On February 9, 1825, the United States House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as President of the United States, despite his having received fewer popular votes than Andrew Jackson. Congress voted for the President after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes in the 1824 election.
The 12th Amendment states that if no electoral majority is won, only the three candidates who receive the most popular votes will be considered in the House.
Representative Henry Clay, who was disqualified from the House vote as a fourth-place candidate, agreed to use his influence to have John Quincy Adams elected. Clay and Adams were both members of a loose coalition in Congress that by 1828 became known as the National Republicans, while Jackson’s supporters were later organized into the Democratic Party.
Alexander Stephens was elected Vice President of the Confederate States of America on February 9, 1861.
On February 9, 1926, the Atlanta Board of Education voted to prohibit teaching evolution in the Atlanta Public Schools.
On February 9, 1964, the Beatles debuted in America on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Under the Gold Dome Today
8:30 AM – Senate Insurance and Labor Committee – Mezz 1
9:00 AM – HOUSE Life & Health Insurance Subcommittee – 606 CLOB HYBRID
10:00 AM – HOUSE INDUSTRY AND LABOR COMMITTEE – canceled – 506 CLOB HYBRID
10:00 AM – HOUSE INSURANCE COMMITTEE – 606 CLOB HYBRID
10:00 AM – Senate Health and Human Services Committee – 450 CAP
10:00 AM – Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee – Mezz 1
11:00 AM – HOUSE STATE PLANNING & CONSUMER AFFAIRS – 506 CLOB HYBRID
11:00 AM – Senate Higher Education Committee – 450 CAP
11:30 AM – HOUSE Education Academic Innovation Subcommittee – 506 CLOB HYBRID
12:00 PM – HOUSE Judiciary Non-Civil Smith Subcommittee – 406 CLOB HYBRID
12:00 PM – Senate Rules Committee – 450 CAP
1:00 PM – HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE – 606 CLOB HYBRID
1:00 PM – HOUSE BUDGET & FISCAL AFFAIRS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE – 341 CAP HYBRID
1:00 PM – Senate Health and Human Services Committee – 450 CAP
1:30 PM – HOUSE Ways & Means Ad Valorem Subcommittee – 403 CAP HYBRID
2:00 PM – HOUSE Ways & Means Income Tax Subcommittee – 403 CAP HYBRID
2:00 PM – HOUSE GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE – 406 CLOB HYBRID
2:00 PM – Senate Retirement Committee – canceled – 310 CLOB
2:00 PM – Senate Education and Youth Committee – 307 CLOB
3:00 PM – HOUSE JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL COMMITTEE – 132 CAP HYBRID
3:00 PM – HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE – 341 CAP HYBRID
3:00 PM – Senate Finance Committee – 450 CAP
3:30 PM – HOUSE STATE PROPERTIES COMMITTEE – 403 CAP
4:00 PM – Transportation Committee – 450 CAP
Headline of the Day in the Albany Herald over a story from Capitol Beat News Service: Brian Kemp trouncing David Perdue in gubernatorial campaign fundraising
Gov. Brian Kemp is dominating gubernatorial fundraising fewer than four months before the May 24 Republican primary.
Kemp has raised $19.3 million toward his reelection bid on his own and another $2.3 million through Georgians First, a leadership committee made possible through controversial legislation the General Assembly passed last year.
Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, who entered the race for the Republican nomination last month, has raised just $1.1 million, The Hill, a Washington, D.C. publication that covers Capitol Hill, reported Tuesday.
Kemp reported $13.3 million cash on hand as of Jan. 31, including both his campaign and Georgians First. Abrams listed $7.2 million in her campaign war chest, also as of the end of last month.
But note that a Federal Judge enjoined the Georgians First committee from spending money to support Governor Kemp during the Primary.
The AJC headline reads: Kemp presses Perdue to quit race amid ‘lackluster’ fundraising
“The numbers are crystal clear: David Perdue does not have the resources to win this primary, but he does have the ability to elect Stacey Abrams as our next governor,” his campaign wrote in the memo.
“A brutal primary, where our campaign is forced to engage significant resources, is Stacey Abrams’ surest path to victory.”
Pointing to the Democrat’s loaded bank account, Kemp’s campaign said Perdue’s “lackluster” fundraising should be a wakeup call to conservatives.
“Every day David Perdue stays in this race is a day Abrams gets closer to the Governor’s Mansion.”
Democrat Stacey Abrams apologized for photos of her maskless in a room full of children, according to the AJC.
The Democratic candidate for governor told CNN that she took her mask off to read to students at a Decatur school last week so that children listening remotely in other classrooms could better hear her, but that she shouldn’t have posed maskless for photos after her reading.
“In the excitement after I finished, because it was so much working with those kids, I took a picture. And that was a mistake,” Abrams said of the event, part of a Black History Month reading celebration.
“Protocols matter, and protecting our kids is the most important thing. And anything that can be perceived as undermining that is a mistake. And I apologize.”
The apology was a sharp change in approach for the Abrams campaign, which on Sunday accused critics of a “pathetic, transparent and silly attack.” Earlier Tuesday, more photos showing Abrams posing without a mask proliferated on social media.
Qualifying for political office begins next month, according to The Brunswick News.
Qualifying for the upcoming county and state elections is set for March 7-11.
Absentee ballot applications for the general primary are March 7 though May 13. The voter registration deadline for the primary is April 25. Early voting for the general primary is May 2-20 with general primary election set for May 24. Any runoffs, if necessary, will take place June 21.
The voter registration deadline for the November general election is Oct. 10. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 8, with a runoff on Dec. 6, if necessary. Go to the voter information link at the Glynn County website for more information about the upcoming election cycle.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) would have a greater role in prosecuting gang violence under House Bill 1134, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.
House Bill 1134 follows Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget proposal to fund the creation of a new Gang Prosecution Unit in the attorney general’s office.
“Gangs do not contain themselves within a city or county line – they work across multiple jurisdictions to commit violent and dangerous acts,” Attorney General Chris Carr said.
“This legislation would allow our office to serve as a force multiplier by working with law enforcement and district attorneys to build cases and to ensure criminals are put behind bars.”
Tuesday afternoon, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee to offer her support for a bill that would strengthen prosecution of street gangs. It’s called the “Safe and Secure Georgia Act” [Senate Bill 359] sponsored by Senator John Albers, R-Roswell.
“I think it’s extremely important not only to urban district attorneys,” Willis said, adding that rural prosecuting offices will benefit as well.
Supporters of the bill argue that by joining the gang, the courts can consider the individual member as part of the larger gang conspiracy to commit other crimes in other counties, this making that participating member responsible for cross-jurisdictional crimes of that gang.
“A gang by its nature is a special kind of criminal conspiracy,” said John Floyd, a prosecutor and expert on conspiracy and racketeering law. “If a person joins a conspiracy they are tried in any place where that entity commits that conspiracy.”
Georgia State Senator Burt Jones (T-Jackson) is calling for an investigation of Gwinnett County Board of Education Chair Tarece Johnson, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, sent the letter to the State Board of Education last week. The letter mostly targets Johnson, mainly over videos she posted on social media. It also targets claims that Critical Race Theory — a subject that has been frequently attacked by Republicans — is being taught in AP courses in Gwinnett County Public Schools.
“The parents, students, teachers, and taxpayers of Gwinnett County deserve to have a full accounting and transparency in this situation, and I am confident that our State Board of Education will afford them that,” Jones said in the letter.
The senator accused Johnson of making “inflammatory, divisive and highly controversial remarks” on social media calling for an end to “anti-Black capitalism” and attacking systemic prejudices against minorities.
“Now more than ever, our education system needs welcoming role models who can provide guidance and assurance to students of all backgrounds, and Dr. Johnson’s actions severely undermine that mission and further divide our students and schools at a time when we need to unite and come together,” Jones wrote.
“For this reason, I am asking the Georgia Board of Education to launch a full investigation into Dr. Johnson’s statements, implemented policies, and administrative actions — and whether they violate any of the code of conduct policies or other statutes on a county or statewide level. I respectfully ask the Board to evaluate all potential options within its authority to address these situations regarding Dr. Johnson’s actions as Chair of the Gwinnett County Board of Education.”
Lifelong Democrat Vernon Jones (T-DeKalb) is now running in the Republican Primary for Congress in the Tenth District, according to the Associated Press via the Athens Banner Herald.
Jones announced his choice of the 10th district on social media and in an interview with Fox News. The open seat, stretching from Atlanta’s suburban fringe to the college town of Athens, has drawn more than 10 other Republicans already.
Jones listed his priorities as preventing federal election legislation, doing more to secure borders and protecting “medical freedoms.” Anticipating attacks from other Republicans, he tweeted: “Hell, they even call me the Black Donald Trump! Bring it on, liars!”
“Look, I’m a conservative, I have traditional values,” he told Fox News. “The left has taken this country too far to the left. That’s why I identify with the 10th Congressional District. Those people have values like mine, conservative values, faith-based, hard working, entrepreneurial spirit, things of that nature. We have to get back to that.”
The seat is open because U.S. Rep. Jody Hice is stepping down to run for Georgia secretary of state with Trump’s backing. The fundraising leader has been Mike Collins, the son of former U.S. Rep. Mac Collins. He took immediate aim at Jones, noting allegations that Jones had raped a woman in 2004. Jones hotly denied that, and charges were later dropped.
“The voters of GA10 don’t want a corrupt, carpetbagging, lifelong Democrat from DeKalb County accused of rape representing them,” Collins tweeted. “They want a pro-Trump, America 1st fighter who’s lived, worked and raised a family in the district — it’s why we’re going to win.”
Traditional values indeed.
Georgia courts continue to face backlogs that grew during COVID, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald.
“Even when not halted entirely, our judicial system’s capacity to conduct jury trials, and other proceedings that need to be done in-person, is significantly lower because of COVID,” [Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice David] Nahmias told a joint session of the General Assembly in his first State of the Judiciary address since his colleagues on the bench elected him chief justice last year.
Nahmias said the courts have used remote proceedings to help keep cases moving.
But videoconferences are not appropriate for all cases. To deal with criminal cases that must be tried in person, Nahmias said, judges have found ways creative ways to socially distance participants, including using larger spaces for trials.
Nahmias praised Gov. Brian Kemp for allocating $110 million in federal COVID relief funds but noted the money is restricted to certain purposes by the federal government. He asked counties to step up and help by distributing some of their share of the federal relief funds to local courts.
“This will be the main issue that the judicial system of Georgia will be dealing with, not only until the rest of our society returns to more normal conditions, but for several years to come,” Chief Justice David Nahmias told the General Assembly in his annual State of the Judiciary address.
Nahmias gave some examples, such as what faces the six-county Southwestern Judicial Circuit. In 2019, it had 377 open felony cases; it now has more than 900. Muscogee County has almost 300 serious violent felony cases pending, including more than 100 jailed defendants charged with murder.
The chief justice noted that when Cobb County Superior Court Judge Tain Kell’s son contracted COVID-19, Kell conducted remote hearings from a makeshift courtroom in his bedroom while his family was quarantined. Kell even took a U.S. flag from his front porch so it could be displayed during the hearings.
The pandemic has also magnified the challenges of how to deal with offenders with behavioral health issues, Nahmias told lawmakers.
“But beyond accountability courts, communities across Georgia need more resources to serve our fellow citizens with mental health issues,” Nahmias said. “Addressing this problem is not just good for our justice system and our economy, it’s a moral imperative.”
State Rep. Dominic LaRiccia (R-Douglas) extended his middle finger to The Man and has since apologized, according to WRDW.
Rep. Dominic LaRiccia told lawmakers on the state House floor Tuesday that he thought it would be cute or a little funny, but the gesture was inappropriate.
He asked for grace and forgiveness.
From the AJC who first reported on this:
“It’s not an F-U moment,” he said. “But I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t pent up frustration.”
Once a floor leader for Gov. Brian Kemp, LaRiccia has fallen out of favor with some senior Republicans in recent years and was drawn into the same district with a fellow GOP legislator during redistricting. He’s increasingly thinking about his next moves “transitioning” back to civilian life and spending more time with his family.
“I told my wife, ‘Baby, it looks like I found trouble again.’”
House Ethics Chairman Randy Nix then responded, citing a House rule that requires all representatives to conduct themselves with dignity and respect for others.
“I want you to think about conducting yourself while you’re here as if what you’re saying and what you’re doing is being livestreamed directly to your mother,” he said.
When Nix completed speaking, the entire House rose for a standing ovation.
A Georgia vendor was hacked, exposing some voter information, according to the AJC.
A data breach of the voting software company EasyVote Solutions exposed Georgia voters’ registration information on the internet, the company confirmed Tuesday.
Public information about voters was posted to an online forum, but the breach didn’t involve Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers, said Charles Davis, chief financial officer for EasyVote. Voter registration information can include names, addresses, races and dates of birth.
EasyVote’s software isn’t connected to Georgia voter registration computers. EasyVote doesn’t generate or count ballots, and it’s not used for election results.
“Upon learning that the files had been made available, EasyVote immediately started an investigation,” Davis said. “EasyVote quickly disabled access to that storage location and transferred the data to a new environment with additional security controls.”
The Georgia voter registration system remains secure, according to the secretary of state’s office.
“EasyVote is not part of Georgia’s voting system. They are a vendor that some counties use to assist them with voter check-in procedures. No part of the state system has been affected,” said Ari Schaffer, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.
Oconee County is investigating whether the EasyVote breach affected their operations, according to WGAU.
Easy Vote has informed the county that the affected data included information that is currently public record with the exception of date of birth.
The breach occurred from an export of the daily voter file on January 13, 2022.
Easy Vote also serves over 120 of the 159 counties in Georgia, including Oconee County, which it has served since 2015 without prior incident.
Oconee County Government is committed to ensuring that this incident is fully investigated in order to prevent future issues.
Macon-Bibb County Commissioners announced they will spend $1.8 million in federal COVID relief funds on violence prevention, according to 13WMAZ.
Evans County voters will decide a referendum on Sunday package sales of alcohol in the May 24th Primary elections, according to WTOC.
The Evans County Board of Commissioners recently approved the referendums to appear on an upcoming ballot for voters to weigh in.
Now, other cities within Evans County, including Hagan, have introduced their own resolutions in case voters don’t approve the county measure.
The Lincoln County Board of Elections rescheduled a controversial vote on consolidating voting locations, according to WJBF.
The vote was originally supposed to happen at January’s meeting, but some very vocal residents who were shouting caused the board to adjourn early without voting.
The meeting was rescheduled to February 9th, but officials rescheduled again for later in February, citing scheduling conflicts.
[Board of Elections Director Lilvender] Bolton said the reason the Board of Elections wants to reduce the number of voting locations is because they don’t think there are enough registered voters to support seven precincts.
In a revised proposal that the board was scheduled to vote on Wednesday, Feb. 9, the county would keep three of its seven polls open.
“At the meeting on (Jan.) 19, a lot of people voiced concerns about closing polls, so we tried to meet them in the middle,” Board of Elections Director Lilvender Bolton said.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said his highest priority for the General Assembly is increasing the hotel/motel tax, according to WSAV.
University of Georgia economists said that Middle Georgia’s job markets will continue growing, according to 13WMAZ.
In Warner Robins, they’re predicting about a 3% job growth, keeping pace with the state average.
The biggest factor is that the prospects for Georgia’s military bases like Robins Air Force Base remain good. The economists say Warner Robins is more dependent on federal jobs and dollars than any part of the state.
Improvements to the Port of Savannah should be a boost for Central Georgia’s shipping and distribution.
Also coming our way: more Atlantans. Economists say, “As Atlanta becomes more congested, Macon will become more attractive to homeowners, private businesses, and state government operations.”
Statewide, the experts said Georgia’s economy will grow by about 4%. Unemployment should stay low — just over 3%, and job growth should run slightly higher than the national average.
Dalton City Council voted to build an aquatics centers, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.
The Long County Health Department and the Coastal Health District are offering $50 gift cards to residents for getting vaccinated, according to WSAV.
The first 50 people who receive COVID-19 vaccines at the clinic held on Feb. 22 will receive a $50 Visa gift card. The clinic will be from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Long County Health Department.
According to the Department of Public Health, only 25% of Long County residents have received at least one vaccine dose in Long County. Only 22% have been fully vaccinated.
Harris County Public Schools have gone mask optional, according to WTVM.
Glynn County Board of Education members voted to approve a stipend for most employees aimed at retaining workers, according to The Brunswick News.
Bus drivers, bus aides, custodians and food service workers will receive $200 stipends in the middle of each month from February to July. In August, they will receive a $500 stipend when they return for the next school year.
Teachers will receive a $1,500 signing retention stipend in August when they return to work next school year.
The stipends will be paid using CARES Act funding, and the total cost is about $2.7 million.
Other non-administrative staff will also receive $1,500 retention stipends when they return to work in August. The stipends will be paid using general fund money and will total a little more than $500,000.
Glynn County Schools is struggling to keep many positions filled, which is an issue employers across the country are facing. This challenge is paired with supply chain shortages that are impacting the district in many ways.
Gwinnett County public libraries also facing staffing challenges, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Although their request for funding to raise the minimum wage of its employees was turned down by Gwinnett County government, the Gwinnett County Public Libraries system is moving forward with the raises for this year by using contingency reserve funds.
But, the system’s executive director, Charles Pace, issued a warning on Monday night: the library system’s can’t afford to use reserve funds in the longterm to pay for the higher salaries.
If the library system cannot find ongoing funding for the increased minimum wage on an annual basis in 2023 and thereafter, then library patrons could eventually see fewer services in the coming years.
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