On July 28, 1868, United States Secretary of State William Seward proclaimed that the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution had been ratified and was now part of the Constitution. The first section of the 14th Amendment often forms the basis for litigation and reads:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Georgia initially rejected the 14th Amendment in 1866, later ratifying it on July 21, 1868 as a condition for readmission.
On July 28, 1978, Animal House was released, instantly becoming one of the greatest films of all time. In case you’ve never seen the film, there is a tiny little bit of adult language in the following clip.
On July 28, 1994, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating “The General” locomotive, which was stolen in 1862 during the Great Locomotive Chase. Today, The General may be viewed at The Southern Museum in Kennesaw.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Last week, Governor Deal appointed Ray C. Smith to a judgeship in Bryan County State Court and Ronald C. Goulart as to Catoosa County State Court.
Deal spoke to new employees of the Hall County Public Schools, according to the Gainesville Times.
The “opportunity school district” would allow the state to take over “chronically failing districts,” which Deal said are districts that fail to “score above an F” for three or more consecutive years.
The governor portrayed the proposal as a way to break the links between inmates in state prisons and school dropouts. He said a study from when he first took office in 2011 showed that 70 percent of state inmates are dropouts.
Deal presented the constitutional amendment as a choice between the status quo in education and prisons or breaking the pattern — reducing the number of prisoners and the number of dropouts.
“I take offense at some with the educational system who are so opposed to doing something about this blight on education that they will be satisfied with the status quo,” Deal said.
The Professional Association of Georgia Educators and Georgia Association of Educators both oppose the constitutional amendment.
Peter Murphy won the Republican Primary Runoff for Glynn County Commission District 2 over incumbent Dale Provenzano.
“I am honored, and I am humbled, and I appreciate that all the people that believed in me came out and voted for me, and I can promise them that I will work as hard and as honestly as I can, not only for the island for but for Glynn County,” Murphy said.
Murphy took a healthy lead with 58.71 percent to Provenzano’s 41.29 percent, overcoming Provenzano by 17.42 percent. It constituted the largest gap of the three runoff races which also included Clerk of Superior Court and Glynn County Coroner.
That shakes out to 2,257 votes for Murphy and 1,587 votes for Provenzano.
“That is a significant victory, and I’d like to build on that momentum and convince the commissioners that I am here to cooperate with them and do right by the island,” Murphy said.
“The biggest point is, here I am a heart surgeon whose come down here for over 40 years, who has never been involved in politics with virtually no name recognition and I won 60-40. That’s very humbling,” Murphy said.
Here’s where it gets weird. After Murphy’s election, State Rep. Jeff Jones issued a statement that he never endorsed Murphy in the election.
Today we learned, that paid-staff working on behalf of now Commissioner-Elect Dr. Peter Murphy, created, distributed, and promoted fraudulent posts on Facebook, and may have sent other dishonest electronic communications designed to falsify an endorsement by Representative Jeff Jones of Dr. Peter Murphy.
To be very clear, Representative Jeff Jones never endorsed Dr. Peter Murphy period.
More from the Brunswick Business Journal,
Republican State Rep. Jeff Jones had endorsed Provenzano, a long-time political ally in the race who was seeking a second term.
But, through his representative, Jones is now concerned that there were ‘dirty tricks’ used to influence the election Tuesday.
On Monday, Rep. Jones sent out an email in clear support of Provenzano, with no mention of Murphy; it was also distributed to all of the local media in the region. The Brunswick Business Journal received Rep. Jones’ first email on Monday evening, and then a second email at 4:00 p.m. on election day, reminding voters that the polls would close at 7:00 p.m.
According to Jones’ representative Jeffrey Sewell, owner of Sewell Consultancy who also serves as Jones’ Communications Director, the Rev. Kenneth Adkins, a local black pastor, posted the following message on his Facebook page at 7:15 a.m. election day. It reads: “Wow. Just got a letter from Georgia State Representative Jeff Jones endorsing Dr Peter Murphy for Glynn County Commission, District 2, encompassing St. Simons Island. Thank You Sir. Everybody Please Go For Vote Dr. Peter Murphy Today!”
The post still appears on Adkins’s Facebook page (see Photo), and gives the clear impression that Rep. Jones was now endorsing Murphy over Provenzano. Adkins also took the image of Jeff Jones’s campaign posters from the State Rep’s website and a picture of Jones’ family to add to the post to give the impression of its authenticity.
Sewell states that they are investigating the incident. “I’m concerned that the election could have been affected to that degree. Dale was working very hard, going door-to-door, doing everything you should do,” he said, in an interview today.
Matt Gurtler will take the State House seat formerly occupied by State Rep Stephen Allison after winning the runoff election in HD 8.
Gurtler took 49 percent of the vote in Rabun, but captured 62 percent of the vote in Towns, 75 percent in Union and 59 percent in White. In all, Gurtler won with 61 percent of the total vote.
Incumbent Madison County Sheriff Kip Thomas was ousted in the Republican Primary by Michael Moore, who will take office in January.
In Henry County, Johnny Wilson beat incumbent District 1 County Commissioner Bo Moss in the Republican Primary Runoff and faces no opposition in November.
In Newton County, Democrat Marcello Banes won the Primary Runoff to advance to the November General Election against Republican Aaron Varner. For District 5 on the County Commission, Ronnie Cowan won the GOP Runoff and faces no opposition in November.
In Savannah’s Democratic Primary Runoff, Tabitha Odell beat incumbent District 5 County Commissioner Yusuf Shabazz to take office in January.
“I think the main focus with everything going on in the world, everything going on in the city, I want to work on team-playing, unity, a city of Savannahians and not individual pockets of people,” she said. “I think that’s very important.”
Speaking by phone as the final votes were tallied Tuesday, the commissioner-elect said she was excited with the outcome and ready to get started representing the district when the next term begins.
“I am thankful that we ran a cordial race, and I appreciate everyone that came out to vote for me,” Odell said. “And for those who did not vote, I appreciate the opportunity to show them … I will do my best for the entire district. Whether you supported me this time or not, I hope to earn your support over the next four years.”
In Bryan County, Don Montgomery won the runoff for Solicitor General and Karen Krupp won the election as vice chair of the Board of Education.
Montgomery topped Andrew Johnson with 54 percent of the vote (996 – 850); while Krupp came out on ahead garnering 56 percent (1,045-819).
Chuck Thaxton claimed a seat on the Polk County Commission representing District 2 after winning the Republican nomination with no Democrat on the November ballot.
Cathy Williams won the runoff for Muscogee County Board of Education District 7, while incumbent District 1 BOE member Pat Hugley Green retained her seat.
Ron Adams won the GOP runoff election for Glynn County Clerk of Courts, while Marc Neu takes the GOP nod to advance to the General Election for Coroner.
Three candidates will be on the November ballot for Mayor of Villa Rica – Jeff Reese, Sheikh Tijan Drammeh, and Issac J. Robinson – as will a quartet of candidates for an open Ward 4 City Council seat, Michael Nicholas Day, Michael Young, Gil McDougal, and Joey Kelley.
In Lula, Georgia, voters will decide whether to approve sale of liquor in restraurants.
The City Council voted Wednesday morning to place a referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot asking voters of the Northeast Hall city if they favor being allowed to buy liquor at restaurants and other establishments.
The council also voted to not put on the ballot a separate referendum asking voters if they want liquor sales on Sunday.
“We don’t want Sunday sales,” Smith and Councilman Mordecai Wilson both said, almost at the same time.
Buying beer and wine at a restaurant or bar might be decided later by the council, City Manager Dennis Bergin said.
Currently, only beer and wine package sales are allowed in Lula Monday through Saturday.
While the state requires cities to get voter approval before allowing liquor sales, cities don’t need a referendum to allow on-premises beer and wine sales.
Council members have indicated they are awaiting the outcome of the Nov. 8 vote “before they take that issue up,” Bergin said.
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