Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for December 3, 2020

On December 3, 1775, the Grand Union Flag, comprising the Union Jack with thirteen red-and-white stripes was raised for the first time by Lieutenant John Paul Jones over the USS Alfred, a colonial warship. The flag would be used by Continental forces thorugh 1776 and early 1777.

On December 3, 1776, General George Washington wrote Congress that he had moved most of his army across the Delaware River from Trenton, New Jersey to Pennsylvania.

On December 3, 1864, Union forces under the command of Gen. William T. Sherman skirmished against Wheeler’s Confederate cavalry at Thomas’ Station in Burke County, Georgia.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

President Donald Trump added a Valdosta rally to his Saturday schedule, according to the AJC.

Trump’s 7 p.m. event at the Valdosta Regional Airport will be his first campaign rally since his November election defeat, and Republicans want him to make the case to his loyal supporters that a vote for the two Senate incumbents on Jan. 5 runoffs is the same as a vote for him.

The president drew thousands of supporters to Valdosta in 2016 when he last held a rally there, a strategic move that also earned news coverage in the battleground state of Florida.

From Newsweek:

Pro-Trump lawyer L. Lin Wood said he wanted Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to be locked up on Wednesday night as he told a rally of locals to circle the Republican state leader’s home and blare their horns until he came outside.

Appearing beside the former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, and not speaking for the president’s re-election campaign in an official capacity, Wood made baseless claims about mass voter fraud in Georgia as he urged Governor Kemp to call a meeting of the state legislature.

The attorney also called on the Republican state leader to resign his post as he whipped up the rally crowd against Kemp and GOP incumbents fight two key Senate runoff elections at the start of next year.

Speaking at the Wednesday rally, Wood said: “I want you to go to the Governor’s mansion. I want you to circle it. I want you to blow yours horns until Brian Kemp comes out and orders a special session of the Georgia legislature.”

After repeating that he wanted the Georgia legislature to meet, the lawyer wearing a MAGA hat later added: “We want to fix the mess that he created and then he can resign. And then as far as I’m concerned, lock him up.”

The rally crowd then met his call for Gov. Kemp to be arrested with chants of “lock him up” as Wood paced around the lectern.

From Mother Jones:

[Wood] then shouted for George Soros to “get out of our country,” adding “you’re not going to sell our votes to China!”

Both Wood and Powell called for Kemp and Raffensberger to resign as the crowd chanted for them to be locked up, with Wood bizarrely claiming that Kemp is a foreign agent working on behalf of China.

“I would encourage all Georgians to make it known that you will not vote at all unless your vote is secure,” Powell said. “There should not be a runoff. Certainly not on Dominion machines.”

From the Augusta Chronicle:

“Where is Kelly Loeffler here? Where is David Perdue?” said Wood, who unsuccessfully sued Georgia seeking to stop the presidential election’s certification. “He ought to be standing right here.”

“Do not be fooled twice,” he added. “This is Georgia. We ain’t dumb. We’re not going to vote on Jan. 5 on another machine made by China. You’re not going to fool Georgians again. If Kelly Loeffler wants your vote, if David Perdue wants your vote, they’ve got to earn it.”

Trump, who is holding a rally Saturday for Perdue and Loeffler in Valdosta, Georgia, has urged Republicans to vote for the senators even if they’re upset with his election.

State Senator Wiliam Ligon (R-White Oak) will Chair a Senate subcommittee hearing looking into election issues today, according to The Brunswick News.

Sen. William Ligon, R-White Oak, will chair a special subcommittee of the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee at 1 p.m. today “to take testimony of elections improprieties and to evaluate the election process to ensure the integrity of Georgia’s voting system.”

“I appreciate (judiciary committee) chairman Jesse Stone appointing this subcommittee,” Ligon said in a statement. “His charge to me is to examine the recent election cycle, the recount process, the audit process, the current investigations taking place, the litigation that is moving forward, as well as address issues relating to the upcoming runoffs.”

On Nov. 24, Ligon and Sens. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, and Burt Jones, R-Jackson, released a statement calling for “certain measures to be taken to secure the legal vote of our citizens in the 2020 general election.”

Not limiting the scope to allegations of voter fraud from various parties in and out of the state, Ligon said he’s more interested at examining the evolutions of the voting process as a whole in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Many recent changes were enabled by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger under emergency powers granted by Gov. Brian Kemp.

That’s all well and good, he told The News, but some of Raffensperger’s initiatives — like implementing online voter registration, mailing absentee ballot applications to all voters and allowing local elections offices to install ballot drop boxes — should be vetted by the state legislature.

Former State Rep. Debra Gonzalez will take office as District Attorney for the Western Judicial Circuit, comprising Clarke and Oconee Counties, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

Floyd County finished its recount of the Presidential election ballots, according to the Rome News Tribune.

No sites in Pooler will be available for early voting in the Senate runoff elections, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Hall County announced a precinct change for the January 5, 2021 Runoff Elections for United States Senate and Public Service Commission, according to AccessWDUN.

Statesboro City Council is consider an ordinance to allow food trucks, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Columbia County Commissioners adopted a resolution asking the legislature to consider splitting the county into its own judicial circuit, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The resolution cites the “public safety and financial benefits” of such a circuit change.

Columbia County currently resides in the Augusta Judicial Circuit with Richmond and Burke counties.

“This is not us breaking off,” Columbia County Administrator Scott Johnson said. “This is simply a resolution asking the state legislature to take whatever action is necessary to approve.”

State Sen. Lee Anderson, whose District 24 includes most of Columbia County, submitted a request last week for state authorities to review whether Columbia County meets requirements to become its own circuit, Johnson said.