Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 18, 2019

The Mason-Dixon line separating Pennsylvania from Maryland was established on October 18, 1767.

In 1760, tired of border violence between the colonies’ settlers, the British crown demanded that the parties involved hold to an agreement reached in 1732. As part of Maryland and Pennsylvania’s adherence to this royal command, Mason and Dixon were asked to determine the exact whereabouts of the boundary between the two colonies. Though both colonies claimed the area between the 39th and 40th parallel, what is now referred to as the Mason-Dixon line finally settled the boundary at a northern latitude of 39 degrees and 43 minutes. The line was marked using stones, with Pennsylvania’s crest on one side and Maryland’s on the other.

Twenty years later, in late 1700s, the states south of the Mason-Dixon line would begin arguing for the perpetuation of slavery in the new United States while those north of line hoped to phase out the ownership of human chattel. This period, which historians consider the era of “The New Republic,” drew to a close with the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which accepted the states south of the line as slave-holding and those north of the line as free. The compromise, along with those that followed it, eventually failed.

British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781,  ending the American Revolution.

On October 19, 1790, Lyman Hall, one of three signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia, died in Burke County, GA. Hall was elected Governor of Georgia in 1783, holding the position for one year, and was an early advocate for the chartering of the University of Georgia.

The United States Senate ratified a treaty with France on October 20, 1805, closing the deal on the Louisiana Purchase.

On October 18, 1867, the United States took over Alaska from Russia and ran up Old Glory there for the first time.

Separated from the far eastern edge of the Russian empire by only the narrow Bering Strait, the Russians had been the first Europeans to significantly explore and develop Alaska.

Seeing the giant Alaska territory as a chance to cheaply expand the size of the nation, William H. Seward, President Andrew Johnson‘s secretary of state, moved to arrange the purchase of Alaska. Agreeing to pay a mere $7 million for some 591,000 square miles of land-a territory twice the size of Texas and equal to nearly a fifth of the continental United States-Seward secured the purchase of Alaska at the ridiculously low rate of less than 2¢ an acre.

On October 18, 1870, Rockdale and McDuffie Counties were created when Georgia Governor Rufus Bullock signed legislation creating them.

On October 20, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt stopped in Roswell to visit his mother’s girlhood home at Bulloch Hall.

Lewis Grizzard was born on October 20, 1946 at Fort Benning, Georgia.

On October 20, 1977, a small twin-engine plane carrying members of Lynyrd Skynyrd from Greenville, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, Louisiana crashed in a swamp in Gillsburg, Mississippi. Singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray died in the crash.

Note the dedication to Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.

On October 19, 1983, the United States Senate voted 78-22 to create a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., to be celebrated on the third Monday of January. The House passed the King holiday bill, sponsored by Reps. Katie Hall (D.-IN) and Jack Kemp (R-NY), by a vote of 338-90 in August. President Ronald Reagan signed the legislation on November 3, 1983.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Brian Kemp spoke at the University of Georgia this week, according to the Red and Black.

Gov. Brian Kemp was greeted by a barrage of handshakes and selfie requests when he entered a room full of University of Georgia students at the Zell B. Miller Learning Center on Oct. 16. Despite the suffocating volume of requests, Kemp embraced the response and encouraged the selfies to keep coming.

“I need y’all to post that photo and say ‘The governor is doing what he said he’d do,’” Kemp said, “That matters to people that are your age, and y’all are going to be in our position very soon … We can’t rely on the news media or anybody to tell our story. We got to tell it ourselves.”

Energizing the Republican voter base was just one of the various topics Kemp spoke about during his speech, answering pre-selected crowd questions. In just shy of an hour, Kemp spoke on a breadth of topics — education and healthcare reforms, school safety, economic development and medical marijuana.

Kemp highlighted his administration’s work to pass a $3,000 raise for all Georgia public school teachers and giving approximately $69.4 million to all Georgia schools to improve school security. Kemp also noted he nearly doubled the funding for the Georgia Apex Program, which puts mental health counselors in high schools. Kemp said mental health is an important issue in keeping schools safe.

Kemp drew applause when he mentioned House Bill 481 — the fetal “heartbeat bill,” which effectively banned abortions after doctors could detect a heartbeat, approximately six weeks into a pregnancy. Kemp framed the bill as part of his administration’s larger effort to “fight for life” — referencing future goals of reforming the adoption and foster-care system and protecting senior citizens from abuse in elderly homes.

New voting machines are on display at the Georgia State Fair in Perry, according to GPB News.

The secretary of state’s office is inviting voters to test them out at demonstrations across Georgia before the scheduled first use in March.

The state fair is one of many places the secretary of state’s office plans to bring the new $107 million voting system for Georgians to interact with before it is time for a real election.

Election workers have seen demos everywhere from Decatur County to Gwinnett County, and a longtime media veteran was just hired to help spread the word about the new machines.

The Dominion ballot-marking devices will replace 17-year-old direct-recording electronic machines a federal judge said cannot be used after 2019.

Only a handful of the state’s 159 counties will test the new touchscreen devices in elections this fall. Cobb County’s municipal elections will be conducted on hand-marked paper ballots as a potential back-up system in case the ballot-marking devices aren’t ready.

Georgia State Senator Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) will introduce legislation to close a loophole in current state law, according to the Gainesville Times.

Under the current state definition for improper sexual contact by an employee or agent, sexual assault of a student occurs when the victim is “enrolled as a student at the school.” Miller wants to expand the definition to include students “within the school district.”

Felony sexual assault charges were dropped earlier this year against Webster Daniel, a former coach at Chestatee High School who worked as an in-school suspension teacher at Chestatee Academy.

Daniel has been accused of assaulting a 16-year-old female student at Chestatee High. In May, Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh sent the case down to Hall County State Court, dropping the felony charge because Daniel did not teach at the school the student attended.

“When legislation we pass doesn’t go far enough to protect our most vulnerable citizens like students in our schools, we must address necessary changes as soon as possible,” Miller said in a statement. “This legislation will fix an oversight in our existing law and will add necessary protections for victims of sexual assault by ensuring their perpetrators can be brought to justice. I hope we can get this legislation passed and to the Governor’s desk as soon as possible during the 2020 Legislative Session.”

Prefiling of legislation will begin Nov. 15, and legislators will reconvene early next year.

Former Gwinnett County assistant solicitor Greg McKeithen was indicted for alleged misuse of a database, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

A grand jury indicted a former employee of the Gwinnett County Solicitor General’s Office on Wednesday on several charges related to allegations that he was continuing to work as a private attorney while simultaneously serving as a prosecutor.

Former assistant solicitor Greg McKeithen was indicted on 10 counts, including eight counts of computer invasion of privacy and charges of violation of oath by public officer and theft by taking.

McKeithen is accused of accessing a prosecution database maintained by the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia several times between February and May to look up cases involving clients that he was representing as a private defense attorney.

Under state law, acting as a private attorney while also serving as a prosecutor is, by itself, a crime.

McKeithen has run for public office three times in Gwinnett, but has been unsuccessful in each attempt. In 2014, he ran for the solicitor’s office and then ran for a Gwinnett county Superior Court judgeship in 2016.

He tried again, this time as a candidate for county commissioner, in 2018.

Statesboro City Council adopted a new fee schedule for alcohol licenses, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Statesboro’s new fee levels for alcoholic beverage licenses represent an attempt to match the prices paid by license holders to the city’s costs for policing different types of establishments: restaurants, bars, pubs and so forth.

After adopting a long-proposed ordinance that included new license categories Oct. 1, City Council, by another 5-0 vote, approved the fee schedule Tuesday evening.

“We did the most revenue-neutral solution we could,” [City Attorney Cain] Smith told the mayor and council Tuesday.

The Glynn County Commission voted to delay enforcement of new golf cart rules, according to The Brunswick News.

The ordinance would have gone into effect today, but Glynn County Police Department officers will now begin enforcing the new rules on Jan. 15. Details on the ordinance can be found at tinyurl.com/golfcartlawdetails.

“I think, in an attempt to address an issue in one part of the county, St. Simon Island, we’ve created some confusion about what can and can’t be on the road,” said Commissioner David O’Quinn.

The point of confusion O’Quinn referred to relates to gas-powered PTVs modified to exceed 19 mph. Gas-powered PTVs are regulated by the county, Commissioner Peter Murphy said at an Oct. 2 town hall meeting. Modified PTVs, however, are more difficult to pin down and may be a blind spot in state law.

The ordinance won’t change, but the deadline extension will give owners of PTV, modified and standard, time to adapt to the new rules, he explained.

Four candidates are running for two seats on Brooklet City Council, according to the Statesboro Herald.

The Augusta Chronicle investigates costs for a Columbia Commission retreat.

The Savannah Morning News writes about a forum for local municipal candidates.

Dougherty County Commissioners are seeking residents interested in serving on a number of boards, according to the Albany Herald.

Von Pouncey is the fourth announced candidate for Augusta Commission District 1 in 2020, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Von Pouncey, the community activist who told the Augusta Commission last week a “food desert” exists in the Laney-Walker district, is running for a commission seat.

She joins downtown businesswoman Shawnda Griffin, Democratic Party Chairman Jordan Johnson and rental property owner Michael Thurman in filing declarations of intent to seek campaign contributions. Incumbent Bill Fennoy is term-limited.

Pouncey’s resume shows a master’s degree and PhD in human resources management and personnel administration from Capella University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Augusta University. She’s currently department chair and an assistant professor of human resources at Brenau University.

Muscogee County has a third candidate for Sheriff, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

After three tries at gaining the office, former Columbus police officer Mark LaJoye has announced his intention to run next year for the sheriff of Muscogee County.

He will run against incumbent Donna Tompkins and the current Muscogee marshal, Greg Countryman.

LaJoye previously ran for sheriff in 2012 as the Republican nominee against incumbent Sheriff John Darr, who won the general election with 76% of the vote.

LaJoye was also the Republican nominee for sheriff in the 2016 election, which Tompkins won, and was a write-in candidate for sheriff in 2008, but received less than half a percent of the vote.

“A lot of people look at that as not being successful, but the thing that I look at is perseverance,” LaJoye said of his failed campaigns. “I’ll run for this position until I get elected.”

His judicial career began in the early 1980s when he defeated 30-year incumbent Judge J. Oscar Mitchell for a seat on DeKalb’s State Court. Mitchell was the judge that sent Martin Luther King Jr. to prison on a probation violation charge that stemmed from a traffic ticket and a sit-in arrest.

Soon after being elected, Seeliger made headlines when he banished a Confederate flag that hung in his courtroom, saying it was “unacceptable in a court of law.”