounds on June 16, 1967, often considered one of the opening events of the “Summer of Love.” Among the artists playing the Festival were the Jefferson Airplane, The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Macon-born Otis Redding.

Six Flags Over Georgia opened on June 16, 1967.

Atlanta Braves player Otis Nixon tied the modern record for steals in one game with six stolen bases agains the Montreal Expos on June 16, 1991.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The biggest Presidential campaign news coming out of Georgia is definitely the nomination of former Congressman Paul Broun as the Vice-Presidential candidate on the Constitution Party ticket.

The Constitution Party of Georgia (CP-GA) held its state convention on June 10^th in McDonough. As expected, members selected Darrell Castle, the keynote speaker and Constitutional attorney from Tennessee, as its Presidential nominee.

In a surprise move the members also unanimously nominated Dr. Paul Broun, a native son and former U.S. Congressman, for the Vice-President slot. CP-GA Chairman Ricardo Davis explained: “Dr. Broun has one of the most impressive conservative track records of any Congressman who has ever served in Washington. The CP-GA’s mission is to elect individuals like him in all facets of civil government.”

Dr. Broun wrote a Jobs Act that was highly rated by the Club for Growth, an Audit the Fed bill that passed the U.S. House by a 333-92 margin, and legislation considered to be the best Obamacare alternative. Dr. Broun never voted for a tax increase, never voted to increase the debt ceiling and never voted for a bailout. He also proposed more targeted spending cuts than any other U.S. Representative.

Davis noted, “With the recent endorsement of Darrell Castle by Georgia Right to Life PAC, the Constitution Party of Georgia has the only ticket with endorsed president and vice-president candidates.  Castle and Broun have proven track records in defending the sanctity of life.”

The CP-GA is attempting to get Mr. Castle and Dr. Broun on the ballot in November by collecting 7,500 petition signatures according to a new interim federal ruling. Though still high, that number is a dramatic reduction from current Georgia law requiring about 52,000 signatures.  Voters wanting to see them on the ballot are working to meet the approaching deadline.

The actual news is that the Constitution Party might be able to make it on the ticket as the first party to place candidates on the ballot under the federal court ruling that invalidated Georgia’s requirement for more than 50,000 signatures and substituting the federal court’s completely made up requirement of 7500 signatures.

On Tuesday, Columbus, GA lawyer Mike Garner filed a lawsuit seeking to have the federal court ruling applied to his effort to gain ballot access as an independent candidate for Muscogee County Clerk of Court.

The Columbus attorney attempting an Independent bid for Muscogee County Superior Court clerk has filed suit claiming the law requiring him to have 5,226 voter signatures to get on the ballot is unconstitutional.

Mike Garner filed the suit on Tuesday in Muscogee County Superior Court, naming as the defendant Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registrations Executive Director Nancy Boren, who must enforce the law.

The law says candidates trying to run as Independents must by July 12 submit supporting petitions signed by enough eligible voters to equal 5 percent of those registered during the last election for the office sought. That’s the origin of the 5,226 number.

“Plaintiff has learned that no independent candidate has ever been successful in Muscogee County getting the required signatures,” Garner wrote, later adding: “The signatures must be obtained on an approved form given by the election board. This form requires the name, printed name, date of birth and address of the voter. Voters are reluctant to give their addresses and date of birth to strangers in fear of identity theft.”

So high a goal is unconstitutional under the First and 14th Amendments, he said, asking that a judge set a more reasonable standard.

“A proper number, an obtainable number, a number that would restore to … independent candidates in this case their constitutional right to run for political office would be 500 to 750 signatures in place of the 5,226 signatures now required,” he wrote.

He based his arguments on a March 17 ruling by Richard W. Story, a federal judge for the Northern District of Georgia, who found unconstitutional a Georgia law requiring Independent presidential candidates seeking ballot access to get signatures equal to 1 percent of registered voters during the last election.

Typically a judge from outside the six-county Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit that includes Columbus is appointed to hear such cases, to avoid the perception local judges are trying to influence elections here.

A Democratic organization called The Voter Participation Center is seeking to register new voters in advance of the November General Election. From the AJC’s Kristina Torres,

More than 950,000 people in Georgia could soon be getting mailers from a Washington-based voting advocacy group with instructions on how to register to vote, part of a multistate effort to boost voting rolls ahead of this year’s presidential election.

The Voter Participation Center is aiming its efforts at communities of color, unmarried women and millennials—groups historically underrepresented in voting counts. Past registration efforts, however, have at times been met with confusion — including in 2012, when the group mailed registration forms addressed to people’s deceased pets.

The group uses commercially collected information and says it has since refined its mailing process. It also says residents contacted in error can ask to be removed from its list at 202-659-9570.

Here’s what their voter registration mailers look like:

Trump in Atlanta

Donald Trump came to Atlanta’s Fox Theater yesterday, to what Fox5 Atlanta called a crowd of about 2500.

“We love Georgia, we had a big, big victory in Georgia a little while ago and we’re going to have another one thank you very much everybody” said Trump.

Trump doubled down on his controversial stand on immigration, calling for a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants, and for the surveillance of mosques as part of the war on radical Islamic terrorism.

Trump spent much of his speech on terrorism in the wake of the deadly Orlando nightclub shooting.

11Alive also covered the Trump campaign rally.

Conservative leaders Ralph Reed and Herman Cain posed for photos behind stage at the Fabulous Fox Theatre as a handful of protestors outside grew to about fifty.  When the conservative leaders took the stage, they both slammed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, mocked Republicans that have spoken out against Trump, and blamed the “liberal” media for biased coverage of Trump

After an introduction from legendary former University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, Trump took the stage about an hour late as the crowd inside cheered. “Wow!” Trump said as he praised the Georgia crowd, promising to take the state in November.

“We had a horrible, horrible event this weekend in Orlando,” Trump said. “Unthinkable.” As he started laying out plans for America to “be tough”, the first chants of “Trump,Trump!” started.

He said the LGBT community supports him and his policies: “When I say, ‘Make America Great Again’, it has to be for everybody. Everybody.”

I’m not sure what this does for Trump’s credibility as an outsider in the mold of David Perdue – rapper Waka Flocka Flame, who endorsed Perdue for Senate in 2014, called for his Twitter followers to “protest peacefully” at Trump’s Atlanta event.

Perhaps the biggest endorsement of the day for Trump was legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley.

Dooley’s endorsement of the presumptive Republican nominee came at a Trump campaign rally Wednesday afternoon at the Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta. Dooley previously was scheduled to attend an event later Wednesday afternoon at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and appeared at the rally at the urging of his son-in-law, whom Dooley described as “a big supporter” of Trump.

“I think the whole thing is that you have to make a choice now,” Dooley said in an interview following his Trump endorsement, noting the presidential field was winnowed to just two people, with Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the presumptive Democratic contender for the White House.

“I don’t exactly agree with everything he’s done,” Dooley said of Trump. But, Dooley went on to say, the United States “has lost prestige in a lot of ways … it’s time for a new beginning.”

Dooley all but ruled out any active campaigning for Trump, saying he might appear at some future Trump event in Georgia, but likely wouldn’t do much beyond that.

“I doubt it,” he said when asked about the possibility of campaigning for the GOP presidential contender.

Dooley’s endorsement of Trump brings him in line with his wife, Barbara, whom Dooley said has favored Trump almost since the real estate magnate’s announcement nearly a year ago that he would be seeking the presidency.

“Early on, she said she was going to be for him,” Dooley said.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Council announced their 2016 Legislators of the Year.

Each year, the Georgia Chamber’s Government Affairs Council recognizes legislators for their votes on critical business legislation. During this year’s spring meeting Senator Jeff Mullis, Representative John Meadows and Representative Beth Beskin all received top honors in recognition of their support of pro-growth and pro-job policies.

“I would like to thank our state legislators for their leadership and support of legislation that will continue to create jobs, improve the quality of life, and promote economic growth for the State of Georgia,” said Georgia Chamber President and CEO Chris Clark. “As we continue our mission of leading the nation as the number one state for business we need our leaders now more than ever to continue to support pro-business polices.”

Chair of the Senate Rules Committee – Senator Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) was awarded Legislator of the Year for being a champion for the business community in voting, actions as well as behind the scenes. He consistently works to make Georgia a great place to do business. “Senator Mullis has carried Chamber-supported legislation many times and we are fortunate to have him as Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee,” said Elizabeth Chandler, GAC Chairwoman (2014-2016). Mullis also received a scorecard vote of “A” on the Georgia Chamber’s legislative scorecard.

Chairman of the House Rules Committee – Representative John Meadows (R-Calhoun) was also recognized as Legislator of the Year for his steadfast support and advocacy for advancing a pro-business agenda in the House. Chairman Meadows scored an A+ on the 2015-2016 Scorecard, however more importantly, he’s often a trusted and respected voice of reason and counsel on difficult votes and issues.  “He’s always willing to listen to the Chamber’s viewpoint on an issue and never fails to provide candid and sage feedback,” said 2016 Georgia Chamber Board Chair and Executive Vice President, AGL Resources Hank Linginfelter.

For the past 6 years, the Georgia Chamber’s Government Affairs Council has recognized legislators from both sides of the aisle who work hard to pass legislation that supports economic progress.  The Georgia Chamber’s new digital scorecard http://gachamberscore.com/ provides the opportunity for the business community and Georgia voters to track how legislators vote on important economic issues.

The final award of the legislative season was given to the Rookie of the Year – Representative Beth Beskin (R-Atlanta) for quickly asserting herself as the leading champion on the House Judiciary Committee for common-sense, pro-business civil justice legislation.  As the sole “No” vote in committee on a very anti-business E-Discovery bill during the 2016 session, Representative Beskin was the only legislator willing to stand up in support of the business community on a tough vote.  She also earned an A+ on the Chamber’s 2015-2016 Scorecard and has quickly become a strong friend and ally of the business community.

Georgia is fortunate to have leaders like these who strongly support economic development in our state. The Georgia Chamber will continue to cultivate the important partnership we have between the state and the business community to ensure we are promoting further growth in Georgia.

Chatham County Commissioner Helen Stone appeared before the Savannah-Chatham Board of Education to ask them to vote against a proposed millage rate increase.

Stone asked the school board not to approve their proposed .5 mill property tax increase because it creates a financial burden for homeowners like herself as well as retirees on a fixed income.

“As a citizen and a taxpayer I have watched my tax rate creep up since I bought my house in 2007,” she said.

Stone complained that ESPLOST, the penny sales tax for public education improvements, should keep tax rates down, but instead expenses have risen each time the district replaces and renovates a 1940s- and ’50s-era school. She argued that she attended public school until she reached high school and it was teacher quality that made a difference, not fancy facilities.

“When I was a student at Ellis Elementary there was no air conditioning or fancy gym and playground,” she said. “Many of us have gone on to be successful.”

State Senator Harold Jones (D-Augusta) will receive the Guiding Star Award from Georgia Equality for his vocal opposition to religious freedom legislation during this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly.

“Whether it is a passionate floor speech against legislation that would discriminate against LGBT Georgians or by showing up at LGBT events in the Augusta area, he is proving to be a stalwart ally of a community that too often struggles to find allies in more rural parts of our state,” Graham said.

Jones said that despite representing a district far from Atlanta that is majority black, a group that polls show is among the least supportive of gay marriage, he’s heard no objections to his stance.

“I’ve gotten no blowback on that at all,” he said.

Sponsors of the “religious freedom” bill have said they will try again next year.

Georgia Department of Economic Development Deputy Commissioner Ben Hames told the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce that workforce development is a priority for job creation.

Hames explained the state has been going through a shift in its focus on how to attract business in recent years, going from primarily looking at incentives for businesses to also focusing on workforce development.

“Incentives remain important, but companies have been in this part of the economic cycle long enough, and have had enough strain and struggle in filling workforce positions, that all of a sudden they understand it doesn’t matter what the package is, what the location looks like,” Hames said.

“If you can’t find the skilled, work-ready individuals to step up and take the positions, (or) if you don’t have the programs and capacity in place to develop and deliver those individuals, it’s not going to work.”

The deputy director said Georgia officials have taken some steps at the policy level to encourage work force development, including letting computer programming stand in for math, science and foreign language requirements in high schools, setting up the Georgia Film Academy and offering free tuition for 11 high demand areas, such as industrial maintenance technicians, or CDL programs, at the High Demand Career Institute.

“Georgia should provide its own talent,” Hames said. “That’s not a statement about migration of emigration with an ‘E’ or an “I” or any of that. What it says is we should have the capacity, we should have the programming, the aspirational goal to provide talent, therefore creating a sustainable, quality work force.”