Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for April 20, 2021

On April 20, 1861, Robert E. Lee resigned his commission as a Colonel in the United States Army.

On April 20, 1982, the Atlanta Braves set a major league record, winning the first twelve games of the regular season.

On April 20, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation authorizing a $165 billion dollar bailout for Social Security, saying,

“This bill demonstrates for all time our nation’s ironclad commitment to Social Security. It assures the elderly that America will always keep the promises made in troubled times a half a century ago. It assures those who are still working that they, too, have a pact with the future. From this day forward, they have one pledge that they will get their fair share of benefits when they retire.”

On April 20, 1992, Governor Zell Miller signed legislation naming Pogo ‘Possum the official state possum of Georgia.

On April 20, 1999, two students entered Columbine High School in Colorado and killed twelve student and one teacher, and wounded 23 others before shooting themselves.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Former Vice President Walter Mondale died, according to 13WMAZ.

Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost one of the most lopsided presidential elections after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday. He was 93.

In a statement Monday night, [former President Jimmy] Carter said he considered Mondale “the best vice president in our country’s history.” He added: “Fritz Mondale provided us all with a model for public service and private behavior.”

Governor Brian Kemp and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock are both talking about Georgia’s new election laws, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Athens Banner Herald.

Warnock, the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church who won a historic runoff in January, said Sunday the country is “at an inflection point” with GOP lawmakers in many states including Georgia pushing bills that Democrats have labeled voter suppression.

The Georgia bill, which Kemp signed last month following party-line approval in the General Assembly, requires tighter absentee voter identification, empowers state officials to take over poor-performing county election boards, expands early-voting weekend hours and bans non-poll workers from handing out food and drinks within 150 feet of voters waiting in line outside precincts.

Warnock, who is seeking election to a full six-year term after defeating Republican then-Sen. Kelly Loeffler, pushed for passing national legislation in Congress called the “For the People Act” allowing voter registration on Election Day, minimum early-voting periods and no-excuse absentee voting.

That legislation would reverse changes Georgia Republicans made to the state’s voting system that prompted Major League Baseball (MLB) to move this year’s All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver earlier this month.

“The last thing we need is to be playing politics with people’s paychecks during a global pandemic,” Kemp said in recent Twitter comments about the All-Star Game. “Unfortunately, minority-owned businesses will be among the hardest hit by MLB’s decision to pull the game out of Atlanta.”

Also talking about Georgia Senate Bill 202: Democrat Stacey Abrams, according to AccessWDUN.

“These are laws that respond to an increase in voting by people of color,” Abrams told The Associated Press recently. But she discouraged boycotts and reassured Democrats they can still win races under the new rules, even as she hoped they would be struck down in the courts.

“Republicans are gaming the system because they’re afraid of losing an election,” Abrams told the AP.

“I understand the notion of boycotts as a macro good,” she told the AP, noting her upbringing as a Black woman in the Deep South and her parents’ voter registration work during the Jim Crow era. But Abrams said boycotts ultimately hurt “the victims of these bills.”

Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) ranks Georgia among the top states for election access, according to the Albany Herald.

A new report from the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) has ranked Georgia’s election access among the top tier of states in the country. Georgia earned that ranking with both no-excuse absentee ballot voting and 19 days of early voting, including two mandatory Saturdays and two optional Sundays.

The new report is from the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan nonprofit that works to “build voter trust and confidence, increase voter participation, and improve the efficiency of election administration.” The organization “works directly with both Republican and Democratic secretaries of state and other election officials in states all over the country.” Its founder, David Becker, “served for seven years as a senior trial attorney in the Voting Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.”

Medical cannabis oil availability for some Georgians creeps closer to state-sanctioned reality, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.

A program years in the making to regulate the cultivation, extraction and distribution of low-grade marijuana oil is set to award licenses to six groups from among 70 applicants later this spring or early summer.

Patients in Georgia will have access under state law only to oil extracts containing small amounts of marijuana’s active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

Once selected, the winning six applicants will have 12 months to open a maximum of five dispensaries each and start providing medicinal low-THC oil to nearly 19,000 patients signed up on a state registry, according to state law and data from the Georgia Department of Public Health.

“We are cautiously optimistic that this could be a very good Christmas for a lot of THC oil patients in Georgia,” [Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission Executive Director Andrew] Turnage, a former Hall County deputy sheriff who has served top roles on the state Board of Nursing and Board of Cosmetology and Barbers, said.

“We are cautiously optimistic that this could be a very good Christmas for a lot of THC oil patients in Georgia,” Turnage, a former Hall County deputy sheriff who has served top roles on the state Board of Nursing and Board of Cosmetology and Barbers, said.

Georgia is among 11 states to legalize low-THC oil for medical purposes, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. Most other states, except Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska, already have set up programs for broader medical cannabis or legalized recreational use.

Researchers at the University of Georgia in 2019 found states with medical cannabis programs have seen a nearly 15% reduction in opioid use among residents.

The bill allowing medical cannabis oil for Georgians with a limited number of enumerated medical conditions was first introduced by now-former State Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon) in 2015. Six years later, not a single Georgian has legally bought the oil supposedly legalized. This is not due to foot-dragging by state agencies or bad actors. It’s the nature of government solutions that are cumbersome and take a long time.

During that period, my late wife, Mrs. GaPundit was diagnosed with a qualifying condition, suffered for nineteen months, applied for and received her low-THC cannabis oil card, and died without ever legally receiving the medication. I wish I could point at someone and blame them for this, but I can’t. It’s the nature of government. But I will always hold Rep. Allen Peake in the highest esteem for the work he did on this issue.

The Chatham County Republican Convention descended into chaos, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The gathering devolved into a shouting match as the time to nominate members for leadership positions came.

The trouble was marked by criticisms of “good old boy” politics by a large contingent of relatively new members — a group that brought their own PA speaker and microphone to the event as well as outbursts and quarrels over which rules were and weren’t being followed.

The chaos led to the outgoing chairman adjourning the meeting early with no new officers elected.

Chairman Don Hodges attempted to keep order but eventually made the motion to adjourn after about 20 minutes of back-and-forth yelling over nominations. Hodges said some candidates didn’t follow the proper application, and the party would not take nominations for officer positions from the floor.

When asked what he thinks the opposing group represents, Hodges said, “I don’t know who they represent, but they don’t represent the Republican party. I think it’s a bunch of crazies. And there’s a lot of good people in that group, but they drank the wrong Kool-Aid. It’s easy to do that.”

Former Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson is considering a campaign for the State House seat being vacated by State Rep. Mickey Stephens (D-Savannah), according to the Savannah Morning News.

While Stephens hasn’t officially retired yet, his wife gave a heartfelt farewell speech at the Georgia Capitol towards the end of last month, his official resignation has not yet been tendered. Jackson said she wouldn’t formally announce a run for the seat until that time “out of respect” for Stephens.

Jackson, a Savannah native, served three terms on Savannah City Council, leaving only to run for mayor. Jackson won, and became the first — and so far, the only — Black woman to ever hold the seat.

Jackson said she’s considering her run because of the issues on the table in the coming year. One in particular has her attention: the redistricting and reapportionment of Georgia in October.

The special election to replace Stephens has not yet been announced by Gov. Brian Kemp.

Jackson would run as a Democrat and would challenge Chatham County Elections Board Member Antwan Lang, also a Democrat, in the special election. Lang announced his candidacy last week. Additional candidates are expected in the race.

More on Congressman Buddy Carter’s possible run for the United States Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock from the Savannah Morning News:

“We’re looking at it and considering it very seriously and doing our due diligence, and we’ll make that final decision very soon, but the stars are aligning, I’ll tell you that,” Carter told the station.

Carter has been in politics since 1989, when he served on the Pooler Planning and Zoning Commission. He also was a councilman and eventually mayor of Pooler before being elected to the Georgia Legislature in 2005.

He served in the Georgia House until 2010, then was elected to the Georgia Senate until 2014, when he ran for the U.S. Congress seat formerly held by Jack Kingston and won. He has been re-elected since.

Carter was one of six U.S. Representatives from Georgia who voted to overturn the results of the presidential election in January.

From WTOC:

“I really do hope that Herschel runs. But if he doesn’t, then I can assure you I’m going to run and I’m going to try to bring back the values of the state of Georgia, of the average Georgian, because right now, with the two liberal Democrats that we have, they’re not being represented,” Rep. Carter told WTOC.

United States Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Extreme Northwest Georgia) is filling her campaign coffers ahead of her reelection campaign next year, according to the Rome News Tribune.

The Rome Republican has raised over $3 million, according the most recent campaign finance report filed with the Federal Elections Commission. She’s raised over $5.9 million since elected in November 2020 — an unprecedented sum for a freshman lawmaker.

A vast majority of her fundraising has come from out of state donors.

Just over 90% of the donors giving more than $200 — the amount at which the donation must be itemized — were from outside of Georgia. Of the $650,000 in itemized donations listed on the FEC site, approximately 39% came from Texas, Florida and California.

A graphic prepared by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows large spikes in donations occuring when the national media focused on Greene.

The four largest spikes took place on Jan. 21, when Greene called for the impeachment of President Joe Biden on his inauguration; on Feb. 4, after Greene was stripped of her committee assignments; in mid-March, when her Twitter account was suspended for a short time; and in early April, when she likened the idea of vaccine passports to “Biden’s mark of the beast.”

The tactic doesn’t appear likely to change.

“The scum and liars in the media are calling me a racist by taking something out of context. I believe in America First with all my heart and that means every American, of every race, creed and color…” the Twitter post reads. “There are tens of millions of Americans who agree…I have plans to drive President Trump’s America First agenda with my Congressional colleagues but we won’t let the media or anyone else push the narrative. America First policies will save this country for all of us, our children and ultimately the world.”

I’ll go ahead and tell you I’m sure there are political consultants looking for their own stimulus checks from the MTG campaign or campaigns against her.

Ms. Pat Jones will retire as Bulloch County Elections Supervisor after 36 years with the Board of Elections, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Former Treutlen County Probate Judge T.J. Hudson announced he will run against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, according to the AJC.

T.J. Hudson resigned as Treutlen County’s probate judge this week and formally announced his race for a statewide post, joining U.S. Rep. Jody Hice and former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle in a crowded GOP primary.

“Experience matters, and I’ve had 17 years of election experience,” said Hudson. “The chief elections officer in the state of Georgia should have this type of experience.”

Hudson is a longshot contender in a contest where even the incumbent is an underdog. Hice, a four-term congressman, entered the primary in March with former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, making him the favorite to oust Raffensperger.

The federal Farm Workforce Modernization Act includes measures to address migrant workers, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Peach State farmers have long advocated that the federal program — which grants temporary visas to migrant workers for seasonal agriculture work — is critical for getting produce from fields to tables. But the system has been riddled with problems that hurt both farmers and workers.

Migrant farm workers have received a new level of attention for the vital role they play in feeding America during the COVID-19 pandemic. But even before COVID-19 disrupted the agriculture industry, Georgia farmers called for an expanded guest worker program.

Georgia and Florida usually are in the discussion for the title of the state with the highest number of workers contracted through the H-2A program. Georgia fell behind Florida in fiscal year 2020 as the nation’s second highest user of the program. Last year, Georgia contracted more than 27,600 migrant workers through the federal program, according to the Office of Foreign Labor Certification.

The number of H-2A visas issued has grown year after year, the number nearly doubling between 2015 and 2020 to more than 213,000.

Georgia farmers cite troubles from a shortfall of U.S.-born workers coupled with an unwillingness of Americans to do the often grueling farm work, leaving a workforce gap reliant on migrant farm workers to fill. Changes at the federal level to address extending visas to better align with agriculture needs and streamline the complicated paperwork process have been long awaited.

The proposal would create an elongated visa program for agriculture sectors that require workers year-round and require the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Labor to establish an online portal that farm employers could use.

Atlanta City Council voted to approve the removal of an historic statue from its place on private property fronting Peachtree Road, according to the AJC.

The Atlanta-based masterpiece that loosely inspired the iconic statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C. is going to be removed from public view — at least temporarily.

A bronze replica of Samuel Spencer, the first president of what became the Norfolk Southern Corporation, sits in front of the rail company’s David R. Goode building in Midtown. Its sculptor, the famous Daniel Chester French, used the sitting posture of the Spencer statue design when creating the colossal Lincoln figure in 1920.

However, the company plans to move the statue into a warehouse because there is not space for it at Norfolk’s new Midtown headquarters. The statue is owned by the city, and Atlanta City Council on Monday unanimously voted to support Norfolk’s removal plans.

Spencer previously served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War long before he died at 59 in a Virginia train collision. His statue features a plaque that identifies him as a Georgian, a Confederate soldier and the first president of Southern Railway.

The City of Stonecrest appears to have squandered much of the federal COVID relief funding it should have distributed to local businesses. From the AJC:

[A] bombshell investigative report released this past week revealed the relief money disappeared into a complicated tangle of Stonecrest city employees, agencies and third-party companies. The report says there is strong evidence of a kick-back scheme in which city employees and their cronies enriched themselves with money intended to help the community through the pandemic’s economic fallout.

The city is now working to trace where the money went and to stop any further payouts.

Based on the findings of the city’s investigator, at best, the city’s relief program wasted a large portion of funds that could have helped preserve jobs and businesses. At worst, it was a calculated criminal scheme.

The Stonecrest City Council, frustrated by a lack of answers about how the relief program was being run, requested the city attorney conduct the investigation in February.

Alarmed by what he found, City Attorney Winston Denmark recommended federal authorities get involved to figure out whether actions were malicious. A state senator has also called for federal agencies to investigate.

Lilburn City Council voted to begin doing its own property tax billing after a kerfuffle in the County Tax Commissioner’s office, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

“We had some time to consider our options and we spoke with our financial software provider and they have a property tax billing module that actually is the same version that we will have is used by a couple of other cities in Gwinnett County currently,” Assistant City Manager Jenny Simpkins said. “So, it isn’t a process of really starting from scratch to configure property tax billing software that will work for the city of Lilburn.”

“It’s simply purchasing the property tax billing module and adding the data from the Tax Commissioner’s Office to the software when it’s available and printing and sending out the bills.”

The move comes after controversy was sparked over a proposed contract that new Tax Commissioner Tiffany Porter had put forward which included a $2 per tax parcel fee that would be paid to her for doing the tax billing, effectively creating a supplement to her salary.

That fee is on top of a separate, existing fee the cities pay to the county as reimbursement for doing the tax billing.

The Bulloch Alcohol and Drug Council will partner with the DEA and local law enforcement agencies to collect unused prescription drugs at three locations for  “National Rx Take Back Day” on Saturday, April 24, according to The Brunswick News.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office announced it will begin vaccinating inmates in the county jail, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

DeKalb County public schools will continue to offer online learning options for some students in the next school year, according to the AJC.

The DeKalb County School District recently said it will offer in-person learning five days a week for all students and expand its FLEX Academy to middle and high school students for the 2021-22 school year. The first day of classes is Aug. 2.

FLEX Academy is the district’s virtual learning platform and is currently open to students in ninth through 12th grade. Starting in the fall, middle and high school students will be allowed to enroll in core academic and elective classes through the program.

Floyd County Schools will pay teachers a $1000 bonus, according to the Rome News Tribune.

The Floyd County Board of Education approved Gov. Brian Kemp’s $1,000 supplements for teachers and school faculty on Monday — and covered any employees that weren’t included.

After Kemp expanded his original order to include other employees, the school system only had to cover executive cabinet staff and any employee hired after the October state report, Superintendent Glenn White said.

In total, it will cost the school system around $20,000, which will be covered by Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds. The supplements will be included in the April payroll.

Seven otters at the Georgia Aquarium have been diagnosed with Coronavirus, according to CNN via the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The aquarium announced on Sunday that it tested the otters after they showed “mild respiratory symptoms including sneezing, runny noses, mild lethargy, and coughing.”

The seven creatures are being cared for off-exhibit. Despite being geriatric, they are improving and expected to make a full recovery, the aquarium said.

“Our Asian small-clawed otters are under very close monitoring by veterinarians and animal care team members,” Dr. Tonya Clauss, vice president of animal and environmental health at Georgia Aquarium, said. “We are providing supportive care as needed so they can eat, rest and recover.”

Can you imagine otters in little face masks?