Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for July 31, 2023

On July 31, 1777, the Marquis de LaFayette was commissioned a Major General in the Continental Army, serving without pay.

The cornerstone for the first United States Mint was laid in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 31, 1792, becoming the first building constructed by the federal government under the Constitution.

Former President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded President Lincoln upon his assassination and oversaw much of the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, died of a stroke in Tennessee on July 31, 1875.

On July 31, 1906, a bill to place a Constitutional Amendment on the November election for voters to decide whether to create an intermediate-level Georgia Court of Appeals was approved by the Georgia General Assembly.

On July 31, 1962, the one-millionth immigrant was welcomed into Israel.

On July 31, 1987, “The Lost Boys” was released. From the New York Times:

“The Lost Boys” is to horror movies what “Late Night With David Letterman” is to television; it laughs at the form it embraces, adds a rock-and-roll soundtrack and, if you share its serious-satiric attitude, manages to be very funny.

Nolan Ryan, the greatest pitcher in major league baseball history, won his 300th career game on July 31, 1990. During eight innings, Ryan threw 146 pitches, while today, many pitchers are pulled at around the 100-pitch count.

“In the old days throwing that many pitches was a normal game,” said Nolan Ryan, who tossed a record seven no-hitters and is the all-time leader in strikeouts, fifth in innings pitched.

Ryan, currently the Rangers’ team president, is an outspoken detractor of the recent trend toward monitoring pitch counts. In a recent Sports Illustrated article, Ryan expressed his belief that today’s pitchers are “pampered” and that there is no reason why today’s pitchers cannot pitch as much as he and his colleagues did back in the day. As a result, Ryan is pushing his team’s pitchers to throw deeper into games and extend their arms further, emphasizing conditioning over what some would call coddling.

As Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux told SI: “This generation of players has become a creature of the pitch count. Their ceiling has been lowered. It’s up to us to jack it back up.”

Although I think that time he whipped Robin Ventura should count as a win.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Plant Vogtle’s new Unit #3 nuclear reactor is now online, according to the Associated Press via AccessWDUN.

Georgia Power Co. announced Monday that Unit 3 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, has completed testing and is now sending power to the grid reliably.

At its full output of 1,100 megawatts of electricity, Unit 3 can power 500,000 homes and businesses. Utilities in Georgia, Florida and Alabama are receiving the electricity.

Nuclear power now makes up about 25% of the generation of Georgia Power, the largest unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co.

A fourth reactor is also nearing completion at the site, where two earlier reactors have been generating electricity for decades. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday said radioactive fuel could be loaded into Unit 4, a step expected to take place before the end of September. Unit 4 is scheduled to enter commercial operation by March.

The third and fourth reactors were originally supposed to cost $14 billion, but are now on track to cost their owners $31 billion. That doesn’t include $3.7 billion that original contractor Westinghouse paid to the owners to walk away from the project. That brings total spending to almost $35 billion.

“This project shows just how new nuclear can and will play a critical role in achieving a clean energy future for the United States,” Southern Co. CEO Chris Womack said in a statement. “Bringing this unit safely into service is a credit to the hard work and dedication of our teams at Southern Company and the thousands of additional workers who have helped build that future at this site.”

Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers are already paying part of the financing cost and elected public service commissioners have approved a monthly rate increase of $3.78 a month for residential customers as soon as the third unit begins generating power. That could hit bills in August, two months after residential customers saw a $16-a-month increase to pay for higher fuel costs.

Commissioners will decide later who pays for the remainder of the costs of Vogtle, including the fourth reactor.

From the Augusta Chronicle:

The final stages of construction and testing continue at Vogtle Unit 4, with the unit projected to be placed in service during the late fourth quarter 2023 or the first quarter of 2024, according to a news release. The unit completed hot functional testing in May.

“The Plant Vogtle 3 & 4 nuclear expansion is another incredible example of how Georgia Power is building a reliable and resilient energy future for our state,” said Kim Greene, president and CEO of Georgia Power, in a news release. “It is important that we make these kinds of long-term investments and see them through so we can continue providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to our 2.7 million customers. Today’s achievement is a testament to our commitment to doing just that, and it marks the first day of the next 60 to 80 years that Vogtle Unit 3 will serve our customers with clean, reliable energy.”

From WJBF:

Once all four units are online, the Plant Vogtle site will be the largest generator of clean energy in the nation.

From the AJC:

The reactor, Unit 3, is expected to produce 1,100 megawatts of electricity at full tilt, enough to power roughly 500,000 homes and businesses. Georgia Power has said the unit and its twin, Unit 4 — which is expected to be finished by the end of the first quarter of 2024 — will be in service for the next 60 to 80 years.

Mike Smith, the president and CEO of Oglethorpe Power, which owns the second-largest share of the two new units, said in a statement that Unit 3′s completion “is a testament to the important investments we’re making that drive us toward a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.” Once Unit 4 is finished, Smith said Oglethorpe — a power supply cooperative whose members serve 4.4 million Georgians — will source more than half of the electricity it provides from nuclear power.

Unit 3 came online Monday more than seven years after it was initially expected to enter service. Unit 4, meanwhile, is more than six years behind schedule.

The delays have pushed the total price tag for the whole project above $35 billion, more than double what the company initially forecast — and still growing. Critics have blamed Georgia Power and its parent, Southern Company, for the rising costs, which they say Vogtle owners and shareholders should pay for, not customers.

Georgia Power ratepayers have already been paying for the two units in their monthly bills for years.

Expert witnesses for the PSC’s staff recently estimated that by the time Unit 4 enters service, the average Georgia Power customer will have paid about $926 in their monthly bills for Vogtle construction. If the project had been completed on schedule, customers would have paid half that amount.

Now that Unit 3 is complete, they’ll begin paying even more soon. Georgia Power estimates the average customer will see their monthly bills jump by $3.78. Witnesses for the PSC’s staff, however, estimate the monthly increase will be closer to $5.40.

PSC staff experts have testified that if state regulators allow the company to collect $7.7 billion in Vogtle costs through rates, it could lead to a monthly bill increase for residential customers of $14.10 per month on average for the first five years after the units are in service. The monthly increase would drop slightly to $13.20 for the next five years. Those figures include the rate bump that is already set to kick in now that Unit 3 is in operation.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R-Cobb County) is preparing to run for Governor in 2026, according to the AJC.

Attorney General Chris Carr has told a growing number of Republican activists and elected officials that he will run for governor in 2026 to succeed incumbent Brian Kemp, a close political ally who can’t run for a third term.

Carr has been building the foundation for a run for higher office since passing on a 2022 bid for the U.S. Senate, and he’s told friends and prospective supporters that he’s working now to line up donors and grassroots advocates long before the election.

Carr didn’t dispute that he plans to run for Georgia’s top job in 2026 but said through a spokesman his priority is helping Republicans win next year.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a favorite of Donald Trump’s MAGA wing, is openly weighing a bid for the top office and he would tap his family’s considerable financial resources should he run.

Carr, 51, has a long track record in Georgia politics. He was a top aide to then-U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson before Gov. Nathan Deal selected him as the state’s economic development commissioner in 2013. (His wife, Joan Kirchner Carr, also later served as the late senator’s chief of staff.)

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney rejected former President Trump’s attempt to prevent a Fulton County jury from handing down indictments related to the 2020 election, according to the AJC.

In a 9-page order, Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that Trump and Cathy Latham, an “alternate” GOP elector who joined the former president’s motion, did not have have sufficient legal standing to mount a challenge before any indictments are announced.

“The movants’ asserted ‘injuries’ that would open the doors of the courthouse to their claims are either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” McBurney wrote. “They are insufficient because, while being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.”

Trump was joined by Latham, the former chairwoman of the Coffee County GOP who was on hand in January 2021 to greet data technicians hired by a Trump campaign attorney to copy confidential elections data from voting machines at the county elections office. Latham was named an investigation “target” last summer.

McBurney’s order comes just days after Senior Superior Court Judge Stephen Schuster scheduled a hearing for Aug. 10 on Trump’s bid — called a writ of mandamus and prohibition — to disqualify Willis and quash the special grand jury’s final report. Schuster was assigned the case, filed in Fulton Superior Court, as a visiting judge because all of Fulton’s judges were recused from hearing the challenge.

“Perplexingly, prematurely, and with the standard pugnacity, Trump has filed not one but two mandamus actions against the district attorney and this court,” one the Georgia Supreme Court has already dismissed, McBurney noted.

Also from the AJC:

A judge has set a hearing for Aug. 10 on a motion by Donald Trump’s attorneys to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting possible criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election.

Senior Superior Court Judge Stephen Schuster, in an order signed Friday, also directed both sides to submit their legal briefs on the issue no later than Aug. 8.

Schuster, a former Cobb County judge, was assigned the case after all of Fulton’s judges were recused because the motion was filed not just against Willis, but also against fellow Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney.

The Cyber Center at soon-to-be-renamed Fort Gordon will receive $80 million in federal funding, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024, which currently includes $80 million in funding for the Cyber Center at Fort Gordon.

The bill, H.R. 4366, passed the House on a near party-line vote, with 219 Republicans and no Democrats voting in support, while 209 Democrats and two Republicans voted against it.

“Building a 21st century military is crucial to fielding threats in the ever-evolving cyber environment and that starts with these critical investments being made at Fort Gordon,” Rep. Rick Allen, R-Augusta, said in comments on the floor of the House.

The Floyd County Board of Elections is likely to vote Tuesday on a plan to consolidate some voting locations for November’s elections, according to the Rome News Tribune.

Twenty bridges in Glynn and surrounding counties failed to meet standards for upgraded weight limits under legislation passed by the General Assembly, according to The Brunswick Times.

Passed by the state General Assembly this year, House Bill 189 raises the weight limit for trucks carrying agricultural and forest products on Georgia roads and highways to 88,000 pounds (40,000 kilograms).

The weight limit was 80,000 pounds.

Trucks with special permits were allowed to carry up to 95,000 pounds under a supply chain emergency order issued by Gov. Brian Kemp. When that order expired on March 11, the variance decreased to 84,000 pounds.

Of the more than 700 river and creek crossings that do not meet the elevated weight cap, 306 are state bridges and 427 are local bridges.

Chatham County school district will turn on school zone speed cameras, according to WSAV.

The cameras are currently located in all school zones in unincorporated Chatham County, including Georgetown K-8, Marshpoint Elementary/Coastal Middle School, May Howard Elementary, St. Andrews, Isle of Hope, St. James, Southwest and Hesse.

According to the Chatham County Police Department (CCPD), cameras will turn on on Thursday, Aug. 3, the first day of the new public school year. This doesn’t apply to the cameras on Penn Waller Road, which will activate for St. Andrew’s School on Thursday, Aug. 10.

The cameras will turn on an hour before school starts until one hour after school ends. CCPD recommends motorists always drive the posted limit in a school zone since arrival and dismissal times vary by school.

Cameras don’t operate on school holidays or weekends, CCPD says.

To notify drivers that speed cameras are running, signs that flash their speed as they approach the cameras are posted. Drivers can also use the Waze app, CCPD says, which will give them a voice notification when they’re about to enter the school zone.

Effingham County Commissioners voted to privatize some probation functions, according to WTOC.

The county manager says they made this decision during last week’s county commission meeting because the county would have lost money if it continued the way it was.

In the last year, the probation caseload in Effingham County has tripled.

In January of 2022, the new caseload was 136 cases, which is not including cases that were already in progress. However this January, the new caseload jumped to 362.

The Effingham County manager Tim Callanan says that this year, the probation department was running around 550 cases between four probation officers. And even after adding an additional officer, there were too many cases falling through the cracks.

Callanan says that the probation department was never meant to be a financial burden on taxpayers and in order to keep it that way, privatizing was the best option.

Albany and Dougherty County will open cooling stations, according to WALB.

“According to current weather reports, the heat index will reach dangerous temperatures, and the City and County would like to offer shelter from the heat to those who need it,” the city said in a release.

Former Dougherty County Administrator Michael McCoy is suing the county after he was fired, according to WALB.

Some of those claims against Chairman Lorenzo Heard and the commission include failure to provide a workplace free of retaliation and harassment, breach of contract and defamation.

It goes on to say that the commission violated McCoy’s rights and that he is filing a “charge of discrimination” with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of, “Retaliation for engaging in protected activity as a whistleblower.” McCoy’s attorney says they weren’t able to testify to that retaliation during the county’s proceedings on June 26th.

“A lot of folks were asking since this process is so unfair, why don’t you all just leave? We didn’t leave because we understood that we would live to fight another day, and that day is upon us,” Maurice King, McCoy’s attorney, said.

The ante litem concludes with a claim for $5 million, but notes that McCoy’s legal team would, “be willing to discuss other amounts in the spirit of compromise.”

From the Albany Herald:

McCoy and King announced earlier in the week their plans to bring charges against the county board for conduct at a public hearing at which they said McCoy was not given the opportunity to fully express his complaints because hearing administrator, Mark Anthony Scott, a retired Superior Court judge with the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, illegally denied them the opportunity to do so.

The ante litem notice spells out specific charges against commission members and applicable local, state and federal laws that they say board members violated in voting to terminate McCoy after a 25-plus-year career with the county.

“The purpose of this letter is to inform you that our office has been retained to represent (McCoy) in proceedings to collect compensation for damages rising from violations of his state and federal constitutional rights in or around November 2022 through July 2023,” the notice, signed by King and addressed to Board Chairman Lorenzo Head with copies sent to Commissioners Ed Newsome, Victor Edwards, Clinton Johnson, Russell Gray, Gloria Gaines and Anthony Jones, said. “The actions alleged herein are continuing in nature as the discriminatory and retaliatory conflict against Mr. McCoy is continuing in nature. Accordingly, this letter will serve as an ante litem notice and is made persuant to (applicable Georgia law) and the provisions found therein.”

The ante litem notice spells out specific charges against commission members and applicable local, state and federal laws that they say board members violated in voting to terminate McCoy after a 25-plus-year career with the county.

“The purpose of this letter is to inform you that our office has been retained to represent (McCoy) in proceedings to collect compensation for damages rising from violations of his state and federal constitutional rights in or around November 2022 through July 2023,” the notice, signed by King and addressed to Board Chairman Lorenzo Head with copies sent to Commissioners Ed Newsome, Victor Edwards, Clinton Johnson, Russell Gray, Gloria Gaines and Anthony Jones, said. “The actions alleged herein are continuing in nature as the discriminatory and retaliatory conflict against Mr. McCoy is continuing in nature. Accordingly, this letter will serve as an ante litem notice and is made persuant to (applicable Georgia law) and the provisions found therein.”

King said McCoy would be filing charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and is asking for $5 million in damages, plus reinstatement to his position as county administrator.

Two members of Camilla City Council are challenging their suspension from office, according to WALB.

Camilla Mayor Pro Tem Corey Morgan and Councilman Veterra Pollard have filed an appeal against a recent ruling by a Mitchell County superior judge.

In January, WALB News 10 reported on a lawsuit, accusing the pair of living outside of Camilla, which would be a violation of holding a seat on the council.

In July, the judge verbally ruled against them, saying they refused to provide testimony and evidence that they were required by law to provide.

The appeal paperwork sent to us by Morgan, filed on Thursday, claimed the July 20 final judgment is now “suspended” pending a filing ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court.

As a result, the document also claims that Pollard and Morgan can lawfully resume their elective positions.

Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan says they will no longer have to use U-Haul trucks to transport dead bodies, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

The Muscogee County Coroner’s office officially has a new van after mechanical issues with their last van forced them to transport dead bodies using a U-Haul. The new van is an upgrade from the previous vehicle that had more than 300,000 miles on it and often was in the repair shop, said Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan in a March interview.

“I’ve been here close to six years and we’ve had it break down numerous times when we’re trying to transport citizens loved ones to the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) ,” said Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Allison about the old van she’s nicknamed “Old Faithful”.

At one point this year the Coroner’s office had to transport six bodies to Atlanta in a U-Haul due to overcrowding at the County Morgue, according to Ledger-Enquirer reporting.

The Muscogee County Morgue helps house the bodies of surrounding counties as well as the bodies from homicides, pauper deaths, suicide deaths, and accidental deaths within Muscogee County, according to Bryan.

Bryan told the Ledger-Enquirer in March that the coroner’s office processes approximately 1,250 bodies per year.

Andrew Griffeth announced he will run for the Athens-Clarke County Superior and State Courts Clerk, according to WGAU Radio.

There is a hat in the ring in the race to replace the now retired Beverly Logan as Clerk of Court for Athens-Clarke County. Andrew Griffeth is a veteran of the Superior Court and Clerk of Courts office in Athens. He’ll be on the ballot in a special election that will be held in November.

Andrew plans to campaign on his extensive resume which will be critical to successfully fulfilling the duties of this important administrative role. His platform centers around prioritizing customer service and transparency, implementing new technology, and promoting collaboration. Beyond his professional experience, he believes his deep-rooted ties to the community and extensive service record make him an ideal candidate for the newly opened position.

Municipal candidates in Rome and Cave Springs will qualify for office in late August, according to the Rome News Tribune.

Six of the nine Rome City Commission seats are up for grabs, along with two of the five Cave Spring City Council posts. Qualifying starts Monday, Aug. 21, and runs through 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, in both cities.

Oct. 10 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 7 elections. There are no state or federal contests but a countywide vote on a proposed special purpose, local option sales tax package also is scheduled.

Ellaville native Quentin Fulks serves as Deputy Campaign Manager for the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign, according to the AJC.

Today, 33-year-old Fulks is the principal deputy campaign manager for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. That makes him the second highest-ranking staffer and puts him smack dab in the inner circle. He is in the room for decision-making with the president and vice president and is tasked with managing high-dollar donors, high-profile surrogates and high-value grassroots organizers ahead of the 2024 election.

In early August, Fulks will move to Delaware, where the campaign headquarters will be based. He and campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez are still building out the team and deciding how to divide up the work. But the priority, thus far, has been fundraising.

For the Biden campaign, Fulks’ upbringing in the new battleground state of Georgia is seen as an asset. His success leading Warnock to a high-profile victory against football legend Herschel Walker earned him the label of a rising star within the universe of Democratic campaign staffers.

His Ellaville roots give him insight into the type of voters Biden hopes to reach if he wants to carry Georgia again in 2024. Fulks said growing up in rural southwest Georgia taught him to “listen without casting blame” even to those he disagrees with politically.

Warnock’s campaign for a full six-year term was launched not too long after he won a January 2021 special election runoff that flipped control of the Senate to Democrats. He said he found in Fulks an aide who was data-driven and disciplined.

With Fulks’ help, Warnock focused on issues like controlling health care costs, addressing climate change and expanding access to voting.

“Georgia has always been at the center of that conversation in the complicated story of America, and I think that’s why my race captured the imagination of so many people,” Warnock said. “And Quentin was right there in the thick of it all — a good person to have with you in the fight.”

From Atlanta, he’s been connecting with a small group of core staffers through phone calls and video conferencing. He travels for meetings with the president and vice president.