Patriots captured liberated Virginia on December 9, 1775 as militias from Virginia and North Carolina defeated the redcoats at Great Bridge.
On December 9, 1867, a Constitutional Convention to draft a new state document convened in Atlanta. Among the 166 to 169 delegates elected to the Constitutional Convention were 33 or 37 African-American members – accounts vary.
The Savannah Morning News looks at what Sherman’s March to the Sea meant for Coastal Georgia.
Along the way, enslaved Black people, who were left behind on vacant plantations, began to follow him. By the time he arrived in Savannah, there were about 10,000 Black people with him. The arrival of Sherman and his troops on Dec. 21, 1864, signaled the ending of the Civil War and the enforcement of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation the year prior on Jan. 1, 1863. About 8,000 Black people from the Sea Islands joined with the 10,000 Black people who followed Sherman to celebrate their newfound freedom in downtown Savannah.
The next day, Dec. 22, 1864, Sherman gifted the city of Savannah to Lincoln:
“I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton,” according to History.com.
That monumental occasion is observed annually by way of Jubilee Freedom Day in Savannah and is recognized with song and dance and storytelling and poetry. Patt Gunn and Rosalyn Rouse, co-founders of the Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation and Healing, bring artists together every Dec. 21 to commemorate the day.
Fort Frederica National Monument on St. Simons Island will on Saturday observe the birth of James Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia, according to The Brunswick News.
The festivities are actually in keeping with the celebrations of early Georgia colonists, who made it a point to observe Oglethorpe’s birthday each year. Actually, Oglethorpe was born on Dec. 22, 1696, in Yorkshire, England, but the early birthday celebration offers everything from live music to musket fire, beginning at 11 a.m. and continuing until 3 p.m.
“Oglethorpe was the leading figure in the founding of the Georgia colony and his birthday was a chance for the settlers of Frederica to momentarily step away from the rigors of frontier life,” said Fort Frederica Deputy Superintendent Steve Theus. “We hope people will take a break from the rigors of modern life and join us as we toast General James Oglethorpe in holiday style.”
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Former United States Senator David Perdue (R-Sea Island) spoke to Axios after his announcement.
Georgia gubernatorial candidate David Perdue wouldn’t have signed the certification of the state’s 2020 election results if he had been governor at the time, the former Senate Republican told Axios.
“Not with the information that was available at the time and not with the information that has come out now. They had plenty of time to investigate this. And I wouldn’t have signed it until those things had been investigated, and that’s all we were asking for,” he said
Perdue said he would also have called for a special session of the legislature if he had been governor one year ago.
Perdue said the idea of the session, which he said he asked Kemp to call at the time, was not to change the November outcome, but to “protect and fix what was wrong for the January election.”
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon criticized Perdue, according to the Washington Post.
Bannon ripped into Perdue as a “disaster.” Bannon seethed that Perdue is “the last person in the world” who should challenge Kemp, insisting that Perdue was “dead silent” about Trump’s 2020 loss, and “did not support” Trump’s effort to overturn it.
“There’s no difference between Kemp and Perdue,” Bannon fumed, in a striking rebuke of Trump’s anointed candidate.
At the time, Perdue also took the extraordinary step of calling for the resignation of the Republican secretary of state in Georgia, who rejected Trump’s demand that he “find” the votes to subvert the legitimate outcome.
A Kemp-Perdue primary will help nobody more than Stacey Abrams, the progressive who said last week that she’ll run again for Governor after she lost to Mr. Kemp in 2018. Mr. Kemp has been hurt by the Trump barrage but in recent months had shown progress reuniting his party. He signed a Georgia voting reform that shored up ballot integrity and made it easier to vote. He’s capably led the Peach State during Covid, keeping the economy relatively open. The state jobless rate is an historic low of 3.1%.
Mr. Perdue won his first race, but his re-election campaign was dogged by investigations into his stock trading while in office. The former businessman was investigated by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission with no charges to show for it, but the media and Democrats will hammer the story to portray him as a rich guy who gamed the system. Mr. Perdue’s ties to Mr. Trump cost him support in the Atlanta suburbs, where GOP candidates need to do well to win in swing states like Georgia.
While some Republicans in Columbus and Macon say the primary will be hotly contested, they remain optimistic that party voters will unite behind the chosen candidate. Abrams, they said, is a polarizing figure who will bring Republican voters out in force to oppose her.
Muscogee GOP chair Alton Russell said he and the county party would not endorse Kemp or Perdue until one emerges from the primary.
“It’s going to be a wild and woolly primary,” Russell said. “It’s probably going to get pretty nasty.”
Joseph Brannan, a Columbus resident who serves as the treasurer of the Georgia Republican Party, said he is neutral, offering support for neither Kemp or Perdue until the primary ends.
“Trump’s presence looms large in the Georgia Republican primary electorate,” he said. “Are there hardcore Trump supporters who just won’t show up (in November) because he isn’t on the ballot?”
“It’s going to be a bruising campaign,” he said. “But I think in the end, Stacey Abrams will galvanize Republicans in a united front.”
Perdue will speak to the Whitfield County Republican Party Christmas party, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.
Perdue, 71, plans to challenge incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp in the May 24, 2022, Republican Party primary. Perdue represented Georgia in the Senate from 2015 to 2020. In a bid for reelection, Perdue finished first in the 2020 general election with 49.7% of the vote to 47.9% for Democrat Jon Ossoff and 2.4% for Libertarian Shane Hazel. With no candidate getting a majority, Perdue and Ossoff went to a runoff, which Ossoff won 50.6% to 49.4%.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at 515 Benjamin Way, Suite 310, in Dalton. Dining starts at 7. There will be a drawing for an AR-15 at 7:45.
Those who wish to attend may RSVP by Monday [registering on EventBrite].
Lawsuits will shortly follow the adoption of state redistricting plans, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
That’s the prediction of Atlanta-based election lawyer Bryan Tyson, who spoke Wednesday morning to members of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce at its Pre-Legislative Breakfast.
The governor has until Jan. 1 to sign off on the new maps for the state’s congressional and General Assembly districts.
“Once he signs those plans and they’re law, you will see immediate litigation filed against these redistricting plans,” Tyson said. “The pattern as we’ve seen with 2002 election legislation and with redistricting is you immediately sue no matter what the issue is, and there are plenty of people ready to do that.”
Time is growing short for potential plaintiffs to prepare and file their suits, Tyson said.
“If you’re going to sue to overturn the redistricting plans, you have to get all the litigation finished by the time qualifying happens and that’s the first week of March,” he said. “So if the governor doesn’t sign these maps until the first of January, and you have to conclude your litigation by the first of March, that’s a very narrow window to try to affect the ultimate result of this 2022 election.”
An audit of state tax breaks found they may not be a great deal for the state, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Rome News Tribune.
The Georgia Agribusiness and Rural Jobs Act provides access to capital for small businesses located in rural areas as well as tax credits to companies that invest in rural communities.
“The study clearly shows it is a big loser,” said state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome.
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Hufstetler unsuccessfully fought to end the program, calling it a “Christmas tree” type of bill that gives a gift to a small group of people. He noted — as the audit confirms — that every state that tried the incentive ended up canceling it.
Hufstetler’s Senate Bill 148, which would have launched a full outside study of Georgia’s tax credits and tax structure, was blocked in the House.
However, he and another Northwest Georgia lawmaker — Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga — cosponsored SB 6 by Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell. The bill allows the chairs of the Senate and House finance committees to call for audits of up to five tax exemptions a year, to determine their return on the state’s investment.
State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Cherokee County) will run for State Senate against incumbent Republican Kay Kirkpatrick, according to the Cherokee Tribune & Ledger News.
State Rep. Charlice Byrd announced Wednesday she will run for the newly drawn state Senate seat for District 32.
The newly drawn seat now represents southwest Cherokee and north central Cobb counties.
“I am proud to announce my candidacy for this new State Senate seat,” Byrd said in a statement. “This election is so crucial, and the future of our community stands in the balance. If the Democrats win in 2022, they will have control of both our State and our Nation. Our local communities are next in line. We cannot afford to let the Stacey Abrams Liberals and Joe Biden RINO’s control our destiny, drain our bank accounts and trample our freedoms.”
Wendell McNeal will run for the Republican nomination in State House District 114, according to the Covington News.
The district was created during this year’s legislative redistricting process in response to population shifts in the 2020 federal census. It includes northeast, east, southeast and south Newton County; all of Morgan County; and northern Jasper County.
The area’s current representative, Rep. Dave Belton, R-Buckhead, has announced he will not run for the District 114 seat.
McNeal said “In Georgia, we are at a crossroads and need bold leadership at the State Capitol to protect our children, safeguard our liberties and values, secure our elections, and block Biden’s big government overreach. We need brave conservatives who understand the battle and will do whatever it takes to win the war. ”
“That’s why I’m running for State House. It is time for a fresh perspective from a conservative businessman that is willing to win the future for our conservative values – against all odds.”
“I’m no stranger to struggle. After a tragic car accident early in life in which I sustained a severe head injury leaving me unconscious for five days, requiring multiple surgeries and my wearing a helmet for protection to school, I overcame adversity and achieved success through a lot of tenacity and hard work. That tenacity and hard work made me rock-solid — unwilling to bend under pressure — and it has served me well in business. I am ready to bring the same to the State House. ”
“Whether it’s protecting human life, cutting taxes, banning CRT, backing law enforcement, cracking down on the left’s election fraud schemes, or stopping cancel culture dead in its’ tracks, I am ready to fight and win against all odds. As your representative, I will not owe anyone anything – except the people of this district. I will fully devote my passion, time, and energy into being a voice for you and win the future. I ask for your prayers and support and look forward to earning your votes,” concluded McNeal.
Augusta area schools continue to experience bus driver shortages, according to WRDW.
Drivers in all three of our major school districts are struggling to get kids to school on time.
The transportation department for the Richmond County School System says the staff is in crisis mode. And the school districts in Aiken and Columbia counties are searching for drivers, too.
The district says drivers are hard to come by because the industry has changed, it’s a competitive market, and COVID is keeping drivers out.
“We’ve been able to recruit a good amount of drivers, but we’re not making a dent to reduce the shortages that we have,” said [Richmond County School System director of transportation Herbert] Hill.
Athens-Clarke County Commissioners voted to allow alcohol sales on Super Bowl Sunday in 2022, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
It is illegal to sell alcohol on Sundays in Athens for bars and other establishments where less than 50% of income comes from food sales, such as breweries and taprooms.
Commissioners vote on a single day each year that is exempt from that law, a procedure that has been in place since 2017.
Following the input from 51 surveyed alcohol establishments that didn’t have a Sunday Sales permit, commissioners voted unanimously that Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022 can have the sale of alcohol in bars and breweries in Athens.
This falls on next year’s Super Bowl Sunday, which received 23 votes. The next popular option was AthFest in June, which had 9 votes.
Lake Park City Council failed to meet after a member’s absence prevented a quorum and will reschedule, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
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