Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for November 14, 2022

General Sherman’s army prepared for the March to the Sea on November 14, 1864.

On November 14, 1944, the Constitutional Convention working on a revised document for Georgia reversed its position on home rule that had been adopted the previous day on the motion of Governor Ellis Arnall.

Three astronauts with connections to Georgia – Eric Boe, Robert Kimbrough, and Sandra Magnus – were aboard the space shuttle Endeavor when it lifted off on November 14, 2008.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Georgia State House Republicans meet today to nominate a new Speaker of the House, according to the Associated Press via the Statesboro Herald.

[State House Majority Leader Jon] Burns just won his 10th two-year term in the House without opposition, representing a district that includes Screven County, part of Bulloch County and most of Effingham County. He’s been majority leader since 2015.

House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones of Milton, House Majority Whip Matt Hatchett of Dublin and Rep. Alan Powell of Hartwell have all said they won’t run for speaker this week, with all three Republicans endorsing Burns.

David Ralston of Blue Ridge has been speaker for 13 years, but stunned lawmakers and the Georgia political world when the Republican announced last week that he is stepping down for health reasons. As paramount leader of the House, Ralston has shaped taxes, spending and other laws, becoming the most powerful person in state government behind the governor. Ralston says he will continue as a representative.

From the AJC:

The race to succeed outgoing state House Speaker David Ralston appears to be a two-way competition between Majority Leader Jon Burns and state Rep. Barry Fleming that could dramatically shift the direction of the chamber.

Burns is running with support from Ralston’s coalition and other key legislators who opted against a run of their own. They include Jan Jones, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican; Matt Hatchett, another high-ranking Republican; and Alan Powell, a legislative veteran.

Fleming, long a Ralston rival, has his own base of support from the chamber’s more conservative flank, including members of the House’s far-right freedom caucus and Sam Watson, the leader of the powerful House Rural Caucus.

At stake is the consensus-driven politics in the House that Ralston cultivated during his tenure. Over more than a decade in leadership, Ralston shepherded his share of controversial conservative policies through the Legislature, but also worked across party lines to boost mental health programs, overhaul criminal justice laws and tap the brakes on some of the GOP’s more polarizing policies.

Fleming, who was the architect of Georgia’s new voting law, is likely to promise a more assertive — and, sometimes, combative — approach to conservative priorities in the House.

Georgia State Senate Republicans chose new leadership for the upcoming Session, according to the Associated Press via WRDW.

Republicans meeting behind closed doors on Friday chose Sen. John Kennedy of Macon as their nominee for president pro tem, the second-ranking member of the chamber. The full Senate will vote on the post when it convenes for a new term on Jan. 9. But with Republicans holding a 33-23 majority, Kennedy is likely to win that vote.

Senators also voted to let Jones assign senators to committees, name committee chairmen and assign legislation to committees. Those powers, along with presiding over debate in the Senate, help a lieutenant governor shape legislation. Lawmakers took back some or all of those powers in 2003, when a Republican majority wanted to curb Democratic Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, and in 2010, when GOP senators were unhappy with fellow Republican Casey Cagle.

“Working together, we’re going to create more opportunities that lift up every Georgian and make our state the best place to live, work and raise a family,” Jones said in a statement of the new leaders.

In choosing Kennedy, who had been chair of the majority caucus, GOP senators passed over other candidates vying for the position including Mike Dugan of Carrollton, who had been majority leader in the last term under President Pro Tem Butch Miller.

Republicans promoted Steve Gooch of Dahlonega from whip to majority leader. They chose Jason Anavitarte of Dallas as majority caucus chair, Randy Robertson of Cataula as whip and state Sen. Matt Brass of Newnan as vice caucus chairman. All three are new to leadership and Brass, like Jones, had his chairmanship stripped in 2021.

From the AJC:

That means the Senate’s top two officeholders will be new to their positions following the election earlier this week of Republican Burt Jones as lieutenant governor. Jones, a Jackson native who defeated Miller in the primary, has served in the Senate since 2013.

The lieutenant governor serves as the president of the Senate and presides over the chamber’s day-to-day activities. The Senate president pro tem often fills in as the presiding officer when the lieutenant governor relinquishes the gavel, such as when he is taking a break or has a meeting outside the chamber.

Other leadership changes include state Sen. Steve Gooch of Dahlonega as majority leader; state Sen. Randy Robertson of Cataula as majority whip; state Sen. Jason Anavitarte of Dallas as caucus chairman; and state Sen. Matt Brass of Newnan as vice caucus chairman. State Sen. Dean Burke of Bainbridge was reelected as caucus treasurer.

While the Senate majority has been known to pare back powers of lieutenant governors they don’t agree with, the caucus voted unanimously to leave them intact for Jones.

Senate Democrats have set their caucus elections for Nov. 28.

A shorter runoff for United States Senate could impact turnout, according to the Associated Press via WSAV.

Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock’s first runoff in 2021 was a titanic nine-week clash to control the Senate that included three weeks of early in-person voting and lots of mail ballots.

But the Dec. 6 runoff won’t be for Senate control this time with Democrats retaining seats in Arizona and Nevada earlier this month. Successful reelection bids by Sens. Mark Kelly and Catherine Cortez Masto were what Democrats needed to keep the slimmest of margins in the chamber.

Under Georgia’s 2021 election law, there will be only four weeks before the runoff — with Thanksgiving in the middle. Many Georgians will be offered only five weekdays of early in-person voting beginning Nov. 28. And June’s primary runoffs showed time for mail ballots to be received and returned can be very tight.

Those changes could disadvantage Democrats, who tend to push early voting and vote-by-mail more than Republicans. Because the 2021 law makes it harder to apply for a mail ballot, Democrats urged supporters to vote early in person in October.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson said it will be challenging to reignite the kind of early voting enthusiasm that Democrats displayed ahead of the general election, when overall early voting set a new midterm record.

The changes could produce lower turnout, and maybe a return to the old rules of Georgia runoffs before 2021, when Republicans had clear advantages.

“Republicans do better in getting their voters back out for a runoff election,” said Eric Tanenblatt, a lobbyist who was chief of staff to Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue and later national finance co-chair for Republican Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.

Mail ballots can be requested now through Nov. 28. About 150,000 people who voted by mail in the November election will automatically be mailed a ballot for the runoff. But Associated Press reporting found some counties were slow to mail ballots before the primary runoff, raising questions about whether voters could receive and return them in time.

“The counties are prepared already. They know we’re going to have this period of time,” Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters Wednesday.

Georgia’s Senate seat will still be consequential, according to 11Alive via WTOC.

Nevada’s heated Senate race came to an end Saturday night when Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto won re-election. With that victory, the Democrats will maintain control of the United States Senate — a major win for President Joe Biden.

The Senate is currently split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans with Vice President Kamala Harris getting the tie-breaking vote heading in to the Dec. 6 Georgia runoff.

“It is about turnout, turnout, turnout. People will forget to turn out to vote. There will be people who don’t care that much about this race who will sit this race out,” 11Alive News political analyst Andra Gillespie said.

Gillespie believes even with control of the U.S. Senate decided, both parties still have a lot at stake for Georgia’s senate seat.

“The losses on Tuesday in the statewide constitutional offices certainly were a blow to Democrats, and they would actually want to make the case that they are still competitive and demonstrate that not just by the single digit margins,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie said for Republicans, winning the seat has implications beyond 2022.

“This is a seat that was once held by Republicans, so Republicans have an incentive to try to recapture that seat,” Gillespie said. “That makes it easier for them going into the next cycle in terms of trying to recapture control of the chamber in 2024.”

If Sen. Warnock wins his re-election bid, a 51-49 majority would be much better for the party. Here’s why.

First, the tie-breaking vote would not come down to Harris each time — meaning she would not have to stay in Washington DC every time the Senate votes.

If there is a 50-50 Senate, NBC’s Chuck Todd says there is an official power sharing agreement between the two parties. Some of the committees, including the judiciary, end up evenly divided.

With the one-vote difference for the Democrats, they have the advantage of every committee.

Democratic control of the Senate also ensures a smoother process for Biden’s Cabinet appointments and judicial picks, including those for potential Supreme Court openings.

From the AJC:

That [Nevada] outcome lowers the stakes of Georgia’s runoff between the two rivals. Instead of a second consecutive Georgia runoff for control of the chamber, the vote will determine whether Democrats have a two-seat cushion in the Senate.

Walker has tried to frame the race as a check on President Joe Biden’s powers. Biden’s approval ratings remain low in Georgia, and polls indicate some Republicans are willing to look past their concerns about Walker to vote for GOP control of the chamber.

But now that Democrats control the Senate, Walker can’t cast the race as a battle to flip back control of the chamber. And that could give voters worried about Walker’s personal issues less of a reason to vote in a post-Thanksgiving overtime race.

”Republicans’ main argument for electing Herschel Walker just went up in smoke,” said Sarafina Chitika, a Warnock campaign spokeswoman.

“The Georgia runoff is still huge in importance for Republicans. At 50-50, it’s possible to peel off Kyrsten Sinema or Joe Manchin for the most leftist Democrat legislation,” said Scott Johnson, a veteran GOP activist, of the two moderate Senate Democrats. “A Democratic victory in Georgia takes that out of possibility.”

U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, the chair of the state Democratic Party, said voters are more concerned with who can “deliver for them every day” in Georgia rather than the fate of Senate control in Washington.

“Whether it’s for the 50th vote or the 51st vote, we’re confident that when we put Sen. Warnock’s competence and character on the ballot against Herschel Walker, we win every time,” she said.

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald:

Georgia is the sole state to require runoffs in both primary and general elections. In Georgia, candidates must earn at least 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.

Some other Southern states have a runoff rule in primary elections — but not for general elections like the one Georgia held this month. (Mississippi recently adopted a measure that requires general runoffs for statewide races that will start with next year’s elections.)

Georgia’s modern era of runoffs began when the legislature adopted a new election code in 1964, explained University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock. The legislature put the runoff system in place — but excluded the governor’s race.

That presented a problem in 1966, when neither Democrat Lester Maddox nor Republican Bo Callaway could pass the 50% mark in the general election due to a write-in candidate. After court challenges, the state legislature — controlled by Democrats — was allowed to choose the governor. Lawmakers chose party-fellow and staunch segregationist Maddox.

In response, and with Maddox’s support, Georgia voters adopted a 1968 constitutional amendment requiring the governor’s race to go to a runoff in the absence of a clear-majority winner.

The state’s runoff law has not been immune to legislative tinkering since then. Back in 1992, Democrat Wyche Fowler lost his Senate re-election bid to Republican Paul Coverdell in a runoff.

The Democratic-controlled General Assembly then changed state law to require only 45% of the vote to avoid a runoff.

In 2005, the by-then Republican-controlled state legislature and then-Gov. Sonny Perdue changed the law back to the 50% threshold.

That would later prove fatal for another Perdue-family pol, David. The incumbent Republican senator — cousin of the former governor — won more votes than Democrat Jon Ossoff during the November 2020 elections but fell just short of the 50% mark, pushing the race to a runoff. Ossoff bested Perdue by about 55,000 votes in the Jan. 2021 rematch, winning the Senate seat in a runoff upset.

“It cuts both ways,” said Bullock, the UGA political scientist, about the impact of Georgia’s unique general election runoffs on political outcomes.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Groover had been motivated by “racial animus” — a fact which Groover had, in fact, confirmed in interviews. However, the three-judge panel’s 1998 ruling found the primary election runoff law was not discriminatory in intent or practice.

From the point of view of political strategy, political scientist Bullock said, runoffs can provide Georgia voters an extra chance to vet candidates. Georgians who vote on Dec. 6 will experience this for themselves, when they get a final chance to weigh in on the Warnock-Walker race.

All Georgians who were registered to vote by Nov. 7 can vote in the December runoff. Early voting will begin Nov. 28.

From WALB:

Many people may be getting a little bit of voter fatigue after the general election cycle. Mark Rountree with Landmark Communications says it’s up to the candidates to convince voters it’s important to head back to the polls.

Rountree brings up two runoffs in history- one where voters went back to the polls, another where they didn’t. In 2008, Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss won re-election.

In 2008, nearly 4 million people came out in the general election, but slightly over 2 million came out in the runoff. In 2020, we saw less of a drop-off with nearly 5 million people voting in the general election, and 4.5 million came out in the runoff.

UGA political science professor Charles Bullock has found while incumbents normally have a lead in the general election, they lose power in runoffs. Roughly 35,000 votes separated Raphael Warnock from Hershel Walker, and historically speaking, the closer the race, the greater the turnout.

“If you lead in the first round, you’ve got about a 70% chance of winning in the second round. But if you’re an incumbent who gets forced into a runoff, but nonetheless, leads it as Raphael Warnock did, then the odds of you winning dropped down to about 55%. We’re talking 10s of 1000s of votes out of 4 million that are cast. So when we factor all that in, it’s Would you rather be first or second, you’d rather be first. But does the runner-up have a pretty good shot at it? Yeah, yeah,” said Bullock.

“There will be probably a quarter of a billion dollars spent in the runoff,” said Rountree.

The Associated Press reports on election administration, via WALB.

Heading into this year’s midterms, voting rights groups were concerned that restrictions in Republican-leaning states triggered by false claims surrounding the 2020 election might jeopardize access to the ballot box for scores of voters.

Those worries did not appear to come true. There have been no widespread reports of voters being turned away at the polls, and turnout, while down from the last midterm cycle four years ago, appeared robust in Georgia, a state with hotly competitive contests for governor and U.S. Senate.

After Democrats won the 2020 presidential contest and two U.S. Senate runoff elections, the Republican-controlled Georgia Legislature passed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s election laws in 2021.

The law shortened the time period to request an absentee ballot and required voters to sign absentee ballot applications by hand, meaning they needed access to a printer. It also reduced the number of ballot drop boxes in the state’s most populous counties and limited the hours they were accessible.

Critics said the changes made it more difficult to cast mail ballots. Democrats urged people to vote early and in-person this year instead. Kendra Cotton, CEO of the New Georgia Project Action Fund, said she believes the election law did have a negative effect in a state where key races have been decided by narrow margins in recent elections.

“The narrative that’s out there is that SB202 was trying to depress the vote writ large, and we submit that that was not, in fact, the case,” she said. “It was trying to stop just enough people from voting that the electoral outcome here in Georgia would shift.”

Voter advocacy groups already are mobilizing to support Georgia voters heading into the Dec. 6 Senate runoff. Previously, runoffs were held nine weeks after an election. The new law shortened that to just four weeks, a period that also leaves too little time for new voter registrations.

The AJC reports on Governor Brian Kemp’s political moves as he approaches his second term.

The Republican on Monday tapped two longtime aides – Cody Hall and Amelia Hawkins – to helm a powerful committee that is empowered by a new law to tap unlimited contributions.

Two other aides, Brian Barrett and Collin Cummings, will remain as advisers to the Georgians First Leadership Committee as they redirect the governor’s get-out-the-vote apparatus to help Senate GOP hopeful Herschel Walker ahead of the Dec. 6 runoff.

Hawkins was Kemp’s deputy campaign manager after a stint as the director of executive operations in the governor’s office. She’s now the executive director of his leadership committee.

`Hall is a longtime spokesman for Kemp who served as his director of communications and senior adviser during the reelection campaign against Stacey Abrams. He’ll stay on as a political adviser for the governor through the leadership committee.

The governor said he is keeping key elements of his political operation intact because “Republicans cannot rest on our laurels.”

“What Team Kemp has built over multiple, successful statewide campaigns has laid the groundwork for future success at the ballot box here in Georgia,” he said, “and provides the blueprint for how we keep the Peach State the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

Former Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mark Jones (D) is now a short-timer in state prison after pleading guilty to misconduct, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

The former Columbus district attorney sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to misconduct in office is about to be a free man again.

On Nov. 15, 2021, Mark Preston Jones was sentenced to five years in prison with one year to serve and the rest on probation when he abruptly cut his misconduct trial short by accepting a plea deal as jurors were deliberating. Now Jones’ year in prison is ending.

The Georgia Department of Corrections says by policy it does not disclose inmates’ release dates, as that could threaten their safety on the outside, should anyone wish them harm. But the state Board of Pardons and Paroles confirmed Friday that Jones’ sentence will “max out” on Sunday, when he’s expected to walk free.

Jones, 41, spent more time in prison than he served in office. Elected in 2020, when he defeated incumbent DA Julia Slater, he was sworn in on Jan. 4, 2021, and worked 10 months before Gov. Brian Kemp suspended him the following Oct. 5, after he was indicted on nine felony charges.

Jones will not return to practicing law when he’s released next week: To avoid being disbarred, he voluntarily surrendered his law license this past January, while he was in prison.

Jones may apply to have his license re-instated in five years, according to the state bar association. He faced involuntary disbarment because of his felony convictions.

State Representative-elect Ruwa Romman (D-Gwinnett) will be the first Palestinian Muslim woman to serve in the State House, according to CNN via the Albany Herald.

On Tuesday, [Romman] – now a 29-year-old community organizer — made history as the first known Muslim woman elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, and the first Palestinian American elected to any office in the state.

After 10 months of relentless campaigning, the Democrat said she is eager to begin representing the people of District 97, which includes Berkeley Lake, and parts of Duluth, Norcross, and Peachtree Corners in Gwinnett County.

As an immigrant, the granddaughter of Palestinian refugees, and a Muslim woman who wears the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, the road to political office hasn’t been easy, especially in the very Christian and conservative South.

“All the times I am ‘randomly’ selected by TSA, teachers putting me in a position where I had to defend Islam and Muslims to classrooms being taught the wrong things about me and my identity… it colored my entire life.”

“Who I am has really taught me to look for the most marginalized because they are the ones who don’t have resources or time to spend in the halls of political institutions to ask for the help they need,” she said.

Romman began in 2015 working with the Georgia Muslim Voter Project to increase voter turnout among local Muslim Americans. She also helped establish the state chapter for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.

“I think a lot of people overlook state legislators because they think they’re local and don’t have a lot of impact, not realizing that state legislatures have the most direct impact on them,” Romman said. “Every law that made us mad or happy started in the state legislature somewhere.”

“My opponent had used anti-Muslim rhetoric against me, saying I had ties to terrorism, at one point flat-out supporting an ad that called me a terrorist plant,” she said.

“What was incredible is that people in my district sent his messaging to me and said This is unacceptable. How can we help? How can we get involved? How can we support you? and that was such an incredible moment for me,” she said.

 

Bryan County and its municipalities, Richmond Hill and Pembroke, reached agreement on splitting Local Option Sales Tax proceeds, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The new tax arrangement is split 55.5% to Bryan County, 36.5% to Richmond Hill and 8% to Pembroke. LOST is revisited every ten years and percentages are founded on several principles, including population.

“As chairman of the county, we tried to take care of Pembroke because they are a city within our county and Richmond Hill is bigger,” said Infinger. “If you don’t agree, you go to litigation, mediation and all you’re doing is spending the money that you’re going to get on the lawyers to settle it.”

LOST is a pivotal means of raising funds to support projects within each municipality and throughout the county. It also reduces the tax burden on property owners through a one percent sales tax paid on goods and services.

The City of Port Wentworth is opposing a new addiction recovery facility, according to the Savannah Morning News.

But [Katy and Glenn] Parker’s push to open Front Porch [Recovery Center] has prompted widespread opposition from Port Wentworth officials and residents who say the six-bed facility will bring violence and danger to their community.

Jeff Breedlove, chief of communications and policy at the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, said the conflict in Port Wentworth highlights the widespread stigma people seeking treatment face everyday.

“Recovery from addiction is good news, not a bad thing,” Breedlove said. “They should want to support people in recovery, not oppose facilities for people in recovery.”

Port Wentworth Councilwoman Gabby Nelson voted against the special use exemption, citing the overwhelming opposition from the community and “the proximity to the liquor store that is within walking distance of the facility,” she said.

“I am not opposed to treatment. I don’t think there’s anyone walking the face of this earth that does not know someone who is or has been a user, whether it be drugs or alcohol,” said Nelson, who represents the district where the property is located. “I don’t think that there’s anyone walking that has not been affected by the needs, or the lack of treatment, in our communities. I feel strongly, though, that it is in the wrong area.”

Savannah will host a budget workshop today, according to WTOC.

Albany State University will receive a $2.9 million dollar federal grant to expand broadband, according to the Albany Herald.

The Connecting Minority Communities Program will plan, develop, and expand the institution’s reach to online and distance learning globally. With a focus on broadband expansions, the program will enhance the educational instruction and learning opportunities offered at ASU.

“We are honored to be awarded the grant for the Connecting Minority Communities Program,” ASU President Marion Fedrick said in a news release. “This grant will address the growing demand of support needed for broadband connectivity in the Albany community while establishing a foundation for future distance learning at Albany State University.