Category: Georgia Politics

Lt. Colonel George Washington fought French and Indian scouts on May 28, 1754, beginning the Seven Years War.

On May 27, 1813, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to John Adams to let Adams know of the death of a mutual friend.

On May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, requiring all Native Americans to relocate west of the Mississippi River.

On May 29, 1836, the United States Senate ratified the Treaty of New Echota, which required the movement of all Cherokee out of Georgia and led to the “Trail of Tears.”

On May 27, 1863, Chief Justice Roger Taney, sitting as a federal district court judge, issued a decision in Ex parte Merryman, which challenged President Abraham Lincoln’s suspension of the right of habeas corpus. Lincoln ignored the ruling.

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Pickett’s Mill in Paulding County, Georgia, where Sherman’s forces attacked Johnston’s Confederates on May 27, 1864. Among the combatants on the Union side was Ambrose Bierce, who would later write The Crime at Pickett’s Mill. Pickett’s Mill is the site of annual reenactments.

On May 27, 1864, the Federal Army, having been stopped in its advance on Atlanta two days earlier by the Battle of New Hope Church, attempted to outflank the Confederate position. Some 14,000 Federal troops were selected for the task, and General Howard was given command. After a five-hour march, Howard’s force reached the vicinity of Pickett’s Mill and prepared to attack. Waiting were 10,000 Confederate troops under the command of General Cleburne.

The Federal assault began at 5 p.m. and continued into the night. Daybreak found the Confederates still in possession of the field. The Federals had lost 1,600 men compared to the Confederate loss of 500. The Confederate victory resulted in a one-week delay of the Federal advance on Atlanta.

Here are some photos of the battlefield and links to additional material.

The Battle of Dallas, Georgia began on May 28, 1864. Click here to watch Week 6 of the Georgia Public Broadcasting/Atlanta History Center series on the Civil War in Georgia.

On May 30, 1922, Chief Justice of the United States William H. Taft dedicated the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Inside the memorial is a seated statue of Lincoln by Daniel Chester French carved from 175 tons of Georgia white marble.

French also created the statue of Jame Oglethorpe that stands in Chippewa Square in Savannah and a seated statue of Samuel Spencer considered to be a prototype of the Lincoln carving. Samuel Spencer was the first President of Southern Railway and was originally located at the rail station in downtown Atlanta before moving to the Southern Railway passenger station in Buckhead in the 1970s and is currently at 1200 Peachtree Street in front of Norfolk Southern.

On May 27, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the United States was in an unlimited national emergency and laid out conditions under which Germany’s expansionism would constitute an attack on the United States.

On May 29, 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered all Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris to wear a yellow Star of David on their coats.

Happy Birthday to Gladys Knight, born in Atlanta on May 28, 1944.

On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepalese Sherpa, became the first to summit Mount Everest.

On May 28, Tenzing and Hillary set out, setting up high camp at 27,900 feet. After a freezing, sleepless night, the pair plodded on, reaching the South Summit by 9 a.m. and a steep rocky step, some 40 feet high, about an hour later. Wedging himself in a crack in the face, Hillary inched himself up what was thereafter known as the Hillary Step. Hillary threw down a rope, and Norgay followed. At about 11:30 a.m., the climbers arrived at the top of the world.

News of the success was rushed by runner from the expedition’s base camp to the radio post at Namche Bazar, and then sent by coded message to London, where Queen Elizabeth II learned of the achievement on June 1, the eve of her coronation. The next day, the news broke around the world. Later that year, Hillary and Hunt were knighted by the queen. Norgay, because he was not a citizen of a Commonwealth nation, received the lesser British Empire Medal.

Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter appeared on the cover of Time magazine on May 31, 1971.

On May 27, 1976, former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter blasted the “Stop Carter” movement in a speech in Cincinnati.

On this day in 1992, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by Georgia-based The Black Crowes reached number one on the Billboard US Album chart.

On May 27, 1995, actor Christopher Reeves was thrown from his horse in an equestrian competition in Culpepper, Virginia, becoming quadriplegic.

Eight years ago, a poll by Rasmussen showed Democrat Michelle Nunn beating both Jack Kingston and David Perdue in a General Election matchup and Democrat Jason Carter beating Gov. Deal.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

DeKalb County mis-counted votes in County Commission District 2, according to the AJC.Continue Reading..

Georgia Militia under General John Floyd began rounding up Cherokee Indians on May 26, 1838.

General Robert E. Lee wrote a letter dated May 26, 1861 to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown asking the state to send any weapons available for Georgia volunteers who arrived in Virginia unarmed.

The Battle of New Hope Church was fought near Dallas, Georgia May 25-26, 1864 between Confederates under General Joseph E. Johnston and Federal troops under General William T. Sherman.

President Calvin Coolidge signed the “Comprehensive Immigration Act” on May 26, 1924.

Many Americans saw the enormous influx of largely unskilled, uneducated immigrants during the early 1900s as causing unfair competition for jobs and land. Under the new law, immigration remained open to those with a college education and/or special skills, but entry was denied to Mexicans, and disproportionately to Eastern and Southern Europeans and Japanese. At the same time, the legislation allowed for more immigration from Northern European nations such as Britain, Ireland and Scandinavian countries. A quota was set that limited immigration to two percent of any given nation’s residents already in the U.S. as of 1890, a provision designed to maintain America’s largely Northern European racial composition. In 1927, the “two percent rule” was eliminated and a cap of 150,000 total immigrants annually was established.

The law particularly angered Japan, which in 1907 had forged with U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt a “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” which included more liberal immigration quotas for Japan. By 1924, strong U.S. agricultural and labor interests–particularly from California, which had already passed its own exclusionary laws against Japanese immigrants–favored the more restrictive legislation signed by Coolidge. The Japanese government viewed the American law as an insult, and protested by declaring May 26 a national day of humiliation in Japan.

Fort Frederica National Monument was established on St Simons Island, Georgia on May 26, 1936.

Fort Frederica National National Monument on St. Simons Island

May 26, 1949 was named Clay Day in Marietta, Georgia in honor of General Lucius Clay, who spoke at the courthouse square.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Georgia State Senator Burt Jones fired off a press release claiming victory in the Republican Primary for Lieutenant Governor.Continue Reading..

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 convened at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787.

With George Washington presiding, the Constitutional Convention formally convenes on this day in 1787. The convention faced a daunting task: the peaceful overthrow of the new American government as it had been defined by the Article of Confederation.

The process began with the proposal of James Madison’s Virginia Plan. Madison had dedicated the winter of 1787 to the study of confederacies throughout history and arrived in Philadelphia with a wealth of knowledge and an idea for a new American government. It featured a bicameral legislature, with representation in both houses apportioned to states based upon population; this was seen immediately as giving more power to large states, like Virginia. The two houses would in turn elect the executive and the judiciary and would possess veto power over the state legislatures.

William Patterson soon countered with a plan more attractive to the new nation’s smaller states. It too bore the imprint of America’s British experience. Under the New Jersey Plan, as it became known, each state would have a single vote in Congress as it had been under the Articles of Confederation, to even out power between large and small states.

Alexander Hamilton then put forward to the delegates a third plan, a perfect copy of the British Constitution including an upper house and legislature that would serve on good behavior.

Confronted by three counter-revolutionary options, the representatives of Connecticut finally came up with a workable compromise: a government with an upper house made up of equal numbers of delegates from each state and a lower house with proportional representation based upon population. This idea formed the basis of the new U.S. Constitution, which became the law of the land in 1789.

The Battle of New Hope Church was fought near Dallas, Georgia May 25-26, 1864 between Confederates under General Joseph E. Johnston and Federal troops under General William T. Sherman.

On May 25, 1907, an equine statue of John B. Gordon was unveiled on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia held on May 25, 1962 that the Georgia General Assembly was malapportioned and ordered the reapportionment of the State House and Senate.

Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

CBS46 reports that Fulton County’s elections office was off to a “slow start” yesterday.Continue Reading..

Cedar is a young male Australian Cattle Dog / Blue Heeler & French Bulldog mix puppy who is available for adoption from Hearts to Homes Humane Society in Nashville, GA.

Timber is a young male Australian Cattle Dog / Blue Heeler & French Bulldog mix puppy who is available for adoption from Hearts to Homes Humane Society in Nashville, GA.

Peony is a young female Labrador Retriever mix who is available for adoption from Hearts to Homes Humane Society in Nashville, GA.

John Hancock was elected President of the Second Continental Congress on May 24, 1775.

The Brooklyn Bridge opened May 24, 1883.

Then-Lt. Governor Marvin Griffin announced his candidacy for Governor on May 24, 1954.

John Smoltz tied the record for most strikeouts by a Braves pitcher, throwing 15 Ks against Montreal Expos on May 24, 1992.

Happy Birthday to Bob Dylan, who was born on this day in 1941.

Four years ago today, the 2016 General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election was held in Georgia.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Today is Primary Election Day from 7 AM to 7 PM. From the Statesboro Herald:Continue Reading..

Serial bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death near Sailes, Louisiana by a group of LA and Texas state police on May 23, 1934.

On May 23, 1954, the NAACP petitioned the Fulton County Board of Education to desegregate after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter won the Virginia Caucus on May 23, 1976, gaining 24 delegates. On May 25, 1976, Carter won the Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky Primary Elections for President.

On May 23, 1990, the NFL announced that Atlanta would host the 1994 Super Bowl.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Democrat Stacey Abrams called Georgia the worst state in which to live, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

“I am tired of hearing about how we’re the best state in the country to do business when we are the worst state in the country to live,” said Abrams before she acknowledged Republicans would attack her for the later part of that statement.

“Let me contextualize. When you’re No. 48 for mental health, when we’re No. 1 for maternal mortality, when you have an incarceration rate that is on the rise and wages are on the decline, then you are not the No. 1 place to live.”

“Stacey Abrams may think differently, but I believe Georgia is the best state to live, work, and raise a family,” said Kemp in a post on Twitter Saturday night. “And Marty, the girls, and I will work hard every day from now until November to keep it that way for four more years!”

Former Vice President Mike Pence will rally for Governor Brian Kemp today, according to the AJC.

Former Vice President Mike Pence will headline a get-out-the-vote rally with Gov. Brian Kemp on the eve of Georgia’s May 24 primary, deepening a split with Donald Trump as each maneuvers for a possible 2024 White House run.

Pence called Kemp “one of the most successful conservative governors in America” in a statement announcing the rally to help the incumbent stave off a Trump-backed challenge from former U.S. Sen. David Perdue. Kemp’s campaign did not release a specific time or location for the rally.

“The vice president’s leadership was instrumental in creating the most prosperous economy in American history, including here in Georgia, and his commitment to building a safer, stronger America represents the highest ideals of our party,” Kemp said.

Effingham County Sheriff’s deputies are in hot pursuit of an escaped pair of monkeys, according to WSAV.

Deputies say two Patas monkeys are on the loose in North Effingham. Officials are working with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to trap them.

While deputies say the monkeys are not believed to be dangerous, they warn you to not attempt to catch them. If you see them, please call 912-754-3449.

From WTOC:

Officials have set up traps to try to capture the monkeys. They escaped from their home in the north end of the county.

Former Georgia State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.

Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has been indicted on federal charges of conspiring to commit health care fraud and money laundering, the Justice Department announced.

According to information presented to a federal grand jury, Oxendine conspired with Dr. Jeffrey Gallups and others to submit fraudulent insurance claims for more than $2.5 million in medically unnecessary tests ordered from a lab in Texas. Gallups already has pleaded guilty to health care fraud.

As part of the scheme, the lab company agreed to pay Oxendine’s insurance services business a kickback of 50% of the net profits from eligible specimens submitted by Gallups’ practice, which amounted to $260,000.

“Patients go to their health care provider for treatment with the expectation that their treatment or test is necessary, not a scam for fraud,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said.

“Patients go to their health care provider for treatment with the expectation that their treatment or test is necessary, not a scam for fraud,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said.

From the Associated Press via AccessWDUN:

Gallups was charged last year with health care fraud and pleaded guilty in October. He’s set to be scheduled next month, according to court records.

Oxendine’s defense attorneys, Drew Findling and Marissa Goldberg, said in an emailed statement that Oxendine “has been targeted in this investigation because of his name and gravitas, but to be clear, he has not broken any laws and is innocent of this indictment.”

Tomorrow is primary election day in Georgia. Here are the stats from the latest early and advance voting list from the Secretary of State’s Office:

863,146 ballots cast

66,388 mailed ballots returned

796,394 ballots cast in person

392 Electronic ballots cast (overseas residents and military)

372,345 Democratic Primary ballots cast

485,233 Republican Primary ballots cast

5568 Non-partisan ballots cast

In Gwinnett County:

29,354 Democratic ballots cast

26,380 Republican ballots cast

356 Non partisan ballots cast

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald:Continue Reading..

In September 2021, I took a two-day course with the Georgia River Network that included one day of Safety and Rescue for Flatwater Paddlers and one day of Safety and Rescue for Whitewater Kayakers. It was one of the single best investments I’ve made in my own paddling (with the exception of a very good PFD made specifically for kayakers).

The Georgia River Network is putting the same classes on this year on June 4 and 5th. These are not “how to kayak” classes, but in my opinion, if you’re spending time on the water, you should take them.

I’m often asked what I do on election day. My tradition is to walk over to vote at my precinct, and then go do fun stuff. This Tuesday, I’ll be on the river all day after I vote.

Georgia Colonists signed the Treaty of Savannah with the Lower Creeks on May 21, 1733.

George Washington left Georgia on May 21, 1791, crossing a bridge over the Savannah River at Augusta.

On May 22, 1819, the steamship Savannah left the port of Savannah for Liverpool, England. After 29 days, it became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. On May 22, 1944, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating the voyage of the Savannah.

On May 22, 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner with his cane. Brooks used the cane as the result of injury sustained in a previous duel, and found Sumner at his desk in the Senate Chamber. In the course of a two-day Senate speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which would have nullified the Missouri Compromise on the expansion of slavery, Sumner had criticized three legislators, including a cousin of Rep. Brooks, Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina.

Blue jeans with copper rivets were patented by Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis on May 20, 1873.

On May 20, 1916, more than 20,000 visited Stone Mountain for the dedication ceremony to mark the beginning of a Confederate memorial on the north face.

American Charles Lindbergh landed at Paris on May 21, 1927 in The Spirit of St. Louis, completing both the first nonstop transatlantic flight and the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris.

On May 22, 1932, New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the commencement address for Oglethorpe University at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.

On May 21, 1942, German authorities removed 4300 Polish Jews from Chelm to an extermination camp at Sobibor and killed them by poison gas. The Sobibor camp’s five gas chambers would kill 250,000 Jews during 1942 and 1943.

On May 20, 1995, the section of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was closed to automotive traffic.

The 400th episode of The Simpsons aired on May 20, 2007.

On May 21, 2011, Herman Cain announced his candidacy for President of the United States at Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Current voting statistics from the SOS file of absentee and advance voters:

712,921 ballots have been returned

656,122 ballots were cast in person

56,445 mailed absentee ballots were cast

407,502 Republican Primary ballots

300,684 Democratic Primary ballots

Signs have gone missing in State House District 153, and shenanigans have been called. From WALB:Continue Reading..

Button Gwinnett died on May 19, 1777 of a gunshot wound received in a duel with Lachlan McIntosh.

On May 19-20, 1791, George Washington spent his second and third days in Augusta, where he visited Richmond Academy. Washington left Georgia on May 21, 1791 to go to Columbia, South Carolina.

Georgia ratified the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which governs voting for President and Vice President on May 19, 1804.

The Battle of Spotsylvania ended on May 19, 1864. In Georgia, the Affair at Cassville occurred on May 19, 1864.

On May 19, 1933, the Atlanta City Council voted to allow beer sales in the city. Prohibition was still in effect at the federal level at that time, but the President had signed the Cullen-Harrison Act that allowed sale of 3.2% beer effective April 7, 1933.

The Rubik’s Cube is 46 years old today.

On May 19, 1977, “Smokey and the Bandit” was released.

President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College on May 19, 2013.

Eight years ago today, Georgia voters went to the polls in the earliest Primary elections in modern history. In the Republican Primary, 605,355 ballots were cast in the Senate contest, while the Democratic Primary for Senate saw 328,710 ballots.

Recent polling suggests he’ll be in the 30-point range.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

As of the latest overnight Absentee Voter file from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office:

617,892 ballots cast

49,195 ballot cast by mail

568,373 ballots cast in person

324 ballots cast electronically (I believe only available to overseas residents or Armed Forces members)

354,161 Republican Primary ballots cast

259,516 Democratic Primary ballots cast

4,215 Non-partisan ballots cast

George Washington departed Waynesboro, Georgia on May 18, 1791, headed to Augusta. On May 19-20, 1791, George Washington spent his second and third days in Augusta, where he visited Richmond Academy. Washington left Georgia on May 21, 1791 to go to Columbia, South Carolina.

Abraham Lincoln was nominated for President by the Republican National Convention on May 18, 1860.

The United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Plessy v. Ferguson on May 18, 1896.

The U.S. Supreme Court rule[d] seven to one that a Louisiana law providing for “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” on its railroad cars is constitutional. The high court held that as long as equal accommodations were provided, segregation was not discrimination and thus did not deprive African Americans of equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Friday is the last day of early voting for the May 24 Primary elections, according to the Albany Herald.Continue Reading..

Georgia’s trustees asked Britain to repeal the law against importing slaves to the colonies on May 17, 1749.

On May 17, 1769, George Washington introduced resolutions in the Virginia House of Burgesses, drafted by George Mason, criticizing Britain’s “taxation without representation” policies toward the colonies.

George Washington continued his tour of Georgia on May 17, 1791, staying overnight in Waynesboro; on May 18 he arrived in Augusta.

General Winfield Scott issued an order on the removal of Cherokee people from Georgia on May 17, 1838.

On May 17, 1864, Sherman and Johnston engaged in the Battle of Adairsville, Georgia.

The United States Supreme Court released its unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

The historic decision, which brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, specifically dealt with Linda Brown, a young African American girl who had been denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.

Archaeological studies on Sapelo Island looked as oyster shell rings to assess inhabitants’ use of shellfish, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Researchers with the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archeology recently published a scholastic paper about how native coastal communities from 3,800 to 4,500 years ago adapted to a changing environment.

Using a variety of scientific methods to date oyster shells, Carey Garland, Victor Thompson and a team of researchers at UGA learned about the age, salinity of the water in which the oysters grew and when the shell was harvested. Providing greater insights into the conditions on Sapelo Island during the time period, the researchers also shed light on the eventual abandonment of the shell rings.

The shell rings, which can be 60 to 90 meters wide, or nearly 200 to 300 feet, were built by indigenous Muscogee communities using oyster shells harvested from the estuaries of Sapelo Island, which is about 70 miles south of Savannah. Oysters were a primary part of the communities’ diets and the shells have been one way archeologists and other researchers have looked back to learn about native coastal communities.

Garland said the shell rings were previously thought to have been inhabited for many years until environmental changes caused communities to abruptly abandon the rings. With this new research, Garland said the oysters tell a story of continuous environmental change as well as community adaptation and resilience.

“One thing we noticed is … there was some variation in shell size across the coast, but overall across time the shells got bigger, which kind of indicates sustainable shellfish harvesting practices,” Garland said.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Governor Brian Kemp announced the award of $415 million dollars in COVID relief grants, according to a press release.Continue Reading..