Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 30, 2024

Former Vice President Aaron Burr was acquitted of treason on September 1, 1804.

On August 31, 1864, Confederates charged Union forces at the Battle of Jonesboro, in which the CSA suffered more than 1400 casualties in one hour.

On August 30, 1888, Asa Griggs Candler bought one-third interest in the Coca-Cola company, bringing his total ownership to more than two-thirds of the company.

Georgia native Ty Cobb debuted with the Detroit Tigers on August 30, 1905.

The last hanging in Atlanta took place on September 1, 1922 outside the Fulton County jail.

Approximately 5,000 people gathered outside the Fulton County jail to witness the hanging.

On August 31, 1955, the first solar powered car was demonstrated by William Cobb of General Motors.

On August 31, 1965, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which the Senate had previously passed.

On August 30, 1979, President Jimmy Carter reported being attacked by a rabbit near Plains, Georgia. Here’s an interview in which President Carter was asked about the rabbit incident.

Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell was indicted on August 30, 2004 on racketeering, bribery and wire fraud charges and would later plead guilty to tax evasion.

On September 1, 2004, United States Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat, spoke at the Republican National Convention.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate visited Savannah yesterday, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The Democratic duo held a bus tour and private fundraising dinner Wednesday night as they eye the Peach State as one of the main battleground territories for the 2024 presidential election.

What once was an afterthought as a bright red state, Georgia is now considered a ‘purple state’, meaning a toss up, after turning blue in 2020 with a Joe Biden victory by just under 12,000 total votes.

According to recent polling, Harris and republican nominee Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in Georgia, with Trump holding a 0.6% advantage in the state according to fivethirtyeight and by 0.8% according to 270towin.

Vice President Harris ended a 25-minute speech that promoted her middle class values, attacked Trump on his policies and promoted her stance on guns, abortion bans and more, by saying “So Savannah, are you ready to make your voices heard? Do we believe in freedom? Do we believe in opportunity? Do we believe in the promise of America? And are we ready to fight for it? And when we fight? (Crowd responds ‘We win’). God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.”

Harris attacked Trump on his comments of being a dictator on Day 1, and admonished comments suggesting that elections would be arranged to make sure that Republicans could never lose again.

Georgia Senate Democrat Derek Mallow and Georgia State Representative Edna Jackson, both of Savannah, kicked off the rally with speeches. Mallow echoed the common Kamala Harris rally cry by telling the crowd “When we fight,” followed by a crowd response of “We win.”

Mashama Bailey, co-owner of The Grey, greeted Vice President Kamala Harris as she entered the former Greyhound Bus station turned restaurant. VP Harris meet with campaign volunteers, who were at The Grey for an appreciation gathering. She thanked them for their work and took time to greet each one and take photos before leaving for the rally.

VP Kamala Harris was greeted at Dottie’s by mayor Van Johnson before speaking about small businesses with the owners. Harris looked over the desserts in the front case and at several hand woven sweet grass baskets before the campaign departed for The Grey restaurant. Onlookers lined Broughton Street in an attempt to see the VP.

From the Savannah Morning News:

Harris delivered a speech that largely followed her typical rally topics ― creating an “opportunity economy,” attacking Project 2025 and advocating for reproductive rights ― to a crowd of more than 5,000 attendees, based on seats filled. As the speech neared its end, Harris acknowledged Georgia’s major role in recent Democratic party successes: sending Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to the Senate and President Joe Biden to the White House.

“You did that, and now we are asking you to do it again,” Harris said to a rush of applause.

The afternoon at Enmarket included numerous members of Chatham County’s top Democratic brass. State Sen. Derrick Mallow, former mayor and State Rep. Edna Jackson and Savannah Mayor Van Johnson all gave speeches before Harris’ appearance.

The campaign stop also marks Harris’ second trip to Savannah this year. Harris held a reproductive rights rally in the Savannah Civic Center in February. Local Democratic leaders have pointed to the visits as a sign of Chatham County’s importance in November’s election.

But Harris kicked off her speech warning the crowd not to pay attention to polls, then recast a line used in past speeches dubbing her campaign the “underdogs in the race.” Still, Thursday’s crowd was highly energized; there were at least two occasions where crowd-led chants caused Harris to pause her speech as they rang out.

Harris also hit on numerous policies throughout the 20-minute remarks: a $6,000 tax credit for families in their first year of having a child, signing a law guaranteeing a right to an abortion. signing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and tackling the country’s housing supply shortage.

There were a few moments where protestors, who appeared to be pro-Palestinian advocates, drew the attention of Harris and attendees. A reporter at the event saw at least three protestors escorted out of the stands. At one point, Harris acknowledged their right to “have a voice,” before saying she and Biden were working to secure a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza.

[Savannah Mayor Van] Johnson’s remarks, which received one of the strongest crowd receptions for any speaker besides Harris, rounded out with a call to action.

Coastal residents needed to “hit the streets,” by knocking on doors and encouraging friends and family to vote, Johnson said.

“We’re having a great time here in Savannah, but none of this means anything if we don’t show up and we don’t show out at the polls in November,” Johnson said before leading the crowd in a “when we fight, we win” chant.

From WSAV:

The Harris-Walz campaign says southeast Georgia is a priority.

“Campaigning in southern Georgia is critical as it represents a diverse coalition of voters, including rural, suburban, and urban Georgians – with a large proportion of Black voters and working class families,” a statement from the campaign reads.

“While our highly engaged and energetic operation in Georgia is focused on turning out votes across the entire state, Democrats in Georgia are finally learning an important lesson…there is more to Georgia than just Atlanta,” said Republican National Committee spokesperson Morgan Ackley. “Republicans from Catoosa to Camden County and everywhere in between are fired up and ready to re-elect President Donald J. Trump because his message of putting America first again resonates with Americans of all backgrounds.”

The most recent Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey in Georgia shows a narrow gap between the two presidential nominees. The survey found that 48.9% of residents plan to vote for Harris and 48% would vote for Trump in 2024.

Walz departed from the Hostess City on Thursday and Harris continued the visit, first stopping at Dottie’s Market, a small shop on Savannah’s Broughton Street.

Harris’ second stop was The Grey, a local restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

“We’re here to speak truth and one of the things that we know is this is going to be a tight race until the very end,” Harris told the crowd. “Let’s not pay too much attention to the polls because we are running as the underdog, OK?”

Harris was interrupted twice by protesters, one of whom was wearing a “Free Palestine” shirt.

“We are fighting for a democracy; everyone has a right and should have their voices heard,” she responded, adding, “The president and I are working around the clock. We’ve got to get a hostage deal done and get a cease-fire done now.”

“There is a full-on assault on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights including the freedom to vote,” she continued, “the freedom to be safe from gun violence and an attack on the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. And we will fight against all of that, including the freedom to live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.

“Here’s the thing: generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom. Now, Savannah, the baton is in our hands.”

From the AJC:

The Democrat blasted Georgia’s refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and renewed promises to overturn abortion restrictions passed in 2019 by a narrow Republican majority and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp.

“You sent President Biden and me to the White House. You showed up. You knocked on doors. You registered folks to vote. And you made it happen. You did that,” she said before issuing a challenge to the crowd packed into Savannah’s Enmarket Arena.

“And now we are asking you to do it again. Let’s do it again.”

Savannah’s current mayor, Van Johnson, used his remarks to paint the contrasts between Harris and Trump while also asking the crowd to pray for a Savannah police officer injured escorting the motorcade on Wednesday. Authorities say he was in serious but stable condition.

And U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams of Atlanta, the chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, took aim at Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat in the state, which triggered pending criminal charges in Fulton County.

“Are we going to let Donald Trump take us back to a dark place, or are we going to walk with Harris into a bright blue future?” Williams pressed the crowd. “We have 68 days. This is battleground Georgia, where every vote counts. I need you in this fight with me.”

From WTOC:

Local Democrats, including State Representative Edna Jackson of Savannah, are actively rallying behind the Harris-Walz ticket.

Jackson, who made history as the first Black woman to serve as Savannah’s mayor from 2012 to 2015, describes Harris’ candidacy as a historic moment.

“This is really an exciting moment in history. Having been involved in civil rights and all of those things from the 60′s on, and to realize the importance of getting a female and an African American. I don’t care what color or whatever, but I am honored to say that I’m asking people to go out to the polls and to vote for her,” said Jackson.

Meanwhile, local Republicans are reacting to Harris’s visit to the Coastal Empire.

U.S. Congressman Buddy Carter of the 1st District anticipates that former President Donald Trump and JD Vance will also intensify their campaigning efforts in Georgia especially as Election Day approaches.

“I still think Georgia is a red state. If you look, every statewide elected official is Republican with the exception of our two Senators. I do feel like we are a red state. However, it’s not to be taken for granted, and I don’t think our party is going to take it for granted. They’re going to be here, they’re going to work hard here, we’re going to work hard to make sure Donald Trump and JD Vance are elected,” said Carter.

“It is a very important moment for us, we have been working to make sure that the Biden-Harris administration, now the Harris-Walz administration understands how strategic Georgia is and how important Savannah and Coastal Georgia is,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said.

“She cannot, as hard as she tries, wipe her fingerprints away from the policies of the Biden-Harris administration. She has been there, they are her policies as well. Resulting in higher inflation, resulting in a border that is in crisis right now, resulting in America being weak on the world stage, resulting in crime in our cities. All of those things have her fingerprints all over them,” said Representative Buddy Carter.

Representative Jesse Petrea called Harris out for her role in many issues he says the US is currently facing.

His biggest issues – inflation and border control.

Now, he’s asking Georgia voters to really think about who they choose on their ballot in a few months making sure to reflect on Harris’s role as a leader the past few years compared to Trump’s time in the oval office.

“It doesn’t matter whether I like someone or not, or whether I like Kamala or I like Donald Trump. You’re voting for the person that will protect this country and protect your family and allow you to thrive, and you’re not going to get that with Kamala. We see what we get with Kamala. We get the same thing we’ve gotten with Biden. Weak border, weak on crime, weak on the world stage,” said Representative Jesse Petrea. “We already know what we get with Donald Trump. We’ve been there, it isn’t like it’s new. We had a strong presence on the world stage and we had a thriving economy. We had low taxes, and we had low inflation, and we had the most secure border in American history, bar none.”

From the New York Times:

Hot off their multiday love fest in Chicago, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are making clear they intend to play hard for Georgia, a battleground state, and not just in the politically blue, population-rich metro area of Atlanta. With the presidential race promising to be tight and ugly, they are wisely venturing outside the party’s usual comfort zones and are sending a message similar to the one from their preconvention road trip around Pennsylvania: We will show up in every part of the state and fight for every vote.

It seems worth noting that southern Georgia has an abundance of Black voters, a demographic the Democratic Party was feeling very shaky about when President Biden was looking like the nominee — and is hoping to re-energize now that Harris is at the top of the ticket. But even before Biden stepped aside, the party was investing in the area. “The South Georgia region is a priority for the campaign,” a representative for the Harris team told NBC. “We have nearly 50 full-time staff across seven offices in the area, including Valdosta. We have hosted more than 500 events in the region since May 31.”

Team Trump is not conceding any ground. Last week Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, headlined an event in Valdosta, a majority-Black city not too far from the Florida state line.

So far, Trump has a polling edge in the state. But his troubled history with Georgia, where he is widely believed to have cost Republicans a Senate seat or two in recent years, makes it tricky terrain. Also, he has struggled to let go of his feud with the state’s popular governor, Brian Kemp. Just a few weeks ago, Trump trashed Kemp at a rally in Atlanta. This freaked out more than a few Republicans, and some kind of truce was brokered. Last week, Kemp endorsed Trump on Fox News.

Still, there is a whole lot of bad blood swirling around the state, and the entire situation feels unsettled — and potentially exploitable by the Democrats.

Speaking of the late feud among the GOP, the Associated Press looks at how the hatchet was buried.

The effort to make the peace between Donald Trump and Georgia’s powerful Republican governor began in a sprawling neo-Victorian mansion in the exclusive Atlanta enclave of Buckhead.

It was at an Aug. 9 fundraiser hosted by former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler that fellow Republican Lindsey Graham approached Gov. Brian Kemp. Graham, the South Carolina senator and longtime confidant of the former president, was already planning to attend the fundraiser.

Now, Graham had a renewed purpose: to try to ease years of tensions between Trump and Kemp that endangered the GOP’s chances in a crucial 2024 battleground.

Graham and Kemp met privately at Loeffler’s house. And over the coming weeks, say Graham and others familiar with the matter, allies of both men arranged the two-part détente that played out publicly last Thursday to the surprise of many political watchers.

First, Kemp did an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity — another Trump ally — in which he said, “We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House.” Moments later, Trump went on his social media site to praise Kemp for his “help and support.”

A true alignment, if it lasts, could benefit both men: Trump may need the help of Kemp’s renowned political operation to win back Georgia in a tightly contested race with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, while Kemp wants to be in the good graces of Trump supporters for a future run at the U.S. Senate or the presidency in 2028. Kemp attended a fundraiser for Trump on Thursday and could join more campaign events with less than 70 days before Election Day.

Days before the fundraiser at Loeffler’s house, Trump mocked Kemp and his wife, Marty, at a packed rally in Atlanta. In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Graham described what he told Trump afterward.

“You’re not going to win Georgia this way,” Graham said. “And Georgia is yours to lose.”

At Loeffler’s mansion, Graham, Gov. Kemp and Marty Kemp met privately and Graham also spoke to some of the governor’s top staff about moving past the tensions that had simmered since the 2020 election. Their discussions were detailed by Graham and another person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose the private conversation.

Adding urgency to the talks was Harris’ entry into the race. Georgia has become newly competitive with President Joe Biden’s departure from the race and a resulting wave of Democratic enthusiasm. Republicans are worried Harris, who is running to become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to serve as president, has energized people of color and younger voters in ways that Biden couldn’t.

Kemp told Graham that he would continue supporting the former president, even if he didn’t appreciate Trump’s rally comments. Graham tried to focus on shifting the Trump-Kemp relationship into a “more positive direction,” one of the people familiar with the conversation said.

That meeting began the process over the next two weeks. Others who spoke to Kemp included Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate.

“The way that I approached my conversation with him was: ‘I’m not going to convince you that you should change your mind on the president in the same way that I’m not going to convince the president that he should change his mind on you. But you guys agree on 90% of the things. You can put whatever personal differences aside,’” Vance told NBC News. “And I think there were probably 150 people delivering that message to both the president and Brian Kemp, and I’m glad that (Kemp) got to a good place, but I don’t claim any responsibility or credit for it.”

Graham does. He said he consulted with Trump about the message praising Kemp. And he and others worked to have Kemp deliver his praise in a strategic venue.

Cody Hall, who leads Kemp’s political organization, confirmed the governor attended a fundraiser for Trump on Thursday.

Hall said Kemp’s political organization, Hardworking Georgians, is working for Trump and the Republican ticket in a number of competitive state House districts, mostly in the Atlanta suburbs. Hall said the organization hasn’t expanded statewide in part because it doesn’t have the money needed for such an effort.

“But plans can change,” Hall said.

At least one close Kemp backer, Alec Poitevint, said he began hearing that Trump and Kemp were patching things up days before Kemp went on Fox. Poitevint is a rare Republican who has maintained good relations with both Kemp and the Trumpier parts of the Georgia state party. Despite his support of Kemp, the Trump-dominated Georgia party elected Poitevint as a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

“I had felt earlier that things were in motion,” he said this week. “Gov. Kemp and Trump are both very popular in Georgia.”

Georgia’s Secretary of State finalized the list of candidates who will appear on the Presidential ballot in November, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Moultrie Observer.

Besides former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, Georgia voters will get a choice of four other third-party and independent candidates.

Independent Cornel West will join the Green Party’s Jill Stein, Libertarian Chase Oliver, and Socialist Claudia De la Cruz on the Georgia presidential ballot.

Raffensperger ruled that independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not qualified to appear on the ballot. The secretary upheld an administrative law judge’s ruling that the address Kennedy listed was inaccurate.

The issue became moot earlier this week when Kennedy withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Trump.

From AccessWDUN:

Earlier this month, democrats challenged the ballot places for West, Stein, and De la Cruz. This was due to a disagreement in a niche law.

In Georgia, independent candidates must get a “minimum of 7,500 valid signatures of eligible electors.”

Challengers to the candidates claimed that due to Georgia having 16 electoral votes, candidates needed to file separately with each elector and obtain 120,000 signatures to appear on the ballot.

However, lawyers for the candidates disputed this interpretation of the law.

This culminated in a decision by administrative law judge Michael Malihi on Monday.

Malihi ruled in favor of the challengers, potentially barring West, Stein, and De la Cruz from appearing on the ballot. That would have left just Trump, Harris, and Oliver to choose from.

The decision went to Raffensperger who ultimately decided that the interpretation is just 7,500 signatures, allowing all six candidates on the ballot.

The order at the ballot box will be as it is presented in this article, with Trump first and Harris second.

The reasoning according to Sterling was because the first position “goes to the party that win the governorship.”

Early voting in Georgia will start on Oct. 15 with the general election slated for Nov. 5.

Voter registration has risen recently, according to the AJC.

New voters have registered in droves in Georgia since Kamala Harris entered the presidential race, especially Black, Hispanic and young voters, according to state election data.

The sharp increase in the rate of registrations suggests an outpouring of enthusiasm among voters who tend to vote for Democratic candidates in Georgia, a politically divided battleground that could decide the winner between Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.

Black women led the surge, with a 75% jump in registrations compared with the same 3 1/2 week period in 2020, according to the most recent voter registration data available from the Georgia secretary of state’s office, stretching from July 21 to Aug. 13.

Sign-ups by Hispanic voters grew by an even larger percentage, 114% over the 2020 period, though the raw number of new registrations was lower than other racial groups because there are fewer Hispanic voters overall in the state.

And new voters under 30 years old spiked by 76%. Overall, 50% more voters have registered since July 21 than in the same period four years ago.

“It’s shocking. I did not expect to see something of this scope,” said Tom Bonier, a Democratic strategist and CEO of the data company TARA Group. “This has the potential to be a game changer in terms of the presidential race.”

Conservatives are also seeking to recruit new voters ahead of the election.

Greater Georgia is launching a voter sign-up push next week to reach 180,000 eligible but unregistered Georgians through phone calls, digital ads and text messages. The goal is to get at least 10% of them — 18,000 people — to register before the state’s Oct. 7 deadline.

“We have to plan for a scenario where Georgia’s 2024 election will again be decided by razor-thin margins,” said former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Greater Georgia’s chairwoman. “We learned in 2020 that we have to work continuously to expand the tent, which is why voter registration was a day one priority.”

Rural economic development continues to be a focal point in Georgia, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Gwinnett Daily Post.

The state Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team Thursday reported more than $20.3 billion in investment in Georgia during the last fiscal year, with 429 facility expansions and new locations creating 26,900 new private-sector jobs.

More than 18,300 of those jobs representing $12.5 billion in investment came outside the 10-county Atlanta region, accounting for 83% of expansions and new locations.

Growing the economy in rural Georgia reflects a priority of Gov. Brian Kemp since he first ran for governor back in 2018, Kemp told Capitol Beat in an exclusive interview.

“That’s making sure we have regional opportunities rural Georgians could take advantage of without having too long a commute,” Kemp said. “It’s really paid off.”

The governor cited the huge “Metaplant” Hyundai Motor Group is building in Bryan County west of Savannah as a prime example of the job opportunities in the pipeline for areas outside metro Atlanta. The electric-vehicle manufacturing plant now under construction will be within easy reach not only for residents of Savannah but for job seekers living in rural counties west of Bryan County along Interstate 16.

“We’ve got engineering graduates from Georgia Southern University that instead of having to move to Atlanta can stay home if they want to … and have a great-paying job with great benefits,” Kemp said.

Manufacturing accounted for more than 50% of the expansions or new locations that took place across Georgia during fiscal 2024.

Notable expansions included Kia Georgia’s addition of the EV9 to its lineup in Troup County, Toyota Industries Corp.’s campus in Jackson County, StandardAero’s operations in Augusta, and international life sciences company Gerresheimer’s most recent expansion in Fayette County.

Hyundai Metaplant suppliers announced new locations in Bryan, Candler, Chatham, Coweta, Effingham, Harris, and Laurens counties.

With Georgia all-in on electric vehicles manufacturing, Kemp said he’s confident the industry eventually will become a major success despite sluggish sales.

“The Biden administration with the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) tried to push the market before it was ready,” he said. “Once the charging stations are built out, there’s going to be a big market for these.”

“A lot of the ground we’ve plowed internationally is starting to pay off,” Kemp said. “We’re starting to see the fruits of that labor.”

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia voted to endorse legislation by U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Atlanta), according to the Clayton News-Daily.

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia and the National Association of Counties recently voted to endorse U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s, D-Ga., bipartisan HELPER Act, which would establish a new, one-time use home loan program under the Federal Housing Administration or first responders and teachers to purchase their first home — modeled after a similar and successful VA home loan program.

The program would remove major barriers to homeownership for first responders and teachers, including down payments and monthly mortgage insurance payments.

“I am truly grateful to Senator Jon Ossoff for leading the charge to help make the HELPER Act a reality,” said Henry County Chair Carlotta Harrell. “His passion to find solutions for the lack of affordable housing and his outstanding efforts in reaching across party lines to obtain bipartisan support should be commended. The issue of affordable housing, especially when it comes to our public safety and first responders, is an initiative that is near and dear to my heart. Those who protect our community, or any community, should be able to afford to live in the community in which they serve. As Henry County chair, one of my main priorities has been to address the lack of affordable housing and I am so proud to support and collaborate with Senator Ossoff on this very important matter.”

“Housing affordability and accessibility is an issue all communities are currently facing,” said ACCG Executive Director Dave Wills. “As the needs of local communities change, the issues in which county government officials are tasked to address also change. Thus, it is incumbent upon county officials to work with their state and federal counterparts to devise solutions and secure resources to meet the needs of their shared constituencies.”

Last month, the National Fraternal Order of Police, which has more than 373,000 members nationwide, also urged Congress to swiftly pass the bill.

In May during National Police Week, Ossoff met with local law enforcement and first responders in Henry County and Columbus to highlight the urgency of the legislation.

The Georgia State House Rural Development Council hosted a meeting in Rome yesterday, according to the Rome News-Tribune.

“As Georgia’s population concentrates in the cities and on the coast, prosperity is slipping away from rural Georgia and they are facing very difficult times,” said David Bridges, director of Georgia’s Rural Center.

The council is a study committee created to identify policies and ideas to enhance economic opportunities across the entire state, particularly in rural areas.

In 1994 there were 13 counties in Georgia with more births than deaths, according to Bridges. By 2022, that number had increased to 116 counties.

“Many people believe the 1970s were the worst economic climate for rural Georgia,” Bridges said. “But if commodity prices drop, we’re going to see economic devastation.”

Established in 2017, the Georgia House Rural Development Council was renewed for the 2023-2024 legislative session by the unanimous adoption of House Resolution 488 in 2023. This is the first time they’ve met in Floyd County.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson (D) wants to add seven additional prosecutors, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson told a citizens budget review committee this week that her office needs more prosecutors to handle a growing caseload in a county with more than 1 million residents.

Austin-Gatson asked the committee, which is hearing requests from all county departments for the 2025 budget this week, to add seven more assistant district attorney positions, one new investigator and two victim witness advocate positions.

If approved, the number of ADAs alone in the Gwinnett District Attorney’s office would increase to 66.

“I’m asking for seven additional assistant district attorneys. Why? Because we need them,” Austin-Gatson said. “We’re doing really well as far as our conviction rates now and you might be wondering, ‘Well, why are you asking for more’”

“Think about a vehicle, a car going 100 mph. Two things are gonna happen. It’s either gonna crash or parts are going to wear out. So, this is where we’re going. We are that vehicle going 100 mph with what we have, but we don’t want to wear out. We want to be better and better and better for the Gwinnett Judicial Circuit.”

The DA is asking for a 2025 operating budget of $30.3 million, including $1.3 million for the additional positions.

Glynn County Board of Education members adopted a property tax millage rate lower than last year’s, but still higher than the “full rollback,” according to The Brunswick News.

The Glynn County School Board voted Thursday to lower its property tax rate, but due to rising property values, it anticipates collecting more revenue from landowners than the last fiscal year.

Currently, the school’s millage rate is 15.4 mills, Avery Coty, director of finance, said at a school board work session earlier this month. The board at the time had adopted a tentative 15.15 millage rate for the coming year but reduced that to 14.9 mills on Thursday, which equates to roughly $14.90 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Lowering it to 14.9 mills, or a half-mill decrease, is expected to still bring in $252,700 in surplus revenue, Coty told the board earlier this month.

The school district’s $183 million budget includes a state-mandated salary increase of $2,500 for all the county’s 1,176 certified teachers.
The rollback rate of 14.455 mills would have brought in the same amount in property taxes as the previous fiscal year but would have led to a $2.6 million budget deficit.

Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher was released from the hospital, according to WSAV.

Sheriff John Wilcher is home after two months in the hospital, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.

The 79-year-old sheriff was hospitalized in June after a “cardiac event.”

Chief Deputy Gary Taylor, who has helped run operations in Wilcher’s absence, told The Current that the sheriff would return to work in the coming days.

Taylor told The Current the cardiac event wasn’t a heart attack.