Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 17, 2024

On June 17, 1759, Sir Francis Drake claimed California for England.

On June 17, 1775, British forces under General William Howe engaged American colonists at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

On June 17, some 2,200 British forces under the command of Major General William Howe (1729-1814) and Brigadier General Robert Pigot (1720-96) landed on the Charlestown Peninsula then marched to Breed’s Hill. As the British advanced in columns against the Americans, Prescott, in an effort to conserve the Americans’ limited supply of ammunition, reportedly told his men, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” When the Redcoats were within several dozen yards, the Americans let loose with a lethal barrage of musket fire, throwing the British into retreat.

After re-forming their lines, the British attacked again, with much the same result. Prescott’s men were now low on ammunition, though, and when the Redcoats went up the hill for a third time, they reached the redoubts and engaged the Americans in hand-to-hand combat. The outnumbered Americans were forced to retreat. However, by the end of the engagement, the Patriots’ gunfire had cut down some 1,000 enemy troops, with more than 200 killed and more than 800 wounded. More than 100 Americans perished, while more than 300 others were wounded.

A distant ancestor of mine, John Logue, fought with the Americans at Bunker Hill, though he was not yet an enlisted soldier.

President Andrew Johnson appointed John Johnson (no relation) provisional Governor of Georgia after the Civil War on June 17, 1865; John Johnson had opposed secession.

France announced its intention to surrender to Germany on June 17, 1940.

Five men were arrested for burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate office and apartment complex in Washington, DC on June 17, 1972.

The affair began with the arrest of five men for breaking and entering into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate complex on June 17, 1972. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) connected cash found on the burglars to a slush fund used by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, the official organization of Nixon’s campaign.

In July 1973, as evidence mounted against the president’s staff, including testimony provided by former staff members in an investigation conducted by the Senate Watergate Committee, it was revealed that President Nixon had a tape-recording system in his offices and he had recorded many conversations.

After a protracted series of bitter court battles, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the president had to hand over the tapes to government investigators; he ultimately complied.

Recordings from these tapes implicated the president, revealing he had attempted to cover up the questionable goings-on that had taken place after the break-in.

Facing near-certain impeachment in the House of Representatives and equally certain conviction by the Senate, Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974. His successor, Gerald Ford, then issued a pardon to him on September 8, 1974.

Newton Leroy Gingrich was born on June 17, 1943 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Gingrich graduated from college at Emory University, where he founded the Emory College Republicans. Gingrich’s congressional papers are collected in the the Georgia’s Political Heritage Program at West Georgia College, where he taught before being elected to Congress. Also at West Georgia are the papers of former Congressmen Bob Barr, Mac Collins, and Pat Swindall, along with a near-perfect replica of Georgia Speaker Tom Murphy’s office.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Nearly fourteen hundred voters cast early ballots in the Primary Runoff election for Bulloch County Commission District 2, Seat C, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Around 1,400 people voted early in the current Republican primary runoff between incumbent Jappy Stringer and challenger Nick Newkirk for Bulloch County Board of Commissioners Seat C in District 2.

Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #06.14.24.01, suspending Rabun County Sheriff Chad Nichols from office after he was charged with Violation of Oath by a Public Officer, Sexual Battery, and Public Indecency.

From AccessWDUN:

Gov. Kemp previously appointed a committee comprised of Attorney General Chris Carr, Morgan County Sheriff Robert Markley and Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum to investigate the incident involving Nichols, according to the executive order.

Nichols was arrested on May 31 after turning himself in on charges of sexual battery, public indecency and violation of oath by a public officer. Since that time, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been actively investigating the case.

Major Beth Darnell with the Rabun County Sheriff’s Office has been the acting in-charge officer in the meantime.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is actively investigating a sexual battery case involving Rabun County Sheriff Chad Nichols. Major Beth Darnell has been announced as the “acting in-charge” officer.

The conditions of Nichols’s bond reportedly state, “He not be involved in any law enforcement activity in his capacity as sheriff,” according to a release by the department Friday afternoon.

The agency began investigating the incident allegedly involving Nichols on May 24  at the request of Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Christian.

Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher is hospitalized and in critical condition, according to the Savannah Morning News.

“We understand that this news might come as a surprise and that many of you may have questions or concerns,” the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Sunday. “We do not have further details to share at this time. We will provide updates as more information becomes available. In the meantime, we ask that you respect Sheriff Wilcher’s family’s privacy during this time.”

In 2014, he retired at the rank of colonel and in April 2016, won a special election to replace the late Sheriff Al St. Lawrence.

He was re-elected in 2016 and 2020, when he ran unopposed.

Wilcher faces Democrat Richard Coleman in the November general election.

Elbert, Franklin, and Morgan County voters will choose new Sheriffs (or General Election candidates) in tomorrow’s Runoff Election, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

The sheriffs races are in Elbert, Franklin and Morgan counties, where incumbent sheriffs in each county decided not to run for re-election. This was an unusual year featuring seven counties in the Athens area where incumbent sheriffs decided against running for re-election.

In Franklin County, the runoff in the Republican primary runoff has Scott Andrews, a retired Georgia State Patrol trooper, facing Brian Stovall, who is a current deputy in the office. Sheriff Steve Thomas decided not to seek re-election.

In the May primary, Andrews narrowly missed winning the nomination as he had 49.49% of the vote, according to the Georgia Secretary of State. In the three-candidate race, Stovall came in second with 30.5% of the vote.

The Elbert County sheriff’s race in the Democratic Party primary has Darren Scarborough, a captain in the sheriff’s office, facing Elbert County native Dre’Kevious Gibbs.

In the primary, Scarborough tallied 699 votes to 526 for Gibbs. The winner will face Republican candidate Jamie Callaway in the November General Election. Sheriff Melvin Andrews did not see re-election.

The Morgan County race in the Republican primary runoff features Joseph Pritchett, a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office, and Tyler Hooks, a veteran of the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office. They were the top vote-getters in a race that feature seven candidates who wanted to replace Sheriff Robert Markley.

Republican candiate for Glynn County Commission District 2 Bob Duncan is being criticized for using “reelect” though he is not the incumbent, according to The Brunswick News.

Flyers sent to District 2 voters on St. Simons Island this week by Republican runoff candidate Bob Duncan are drawing criticism.

The flyers are urging voters to “reelect” Duncan, who has never held the county commission position.

Amy Abbott, the Republican candidate opposing Duncan in Tuesday’s runoff, said the flyer claiming her opponent is the incumbent is misleading.

Abbott said her campaign has tried to contact Duncan for an explanation but has not gotten a response. She said she plans to file a complaint with state elections officials about the flyers.

Abbott, who earned 20 more votes than Duncan in the primary election, has gone door-to-door to generate voter support.

Election Day for the primary runoff is Tuesday.

Voters in Camden and part of Glynn County will decide between incumbent State Rep. Steven Sainz (R-St Marys) and a challenger in tomorrow’s Republican Primary runoff election, according to The Brunswick News.

Incumbent state Rep. Steven Sainz, R-St. Marys, was questioned about his “unusually negative campaign” Thursday at a candidate forum in Camden County.

Sainz, who is challenged by Glenn Cook for the Republican nomination to the District 180 seat said he has run on his positive record.

Cook said he is described as an outsider because he lives in Glynn County, where a small portion of District 180 is located, and not Camden County, where the majority of the district lies.

“I don’t send out four or five mailings a day,” he said. “I’m not a liberal from Atlanta. I promise you I am not a liberal by any stretch of the imagination.”

Sainz said he has “never felt more confident” about the Republican Party’s platform, adding he is the highest scoring conservative legislator in the state.

Cook was asked how he is learning about local issues if he doesn’t attend city and county meetings. He said he has knocked on more than 6,000 doors to talk to voters about their concerns.

From WTOC: Effingham County voters will decide a Runoff Election for State Court Judge between Melissa Calhoun and incumbent Judge Steve Yekel.

The Associated Press writes about Runoff Elections in Georgia, via WSAV.

The contests will determine who will challenge two U.S. House members from opposite ends of Georgia’s political spectrum: 16-term Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop and two-term Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Republican race in Bishop’s 2nd Congressional District is the latest example of someone convicted of a crime on Jan. 6 seeking to return to the Capitol as a member of Congress.

Bishop’s Republican general election opponent will be either Chuck Hand, a construction superintendent who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, or Wayne Johnson, a former U.S. Department of Education official in the Trump administration. Johnson placed first in the May 21 Republican primary with about 45% of the vote, short of the majority vote needed to avoid Tuesday’s runoff. Hand received 32% of the vote.

In the 3rd Congressional District, former state Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan and former White House political director Brian Jack are running to replace retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson. Jack has the endorsement of his former boss Donald Trump and was the top vote-getter in the May 21 primary with about 47% of the vote. Dugan received about 25% of the vote, with the remaining vote split among three candidates. The winner will face Democrat Maura Keller, an Army veteran. Ferguson won the seat in 2022 with about 69% of the vote.

The Democrats vying to challenge Greene in the 14th Congressional District are Clarence Blalock, a former City of Smyrna employee and 2021 Atlanta City Council candidate, and Shawn Harris, a retired Army brigadier general and rancher. Blalock edged Harris in the primary by just 128 votes out of more than 18,000 cast. Greene won reelection in 2022 with about 66% of the vote.

Also facing runoffs are candidates in four state Senate and four state House districts. The only incumbent on Tuesday’s ballot is Republican state Rep. Steven Sainz in House District 180. Sainz received 49.7% of the primary vote, falling just short of avoiding a runoff. His opponent is Glenn Cook, a Navy veteran and airline pilot.

Clarke County Board of Education District 2 voters will choose between incumbent Claudia Butts and challenger Mary P. Bagby in tomorrow’s Runoff Election, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

Butts and Bagby were the top vote recipients in May 21 non-partisan balloting. Kirrena Gallagher, who was elected to the District 2 seat in 2020, but left in 2022 for an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Athens-Clarke County Commission, placed third in the contest. Butts was appointed to the District 2 seat after Gallagher’s departure.

Butts was the leading vote-getter in the May 21 contest, claiming 319 of the 893 votes cast, 35.72% of all ballots in the race. Bagby got 299 votes to claim 33.48% of the ballots cast, while Gallagher trailed with 275 votes, 30.8% of the ballots cast.

The Georgia Police Police Officer Training and Standards Council has added a requirement for law enforcement officers to receive training on election interference, according to the AJC.

Basic training for Georgia police will soon include a one-hour course on election laws, such as protections against voter intimidation, election interference and threats.

The Georgia Police Officer Training and Standards Council voted Tuesday to increase minimum training standards for new law enforcement officers, including topics such as election security, active shooter response, crisis intervention and extremist groups.

Georgia is the first state in the nation to mandate election training for police, said Chris Harvey, deputy executive director of the council.
“Without training, there’s almost no way that an officer would be aware of what their legal obligations are and what laws may be broken at a polling place,” Harvey said. “There are a number of laws that are designed to protect election officials and the public and the integrity of the process.”

Training will cover laws prohibiting disruptions at polling places, threatening voters and carrying firearms within 150 feet of a voting location.

State laws also bar election tampering, obstructing poll workers and handing out food or drinks to voters waiting in line.

Police need to be aware of laws that protect voters but avoid the appearance of heavy-handed law enforcement, said Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director for the New Georgia Project, a voting rights group.

“Police presence is often intimidating for some voters,” Ali said. “We ask that this training be thoughtful in the balance of bringing safety to polling places while also making sure voters have easy and comfortable access to the ballot.”

Some Lanier County property owners complained about rising property tax assessments, according to WALB.

Lanier County recently reassessed property values, which in some cases tripled taxes.

Ty Carswell, Lanier County Homeowner said, “It’s tough for us to go grocery shopping. It’s tough even with our kids in college trying to pay their way through school. With this doubling coming all at one time and making no an adjustment so fast they need to go back and reevaluate.”

Carswell and his family are just one example of a county-wide average property tax increase of 62 percent, that has families wondering how they will pay their bills.

Thursday, June 13, the board of education held a meeting to hear citizen’s concerns about the increase, after a commission meeting on Monday left many people wondering why now after 17 years with no property tax increase. Several residents spoke on behalf of seniors, who make up roughly 60 percent of the population.

Superintendent Glen Culpepper presented this example:

A house on 19.41 acres was appraised for $481,900 in 2023 but $847,000 in 2024.

Combined taxes for the county and school in 2023 = $6,120.52 …in 2024 combined is $10,723.69

Vaughn said, “Nothing can be done about the reevaluation of the properties that hasn’t been done in 17 years but something can be done about the millage rate which could give people a little bit more reprieve on that tax bill.”

The Hall County Board of Education is considering raising property taxes, according to AccessWDUN.

A release from the school district Friday said the board is planning a millage rate of 15.640 mills. With property assessments in Hall County largely continuing to see increases, the board would have needed to roll the millage rate back to 14.486 mills in order to maintain a steady tax rate.

The new millage rate is included the Hall County School District’s proposed 2024 budget. Three public hearings will be held at the school district’s central office building on Green Street in Gainesville over the next month before the budget and millage rate are approved.

The projected property tax increase is 7.97 percent.

Jefferson County property owners may see increased property tax assessments, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Over 12,000 new appraisal notices were mailed Monday, June 3 and Jefferson County’s Chief Appraiser Louisa Pennington said that property owners have until Thursday, July 18 to file any appeals.

“There are definitely value increases on rural land, large parcels in particular, and we’re also seeing increases on a lot of residential properties. People need to know what their values are,” Pennington said. “We are aware of mail delays and since we do have so many value changes and increases this year, I want to inform the public and definitely want to make sure that people know the information is out there.”

Pennington said that the assessor’s office is still trying to catch up with the large increases in property sale prices that the county, state and country have seen over the past few years and those sales continue to drive increases in value.

“We have a good number of sales anyway, but the issue is that we are seeing big sale price increases over the last several years, really since 2020 when COVID came into play,” Pennington said. “Even though we are not in the pandemic anymore, we are still seeing large property sales prices out there.”

She pointed to a 183-acre piece of property that sold for $565,000 in 2021 and this past year sold again for $672,000. She then pointed out a 267 acre parcel that sold for $189,000 in 2021 and last year sold for $336,000.

“That particular piece is a wooded parcel but we’re extracting the timber value from the sale so we are valuing land only,” she said. “We’re seeing situations like these where the same land is selling for more than $100,000 than it did just a year or two ago. Property sales like these are driving these increases.”

Thursday, July 18 is the last day to file an appeal on Jefferson County estimated property values. Appeals have to be in writing. Forms are available in the Jefferson County tax office and can be emailed upon request. Appeals do not have to be on the official forms, but they must identify the property and state that the owner would like to appeal.