Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for June 24, 2024

On June 24, 1497, John Cabot first sighted North America, claiming it for the British Crown.

On June 24, 1795, the United States Senate voted to ratify Jay’s Treaty between the UK and United States. The terms of the treaty required an appropriation from the U.S. House of Representatives to implement it, and Congressional opponents tried to defeat the appropriation, which was approved by a 51-48 margin on April 30, 1796. Click here for more background on the treaty and controversy.

On June 24, 1853, President Franklin Pierce signed the Gadsden Purchase, acquiring what it now southern Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico.

General Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River toward Pennsylvania on June 24, 1863.

John R. Lynch was the first African-American elected Chairman of the Republican National Convention on June 24, 1884; Lynch was nominated by Theodore Roosevelt.

Woodrow Wilson married Ellen Louise Axson of Rome, Georgia in Savannah on June 24, 1885.

On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin from all road, rail, and barge traffic.

Following World War II, Germany was divided into occupation zones. The United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and, eventually, France, were given specific zones to occupy in which they were to accept the surrender of Nazi forces and restore order. The Soviet Union occupied most of eastern Germany, while the other Allied nations occupied western Germany. The German capital of Berlin was similarly divided into four zones of occupation.

The United States response came just two days after the Soviets began their blockade. A massive airlift of supplies into West Berlin was undertaken in what was to become one of the greatest logistical efforts in history. For the Soviets, the escapade quickly became a diplomatic embarrassment. Russia looked like an international bully that was trying to starve men, women, and children into submission. And the successful American airlift merely served to accentuate the technological superiority of the United States over the Soviet Union. On May 12, 1949, the Soviets officially ended the blockade.

General Lucius D. Clay of Marietta, Georgia was military Governor of occupied Germany at that time.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released in West Germany on June 24, 1977. It’s astounding.

Rickey Henderson made his major league debut with the Oakland A’s on June 24, 1979, stealing his first base.

On June 24, 1982, the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution was defeated, having garnered the ratification of thirty-five states, three shy of the requisite Constitutional Majority.

Hopes for ratification before the deadline next Wednesday were dashed this week when the amendment was rejected by the Illinois House and the Florida Senate, two states in which supporters felt they had a fighting chance.

Had Illinois and Florida ratified the amendment, there was at least some chance that either Oklahoma or North Carolina would have provided the final needed vote.

Prospects were far slimmer in the other nonratifying states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.

Phyllis Schlafly, a leader of a group called Stop-ERA, hailed the defeat of the amendment tonight, saying: “They realized E.R.A. is dead and I think that that is an admission they have lost the battle. My feeling is that E.R.A. will take its place with the prohibition and the child labor amendments as ones which did not have enough support of the American people to be in the Constitution.”

The City of Darien placed a new historical marker recognizing Tunis Campbell, according to The Brunswick News.

Some of those in attendance were Mother Alberta Mabry, Darien City councilmen Griffin Lotson and William Collins and Lower Altamaha Historical Society President Paul Nix.

Mabry conducted a libation pouring ritual, recognizing the spirits of those who came before and inviting them to participate in the ceremony of the day, tossing handfuls of rice in front, to the side and behind, and saying “ashe” with each toss.

After Congress set up the Freedmen’s Bureau following the conclusion of the Civil War, Campbell was appointed to supervise land claims and resettlement on five of Georgia’s sea islands, said Richard Braun, Darien city manager — Ossabaw, Delaware, Colonels, St. Catherines and Sapelo islands. After receiving pardons, the original owners reclaimed the islands in 1866. Campbell bought 1,250 acres in McIntosh County and divided the land among Black farmers to help them get a fresh start.

He would become the highest-ranking elected African American official in Georgia, Collins said, serving as a state senator and the vice president of the Republican party at the time. During his time in office, he fought to preserve the Reconstruction process when the political winds turned. For his trouble, he was burdened with lawsuits and eventually tried and convicted of malfeasance in office and imprisoned in a Savannah labor camp. After his release, he wrote a book titled “Sufferings of the Reverend T. G. Campbell and His Family in Georgia.”

Nix thanked those who came before him in the Lower Altamaha Historical Society — Buddy Sullivan, Bill Hayes and Maddy Gladstone, among others. Campbell was a “trailblazer for justice during and after the Civil War,” and laid the groundwork for generations of Civil Rights leaders.

The marker reads: “Born free in New Jersey, Tunis Campbell became one of the highest-ranking, most influential African-American politicians in 19th-century Georgia. In 1863 Campbell was commissioned to assist former slaves under U.S. protection in South Carolina. Representing the Freedmen’s Bureau, he later supervised land claims and Black resettlement on Georgia’s sea islands. When former Confederates received Presidential pardons and reclaimed the islands, Campbell purchased land in McIntosh County and established a Black landowners association. Serving in numerous political positions during Reconstruction, Campbell advocated for Black civil, political and educational rights while receiving threats from outraged Whites. Following Reconstruction, White conservatives regained power and targeted Campbell. In 1875, political opponents falsely charged Campbell with malfeasance in office. He was convicted and sentenced to hard labor. Campbell wrote a book about his Reconstruction years in Georgia. He died in Massachusetts in 1891.”

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Warm Springs Mayor Robyn Pynenburg fired the police chief and suspended all the officers, according to WTVM.

In a social media post, the City of Warm Springs announced that Mayor Robyn Pynenburg fired Police Chief Emilio Quintana and suspended the remaining 13 police officers, WANF reported.

“The decision to terminate Chief [Emilio] Quintana and suspend the police force was made after careful consideration of recent events and emerging concerns regarding the conduct and operations within the department,” city officials said in a social media post Wednesday.

The Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training Council confirmed that they’re investigating the former police chief for “unauthorized use of city vehicles and representation as an officer in an unauthorized duty of office.”

In the meantime, the city with a population of roughly 500 people, appointed Aisha Al-Khalifa as interim chief.

As of now, Al-Khalifa is the only person active on the police force.

“We’ve been without a police chief before, and we’ve been short-staffed before,” said Gerrie Thompson, an innkeeper in Warm Springs.

Thompson said she formerly served on city council and trusts the mayor had a legitimate reason to fire the police chief.

“It’s not something that’s just a spur-of-the-moment thing. I’m not potentially worried about anything. And I’m sure whatever is going on, they will have it taken care of,” Thompson said.

Governor Brian Kemp announced a system-wide assessment of the Georgia Department of Corrections, according to the Albany Herald.

Gov. Brian Kemp, in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Corrections, announced the initiation of an in-depth, systemwide assessment of the state corrections system to identify current strengths, opportunities and recommendations to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness. This marks the latest measure to improve public safety for all Georgians following a multiyear effort to crack down on crime, take violent offenders off the streets, provide further support and training for state and local law enforcement, and invest well over $1.6 billion into public safety since Kemp took office.

“Keeping Georgians safe continues to be my top priority,” the governor said. “Since I took office in 2019, Georgia has made significant progress in bringing more violent criminals to justice; cracking down on criminal street gangs; investing in our brave law enforcement personnel, including corrections officers; and strengthening penalties on those who seek to threaten our communities. By ensuring our correctional facilities have the funding, technology, infrastructure, and operations to fulfill their mission, this comprehensive assessment is the next step in achieving a safer, stronger Georgia for all who call the Peach State home.”

The state has partnered with Guidehouse Inc. (comprising The Moss Group and CGL Companies) to conduct an unbiased and thorough systemwide assessment while developing actionable recommendations. This partnership brings together an accomplished outside team with corrections expertise in conducting organizational assessments for corrections systems and facilities in all 50 states.

“When Gov. Kemp appointed me, he gave me the clear mandate to keep Georgians safe by improving our corrections system,” GDC Commissioner Tyrone Oliver said. “Thanks to our partnership with the General Assembly and other state leaders, we’ve done just that by improving retention levels, removing approximately $7 million worth of contraband from our prisons, shutting down the largest contraband trafficking ring in the country, and more. But we know we have a lot more room to grow, which is why I’m thankful Guidehouse will provide a thorough review of our facilities and policies that will guide the next phase of GDC improvements.”

The Georgia General Assembly will likely wade into the debate about what constitutes a “navigable river,” according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Ledger-Enquirer.

The General Assembly passed legislation this year guaranteeing Georgians the right to fish in the state’s navigable rivers and streams.

Now comes what promises to be the trickier question of deciding which rivers and streams are navigable and which are not.

“This is the harder one to figure out,” said Mike Worley, president and CEO of the Georgia Wildlife Federation.

A Georgia House study committee will begin tackling that task this summer and make recommendations to the full House – if any – by Dec. 1.

It will be chaired by Rep. Lynn Smith, R-Newnan, who also chairs the House Natural Resources & Environment Committee, and include Majority Whip James Burchett, R-Waycross, who chaired a study committee on the fishing rights issue last year and was chief sponsor of this year’s bill. Neither lawmaker could be reached this week to talk about the upcoming effort.

The study committee won’t be working from a blank slate. Burchett introduced legislation this year naming 64 rivers and creeks “presumed to be navigable.”

The list includes such no-brainers as the Altamaha, Chattahoochee, Flint, and Savannah rivers. But others that may or may not make the list aren’t so clear-cut.

“There are some well-known streams throughout the state that are going to be question marks,” Worley said.

Worley named the Toccoa River, Seventeen Mile Creek, and Ichawaynochaway Creek as examples. The Toccoa is on the list included in Burchett’s bill, but the other two are not.

“There is a lack of clarity over what’s navigable and what’s not,” said Gordon Rogers, executive director of the environmental advocacy organization Flint Riverkeeper. “We need to hash that out.”

Historically, Georgians have enjoyed the right to fish in the state’s navigable waters. But that right came into question early last year when a property owner along a portion of the Flint River asserted an exclusive right to control fishing from the bank on its side of the river to the center of the stream and banned fishing there.

Four Chimneys LLLP sued the state alleging failure to enforce the ban and won an agreement from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in March of last year promising to enforce the ban. That agreement prompted the General Assembly to pass a bill on the final day of the 2023 legislative session codifying a public fishing rights guarantee into state law.

No sooner had the ink dried on that legislation when some waterfront property owners began objecting to language in the bill guaranteeing access to fishing on navigable waterways as a “public trust.”

After holding a series of hearings on the issue around the state last fall, Burchett introduced a fishing rights bill removing the public trust doctrine. The General Assembly passed House Bill 1172 in March primarily along party lines after minority Democrats complained it didn’t go far enough to protect fishing rights.

Although the bill won’t take effect until July 1, Worley said he’s already heard stories of people fishing being approached by property owners and told they can’t fish.

“I don’t think the language (in the bill) was clear enough,” he said. “There are going to be lawsuits.”

The Biden Administration Campaign will host events across Georgia this week, according to the AJC.

President Joe Biden’s campaign will hold more than 200 events across Georgia the week of his debate against former President Donald Trump, part of a mobilization effort aimed at rebuilding the coalition that powered his 2020 win.

The Democrat’s campaign said Sunday the spate of events ranges from watch parties for Thursday’s CNN debate, grassroots mobilizing events, community barbecues, news conferences with national figures and visits from Padma Lakshmi and other celebrities.

It starts with an event Monday marking the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for anti-abortion laws in Georgia and other Republican-led states to take effect.

Biden’s operation also plans to open an office this week in Sandy Springs, a former GOP stronghold that’s steadily turned Democratic over the last decade. And hundreds of volunteer canvassing and phone banks events are slated across Georgia the weekend after the debate.

There’s no immediate word on whether Biden will also hold a rally or fundraiser in Georgia during his visit. Trump is planning post-debate remarks at an event hosted by former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler that will cost donors $100,000 to attend.

The Biden campaign’s packed schedule signals a new phase in the president’s effort to recapture a state he won by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020 thanks to a tenuous alliance of Black Georgians, disaffected Republicans and suburban swing voters.

Trailing Trump by single digits in most Georgia polls, Biden aides have worked to reassure local Democrats that the state remains a campaign priority. Biden’s camp said Sunday it has hired more than 75 staffers and opened 14 offices in Georgia, with more in the works.

The first 2024 Biden-Trump debate will be held in Atlanta on Thursday, according to the AJC.

This year’s first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be held in the confines of CNN’s Atlanta studios. But outside the walls of the network’s Midtown digs, the backdrop could hardly pack more political symbolism.

It’s a few miles from the Fulton County Courthouse, where prosecutors have worked for more than three years to convict Trump and more than a dozen of his allies on charges involving election interference.

A short ride away is the Fulton County Jail, where authorities arrested Trump and 18 co-defendants on racketeering charges — and took the famed picture that became the first mug shot of an American president in the nation’s history.

Not far from there sits the Georgia Capitol, where Trump’s influence has shaped legislative debates over abortion rights, election rules and public safety crackdowns.

The fight for Georgia is one reason that both campaigns agreed to the CNN debate.

Both campaigns are engaged in a battle for Georgia’s 16 Electoral College votes four years after Biden became the first Democrat to capture the state since Bill Clinton’s 1992 victory.

Both candidates have crisscrossed the state over the past two years, and Vice President Kamala Harris has visited more than a dozen times since she was elected in 2020 — including two recent stops in Atlanta within a week.

“We are viewed as being very much in play,” University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock said. “It’s clear Democratic leadership has not written us off.”

The Trump campaign opened an office in Savannah, according to the AJC.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign opened a field office here Saturday with coastal Georgia GOP heavyweights rallying Republican voters to engage with their neighbors ahead of the November election.

“If he doesn’t win Georgia, he’s not going to win,” U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons Island, told the crowd gathered outside the “Trump Force 47” headquarters on Savannah’s southside.

“Without Georgia, there is no pathway to victory,” said Kandiss Taylor, chair of the 1st Congressional District Republican Party. Taylor, who ran an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2022, encouraged attendees to support Trump in a T-shirt that read “Donald Trump did nothing wrong.”

The Savannah field office opening comes amid a broad push across the state by the Trump campaign. Last week, the Trump organization opened headquarters in suburban metro Atlanta and began training volunteers for a voter mobilization effort. Trump lost Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes four years ago, with the winner, Joe Biden, benefitting from a 20% increase in voter turnout in 2020 compared to 2016. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race.

The Biden reelection campaign opened a Savannah field office in late May.

Several Republican state lawmakers joined Congressman Carter in delivering remarks at the field office opening, with several mentioning Thursday’s presidential debate in Atlanta and predicting a Trump triumph. State Sen. Ben Watson, a practicing physician and the chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said Biden should submit to a mental acuity exam, while state Rep. Ron Stephens, a retired pharmacist and a House member since 1997, suggested Biden be drug tested ahead of the debate.

United States Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Atlanta and spoke about combating fentanyl, according to GPB News.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Atlanta on Thursday to announce efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking.

Yellen said the treasury is imposing economic sanctions against eight cartel leaders in Mexico. She said cartels rely on banking systems to make payments and that sanctions will disrupt the economic flow of fentanyl and other drugs.

“Our sanctions will cut off the cartel leaders from their ill-gotten money, and make it harder for them to bring deadly fentanyl to our streets,” she said.

Yellen said the Department of Treasury is also partnering with private sector financial institutions to stop cartels from laundering money through shell companies. She said the advisory can help them detect cash flows that fund the fentanyl supply chain.

[U.S. Attorney Ryan] Buchanan noted that Georgia has been hit hard by the opioid crisis.

“In 2023, Georgia’s Department of Public Health reported over 18,000 emergency room visits for drug-related overdoses in Georgia,” he said. “That’s approximately 50 ER visits every day.”

“Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids make up the majority of drug relate deaths,” he said.

Clyde Jackson won the Runoff Election for Houston County Board of Education District 7 after his disqualification was reversed, according to the Macon Telegraph.

Clyde Jackson overcame a controversial 11th-hour challenge to his candidacy to win the District 7 school board seat in Houston County in the recent runoff election.

In the close runoff June 18, Jackson captured 3,423 votes, or 51.76% of the vote. His opponent, Angel Bowen Brown, received 3,190 votes, or 48.24% of the vote.

Brown was the top vote-getter in the May election among a field of six candidates but did not earn more than 50% of the vote required by Georgia law to win the election.

Just two weeks before the June 18 runoff, the county board of elections disqualified Jackson as a candidate. They reversed that action two days later.

The controversy was over a state law that does not permit a family member of a school system administrator to serve on the same system’s school board.

Jackson’s wife, Traci, who retired from the Houston County school system, currently serves in a part-time position as a coordinator for district and school effectiveness.

A former principal and educator, she maintained that the post is not administrative. The school system disagreed.

Other factors in the reversal dealt with how the matter was handled, including the lateness of the challenge by former candidate Caly Hess, according to Mike Hall, the county attorney. Hess received the least number of votes in the May election.

Additionally, it appeared open to interpretation on whether the law requires a school administrator to resign their post without knowing the outcome of the school board race, or resign only if their family member is elected to the school board. Also questioned was whether the issue was a matter for the school board — and not the elections board, according to Hall.

 

The Bulloch County Commission will have three new members joining, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Nick Newkirk won Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff for District 2’s Seat C on the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners with 2,587 votes, or 64.4% of the total, to 1,433 votes for incumbent Commissioner Jappy Stringer.

The race is not over. Newkirk, now the Republican nominee, will face a Democratic Party candidate, Len Fatica, on the Nov. 5 general election ballot in Commission District 2. But it’s now certain that at least two of the six current district commissioners and the current countywide-elected chair will be replaced by new commissioners at the beginning of January.

A fourth seat on the board remains in play, with a longtime Democratic incumbent and a Republican challenger in District 1 headed directly to the general election.

Yet so far, the changes have come from anti-tax-increase, pro-change Republicans who have effectively “primaried” incumbent Republicans, a movement Newkirk gave voice to when phoned Tuesday evening after the vote count showed he had an insurmountable lead.

“I think the citizens of Bulloch County spoke. They spoke in the primary and they spoke today,” he said. “They are tired of the good old boy system. They are ready for change, and I think with us – and obviously I’m hoping I can get through November – but with David (Bennett) and Ray (Davis), I think that we’re ready to make a change.”

Asked what kind of change, Newkirk began, “We’re going to increase transparency; we’re going to go through the budget and lower these taxes and make the budget balance for sure. You know, I’m not going to have drawing out of the reserve for $2 million like we’re doing.”

Glynn County Commissioners voted to table a proposed intergovernmental agreement with Brunswick, according to The Brunswick News.

An intergovernmental agreement to provide planned public transportation outside Brunswick city limits was deferred at Thursday’s Glynn County Commission meeting.

The decision to defer came after concerns were raised about the county’s obligation to support the program.

County Attorney Aaron Mumford said he will ask the city to clarify the proposal to make sure the county is not obligated financially without a vote.

Flowery Branch City Council voted to adopt an FY 2025 budget and property tax millage rate, according to AccessWDUN.

The millage rate for this calendar year  is staying stagnant at 3.264 mills, with the total revenue increasing 14% from $8.8 million to $9.9 million.

While millage rates stayed the same, the assessed property values increased, requiring the three meetings.

30.3% of the fund, or roughly $3 million, comes from property taxes, with sales taxes making up 24.1% of the budget as the next highest.

Finance Department Director Mike Hamby explained at the council meeting that for every $1 of taxes, $0.29 goes to public safety, $0.22 goes to operations, $0.16 goes to public works, $0.12 goes to capital, $0.11 goes to housing and development, $0.08 goes to municipal court, and $0.07 goes to tourism.

Flowery Branch is also adding two new positions. One is an administrative assistant in the “Department of Fun,” and the other is a sewer and wastewater trainee position.

The “Department of Fun” is a newer department in the city’s government whose mission statement is to “maintain relationships between the City of Flowery Branch and its citizens.”

The budget will go into effect July 1 of this year and will go until June 30, 2025.

The Appalachian Regional Port in Crandall set a cargo record, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

The Appalachian Regional Port in Crandall had a record May for intermodal cargo, with the inland rail terminal moving 3,600 containers.

The port provides an alternative to an all-truck route to and from the Port of Savannah. Each round-trip container moved via the Appalachian Regional Port reduces energy consumption and offsets 710 truck miles on Georgia highways. The Appalachian Regional Port’s target markets include regions of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. The $26.7 million facility opened in 2018.