Abraham Lincoln was elected 16th President of the United States and the first Republican to hold the office on November 6, 1860. By his inauguration in March, seven states had seceded.
On November 6, 1861, one year after Lincoln’s election, Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens of Georgia were elected President and Vice President of the Confederate States of America.
Alexander Stephens was sworn-in as Governor of Georgia on November 4, 1882; Stephens had earlier been elected Vice-President of the Confederate States of America.
President Teddy Roosevelt left for a 17-day trip to Panama on November 6, 1906 to inspect work on the Panama Canal; he was the first President to take an official tour outside the continental United States.
Democrat Woodrow Wilson, who spent part of his youth in Augusta, Georgia and married Ellen Louise Axson, whom he met in Rome, Georgia, was elected President in a landslide victory on November 5, 1912.
Howard Carter found an entrance to the tomb of King Tutankhamen on November 4, 1922.
On November 4, 1932 Georgia Governor Richard B. Russell, Jr. campaigned on behalf of Democratic candidate for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to his unprecedented third term as President of the United States on November 5, 1940.
Richard M. Nixon was elected President of the United States by a plurality vote on November 5, 1968.
A dam on the campus of Toccoa Falls Bible College burst on November 6, 1977 under pressure from heavy rains, killing 39 students and faculty.
On November 4, 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan was elected President, winning 489 electoral votes to 49 for incumbent Jimmy Carter.
Note on the electoral map in that clip, states that Reagan won were colored blue, and Georgia was a red state, going for Jimmy Carter.
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich (R-GA) resigned his office and his Congressional seat on November 6, 1998, effective in January 1999, despite having been reelected three days earlier.
On November 5, 2002, Sonny Perdue was elected the first Republican Governor of Georgia since Reconstruction, beginning the modern era of Republican dominance of Georgia state politics.
On November 7, 2006, Georgia reelected its first Republican Governor since Reconstruction, Sonny Perdue, and elected its first GOP Lieutenant Governor, Casey Cagle.
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected President, becoming the first African-American elected to the position.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Georgia State House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) will step down from his speakership in January, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston announced Friday he will not seek another term as leader of the legislative chamber in January, citing a health issue.
“Serving as speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives has been the honor of a lifetime, and I owe a heartfelt thank you to my colleagues for the trust and confidence they placed in me 13 years ago,” said Ralston, R-Blue Ridge.
“I need to take time to address a health challenge which has arisen recently, and the House needs a speaker who can devote the necessary time and energy to the office.”
Friday’s announcement will not affect Ralston’s representation of the 7th House District in Northwest Georgia. He is running for reelection next week unopposed and said he will continue to serve his district during the 2023-24 session.
“I love the House and want to see the honorable men and women who serve in it succeed,” he said. “I will work the remainder of my term as speaker to ensure a smooth transition for my successor.”
“David Ralston has been a steadfast leader for Georgia throughout his time as speaker, and our state is better off thanks to his wisdom and commitment to all Georgians while guiding the House through challenging times,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday. “While his service as speaker is coming to a close, I know I will continue to ask my friend for his advice and counsel.”
Ralston’s decision sets off a scramble to replace him as the Georgia House’s leader. It wasn’t immediately clear Friday who would attempt to succeed Ralston, though potential candidates include House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, and House Majority Leader Jon Burns, another high-ranking Republican.
Minority Leader James Beverly said he was “shocked and saddened” when he heard about Ralston’s health.
“He taught me a bunch about governing and working across the aisle. He was always very truthful with me,” said Beverly, a Democrat from Macon. “If he said something, he meant it, and he stuck to it. It’s a sad day.”
And in this year’s session, he championed a measure designed to make it easier for Georgians to access mental health services. After it passed unanimously, he declared it would “set Georgia on a path of lifting up and reforming a failed mental health care system.”
“He was what we needed during these times,” said state Rep. Calvin Smyre, a Democrat from Columbus and the longest-serving member of the General Assembly. “With Speaker Ralston, there was a level of trust between us. We had a great friendship. We worked hand-in-hand on elevating transportation and mental health.”
Deal said he Ralston worked together to make Georgia a top state for businesses following the recession from 2007 to 2009.
“As speaker, he’s been an outstanding leader. His steady hand and guidance helped bring order and efficiency to the General Assembly, which can be an unwieldy and unpredictable body at times,” said Deal, a Republican who was governor from 2011 to 2019.
Ralston said the job was “the honor of a lifetime” and thanked his longtime aide Spiro Amburn and others for their service.
“I could not have done all of this without the love and support of my family, particularly my wife, Sheree, and our children,” Ralston said. “They have been my rock, and I love them very much.”
Today is the last day of early voting ahead of Tuesday’s General Election. From WTOC:
The Peach State has set a new record at the polls. Early voter turnout has officially passed the 2 million mark, breaking the old record. The latest numbers from the Secretary of State’s office show more than 2.1 million Georgians have turned out to vote early.
This includes more than 66,000 who voted Thursday.
The five locations across Chatham County will be open and if you don’t vote Friday, you will have to wait until Election Day on Tuesday.
More than 6,000 people have voted absentee in the county. They have sent out nearly 10,000 ballots, which means that 3,000 have not been returned – those need to be back by the time the polls close on Election Day at 7 p.m.
From the Secretary of State’s Absentee Voting Database:
Total ballots cast: 2,270,935
Total mail ballots cast: 210,264
Total in-person ballots cast: 2,057,668
In-person October 17, 2022: 134,840
In-person October 18, 2022: 135,224 *
In-person October 19, 2022: 127,889 *
In-person October 20, 2022: 123,052
In-person October 21, 2022: 141,816
In-person October 22, 2022: 80,323
In-person October 23, 2022: 18,131
In-person October 24, 2022: 133,455
In-person October 25, 2022: 125,736
In-person October 26, 2022: 119,640
In-person October 27, 2022: 112,121
In-person October 28, 2022: 139,496
In-person October 29, 2022: 93,702
In-person October 30, 2022: 24,148 *
In-person October 31, 2022: 131,151
In-person November 1, 2022: 124,571
In-person November 2, 2022: 134,971
In-person November 3, 2022: 157,400
In-person undated: 113
Total Electronic ballots cast (overseas and military voters): 2,890
Outstanding Electronic ballots (issued, not cast): 3,986
Outstanding Mailed ballots (issued, not cast): 70,864
* current number is lower than previously reported for this date.
Note: In Person numbers do not add up as one voter in Glynn County is recorded as having voted in person on 10/13/2022, when early voting was not open, and one voter in Pickens County is recorded as having voter in person on November 25, 2022.
Voting experts predict up to 5 million Georgians will vote given recent trend and of those around 2 million will vote early.
“We really haven’t seen any lines of any imports around the state,” said Gabe Sterling, the state’s voting implementation manager. “There are a few locations and times like Friday at lunch or end of the day on a Friday, there will be a line, or the very first day, you will stand in line because those are the heaviest days.”
New data shows nearly 60% of people who have voted are white, 30% are Black, 2% are Latino and 2% are Asian American, while 10% did not specify race.
“We are measuring behaviors now of 15% of people who did not vote in the 2018 election about half them voted in 2020,” Sterling said. “We are not seeing new voters. We are not seeing young voters about 6% of the overall vote even though they are the highest percentage of registered voters.”
“Republican voters are much likely to use absentee ballot and another layer is are more much likely to vote in person on election day,” Sterling said.
Fifty-five percent of all voters are women voters, with nearly a quarter of the voters between the ages of 60 to 70. Young voters, under 29, accounted for less than 7% of the votes.
More than 6,700 people have voted early in the county, so far. Chief Registrar of the Harris County Elections Office, Sherrail Jarrett, says these are fantastic numbers for mid-term elections.
As early voting ends today, Friday at 5pm, Jarret says about 30 percent of Harris County has voted, averaging between 400 to 500 voters a day.
“Usually, we have 100 or so the first few days each, but we started out with 400 and we haven’t slowed down since,” says Jarrett.
Harris County residents who live in Hamilton should pay close attention to the ballot when voting for the city council seat.
Votes casted for one candidate, Steven Haberkorn, will not count.
“After the ballots were printed, the city discovered that Steven Haberkorn, by a few 100 feet, does not live in the city limit and therefore he was ineligible,” says City Manager, Buddy Walker.
Four other candidates are running for the at large city council seat left vacant when former councilman Ransom Farley decided to run for Mayor. Farley is running unopposed.
More record breaking attendance is expected at the polls during the last few days of early voting, which end this Friday, Nov. 4.
“It doesn’t matter when you cast your vote, it only matters that you do cast your vote. Take advantage of the flexibility offered during the last week of early voting,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.
From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Gwinnett Daily Post:
More than 2.2 million Georgians have cast early ballots, a record-setting pace ahead of a midterm election, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Thursday.
That’s well above the nearly 1.5 million Georgians who had taken advantage of the early voting opportunity at this point in the early voting period ahead of the 2018 midterms.
By the time the early voting polls closed at 5 p.m. Wednesday, 17,915 ballots had been cast in person and another 1,720 mail-in ballots were accepted, according to the Glynn County Board of Elections. A total of 2,401 mail-in ballots had been issued.
At the voting location on Gloucester Street, 4,473 people had voted. At the Ballard poll, 5,963 people cast a ballot while another 7,479 did so on St. Simons Island.
Statewide, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office predicted in-person votes would breach 2 million by the end of the day Thursday. By Thursday morning, the total sat at just under 1.9 million.
On the same day of early voting in 2018, roughly 1.5 million had cast a ballot.
Mail-in ballots were being returned at a higher rate as early voting neared an end, according to Raffensperger. Nearly 200,000 had been received and accepted statewide, 68% of the total issued. Another 1,533 were rejected.
Governor Brian Kemp campaigned in Jefferson this morning, and I went with my father.
Governor Brian Kemp has again extended the suspension of the state sales tax on motor fuel, according to WSAV.
Kemp on Friday signed an executive order extending the suspension for a sixth time. Kemp, a Republican, is seeking another term against Democrat Stacey Abrams in Tuesday’s election.
In March, with broad bipartisan support, Kemp signed a law suspending the state’s gas tax through May 31. Since then, he has now signed six separate extensions. Under state law, Kemp can keep suspending taxes as long as state lawmakers ratify the action the next time they meet.
The order also suspends the state sales tax on train locomotive fuel.
Georgia’s gasoline price normally includes a federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon and a state tax of 29.1 cents per gallon. Federal taxes on diesel fuel are 24.4 cents per gallon, while Georgia’s tax on diesel is 32.6 cents per gallon.
Gas prices in Georgia are 12 cents a gallon below where they were a year ago.
The suspension costs the state more than $150 million a month in tax revenue, with Kemp estimating the amount of foregone tax revenue at $950 million so far. Kemp plans to backfill the money for road building using some of the $6.6 billion in state surplus.
Kemp, who has blamed President Joe Biden for inflation and high gas prices, seeks to tie Abrams to the unpopular president. Abrams called for Kemp to commit to suspending the gas tax through the end of the year.
“As another holiday season and a looming diesel shortage approaches, Georgians are still facing record high inflation, growing costs at the grocery store just before Thanksgiving, and high prices at the pump as they prepare to travel to see family, all due to a complete failure of leadership in Washington,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “While we can’t fix everything politicians have broken, our responsible approach to reopening our economy while prioritizing both lives and livelihoods allows us to deliver needed relief by continuing to suspend our state’s gas tax. Alongside our partners in the legislature, we will continue working to ease the burden felt by Georgia’s families who deserve to have safe, warm, and prosperous holidays.”
“Georgians continue to struggle under the problems and generational inflation stoked by Democrats in D.C.,” said Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan. “Meanwhile, Governor Kemp is stepping up to provide needed relief as we head into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season so that hardworking Georgians can enjoy both their families and holidays with a little more of their hard-earned dollars available for other expenses during this busy time of year. I applaud his leadership and commend this action.”
“Governor Kemp continues to lead – protecting hardworking Georgians and our economy,” said Speaker David Ralston. “His continued partnership with the General Assembly has saved Georgians hundreds of millions of dollars at the pump while Washington has done nothing. I appreciate his stewardship and focus on issues that impact every Georgia family.”
Both orders signed will be effective through December 11, 2022.
Atlanta Democrat Kwanzaa Hall has endorsed Republicans Brian Kemp for Governor and Burt Jones for Lieutenant Governor, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Democrat Kwanza Hall, who served on the Atlanta City Council and briefly as a congressman, has endorsed two Republicans – Gov. Brian Kemp and state Sen. Burt Jones, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.
“Over the last four years, I’ve witnessed Governor Kemp make tough decisions – ones that weren’t always popular at the time – in unprecedented circumstances,” Hall said in backing Kemp’s reelection bid over Democrat Stacey Abrams.
“While we don’t agree on every issue, it’s abundantly clear that Brian Kemp is a man of character, a strong leader, and someone who Georgians can trust to put them and their interests first.”
“Burt is the only candidate in the race with a plan to invest in our communities, lower costs, improve our K-12 education system and reduce crime,” Hall said. “Burt Jones has a proven track record of delivering results for every person in Georgia.”
Hall served three terms on the Atlanta City Council before launching an unsuccessful bid for mayor.
He then served briefly in the U.S. House of Representatives following the death of longtime Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis two years ago. Current Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, won a full two-year term in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in November 2020.
Democrat Stacey Abrams will host a rally in Statesboro today, according to the Statesboro Herald.
It is scheduled for noon on East Main St., near City Hall. Abrams, a Democrat, will speak at 12:30 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Bulloch County Democratic Committee and the One Georgia Political Action Committee.
Abrams is opposing Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp narrowly defeated Abrams in the 2018 race. For the 2022 contest, Abrams is pushing plans to build a more economically equitable state, roll back abortion restrictions and undo Kemp’s moves to loosen gun laws. Kemp is emphasizing the state’s strong economy and his efforts to put cash in the hands of voters.
Meanwhile, in-person early voting ends at 5 p.m. Friday with two locations open in Bulloch County: the Board of Elections and Registration office at the County Annex, 113 N. Main St., Suite 201, and the Honey Bowen Building, 1 Max Lockwood Drive at Fair Road in Memorial Park, Statesboro.
Statewide, early voting continued at a record pace, especially in comparison to 2018, the last general election with a governor’s race on the ballot. The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office reported through Wednesday night, 1,989,223 Georgians had cast early in-person ballots and an additional 193,978 absentee ballots had been accepted for a total of 2,183,201 votes.
Through Wednesday in Bulloch County, 9,321 residents had voted early in-person and an additional 1,006 absentee ballots had been accepted for a total of 10,327 votes.
Abrams campaigned in Macon, according to 13WMAZ.
“On Tuesday, we have a chance to create a new Georgia, and I’m the governor to get that done,” Abrams says.
She says Governor Brian Kemp does not care about Georgians based on his health-care policies, cuts to education, open carry law, and now with housing.
“Affordable housing is a statewide crisis and this governor just shut down access to the portal that would’ve allowed families to get rental eviction assistance. $300- $400 million sitting idly, because he will not let Georgians have access to that money,” Abrams explains.
Based on our 13WMAZ Listening Lab results, two of your biggest concerns were inflation and violent crime.
Abrams says as governor, she can help tackle this.
“Reduce the cost of goods that you have to purchase, and the most effective way the governor can do that is lowering health-care costs,” she explains. If we accept the $3.5 billion in Medicare expansion money, then we can lower health care costs across the board.”
“I talked to a second grader a couple of days ago who was afraid to go to school. She’s afraid of being shot,” Abrams says. “Part of what’s causing violent crime in Georgia is the proliferation of guns. This governor weakened gun laws in the state of Georgia.”
Abrams says as governor, she will invest in education and law enforcement, expand Medicaid, and give resources to small businesses.
“Equity doesn’t mean taking from anyone. It means expanding access to everyone. I will restore the rights of women, I will restore common sense gun laws in Georgia, and that’s why I want to be governor.”
A Port Wentworth city council member filed ethics charges against a colleague, according to WSAV.
According to the ethics complaint document, Councilman Rufus Bright lodged the complaint, co-signed by council members Thomas Barbee and Mark Stephens, against councilwoman Jo Smith citing several ethical violations during Smith’s first term as a council member.
One of the violations included Smith becoming “extremely hostile” toward City staff after the council unanimously rejected a contract that would have benefitted her sister’s grant acquisition company—a company that Smith now works for.
In addition, the complaint also stated that Smith abused her government-issued City credit card to make personal financial transactions.
Finally, Smith is accused of not living in the city of Port Wentworth. Although she qualified and was elected in 2021, the document claims that Smith’s primary residence is in Cobb County.
Smith has taken the homestead exemption on her Cobb County home for at least three years. According to records from the Cobb County Board of Tax Assessors, she’s owned a home in Marietta, Ga since 2013.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Board of Aldermen member Kesha Gibson-Carter offered dueling version of a “State of the City” address, according to the Savannah Morning News.
At the annual State of the City address, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson presented the City Council’s work over the last year, and made a call for unity and civility as two council members hosted their own “response” event.
All council members except At-Large Post 1 Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter and District 2 Alderman Detric Leggett were present. At-Large Post 2 Alderwoman Alicia Miller Blakely arrived late.
Gibson-Carter and Blakely later hosted a live video on the Better Savannah Facebook page titled “A Better State of The City Response w/ Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter”
Gibson-Carter announced in January she would be running for mayor in next year’s municipal election, presumably against an incumbent Johnson.
[Mayor Johnson] highlighted the potential effects of the Local Option Sales Tax, currently going through mediation with the county, noting that if the negotiations fail, it will likely result in a property tax increase to make up for the tax revenue provided by LOST.
“But we know there’s more ahead to do. And we’re going to be transparent about it. We are faced with a serious and definitive Dec. 31 deadline to negotiate a new distribution agreement between Chatham County and eight municipalities for the local option sales tax,” Johnson said. “Without this funding, Savannah faces a loss of more than $55 million.”
In her video, Gibson-Carter criticizes Johnson for not accepting Chatham Chairman Chester Ellis’ LOST offer, which would have the county receiving about 50% of the revenue from the tax.
“His failures of leadership have led this community to the edge of the property tax cliff. Take the current negotiations for LOST. LOST is a Local Option Sales Tax. These negotiations and the tax revenue sharing agreement with County Chairman Chester Ellis must be met. Rather than acknowledging the unique burden our city places on county government when it comes to the justice system, which, beyond our police department, is 100% funded by the county,” Gibson-Carter said in her video. “Again, my friends, that is not leadership.”
Statesboro will roll out a new public transit bus system, according to WTOC.
Starting in January, the city will have four buses and eight drivers criss-crossing town.
“Our initial cost is going to be free, starting out, for the first six months..to build ridership,” said John Washington with the City of Statesboro.
After six months, riders will pay one dollar. They’ll start fixed routes of East/West and North/South with bus stops around the city. But that’s not all.
“It will also allow people who are elderly for example to call in and request they come to get them for assistance.”
Bulloch County Commissioners voted to create a new employee benefits program for county workers, according to the Statesboro Herald.
After postponing the decision with a tiebreaker vote two weeks earlier, the Bulloch County commissioners Tuesday evening quickly, quietly and unanimously approved creating a new pension plan for county employees.
The county government already had a retirement system for its 300 or so employees, administered by ACCG Retirement Services, an arm of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. But it consists mainly of a 401(a) defined contribution retirement savings program. The new plan is an actual pension, guaranteeing a set monthly benefit amount to retirees.
“I think it says a lot,” Capt. Marcus Nesmith of the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office said outside after the vote.
Many of the employees “were getting close to retirement, and with the retirement system that we have now, they were going to have to stay a little longer because the market isn’t what it was several years ago,” Nesmith said. “So with a pension, there’s a defined benefit. They’ll know what they get when they retire, and they’ll get that for the rest of their life.”
However, the plan shifts some of the uncertainty to the county government, since the fixed benefits become a lasting financial obligation, a liability, that the county cannot easily adjust.
Warner Robins police say that Flock cameras are helping solve crimes, according to 13WMAZ.
Warner Robins police say their new license plate reading cameras are helping keep Houston County safer.
Since March, they’ve helped solve dozens of crimes.
Over the past seven months, Warner Robins Lieutenant Eric Gossman says they’ve solved about 25 crimes.
The crimes: Theft of stolen property, aggravated assaults, narcotics violations, and traffic violations, like expired tags.
“It feels great that we are actually moving forward in solving crimes and hopefully stop future crimes from happening,” Gossman said.
As a direct result of Flock cameras, Gossman said, they’ve arrested 10 people for “theft by receiving stolen vehicles.”
Hyundai suppliers are seeking locations in Bulloch County ahead of the construction of a new Hyundai plant, according to the Statesboro Herald.
Multiple potential suppliers for Hyundai Motor Group’s massive electric vehicle meta plant are currently seeking as many as three industrial sites off U.S. Highway 301 near the I-16 interchange in Bulloch County through its Development Authority.
Two of the sites – one already owned by the Development Authority of Bulloch County and one for which the DABC was slated to conclude a purchase Thursday – were the subject of zoning changes approved by the county commissioners during their meeting Tuesday evening.
“We now have, interested in this site, one of the major suppliers for the Hyundai plant,” Steve Rushing, attorney for the DABC, said about the first site.
Before executives of South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Group broke ground for the company’s Meta Plant America in neighboring Bryan County on Oct. 25, Bulloch officials were already talking to some suppliers interested in locating here. The Hyundai plant alone is expected to employ 8,100 people, but the spinoff industries that supply it could create jobs closer to home for residents of surrounding counties.
Suspended Chatham County Manager Lee Smith spoke about his firing with the Savannah Morning News.
At that meeting, he said [County Commission Chair Chester] Ellis was “very, very nice” and “compassionate,” but ultimately handed Smith a letter, dated July 19, in which the chairman explained he was suspending Smith and placing him under investigation due to an unspecified “recent chain of events.”
But even now, more than 100 days later, Smith has yet to be told what he did wrong or the findings of any supposed investigation. He still hasn’t been removed from his position, not by resignation, termination or otherwise.
“I do believe Chairman Ellis was trying to protect me from being fired by the [commission],” Smith said. “I believe that wholeheartedly, and others do also. It just was a way to block a [removal] vote, quite honestly.”
Chatham County code requires a two-thirds vote — six of the nine members — to remove a county manager from office, but they must adopt a preliminary resolution stating the reasons for removal. This preliminary resolution must also pass by more than two-thirds vote.
Smith said there are three things he’s asking for in the severance agreement: He wants to be vested by the county to have a pension in retirement; to get health insurance in retirement; and nine months’ salary. All three were in the agreement, Smith said.
Smith found the offer agreeable but county leaders reneged.
“I signed it, we sent it back, and they then pulled the offer,” Smith said. ”My attorney and I, we looked at filing suit against the board for not fulfilling their obligations [in the severance agreement] and giving me something which I signed in good faith.”
“I tell them: ‘I don’t know, I must have been in a coma. Because I don’t know what I did,’” Smith said. “Nobody’s telling me anything. So, all I can say is: it has to be personal and very political.”
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