Today we celebrate the birth of the United States Marine Corps, which traces its lineage to the Continental Marines, formed by a resolution adopted by the Second Continental Congress on November 10, 1775. Here, former Georgia Governor and United States Senator Zell Miller tells of his decision to join the Marine Corps and the change it made in his life.
A monument to Nancy Hart was dedicated in Hartwell, in Hart County, Georgia, on November 10, 1931. Hart was an active Patriot in the American Revolution.
On November 10, 1934, two years after his election as President, FDR made his 28th trip to Georgia.
United States Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Moultrie) was born on November 10, 1943. Chambliss was elected to Congress in 1994 as part of the “Republican Revolution” led by Newt Gingrich.
The iron ore freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sunk in a winter storm on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.
Former State School Superintendent Linda Schrenko was indicted by federal prosecutors on November 10, 2004 on eighteen counts.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Governor Brian Kemp ordered flags on state buildings and properties to half staff on Friday, November 12, 2021 in honor of the late State Senator Ross Tolleson.
Gov. Kemp also held an endorsement party with several GOP allies, according to the AJC.
First, Attorney General Chris Carr declared the first-term Republican to be a “decisive conservative.” Then came Insurance Commissioner John King, who said Kemp “unapologetically” backs the blue. Some 108 sheriffs, included about a dozen on hand for the event, joined the chorus of support.
Normally, the wave of endorsements from GOP figures rallying behind a Republican incumbent would merit little attention. But with a possible primary challenge from former U.S. Sen. David Perdue looming, there was an implicit message tied to Kemp’s Tuesday event: If there’s a primary fight, it will be a bloody one.
“Look, I’m not worried about what other people are doing in politics. I can only control what I’ve been doing,” Kemp said. “I have been in this fight with these people standing behind me. My family has been in the fight with them. And we are going to stay in the fight with them.”
At Tuesday’s event, Carr described the governor as the “exact leader that we’ve needed” during the pandemic, while Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds called him a steadfast ally to law enforcement officers.
“We have a record unemployment low right now of 3.2%, the lowest ever recorded that I’m aware of. We have the least number of Georgians unemployed on the rolls right now than we’ve had in 20 years,” Kemp said.
“So if anybody else wants to get in the fight, you would have to simply ask them, why?”
The Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments in a challenge to state legislation splitting a judicial circuit, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
State Sen. Lee Anderson, R-Grovetown, introduced Senate Bill 9 during the last session of the General Assembly to create the Columbia County Judicial Circuit. With barely a word of debate, it passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in March.
But the civil lawsuits filed on behalf of Black Voters Matter Fund and Columbia County resident Willie Saunders alleged the split of the circuit after 150 years violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the separation of powers among the three branches of government, and deprived residents of effective and efficient access to courts. But on July 12, a judge appointed to hear the case ruled against the plaintiffs and found Senate Bill 9 was constitutional. The plaintiffs appealed.
Tuesday, Rhodes began his argument explaining that Jared Williams was elected as the first Black district attorney in the Augusta Judicial Circuit in November. The day after the election, Columbia County began the move to divorce itself from the judicial circuit, he said. It would mean Williams would lose one-third of his circuit. “It’s no longer what it was,” Rhodes said of the judicial circuit. Instead leading the prosecutions of crimes in three counties, his power was reduced to Richmond and Burke counties.
How could Black Voters Matter Fund contend the legislature isn’t empowered to change judicial circuit, and why has no one ever challenged previous changes, Justice Charles Bethel asked. “What’s so special now?”
This is different because of the racial overtones, Rhodes said. There’s never been this situation before. But Justice Verda M. Colvin, the only current Black justice, asked how can it be a racial issue when Black and white commissioners and members of the General Assembly supported the judicial split?
The Georgia State Senate approved its own redistricting map yesterday, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
On day five of the General Assembly’s special session Tuesday, the House Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment committee approved a recommended new House district map, and a proposed Senate district map advanced in the chamber.
By Tuesday afternoon, the [House Redistricting] committee had presented a substitute of the map but none of the changes were made for Coweta County redistricting, which bore the brunt of public comments Monday.
“I was very sympathetic to the people of Coweta County yesterday but we have a job and that’s to draw a map that complies with the law and that is what we have done,” said Bonnie Rich, R-Suwannee, chair of the House committee. “After we comply with the law, there is not one issue that predominates; it’s a balancing factor.”
Georgia Republican senators were accused of breaking up minority populations in its district map proposal before they voted Tuesday.
All new district maps must be approved in both chambers. No vote has occurred on any of the state’s new proposed congressional districts.
The state senate voted to pass a Republican proposal Tuesday. It would impact Georgia’s 162nd, 163rd and 165th districts. But this new map has some local lawmakers concerned about the possible changes.
This bill passed the Senate among party lines 34-21. Representative Carl Gilliard and Representative Derek Mallow say the amended version of the House voting district map was made public Monday.
The proposed map for the House voting districts is expected to be voted on by lawmakers in the House Wednesday.
The proposed map would change more than 20 Metro-Atlanta districts and even some in Chatham County.
State Senator David Lucas (D-Macon) is not amused. From 13WMAZ:
“Listen, reapportionment is like sausage-making. The other part is about the vegetable-making. I want some collard greens, some corn, and some Vidalia onions, and you want to bring me rutabaga and watermelons,” Lucas said.
Senator Lucas claims the Republican majority is drawing Black voters out of his district while white voters are being pushed in.
“When I look at my district, I see one of the largest Black precincts taken out of my districts, one right next to my home district. Yet, I need 29,000 people,” Lucas said.
Legislators have to expand Lucas’ Senate district because it lost the second most amount of people compared to other Senate districts.
The Senate approved the new map Tuesday.
It moves Lucas’s district out of Jones County and part of Bibb and covers Johnson County, which historically sways Republican and has a white majority.
“We got a problem. This map does not work out that problem,” Lucas said.
University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock says the new drawing of Lucas’ district hasn’t changed much from what it is now, based on demographics. “His district is really much the same, both in terms of its total population and its voting age population of Blacks, so right about 57 percent total Black population and 18 years or older — 55 percent Black,” Bullock said.
From the Associated Press via AccessWDUN:
Georgia Senate Republicans pushed through a map Tuesday on a 34-21 party line vote designed to maintain their strong majority in the chamber, despite Democratic cries that the plan doesn’t reflect Georgia’s nearly 50-50 partisan split and denies opportunities to nonwhite voters.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Macon Republican who chairs the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, said the map accomplished “the hard work that has to be done once a decade.” He noted the new map splits 29 counties, down from 39 counties now.
The map is projected to keep 59%, or 33, of the Senate’s 56 seats in GOP hands. That’s down from 34 right now. Democrats say that’s too many, considering President Joe Biden carried Georgia with a narrow majority last year and nonwhite people make up most of the new Georgians added in the last decade.
A House committee on Tuesday voted for a map projected to 98 Republicans, or 54% of the lower chamber’s 180 members. The full House could vote on that measure Wednesday.
The Senate Republican map seeks to protect all incumbents, except for two Republicans who are running for statewide office. To offset population losses in south Georgia, the proposal removes Sen. Tyler Harper’s district and relocates it to Gwinnett County. Harper, of Ocilla, is running for agriculture commissioner. The plan also dismantles Sen. Bruce Thompson’s district and relocates it from Cherokee and Bartow counties to Roswell and Sandy Springs in north Fulton County. Thompson, from White, is running for labor commissioner.
The Senate map now goes to the House for more debate. However, Georgia’s House and Senate traditionally haven’t interfered in how the other chamber draws its districts. This means the Senate vote could be the final meaningful action on that chamber’s map. This will be the first time in decades that Georgia lawmakers won’t be required to get federal approval of their maps after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act.
From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Rome News Tribune:
Floyd County will have two state senators under the new map, which will be effective for the 2022 elections.
Senate District 52 — currently represented by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome — will shift slightly east to cover most of Floyd and Bartow counties. It also takes in part of western Gordon County, to include the communities of Plainville and Sugar Valley.
A northwest piece of Floyd will be in Senate District 53, which is currently represented by Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga.
But state Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, said Democrats weren’t willing to pass fair maps when their party was in control of the General Assembly. He pointed to heavily gerrymandered 2001 maps drawn by a then-Democratic majority, which a federal court subsequently ruled an unconstitutional violation of the Voting Rights Act.
Democrats tried unsuccessfully to push maps drawn by their caucus to substitute for the proposal presented by Republicans, but they didn’t file the legislation correctly so it couldn’t be considered. Democrats didn’t include the district demographic data that the Senate’s rules required to be filed with their legislation if it was to be considered.
Approval of the state’s 56 Senate districts, each with over 191,000 residents, puts them on a rapid path toward final approval by the state House as soon as this week. Proposals to redraw Georgia’s 14 congressional seats and 180 House seats will soon follow.
The map opens an opportunity for Republicans to flip a Johns Creek district held by Democrat Michelle Au, encompassing more GOP-leaning voters from Forsyth County within its boundaries. The map also calls for two new districts that would favor Democrats in metro Atlanta.
The changes to Au’s district convert it from having a majority of people of color to a majority-white district.
“The Republican map under consideration does not add even a single majority-minority district over the total we’ve had for the past decade,” said Au, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, noting that the state’s population changes were driven by people of color while white populations declined. “It’s as if the huge population growth we’ve seen consisting essentially entirely of Georgians of color has been rendered invisible.”
Brunswick voters begin going to the polls today in the runoff election for Mayor, according to the Brunswick News.
Cosby Johnson and Ivan Figueroa were the top two vote getters in the non-partisan race featuring eight candidates to replace incumbent Mayor Cornell Harvey, who cannot seek a third term in office because of term limits.
Early voting begins at 8 a.m. at the Glynn County Board of Elections and Registration office, 1815 Gloucester St., second floor in Brunswick.
Voting at the elections office is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with early Saturday voting on Nov.13 and 20 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The runoff election will be held Nov. 30. Poll hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Cobb County set early voting dates and times for a November 30th Marietta City Council Ward 5 runoff election, according to the AJC.
Ward 5 Councilman Reginald Copeland will face off against M. Carlyle Kent, a local real estate agent, in the winner-take-all affair Nov. 30.
Advance in-person voting will take place at the Board’s main office at 736 Whitlock Ave. NW in Marietta. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. beginning Monday through Saturday, Nov. 20 and Nov. 22-23. Early voting ends Nov. 24 with hours from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The lone drop box location will be in the lobby of the elections office.
Dougherty County election workers spoke about puzzling citizen behavior, according to WALB.
“I was a poll watcher and there was a person that came into the polling area, the voting area. Several times during the day, it would be anywhere from every two to every three hours and they just walked out they didn’t identify themselves to anyone, they didn’t speak with anyone. They walked out directly to the scanner, they wrote down the time and what the scanner stated on a piece of paper, and then they walked out,” Carol Donnavan, a poll watcher, said.
Elections Supervisor Ginger Nickerson said a candidate can only enter the precinct they vote at and then have to exit.
“No individual is allowed, even you as a poll watcher know that you, I’m sure, know that you do not watch the scanner. You watch the activity, so we appreciate you for bringing this to our attention, so definitely we’ll address it with our managers to ensure that we are following the law,” Nickerson said in response.
Some election workers said they felt racially harassed. Election workers said they were harassed while they were working and were encouraged by Dr. Price Corr, an election committee member, to speak about their experience on Election Day.
State Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Buford) proposed legislation to increase the number of Gwinnett County Commissioners and convert Board of Education elections to nonpartisan, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Buford, dropped the Senate Bills 5 EX and 6 EX in the hopper on Monday. Senate Bill 6 EX has likely the most profound impact. It would expand the county commission from four districts and a chairperson to nine district seats and the chairperson.
Meanwhile, SB 5 EX would convert the school board elections to nonpartisan races.
Under the bill to expand the commission, seven commission seats — including Districts 2 and 4, which were already regularly up for election next year — would appear on the November 2022 ballot.
Commissioners elected from the proposed Districts 5, 7 and 9 would serve two-year terms and be up for election again in 2024. Commissioners from District 2 and 4, as well as the proposed district 6 and 8, would be up for re-election in 2026.
The terms and election schedule for their chairperson, as well as Districts 1 and 3 would not be affected.
Georgia’s Medical Marijuana program implementation continues to be delayed, according to the AJC.
Medical marijuana was supposed to be growing in Georgia for patients by now.
Instead, a sluggish process of awarding marijuana licenses to six companies has stalled indefinitely amid protests filed by several losing businesses.
Georgia lawmakers said this week they’re trying to find ways to break the stalemate created by a marijuana licensing law they passed more than 2½ years ago. They’re considering introducing bills that would provide access to over 20,000 registered patients who are allowed to use medical marijuana but have no legal way to obtain it.
“Bureaucracy is for the birds. I want to get people help today or next month,” said state Rep. Rick Williams, a Republican from Milledgeville, during a hearing Monday. “Nothing will tear your heart out more than to have your child hurting and going through this stuff. We’ve got to do something.”
Georgia’s medical marijuana board in July chose six companies out of 69 applicants to grow and distribute the medication to registered patients. Then 15 losing companies filed protests that must be reviewed by an administrative hearing officer before licenses can be issued. Lawsuits could follow, causing further delays.
The Port of Savannah will receive federal funding under the Democratic infrastructure act, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Funds from the bipartisan bill will be used to set up “pop-up container yards” to alleviate congestion at the Savannah Port, which has seen months of record-breaking volume come through its terminals.
The $8 million project will allow the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) to convert five properties in Georgia and North Carolina into temporary storage yards. “The effort will free up more dock space and speed goods flow in and out of the Port of Savannah, which leads the nation in containerized agricultural exports,” a White House press release stated.
The U.S Dept. of Transportation will allow GPA to reallocate funds in its budget to address supply chain issues.
The U.S. Senate passed the bill in August, and after months of contentious negotiations, the House followed suit on Nov. 5.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Gwinnett) spoke about infrastructure funding, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Bourdeaux said Georgia can expect to receive about $8.9 billion over the next five years to address infrastructure needs, such as road and highway repairs and safety upgrades.
“That’s a 52% increase from around $6 billion they would have normally received over that time,” Bourdeaux said.
One area the congresswoman said the infrastructure package will address is transit because, she explained, congestion is one of the top barriers to economic development. Georgia would receive about $1.4 billion over five years to improve public transportation, according to Bourdeaux.
“We need to be able to move in and out of the community, around the metro area, as well as be able to move within our community to bring in business for our commercial real estate to be viable,” she said. “It’s also a social justice issue. We need people to be able to move around and not be car dependent all the time.”
Gainesville will convert its fledgling transit system to electric vehicles using federal infrastructure funds, according to the Gainesville Times.
Gainesville’s unique ridesharing transit system, WeGo, will go electric using federal funds from recently passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation.
About $13.8 million in the massive spending package will go directly to Gainesville public transit, according to a statement from U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. Gainesville is one of 15 city and county governments in the state receiving direct funds as part of the legislation.
The funding will allow the city to gradually replace its current 17-van WeGo fleet with zero-emissions vehicles, said Phillippa Lewis Moss, Gainesville’s community service center director. This year, the city replaced its fixed-route bus system, Gainesville Connection and its Dial-a Ride service with WeGo, an on-demand ride-sharing service that operates similar to Uber. WeGo has an app that allows users anywhere in Hall County to order a ride 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fees are $2 for any trip up to 5 miles and 50 cents for every mile afterward.
“Our understanding is that funds allocated from this bill can be utilized for both operations and capital,” City Manager Bryan Lackey wrote in a statement. “As we get more details, we will evaluate and determine how we can use this funding to grow our WeGo system to meet the increasing demands on our transit system for this popular, new service while ensuring the additional future operational costs are sustainable for the system.”
Moss gets multiple calls a week from other cities in the area asking about how WeGo works and how they might implement the micro-transit system.
“It’s been a game changer,” Moss said. “It’s like the fax machine for public transit.”
A committee of Augusta Commissioners approved the Nondiscrimination Ordinance (NDO), according to the Augusta Chronicle.
The ordinance declares civil rights as the rights of people not to face discrimination based on 13 different characteristics: race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age and disability as well as marital, familial, veteran or military status.
That the ordinance would trigger a flood of discrimination complaints was an early concern of some commissioners. The city’s Compliance department, which will administer the program, forecasts needing three new staffers to handle the estimated volume of complaints, based on current phone calls alleging discrimination.
Augusta would be an anomaly if a large number lodge a formal complaint. Cities that have nondiscrimination ordinances, such as Athens, Savannah and Statesboro reported receiving few or no complaints since adopting one and haven’t had to hire additional staff. Scott said Tuesday the ordinance will require the city hire no new staff members.
Columbus City Council approved a new warden for the Muscogee County Prison, according to WTVM.
Savannah City Council held their first in-person meeting since March 2020, according to the Savannah Morning News.
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