Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 17, 2016

Georgia Governor Joseph Terrell signed legislation creating the State Board of Health on August 17, 1903.

Georgia Tech was designated the State School of Technology on August 17, 1908 by joint resolution of the State Senate and State House.

In a quaint bit of Georgia history, on August 17, 1908, Governor Hoke Smith signed legislation prohibiting corporate donations to political campaigns. Cute!

On August 17, 1998, President Bill Clinton testified as the subject of a grand jury investigation.

The testimony came after a four-year investigation into Clinton and his wife Hillary’s alleged involvement in several scandals, including accusations of sexual harassment, potentially illegal real-estate deals and suspected “cronyism” involved in the firing of White House travel-agency personnel. The independent prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, then uncovered an affair between Clinton and a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. When questioned about the affair, Clinton denied it, which led Starr to charge the president with perjury and obstruction of justice, which in turn prompted his testimony on August 17.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols takes the fight against human trafficking to Savannah next month.

Every night, at least 100 juvenile girls in Georgia are exploited as a part of child sex-trafficking rings, according to The Center for Public Policy Studies.

Many of them are out of Atlanta, which has been deemed one of the top 14 cities in the United States for child prostitution by the FBI.

But the father of seven says, Savannah is being affected, too.

“These traffickers are bringing girls up and down I-95. They’ll spend a couple of days in Savannah, they’ll go over to Valdosta, they’ll go to Atlanta…they’re moving them around. They trade them like pawns, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation,” Echols told News 3.

“Operation Dark Night, which was a sting by the U.S. Attorney’s Office here in Savannah rescued 10 girls that were being kept in dog cages in a home,” said Echols.

That’s why he’s hosting a tour next month in Savannah to make sure law makers and law enforcement get to see what’s really going on…and find solutions.

“Maybe foster some sector-specific training: like medical personnel being trained with what to look for. Taxi drivers, limo drivers, hotel front desk personnel, people that might normally be in a place where a trafficker would be a girl through. If they’ve been trained to see this and can call the tip line and report it, it might trigger and investigation,” Echols said.

It appears that Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein will not be on Georgia’s General Election ballot because too few of the signatures her party turned in were validated.

The news comes a month after the Green Party submitted what it said was more than 1,600 pages of signatures by the state’s July 12 deadline. Party officials had not been sure of the number of signatures, but they estimated it had been more than 10,000.

That number was key. A federal judge earlier this year significantly lowered the number of signatures required to petition for a place on Georgia’s presidential ballot, from tens of thousands of required signatures to just 7,500.

Local election officials, however, were able to verify only 5,925 signatures on the party’s petition, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.

The party has five days to appeal the ruling.

“We are conferring with our attorneys right now,” said Bruce A. Dixon, co-chairman of the Georgia Green Party. “It is highly likely that we will be in court before the end of this week to litigate this matter. So it ain’t over yet.”

We’ve written several times about my Rule of Thumb for Ballot Signatures, which is to get twice as many signatures as you need. If we accept the Green Party’s estimate of 10,000 signatures, it appears that roughly 59% were found to be valid. If they’d collected twice as many signatures as they needed and validated at the same rate, Jill Stein would be on the ballot.

The Trump-Pence campaign added to its Georgia staff, announcing two new additions.

“We have assembled an all-star team dedicated to keeping Georgia in the Republican win column. We are committed to taking Mr. Trump’s message to all Georgians, and turning the enthusiasm of this grassroots movement into votes to win in November,” said Brandon Phillips, Mr. Trump’s Georgia State Director, in announcing the senior members of the Georgia campaign team.

“Georgia voters understand that Hillary Clinton represents a third Obama term while the Trump-Pence campaign of tougher law enforcement, stopping illegal immigration and bringing back jobs is resonating strongly across the state. Voters are tired of the same old Washington corruption and back room deals and will vote for change in November,” said Phillips.

Jennifer Hazelton will serve as Communications Director for the Trump Pence 2016 campaign in Georgia. Hazelton served as an award-winning Communications Director for Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) in Washington. She also occupied the same role during a 2014 congressional campaign in San Diego, CA. Prior to working in politics, Hazelton worked as a journalist in television news. She started her career at CNN, working up the ranks to producer, executive producer, and programming creator in Atlanta, London, and New York. After her time at CNN, Hazelton worked for Fox News, managing the newsroom in the network’s Washington, DC bureau. Hazelton is also an occasional panelist on WAGA-TV’s “Georgia Gang.” She is a native of Atlanta.

Billy Kirkland will serve as the Senior Advisor for the Trump Pence campaign in Georgia. Kirkland is the founder and principal at PWK Group, LLC. He launched the firm in 2015 after overseeing the successful election of David Perdue to the U.S. Senate. Prior to the campaign, Kirkland worked as the National Field Director for the Faith & Freedom Coalition. He also worked in former Governor Sonny Perdue’s Intergovernmental Affairs Office. He brings over 15 years of political and campaign experience of all levels to the table. Kirkland is a native of Henry County, Georgia.

Speaking of Rules of Thumb, I have another one I call, “never get into a peeing contest because you’ll just end up wet.” That means don’t get caught up in personal conflicts during a campaign. But in Extreme Northwest Georgia, they do thing differently. From the Times-Free Press:

Jeremy Jones, failed state representative candidate, sat in a camping chair. Jeff Holcomb, failed state representative candidate, stood nearby. Weeks later, both men would say they were threatened. Somehow, the police got involved.

“I’m going to beat your bald a**,” Holcomb may have said, according to a Catoosa County Sheriff’s incident report.

Jones, who received 13 percent of the vote in May, endorsed [eventual Runoff winner DeWayne] Hill. He insulted Holcomb online, called him a hot head and a racist unfit to work in the Georgia capitol. Holcomb said Jones was merely kowtowing to the political establishment by aligning with Hill, who had received about $30,000 in funding from current state representatives and senators.

Jones said he didn’t take the insults personally. He just thought they were dumb.

“I was somewhat stunned,” Jones said. “We have matching hairlines.”

A better insult would have centered on his last-place finish in the May primary, Jones said, or maybe about how he is “a little robust.”

So here’s how I score that exchange: each participant loses two points for breaking the rules, and each loses three more points when law enforcement gets involved. Two more points are deducted for each party for the spat appearing in the newspaper. Dr. Jones gets 1 point back for witty retorts, leaving both candidates under water or worse. That’s why the rule exists.

The AJC opines that third party voters may send Georgia’s Senate race into overtime.

McCoy and others considering casting a ballot for a third-party candidate could shake up Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s battle for a third term. With polls showing Democrat Jim Barksdale in striking distance, both campaigns are quietly bracing for a possible Jan. 10 runoff.

And Libertarian Allen Buckley is hoping voter disgust with both Clinton and Republican Donald Trump — each has made an unfavorable impression with 58 percent of Georgia voters — buoys a campaign that barely surpassed 3 percent in 2008 when he last ran for a Senate seat.

He warns of an impending fiscal collapse driven by out-of-control federal spending and a refusal to deal with the nation’s mounting debt. And he’s tailoring his message to disaffected conservatives and independents who see Republicans as slightly more conservative versions of Democrats.

“If I can get in the runoff, I’ll win the race,” Buckley said. “The only way anything gets accomplished in this race is if I win. Jim Barksdale shows nothing about a new direction. Johnny Isakson doesn’t, either. I’d be the only third-party senator, and I could fight for what’s right.”

Duffy said a January runoff is certainly possible, a scenario she said that would put Democrats at a disadvantage.

“There tends to be a backlash against whichever party wins the White House,” Duffy said. “If the election were held today, certainly Clinton would win given her lead in the polls, and there would be this backlash against Democrats in a runoff that happens weeks after the general election.”

Here’s my 50-cent analysis – it’s not third party voters who can decide whether Georgia goes into extra innings in the Senate race – it’s Trump voters. In 2008, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) was sent into a runoff election when he fell 9133 votes short of winning the required 50% plus one.

But where he lost those votes wasn’t third party voters going to Allen Buckley, then, as now, the Libertarian candidate. What denied Chambliss an outright victory was the 181,662 voters who pulled the lever for John McCain, but did not vote for Saxby Chambliss. Most of those just left the ballot slot blank. Changing just over 5% of those voters who were already in the ballot box and voting for a Republican at the top of the ticket would have put Chambliss over the top in November 2008.

I’ll also point out that a General Election Runoff this year will be vastly different than 2008. We will have nine weeks instead of three, as the Runoff for Federal Elections is scheduled for January 10, 2017. That means a marathon instead of a sprint, including Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hannukah, and New Years Eve. The worst case scenario is a Senate majority hanging in the balance and an incoming President looking for a big win before taking office.

I’m not in the business of giving unsolicited advice, and I would never second-guess the able strategists working for Senator Isakson, but if I were them, I’d make sure to shore up those voters who are going to be in the poll voting for Donald Trump.

Gov. Nathan Deal announced yesterday that voestalpine Automotive Body Parts Inc. will expand its operations in Cartersville, investing $50 million and creating 150 new jobs.

The newly created jobs will range from advanced manufacturing to hot-forming and assembly positions. The company currently employs approximately 100 Georgians at the facility and offers extensive training opportunities, including an apprenticeship program with the students of the Bartow County College & Career Academy in Cartersville.

“This investment is an important step in the growth strategy of our company in the U.S. and positions us well in the center of the southern automotive hub,” said Philipp Schulz, managing director of voestalpine Automotive Body Parts Inc. “We would especially like to thank state and local officials as well as the Georgia Department of Economic Development for their assistance in this project. We are very excited about expanding operations in Cartersville, where our company has found great partners for our operations.”

Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) Senior Project Manager Wylly Harrison and Regional Project Manager Stephanie Scearce represented the Global Commerce Division in partnership with the Cartersville-Bartow County Department of Economic Development and Georgia Power.

“When global manufacturing companies like voestalpine choose to locate or expand their existing presence in Georgia, it is a testament to the international reputation of our top-ranked business climate,” said GDEcD Commissioner Chris Carr. “As our state’s automotive industry grows and manufacturing companies continue to invest, I am confident that voestalpine will find the support it needs to successfully serve its customers around the world and remain competitive in the marketplace.”

Teresa McCartney, who serves as director of the Office of Planning  and Budget under Gov. Deal was named 2016 recipient of the National Association of State Budget Officers Gloria Timmer Award.

“For the past four years, I’ve worked closely with Teresa to develop fiscally conservative budgets that prioritize the needs of Georgians, particularly educators and law enforcement officers,” said Deal. “At the same time, we’ve grown our Rainy Day Fund from $374 million to $1.9 billion. Her efforts have helped Georgia maintain its AAA bond rating, allowing us to better use taxpayer resources. I’ve long considered Teresa an exceptional budget officer and am proud that NASBO recognizes her as one too.”“For the past four years, I’ve worked closely with Teresa to develop fiscally conservative budgets that prioritize the needs of Georgians, particularly educators and law enforcement officers,” said Deal. “At the same time, we’ve grown our Rainy Day Fund from $374 million to $1.9 billion. Her efforts have helped Georgia maintain its AAA bond rating, allowing us to better use taxpayer resources. I’ve long considered Teresa an exceptional budget officer and am proud that NASBO recognizes her as one too.”

“Having Teresa as budget director is like having Michael Phelps anchor the 4×100 meter Olympic relay,” said Chris Riley, chief of staff to Deal. “She has been instrumental in ensuring that the governor’s budgets are responsible, sustainable, and serve the needs of Georgians.”

“MacCartney has overseen the restoration and enhancement of Georgia’s funding for its education system, which took a hit during the recession,” according to NASBO. “For K-12 education alone, she worked with the governor to add more than $1.5 billion over the past three years” with much of that funding going to grant more time in the classroom and retain experienced teachers.

So, I was clicking around on Facebook doing in-depth political history research last night and got sucked into a clickbait article about country music and Jesus, when I came across this photo.

Those are Go Bo Ginn t-shirts from the 1982 campaign in which then-Congressman Bo Ginn went to a Democratic Primary Runoff against Joe Frank Harris.

Floyd County is adding 19 voting machines – about 10% of the current total – in an effort to speed voting in the November General Election.

Another 19 electronic voting machines will be used in this year’s general election on Nov. 8 in an effort to keep voter traffic moving, Floyd County Elections Supervisor Willie Green III said.

Green said 194 voting machines will be used this election as part of the changes he’s implementing to improve the efficiency of the election process in Floyd County.

A national study released by The Pew Charitable Trusts found Georgia to have the fourth-longest average voter wait time, at 7.4 minutes, in the 2014 midterm election and eighth-longest, at 17.8 minutes, in the 2012 presidential election.

A Brennan Center for Justice study, released in 2014, stated resource allocation, such as the number of voting machines at each polling station, is a major contributor to long lines.