Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for February 8, 2022

On February 8, 1751, the first session of the Georgia Provincial Parliament adjourned, having convened on January 15, 1751.

On February 8, 1955, Gov. Marvin Griffin signed a resolution by the General Assembly calling on Congress to require racial segregation in the military.

On February 8, 1956, the Georgia State House adopted a resolution purporting to hold the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education null and void.

On February 8, 1981, R.E.M. held their first recording session at Bombay Studios in Smyrna, recording “Gardening At Night,” “Radio Free Europe” and “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville,” as well as others.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Under the Gold Dome Today

TBD – Senate Rules Committee upon Adjournment – 450 CAP

8:00 AM – HOUSE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE – 506 CLOB HYBRID

8:00 AM – HOUSE MOTOR VEHICLES COMMITTEE – 606 CLOB HYBRID

9:00 AM – HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE – 341 CAP

10:00 AM – HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD 13) – House Chamber

10:00 AM – Senate Floor Session LD 13 – Senate Chamber

1:00 PM – HOUSE Insurance Property & Casualty Subcommittee – 406 CLOB HYBRID

1:00 PM – HOUSE Natural Resources and Environment Resource Management Subcommittee – 606 CLOB HYBRID

1:00 PM – HOUSE Ways & Means Public Finance & Policy Subcommittee – 403 CAP HYBRID

1:00 PM – Senate Insurance and Labor Committee – Mezz 1

1:00 PM – Senate Higher Education Committee – 450 CAP

1:15 PM – HOUSE Ways & Means Sales Tax Subcommittee – 403 CAP HYBRID

1:30 PM – HOUSE Ways & Means Tax Revision Subcommittee – 403 CAP HYBRID

1:30 PM – HOUSE Judiciary Scoggins Subcommittee – 132 CAP HYBRID

2:00 PM – HOUSE HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE – 606 CLOB HYBRID

2:00 PM – HOUSE Judiciary Non-Civil Smith Subcommittee – 132 CAP HYBRID

2:00 PM – HOUSE Regulated Industries Regulatory Subcommittee – 506 CLOB HYBRID

2:00 PM – HOUSE RETIREMENT COMMITTEE – 406 CLOB HYBRID

2:00 PM – Senate Health and Human Services Committee – 450 CAP

2:00 PM – Senate Public Safety Committee – Canceled – Mezz 1

2:30 PM – HOUSE Regulated Industries Occupational / Professional Licensing Subcommittee – 506 CLOB HYBRID

3:00 PM – HOUSE Governmental Affairs Redistricting and Elections Special Subcommittee – 341 CAP HYBRID

3:00 PM – Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee – 450 CAP

4:00 PM – Senate Judiciary Committee – 307 CLOB

United States District Judge Mark Cohen has enjoined the Georgians First Leadership Committee from spending money to support Governor Brian Kemp in the Republican Primary, according to the Associated Press via the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, who’s challenging Kemp in the primary, last month filed a lawsuit challenging the new law. Perdue and his campaign allege that the law gives Kemp a significant and unfair fundraising and spending advantage in the primary and asked the judge to declare it unconstitutional.

The law, passed by state legislators last year and signed by Kemp, allows certain top elected officials, including the governor and party nominees, to create leadership committees that can raise campaign funds without limits, including during a legislative session. Just after the law took effect in July, Kemp created the Georgians First Leadership Committee.

U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen found that Perdue’s lawsuit was likely to succeed and issued an order granting a preliminary injunction. It immediately prohibits Georgians First from spending money to advocate for Kemp’s reelection or his opponent’s defeat during the primary and any primary runoff.

“There’s no crying in politics — except when it’s David Perdue,” said Kemp campaign spokesman Cody Hall. “We look forward to winning the primary in May and keeping Stacey Abrams’ dangerous agenda from taking over our state in November.”

Cohen wrote in his order that the U.S. Supreme Court has said imposing different contribution limits on candidates competing for the same office violates the First Amendment. The new law, he wrote, “effectively negates the contribution limit upon which all candidates for Governor in the primary election are bound for just one person: Governor Kemp, the incumbent.”

From the AJC:

The new leadership committee that gave Gov. Brian Kemp a decided fundraising advantage over his opponents has taken in $2.3 million since it was formed in June, a new report shows.

That is on top of the $12 million the governor has reported having in his campaign account as he heads into a costly and likely brutal reelection fight against former Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue and Kemp’s 2018 Democratic challenger, Stacey Abrams.

The report on Kemp’s Georgians First Leadership Committee was released shortly after a federal judge ruled that going forward, the fund can’t be used to help the governor win his primary against Perdue. However, it can continue to receive unlimited donations, including during the General Assembly session, as long as the money isn’t spent directly on Kemp’s primary campaign.

If Kemp, as expected, gets past the primary, he faces a rematch with Abrams, who set fundraising records that year and whose voting rights group, Fair Fight, has raised more than $100 million since then. Abrams has raised $9.2 million for her latest campaign since entering the race in December.

From Now Habersham:

Cohen noted that people can still donate to outside political organizations that support Kemp for governor.

“In fact, for the individual who does not want his or her contribution to be disclosed as a contribution to the governor’s leadership committee, it may be a more attractive option not to contribute to the leadership committee and instead continue to provide donations to an independent committee supporting the governor’s re-election,” he wrote.

The decision will by no means transform Kemp into a pauper, said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. Kemp told Fox News in January he had raised $7 million between July and the start of the session.

“He’s going to have plenty of money,” Bullock said. “And indications are, going back to that letter that was signed by all but 10 or so of the Republican senators encouraging Perdue not to run, he seems to be tight with a lot of the Republican legislators, so it’s not like he has no friends and no money.”

Bullock said he predicts a close primary race ahead of a showstopper main event against presumed Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams.

From the Associated Press via WSAV:

ncumbent Gov. Brian Kemp is far outraising his main Republican primary challenger, former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, leaving Perdue with less than $1 million in cash on hand while Kemp had $12.7 million in his main campaign account.

Perdue raised $1.1 million by Jan. 31 after entering the race in early December, according to a report filed Monday.

Kemp has been raising money all along, banking $7.4 million in the seven months ended Jan. 31. While Perdue had much less time, he’s currently raising less than $1 million a month. Democrat Stacey Abrams, by comparison, raised $9.25 million after entering the race only a few days ahead of Perdue.

Kemp spokesperson Cody Hall said Perdue’s “ego driven campaign is down in the polls” and “can’t raise money,” calling Perdue’s total “embarrassing.”

“It is abundantly clear Gov. Kemp is the only Republican with the grassroots support, conservative record and resources to beat Stacy Abrams this November,” Hall said.

Meanwhile, Democrat Vernon Jones dropped out of the GOP Primary for Governor and endorsed a former United States Senator, according to CNN.

“After much prayer & consideration I have decided that I can best serve the people of Georgia in the Congress of the United States,” Jones said in a statement released on Twitter. “I believe that strong conservative voices need to be heard as we lead America into the future.”

“Because of this decision I am officially withdrawing my candidacy for Governor effective today and will be supporting David Perdue for Governor,” he wrote, calling Perdue a “good man who loves our state and loves our Country.”

Jones has run unsuccessfully for Congress before, seeking a Senate seat in 2008 and a House seat in 2010.

From the Associated Press via AccessWDUN:

“Vernon Jones is a conservative patriot who cares deeply about Georgia,” Perdue wrote in a tweet. “We need his voice and we need him in the fight. I’m proud to have his support.”

Cody Hall, a spokesperson for Kemp, attacked Jones’ endorsement as worthless, citing allegations that Jones had raped a woman in 2004, which Jones hotly denied, with charges later being dropped. Hall also attacked Jones on other grounds, including voting against a bill restricting abortion.

“Vernon’s support for Perdue makes sense — both have a history of paying lip service to the America First movement and putting their own egos and wallets ahead of what’s best for the people of Georgia,” Hall said.

The Athens Banner Herald profiles the U.S. Senate candidates polling better than 1 percent.

Governor Kemp called on local Boards of Education to end mask mandates, according to WJBF.

In a tweet Monday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp requested that all schools in Georgia put and end to mask mandates.

The Governor also tweeted that he would explore all legal and legislative options available.

Governor Kemp’s request came later Monday after the governors of New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut and Oregon announced an end to state-wide school mask mandates.

Senate Bill 338, by State Senator Dean Burke (R-Bainbridge) passed the State Senate and will extend Medicaid coverage for post-partum mothers, according to Georgia Health News via the Albany Herald.

The state Senate unanimously approved a bill Monday extending Medicaid coverage from six months to a year for low-income post-partum women.

The legislation aims to address Georgia’s high rate of maternal mortality — women’s deaths related to pregnancy.

Medicaid, the federal/state program for low-income and disabled residents, covers more than half of the births in Georgia.

The added Medicaid coverage at the end of pregnancy was backed by Gov. Brian Kemp, whose budget contains $28 million for the coming fiscal year to implement the change.

Rural women in Georgia have a significantly higher maternal mortality rate than those in urban Georgia, Jacob Warren, director of the Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities at Mercer University School of Medicine, said. The risk is particularly high for rural African-American women, who have double the maternal mortality rate of rural white women.

Senate Bill 326 by Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R-Paulding) will place a statue of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the Capitol ground, according to the AJC.

The Georgia Senate on Monday approved on a party-line vote a measure to place a monument honoring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the Capitol grounds.

SB 326 would create a monument committee of three members each from the Georgia House and Senate who would be tasked with approving the design, acquisition and placement of the monument. No public money would be spent on the monument, which would be funded through private donations.

State Sen. Nikki Merritt, a Grayson Democrat, said that while much of “white America” touts Thomas, many Black Americans have taken issue with his opposition to affirmative action and his support for “gutting” Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which had required Georgia and some other states with histories of voter suppression and racial gerrymandering to gain federal approval before changing their voting laws.

“It’s not that we have a problem that he’s a conservative or that he’s a Republican. We think he’s a hypocrite and a traitor,” she said, drawing gasps from some in the chamber.

From the Capitol Beat News Service:

“The story of Justice Thomas is a Georgia story, a story of somebody who grew up without a father from a young age, was homeless from a young age [and] was the first in his family to go to college,” Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, told his Senate colleagues Monday. “That story should be told.”

But Senate Democrats cited a litany of court decisions in which Thomas, who is Black, has sided against the interests of Blacks, including rulings opposing affirmative action and repealing a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

“Justice Thomas is controversial,” said Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson. “He’s not well received in the Black community.”

Other Democrats spoke out against putting up a statue on the Capitol grounds in honor of someone who is still in active service. Of the statues of Georgians on display at the Capitol, only those of former President Jimmy Carter and former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge were erected while they were alive, and both had retired well before the statues were erected.

“Justice Thomas’ political story is still not finished,” said Sen. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah.

Former Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson (D) will run for reelection to the State House, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Jackson confirmed on Monday she’d be running to keep her House seat in 2022, which she won in a special election last November. Her victory in the special election only guaranteed her the seat until the end of the late Rep. Mickey Stephens’ term, which expires at the end of the year.

Jackson says she’s running again “because of the encouragement that I have gotten from people across the board,” noting that she’s still learning the processes of the statehouse.

“I have been encouraged by this community, and I want to continue to fight for them,” Jackson said.

Jackson said while considering a second run, she looked towards trusted friends for their input, including Georgia House District 163 hopeful Anne Westbrook. Jackson said the stresses of the Capitol have taken no toll on her health and said, if anything, she’s getting more exercise.

Jackson said during her 2021 campaign that she wasn’t planning on running again once Stephens’ term expired, but walked that back shortly after being elected, opting instead for a “wait-and-see” approach.

 

 

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson discussed the Savannah-Chatham County trip to the Capitol, according to WTOC.

Mayor Johnson says there were several ticket items city leaders made sure to discuss in Atlanta after not being able to do so last year because of the pandemic. He says one at the top of the list is legislation related to gun violence. He says it’s important that the hundreds of guns the police department confiscates get destroyed and don’t end up back on the streets.

Mayor Johnson says hotel/motel tax was another, which is something they’ve brought to the state before. He says the city is asking to pass the change of category for hotel/motel tax.

“We just don’t think it’s right that Savannah residents have to pay all of the cost associated with tourism. We want to be able to spread that cost to those who visit here. It’s reasonable, it makes sense, and it’s a benefit to our residents and so we’re continually asking our state legislature and our local delegation to support that,” Mayor Johnson said.

Columbia County District Attorney Bobby L. Christine announced an indictment in the case of a fentanyl overdose, according to WRDW.

District Attorney Christine says it’s time for some accountability.

“It is my belief that in some communities, lawbreakers don’t know where the red line in the sand is,” he said.

Our I-TEAM found 80 percent of all drug overdoses in Aiken County alone involved fentanyl in 2020. In July of 2021, fentanyl accounted for 70% of deadly drug overdoses in Richmond County for the year.

Though Christine was not able to speak specifically to this case, he says people frequently have no idea they’re taking fentanyl. In 2021, The U.S Attorney’s Office sentenced two Burke County men to prison for pressing fentanyl to look like other pills.

“Pursuit of these pushers must be put into motion in order to drive this surge from our community,” said Christine. “Your District Attorney’s Office in Columbia County will back the blue.”

Murray County public schools returned to in-person instruction, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

As the school system returned in early January from holiday break amid the national surge of the COVID-19 variant omicron, personnel — teachers, staff and substitutes — shortages led to back-to-back remote learning days for middle and high school students. Then, middle and high school students had four more virtual learning days late last month due to a lack of bus drivers.

On Jan. 19, for example, “we were down” about 10% of the bus-driving force, according to [Superintendent Steve] Loughridge. “Even with everybody driving who can drive, we couldn’t get (all) the kids to school.”

All students have been back learning in-person since Jan. 26, however, and “we plan to stay that way, but it’s still day by day,” Loughridge said Thursday. “Bus drivers are still the issue.”

COVID-19 “case-wise, we’re fine, and doing better,” he added. “We’re just running so thin on bus drivers.”

Glynn County public schools are still impacted by COVID, according to The Brunswick News.

Staff shortages are a major concern right now, said Scott Spence, superintendent.

“We are seeing staffing shortages in nearly every area of the system,” he said. “In addition to food service and transportation issues, we are having an extremely hard time hiring and keeping custodians, substitute teachers and classroom teachers.

The district is also struggling to purchase needed items like certain foods, paper goods, custodial supplies, school furniture and building supplies for renovations and new construction.

“The price of gas increasing so dramatically is certainly not helping matters,” Spence said.

The district is in need of close to 20 drivers to handle the transportation workload.

“Currently, 10 open routes don’t have a permanent driver, which forces us to combine routes to get students to and from school daily,” Simmons said.

Floyd County public schools are considering pay raises in next year’s budget, according to the Rome News Tribune.

Floyd County Schools Superintendent Glenn White is proposing a salary schedule increase for certified and classified employees in the 2023 budget.

“There’s a teacher shortage going on that’s being seen across the state and across the nation,” White said during the premeeting caucus.