Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for April 18, 2016

On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes mounted up on horseback to warn of British troops on their way to confiscate American arms and to warn patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who the British sought to capture.

By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government had approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from Great Britain to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against Concord and Lexington.

The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a British military action for some time, and, upon learning of the British plan, Revere and Dawes set off across the Massachusetts countryside. They took separate routes in case one of them was captured….

About 5 a.m. on April 19, 700 British troops under Major John Pitcairn arrived at the town to find a 77-man-strong colonial militia under Captain John Parker waiting for them on Lexington’s common green. Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the “shot heard around the world” was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead and 10 others were wounded; only one British soldier was injured. The American Revolution had begun.

President William H. Taft learned on April 18, 1912 of the death of his military aide, Major Archibald Butts of Augusta, Georgia on RMS Titanic.

The honeybee was recognized as the official state insect of Georgia on April 18, 1975.

On April 18, 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue signed legislation establishing February 6 of each year as “Ronald Reagan Day” in Georgia and celebrating the date of President Reagan’s birth.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

On Saturday, Georgia Republicans held Congressional District Conventions to elect three delegates and three alternates to the Republican National Convention.

First District Delegates

William Carter, 18-years old, who beat out Jeanne Seaver, a Grassroots Coordinator for the Trump Campaign
Kay Godwin, Georgia Grassroots Director for Ted Cruz
Linda Olson

First District Alternates

James Hall of Savannah
Carri Johnson
Clint Day

Second District Delegates

Joseph Brannan, 2d District Chairman
Alec Pointevint, former GAGOP Chair, Nat’l Committeeman
Brandon Phillips, Trump Campaign State Director

Second District Alternates

Rick Allen, Columbus, Muscogee County GOP Chair
Nora Laughlin, Macon (Bibb)
Cindy Summerlin, Mitchell County

Third District Delegates

Katie Frost, Cruz Team
Dale Jackson, Third District Chair
Denise Ognio, Fayette GOP Vice Chair

Third District Alternates

Tanner Goldsmith
JD Stallings
Leslie McPherson

Fourth District Delegates

Rachel Little, 4th CD Chair, Cruz for Women National Co-Chair
Robert Seigle
Michael Howington

Fourth District Alternates

Gloria DiMaggio Tow
Eleanor Toppins
Bronwyn Jennings

Fifth District Delegates

Dave Baker
John Bush, 5th District Chair
Jill Chambers, Trump supporter

Fifth District Alternates

Lavin Gartland Briggs
Sarah G. Looper
Amy A. Borden

Sixth District Delegates

Michael Fitzgerald, 6th CD Chair
Donna Rowe
Bruce Levell, Trump Supporter, former Gwinnett GOP Chair

Sixth District Alternates

Claire “Clara“ Bartlett, former Fulton GOP Executive Director
Dan Israel
Angelyn Dionysatos

Seventh District Delegates

B.J. Van Gundy, former Chair, Gwinnett GOP
Carolyn Fisher
David Hancock, United Tea Party of Georgia

Seventh District Alternates

Buzz Brockway, State Rep., former Gwinnett GOP Chair
Kathy Ramey Statham
Mary Adamski

Eighth District Delegates

Anthony Morris
Lott Dill
Nolan Cox

Eighth District Alternates

Vivian Childs, former District GOP Chair
Suzanne Wood, former Bibb County GOP Chair
Vance Dean, Chair 8th District GAGOP

Ninth District Delegates

Bruce Acevedo, 9th District Chair
Ashley Bell
Carol Mahoney

Ninth District Alternates

Tommy Benton
Carl Blackburn
Andrew Clyde

Tenth District Delegates

Brian Burdette, 10th District Chair
Bill Cowsert, State Senator
Kirk Shook, GAGOP Secretary

Tenth District Alternates

Miclene D’Antonio
Janice Key Westmoreland
Regina Quick, State Representative

Eleventh District Delegates

Scott Johnson, former 11th District Chair, Cruz organizer
Bob Barr, former Congressman, Cruz surrogate speaker
Brad Carver, 11th District Chair

Eleventh District Alternates

Rose Wing, Chair, Cobb GOP
Eric Johnson
Bruce Thompson, State Senator

Twelfth District Delegates

Michael Welsh, 12th District Chair
Brittany Dasher
Chris Papierz

Twelfth District Alternates

Bob Finnegan, current or former Richmond County GOP Chair
Ronald Schwartz
Ricardo Bravo

Thirteenth District Delegates

Pamela Glanton
Robert W. Booth, Sr.
Ron Moon

Thirteenth District Alternates

Teri Sasseville
Matthew Krull
Joyce Hinton

Fourteenth District Delegates

David Guldenschuh
Leanne DeFoor
Lydia Hallmark

Fourteenth District Alternates

Nancy Burton
Clint Wilder
Duane Beck

The Republican Women of Muscogee-Harris County will host Bonnie Perdue, wife of Senator David Perdue, at their meeting Tuesday, April 19, 2016.

An ethics complaint has been filed against Jay Lowe, candidate for State House in the 95th District.

Click here for the complaint and the State Ethics Commission’s initial response.