Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for May 1, 2015

On May 1, 1707, the Act of Union with England, passed by the Scottish Parliament brought together England and Scotland and made the Union Jack the official flag of Great Britain.

The Second Confederate National Flag was adopted on May 1, 1863.

On May 1, 1886, Jefferson Davis visited the Benjamin Hill monument at Peachtree and West Peachtree Streets in Atlanta, having arrived the previous day.

On May 1, 1971, “Joy to the World,” by Three Dog Night was the #1 song in the nation.

Kennesaw, Georgia City Council adopted an ordinance on May 1, 1982 requiring each household to own a gun and ammunition.

(a) In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore.

(b) Exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who suffer a physical or mental disability which would prohibit them from using such a firearm. Further exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who are paupers or who conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine, or persons convicted of a felony.

On May 1, 1991, Rickey Henderson broke the major league baseball stolen base record on the same day that Nolan Ryan, the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball, recorded his seventh no-hitter.

The official state tartan of Georgia was designated on May 1, 1997.

Georgia Politics

Yesterday, Governor Deal signed SB 2 and SB 132, both of which remove barriers to dual enrollment participation and expand opportunities for students.

SB 132, the “Move On When Ready Act,” is one of Deal’s legislative priorities and is based off recommendations from the 2014 Dual Enrollment Task Force.

“Since taking office, one of my top priorities has been preparing students to enter the workforce with the skills and tools necessary for them to succeed,” Deal said. “There are currently jobs that require highly skilled technical workers that remain unfilled. I’m grateful for Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and the General Assembly for their efforts in addressing this issue. This legislation streamlines current dual enrollment program options, removes transportation and other barriers to participation and streamlines how students earn course credits. Moving forward, I’m confident Georgia will continue training our deep talent pool to fill much-needed positions in a wide range of industries across our state.”

Senate Bill 2 further aligns Georgia’s K-12 education system with the state’s post-secondary institutions, allowing high school students to simultaneously earn a high school diploma while working toward a technical college or associate’s degree.

“One of the most important challenges facing our state is preparing students to succeed in the 21st century global economy,” Cagle said. “I appreciate Governor Deal’s support of this initiative as well as the near unanimous endorsement of the Georgia General Assembly. Together, we will continue to build the top workforce and lead our state to prosperity for generations to come.”

Deal to sign bills in North Georgia

This morning, Governor Deal will be on the road across North Georgia, signing the following bills:

Dade County 
SB 122
8:15 a.m.
Dade County Administration Building — Commission Room
71 Case Ave.
Trenton

Walker County
SB 72, HB 424, HB 505
9 a.m.
Walker County Civic Center
10052 N Highway 27
Rock Spring

Dawson County
HB 71
10:15 a.m.
Dawsonville Municipal Complex/City Hall
Ste. 100
415 Highway 53 E
Dawsonville

Lumpkin County
HB 63
11 a.m.
Lanier Technical College Adult Education Center
150 Johnson St.
Dahlonega

Transportation Finance Act Signing Monday

Gov. Deal will sign the Transportation Finance Act, HB 170, at Liberty Plaza in front of the Georgia State Capitol on Monday, May 4, 2015.

Johnny Isakson getting support

A SuperPAC to support the reelection of Sen. Johnny Isakson has been set up and is likely to be a player in the 2016 Election Cycle, according to the AJC.

The Revitalize America PAC has so far only raised $12,500 to help the Georgia Republican fend off any challengers, but that sum is sure to grow as the November 2016 vote nears.

Isakson’s bigger concern may be a challenge from his party’s right flank.

The 70-year-old is sitting on nearly $4 million to ward of potential rivals, and he raised $1.6 million in the first three months of the year.

The super PAC is not bound by the cap on individual contributions that ties traditional political campaigns, and it also cannot coordinate with Isakson’s camp.

A new website, or at least one that I first saw yesterday, called ThanksJohnny.com, is headed by realtors who support Isakson, and they’re also advertising with Google AdWords.

The domain name was registered in January of this year by a Washington, DC-based political consulting firm.

Bad News for DeKalb Commissioner Stan Watson

DeKalb Commissioner Stan Watson racked up a $150,000 bar tab jury verdict for slander after wrongly accusing two women in a bar of stealing his wallet.

A jury has reached a $150,500 verdict against DeKalb County Commissioner Stan Watson resulting from a barroom argument in which he falsely accused two women of stealing his wallet.

The women alleged that Watson slandered them, and the dispute led to one of the women being handcuffed for about an hour before police released her.

Watson later found his wallet in his car, and he apologized to his constituents for the incident.

Tyrone Brooks’s seat draws seven candidates

The Fulton Daily Report brings us news this morning that seven candidates qualified for the Special Election in House District 55, which was previously held by Tyrone Brooks.

Seven candidates, including two lawyers, have qualified for a special election to fill a vacancy in the state House of Representatives created by the resignation of veteran lawmaker Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta.

The two lawyers are Raghu Raju, general counsel and owner of Mahamosa Gourmet Teas, Spices & Herbs, and former assistant city attorney Shelitha Robertson.

Robertson, 53, has twice run for a seat on the Fulton County trial court bench. In 2014, she lost to Jane Barwick in a runoff for a vacant superior court seat. In 2010, Robertson lost to Kelly Lee Ellerbe in a runoff.

The other five candidates are Brooks’ son, Tyrone Brooks Jr., a 37-year-old entrepreneur; Alysia Brown, a 46-year-old project manager; Michael Fitzgerald, a 38-year-old small business owner; John Franklin Guest Jr., a 70-year-old interior designer; and Marie Metze, a 76-year-old retired educator and community organizer.

Supreme Court Okays Judicial Solicitation Ban

This week, the United States Supreme Court upheld a Florida ban on direct solicitations by judicial candidates.

In the last election cycle, some $33 million was spent on judicial elections, according to Brandenburg. Thirty-nine states elect some or all of their judges and almost all of those have a rule barring judicial candidates from personally soliciting money for their campaigns. The case before the court came from Florida where the canons of ethics allow committees to raise money for judicial candidates but do not allow the candidates to personally solicit contributions.

Lanell Williams-Yulee, a candidate for the trial bench in Hillsboro County, mailed and posted online a signed letter to potential contributors soliciting funds. For this, she was reprimanded and fined. She then challenged the ban on personal solicitation as a violation of her free speech rights. At the time her case reached the court, several appeals courts had already struck down similar bans in other states. But the Supreme Court did not agree.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts said that judges are not politicians, even when they’re elected to their positions. And states have an overriding interest in assuring citizens that their cases will be decided without fear or favor. Roberts said there’s a distinction between judicial candidates and candidates for a legislative or executive office. While politicians are expected to be appropriately responsive to the preferences of their supporters, the same is not true for judges. Indeed, he said, judges are not meant to give any special consideration to campaign donors. Ultimately, said the chief justice, our judicial system depends on public confidence. And if that confidence erodes, people will not abide by judicial decrees.

Dissenting from the decision were Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito. There is no mystery about what’s going on here, wrote Scalia. The court, which usually extends robust protections for free speech, has decided that the policy objective here is a higher one. And thus, the majority has abridged freedom of speech in order to protect the brotherhood of the robe.

The Fulton Daily Report writes that Georgia is unlikely to seek a ban on judicial solicitations of campaign donations,

Lester Tate, chairman of the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission, said the state’s experience since its ban on personal fund-raising was lifted has not noticeably diminished public confidence in its judges. Tate was among the members of a committee, including representatives from each of the state’s court divisions, that crafted revisions to the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct that are under consideration by the Georgia Supreme Court, and he said no such bar is among them.

There has been no problem in allowing sitting judges to solicit funds in a contested election, he said.

“The JQC can recommend, but we just enforce the canons—it’s ultimately a question for the Supreme Court. But I don’t see a lot of emphasis on it; if we’d had a lot of problems, with judges calling cases for lawyers who donated, that would be different,” said Tate.

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Hugh Thompson said via email that the court was aware of Wednesday’s U.S. high court decision, “and we are in the process of redoing our canons and rules as they relate to elections. The rules should be completed soon, although we have not yet put them out for public comment. I assure you that our rules will follow the law.”