Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 19, 2020

USS Constitution earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” in battle against the British ship Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia on August 19, 1812. Launched in 1797, Constitution is today the oldest commissioned vessel in the United States Navy. Live oak from St. Simons Island were cut and milled for timber used in the constructions of Constitution. From a 1977 New York Times article:

The Constitution won her way into Americans’ hearts in 1812, when she defeated the British Guerriere off Nova Scotia in an exchange of broadsides. The spirit of the Constitution crew was noted by the Guerriere’s commander, James Dacres, who boarded the Constitution to present his sword in surrender.

”I will not take your sword, Sir,” the captain of the Constitution, Isaac Hull, replied. ”But I will trouble you for your hat.”

In the battle, a sailor — whether British or American is disputed by historians — is said to have cried out, ”Huzzah, her sides are made of iron!” as he watched an English cannonball bounce off the side of the Constitution. It was the birth of her nickname.

Part of the ship’s secret lay in the wood used in the design by Joshua Humphreys. He picked live oak, from St. Simons Island, Ga. The wood has proved so strong and resistant to rot that the original hull is intact, said Anne Grimes Rand, curator of the Constitution Museum in Charlestown, Mass.

The Georgia Department of Insurance was created on August 19, 1912 when Governor Joseph Brown signed legislation regulating companies selling policies in the states.

Governor Nathaniel Harris signed the first state law requiring school attendance for children 8-14 years of age on August 19, 1916; on the same day, Harris also signed legislation authorizing women to practice law in Georgia.

“Georgia” was designated the official state song on August 19, 1922 with Gov. Thomas Hardwick’s signature on a joint resolution passed by the General Assembly; in 1979, “Georgia On My Mind,” replaced it.

Adolf Hitler became President of Germany on August 19, 1934.

The United States Central Intelligence Agency supported a coup in Iran that restored the Shah of Iran on August 19, 1953.

On August 19, 1976, President Gerald R. Ford was nominated for President by the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Ford received 1,157 (52.6%) delegates to 1,087 for Ronald Reagan (47.4%). Georgia’s 48 delegates voted for Reagan on the first ballot.

On August 19, 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. On the same day, Dr. Betty Siegel became the first female President of a state college or university in Georgia when she was named President of Kennesaw College on August 19, 1981; under her leadership, it became Kennesaw State University in 1996. Siegel served until 2006. Kennesaw State was recently named the 4th best college for food in the nation.

Gainesville will celebrate its Bicentennial in 2020, according to the Gainesville Times.

Nearly two centuries ago, on April 21, 1821, the crossroads trading post known as Mule Camp Springs took a new name: Gainesville, named in honor of War of 1812 hero General Edmund P. Gaines. Seven months later, on November 30, 1821, Gainesville was officially charted by the Georgia General Assembly and designated as the county seat of Hall County.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Do you really want the dateline to read “Buckhead” when you’re defending yourself against claims of being rich and out-of-touch with Georgia Republican voters? From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Rome News Tribune:

U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., defended her wealthy background during a campaign stop in Atlanta Tuesday to mark the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.

Loeffler, an Atlanta businesswoman who has poured $15 million of her own money into her U.S. Senate bid so far, has faced criticism from opponents over large attack ad buys and her use of a private jet on the campaign trail.

Speaking at the Penley Art Gallery in Buckhead Tuesday, Loeffler embraced her wealth as an example of American capitalistic success while stressing that she knows “what it’s like to live paycheck-to-paycheck” after working her way through college and in the business world.

Loeffler has also faced broadsides from Collins’ campaign over her financial resources, which the four-term Republican congressman from Gainesville has sought to cast as an effort to buy her way to winning a Senate seat she was appointed to in January, following former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s retirement.

Governor Brian Kemp named Tommy J. Smith to a seat on the Superior Court of the Middle Judicial Circuit, according to a press release:

Governor Brian P. Kemp announced his selection of Tommy J. Smith to fill a vacancy on the Superior Court of the Middle Judicial Circuit. Smith will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of the Honorable Kathy Palmer.

“I am confident that Tommy will serve Georgians well on the Middle Judicial Circuit,” said Governor Kemp. “He has the right background, expertise, and temperament for this role, and I know he will lead by example and excel on the bench.”

Tommy J. Smith earned his bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University and law degree from the University of Georgia. He has served as a law clerk, attorney, municipal court judge, solicitor general, and state court judge. Smith is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the American Bar Association. He and his family reside in Lyons.

The Middle Judicial Circuit serves Candler, Emanuel, Jefferson, Washington, and Toombs Counties.

Governor Kemp also announced plans to use million dollars in federal Coronavirus relief funding, according to AccessWDUN.

The Republican Kemp says he will allocate more than $65 million of the $105 million he controls. Of that money, at least $17 million will subsidize daytime supervision for students whose school systems are providing all-virtual instruction.

Families with incomes of 85% or below of the statewide median would be eligible for subsidized slots, if parents are working or attending college or job training.

From the Augusta Chronicle:

“One of the biggest problems that we’re having right now is schools that are going virtual,” Kemp said Tuesday. “The parents can’t go back to work because they’re stuck home with the kids. So we’re trying to get some more child care.”

The state also would spend $14 million to provide equipment to extend Wi-Fi signals into parking lots and surrounding neighborhoods at Georgia’s 2,300 schools and spend $1.2 million to buy 1,000 Wi-Fi transmitters that would be installed in apartment complexes or mobile home parks to improve connectivity for students.

The state will spend $11.5 million to expand student mental health services at universities and technical colleges and spend $10.4 million to create a new electronic platform for the Technical College System of Georgia. Private colleges will split $10 million in general COVID-19 relief money, and the state will spend $3.3 million to expand rapid training of construction workers.

Gwinnett County Commissioners adopted the rollback property tax millage rate, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Commissioners voted to roll back the county’s millage rate to 6.95 mills. At that rate, the general fund portion of a homeowner’s tax bill — which also includes separate city, code enforcement, police, fire and school system millage rates — is not expected to increase this year.

“In accordance with state law, the county advertised our notice of current year tax digest and five-year history of levy on Aug. 9 in the Gwinnett Daily Post,” Gwinnett County Director of Financial Services Buffy Alexzulian told commissioners. “This agenda item is to approve a resolution establishing the millage rates for 2020.”

The Gainesville Times looks at which local governments are requiring masks.

Gillsville Mayor Roy Turpin said the city had no immediate plans to issue a mandate, but “the people around here will probably do what’s right” and officials would monitor the situation. Clermont Mayor James Nix said Clermont also had no definite plans to require masks on its properties but was looking at its options. Braselton Town Manager Jennifer Scott said Braselton encourages but does not require masks in city buildings. Lula City Manager Dennis Bergin said the mayor and City Council had not yet taken a position, but the city encourages people to follow public health guidelines.

Gainesville is encouraging precautions but has not issued a mask mandate at city facilities.

Hall County is not requiring masks for visitors at its facilities but does encourage them.

Masks are required in Flowery Branch city buildings.

In Oakwood, visitors are required to wear masks at City Hall. City Manager B.R. White said employees can take theirs off if they are social distancing or in their own office. Visitors’ temperatures are taken before they enter, White said.

Three points to the Gainesville Times and its writers for their exhaustive coverage.

The Gwinnett Commission is still considering whether to send absentee ballot requests to all voters, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

A proposal to send out the applications, as well as pay an estimated $516,000 to cover of postage for return envelopes for the ballots, had been on the commission’s agenda for Tuesday. Instead of making a decision on it, however, the county’s leaders delayed voting on the items until their Sept. 1 meeting.

“Based on things we heard earlier from our elections staff, I think we’ve got some unanswered questions that we need answers to before we act on this, so I’ll make a motion that we table this item until Sept. 1,” Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash said.

The county had 569,415 registered voters as of July 1. Two cost estimates for mailing the applications were made based on an estimate that there could be 610,000 registered voters for the general election.

“The Election Supervisor provided cost estimates for two options from contracted vendor Sure Bill Envelopes and Forms,” Mangano said in a separate July 24 letter to commissioners. “The cost estimates cover printing, sorting, postage, and mailing but they do not include data processing of the necessary files. The first option, using a No. 10 carrier envelope, has an estimated cost of $322,690. The second option, using a 6 inch by 9-and-a-half-inch envelope, has an estimated cost of $347,090.”

Why not at least consider costs for smaller subsets of voters, like anyone who has voted in any election between 2016 and 2020?

The Floyd County Board of Elections heard complaints about the runoff elections, according to the Rome News Tribune.

[T]he three-member citizen board officially certified the results to send to the state, then went into a closed session to discuss personnel. No action was taken.

Problems during last week’s Republican primary runoff, including errors in the voting cards and delayed openings, led to an emergency court order keeping the precincts open until 9 p.m. Combined with late reporting of the results, it has sparked concerns about the county’s readiness for the Nov. 3 general election.

GPB News reports that at least 1700 absentee ballots were rejected after being received too late.

According to the state’s absentee voter file, 261,129 ballots were accepted by county elections officials, meaning .68% of all absentee-by-mail ballots returned came in too late.

Overall, 1,874 ballots were rejected, the rest for missing or invalid signatures or was submitted by an ineligible elector.

In the June 9 primary, GPB News found that at least 8,479 absentee ballots were received after polls closed, about .74% of the record 1.1 million votes cast by mail.

But some counties do not enter in their late ballot rejections into the state’s absentee voter file, giving an incomplete look at how many votes do not count.

As of the latest version of the state absentee ballot file, the number is 2537 voters whose absentee ballots were rejected for arriving late.

The Towns County Board of Elections is recounting votes in the runoff for Sheriff, according to Fetch Your News.

After the Osborn campaign filed a petition stating cause and the Board of Elections consulted with the county attorney, Towns County will hold a recount of the sheriff’s race.

On August 12, sheriff candidate Daren “Bear” Osborn issued his initial request for a recount. The same day, the Secretary of State’s Office (SOS) opened an investigation into Towns County for possible election interference. However, the SOS didn’t specify for what race or expand upon the investigation. The Board of Elections Chairman Janet Oliva was unaware of the SOS investigation. No one from the state has contacted Towns County about election interference as of August 18.

In Osborn’s first letter, he called attention to the “small marginal difference of 40 votes a recount could show error in counting, including absentee ballots.”

The certified county results brought the margin down to 38 votes between the candidates with Kenneth “Ode” Henderson receiving 1,884 and Osborn garnering 1,846.

Since Towns County is in the middle of two recounts, both will take place on the same day.

United States District Judge Amy Totenberg ruled against a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s law setting the order of candidates on general election ballots, according to the AJC.

U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg denied an effort to overturn a Georgia law that requires candidates in the same party as the most recently elected governor to be listed first on the ballot in partisan general elections.

The plaintiffs in the case, including the Democratic National Committee, had argued that the law gave Republican candidates an unfair edge. Expert witnesses told the court that Republicans received a 4.2 percentage point advantage, on average, from being listed first on the ballot in Georgia elections since 2004.

But Totenberg ruled Thursday that she was bound by an April decision from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a similar ballot order case from Florida.

The 11th Circuit found that “alleged injury of vote dilution based on an average measure of partisan advantage is legally insufficient to establish standing to challenge the constitutionality of the ballot order statute,”

Two former Clarkston City Council members are seeking election as Mayor, according to the AJC.

Yterenickia “YT” Bell and Beverly Burks will face off on the Nov. 3 ballot, with the winner serving until the end of 2021, when Terry’s term would have ended.

Terry gave up his post in March when he qualified to run for the county commission. Since then, Councilman and Vice Mayor Awet Eyasu has served as acting mayor.

Savannah Police are converting to an electronic system for issuing citations, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Bulloch County and Statesboro are both considering adopting mask requirements, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Bulloch County Board of Commissioners Chairman Roy Thompson said Monday the issue will be discussed during Tuesday’s Bulloch County commission meeting at 8:30 a.m. in the Bulloch County Annex, but the matter has not yet been decided. He said he wears a mask and asks county employees to do so as well, but “I understand that for medical reasons some cannot wear masks.”

Layne Phillips, public information officer for the city of Statesboro, said discussion of a mandatory mask order is on the agenda for City Council’s regular work session Tuesday at 4 p.m. in City Hall.

“My understanding is that Mayor (Jonathan) McCollar wanted to have a council-wide discussion to weigh options,” she said.

Glynn County public schools students are under a mask mandate adopted by the board of education, according to The Brunswick News.

Students who do not have masks will be provided one, said Scott Spence, superintendent.

If a student refuses to wear a mask, school staff will meet with the student and parents. If the student still refuses to wear a mask and is supported in that decision by the parents, school leaders will look into virtual learning options, Spence said.

Students also will be required to wear masks on buses. Those who do not have a mask will be provided with one.

The challenge, he said, will be when parents refuse to support the requirement and do not allow their child to wear a mask.

“At that point we will have no alternative but to look into virtual learning options to meet the educational needs of that particular child,” Spence said.

Ludovic Ortuno has been named Georgia’s trade representative to Canada according to a press release from the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome CIDEP’s Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Ludovic Ortuno and his colleagues to our strategic international team,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson. “Building upon our strong international economic relationships like those shared with Canada and increasing opportunities for Georgians will prove vital as we look toward recovery from COVID-19. I would like to thank Gail Morris for her committed, professional and successful representation during her 10 years of service as Georgia’s managing director in Canada. I am confident that CIDEP’s team will continue to strengthen the successful framework she built in this extremely important market.”

The new Canada team will be comprised of a total of five professionals who will serve the state from CIDEP’s headquarters in Montreal, Québec. Montreal is an important partner to Georgia in both the Southeastern United States-Canadian Provinces (SEUS-CP) Alliance and the Regional Leaders Summit (RLS). Through the RLS, seven international regions from five different continents exchange best practices on topics of mutual interest. Other members of the RLS include Upper Austria, Austria; São Paolo, Brazil; Shandong, China; Bavaria, Germany; and Western Cape, South Africa.

“I welcome Ludovic Ortuno as the state of Georgia’s new representative in Canada. His appointment is a clear sign of the continued importance placed in the Canada-Georgia relationship,” said Consul General of Canada to the Southeast U.S. Nadia Theodore. “My team here at the Consulate General of Canada, as well as our colleagues at the provincial offices, look forward to collaborating with Ludovic to further strengthen bilateral ties.”

I deduct three points from the writers of the press release for improper use of “comprised.”

Augusta City Commissioners took no action on a proposed rehab center for first responders, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Candidate qualifying continues for seats on the Richmond County Board of Education, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Four incumbents qualified Monday to run again for their seats on the Richmond County Board of Education and perennial candidate Brian Green also signed up.

Candidate qualifying for the nonpartisan district 1, 4, 5, 8 and 10 posts runs through noon Friday at the elections office. The fee to run is $100.