Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 22, 2020

General James Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia, signed a treaty with the Spanish government of Florida on October 22, 1736.

On October 22, 1832, the Cherokee Land Lottery began in Milledgeville, with more than 200,000 Georgians competing for 53,309 lots of land.

Georgia Governor John B. Gordon signed legislation on October 22, 1887 that increased the number of justices on the Georgia Supreme Court from 3 to 5.

President Grover Cleveland arrived in Atlanta for the Cotton States and International Exposition on October 22, 1895.

On October 22, 1991, the Braves played Minnesota in the first World Series game in Atlanta.

The Atlanta Braves won Game 2 of the 1995 World Series, beating Cleveland 4-3, on October 22, 1995.

Georgia artist Howard Finster died on October 22, 2001.

One of my dogs is named Finster, after the artist.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Here are today’s General Election stats, drawn from the Absentee voter file released daily by the Secretary of State’s office:

Total votes cast:       2,035,409

Mail-in votes cast:          873,061

Electronic votes cast:          6,643

In-person votes cast:    1,155,705

A million new voters have joined the rolls in Georgia since 2016, according to the AJC.

There are now a record 7.6 million registered voters in Georgia, according to voter registration rolls obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the Secretary of State’s Office after the Oct. 5 registration deadline.

Shifts among Georgia’s voters threaten the state’s 28-year run of consecutive Republican victories in presidential races, said Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political science professor. A Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t won in Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.

“It’s getting awfully close,” said Bullock, who has observed state politics for decades. “We’ve got an increasing minority population, and that population generally votes Democratic. Republicans continue to rely almost exclusively on white voters.”

Nearly two-thirds of the new voters since the last presidential election are people of color. White voters make up over half, 53%, of all registered voters in Georgia.

Automatic voter registration when Georgians get their driver’s licenses greatly contributed to the addition of nearly 1 million voters.

Since Georgia instituted automatic voter registration in September 2016, the number of voters under 35 years old has increased by 22%, the largest expansion of any age group. Of all new voters, almost half of them are under 35.

Donald Trump, Jr. and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) will headline separate events for the respective Presidential campaigns, according to the Macon Telegraph.

A week after his father flew into Middle Georgia Regional Airport on Air Force One for a campaign event, Donald Trump Jr. will hold a “Make America Great Again” rally in Macon.

The rally, slated for 4 p.m. Friday, will be held at Emerson Ballroom at 543 Plum St. in Macon. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. and tickets can be found on the Trump campaign website.

Trump Jr. will visit Macon after his rally in Atlanta, where Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris is also expected to hold an event on Oct. 23. Details of Harris’ visit have not been released.

Governor Brian Kemp announced that Tift County Development Authority President and CEO Brian Marlowe will serve as the new Deputy Commissioner for Rural Georgia, according to a press release.

Governor Brian P. Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp today joined Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) Commissioner Pat Wilson during an event in the North Wing of the State Capitol to name Tift County Development Authority President and CEO Brian Marlowe as the new Deputy Commissioner for Rural Georgia. In this role, Marlowe will lead the Governor’s Rural Strike Team, the formation of which was announced last September.

“It is my honor to name Brian Marlowe as the new Deputy Commissioner for Rural Georgia and leader of the Rural Strike Team,” said Governor Kemp. “With today’s announcement, we are fulfilling another promise from the campaign trail to spur economic growth and opportunity in rural Georgia. With more than 20 years spent working in rural economic development, Brian’s track record of locating new projects in his community, expanding existing industries, and generating opportunity in South Georgia speaks for itself. I have every confidence that by working with leaders in the General Assembly, the business community, our universities and technical colleges, state agencies, local developers, and the world-class team at GDEcD, Brian will help us move the needle for rural Georgia.”

“I am honored to be trusted with such an important responsibility by Governor Kemp,” said Marlowe. “I’ve spent my professional life working to promote growth and opportunity in Tift County and throughout rural Georgia. Throughout my career, I’ve seen how ripe for investment rural Georgia truly is, and I am proud to partner with Governor Kemp, the Department of Economic Development, the Rural Strike Team, the business community, and stakeholders throughout the state to bring projects of regional significance to communities that want to grow.”

“We’re excited to welcome Brian Marlowe to our team at the Georgia Department of Economic Development and appreciate the Governor’s continued attention to capitalizing on our state’s rural assets,” said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson. “As the Top State for Business, Georgia has a proven history of being a top competitor for investment from every major industry sector in every community – large and small. The first three months of fiscal year 2021 are off to a strong start as we’ve announced new job-creating economic development projects in all 12 regions of our state. Working with Brian Marlowe and the Rural Strike Team, along with our sister state agencies, local economic developers, and partners in the General Assembly, we will continue to work tirelessly to land projects in rural Georgia and build on Georgia’s incredible momentum.”

Brian Marlowe currently serves as the President/CEO of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce and the Tift County Development Authority. He has extensive experience in economic development and local government in rural Georgia, serving as a practitioner and advocate for more than 20 years. He has a successful track record of new industry locations as well existing industry expansions, representing thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in local investment.

The Georgia Bipartisan Task Force for Safe, Secure, and Accessible Elections will meet weekly to discuss improving elections, according to the Albany Herald.

[The Georgia Secretary of State] has called together a bipartisan group of leaders in the political, civic, and educational fields to meet weekly and discuss the ways elections processes can be improved moving forward. The secretary of state said he will solicit task force members for innovative ideas to build on ballot access options provided in the Peach State, including no-excuse absentee ballot voting by mail or through a secure drop box, three weeks of early voting, and Election Day voting.

Liberty County will begin processing absentee ballots, according to WTOC.

The interim supervisor of Liberty County Board of Elections said the office has sent around 7,000 absentee ballots out so far and has received about 3,000. On Wednesday, those absentee ballots will be scanned in hopes of tabulating the results quicker come Election Night.

According to [Rhonda] Walthour, ballots will only be opened and scanned into the system. Ballots won’t be tallied until Nov. 3, once the polls close.

Walthour wants to remind Liberty County voters who vote absentee to sign their ballot and don’t forget to put your ballot in the yellow sleeve. If you already dropped off and mailed your ballot and didn’t do this, call the office and they will help you get everything sorted out.

Arenas and stadiums are being used for early voting locations, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Featuring rows and rows of voting machines, ample space for social distancing and staff accustomed to large crowds, these mega voting sites are proving attractive to voters looking for the best way to cast their ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“This was an amazing, fantastic experience,” Jen Cox said after voting at State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks. Other voters leaving the arena and posting on social media shared that sentiment.

The Hawks were the first NBA team to commit their arena for early voting. They contacted Fulton County officials in June after long lines plagued the state’s primary election and protests over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis roiled the streets around the arena.

There are 30 early voting locations scattered around Fulton County, which stretches 70 miles (112 kilometers) north to south. But with 60 check-in stations and 300 voting machines, the arena may be the best option for many, county elections director Rick Barron told reporters.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban retweeted a message that said the American Airlines Center was “the coolest polling place I’ve ever voted in.” Cuban added that there are 60 polling stations set up inside.

The next day, he tweeted a photo of voting machines in the arena’s concourse, calling it “Democracy in action.”

Florida has early voting at venues used by the NBA’s Orlando Magic, the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

State House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) criticized United States Senator Kelly Loeffler, according to the AJC.

At a campaign stop Wednesday in deep-red Ellijay, House Speaker David Ralston was in the middle of listing the reasons he supported U.S. Rep. Doug Collins’ challenge to U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler when he shifted his focus to the incumbent.

“I know Doug,” said Ralston. “I really don’t know his opponent. I know she’s got a lot of money. I know she married well. I know they’ve got three or four jets. She was supposed to be getting the votes of suburban moms, but the ones I talk to say, ‘She ain’t like me. We’re still working on our first jet at our house.’”

AccessWDUN profiles the candidates for State Senate District 50, Republican Bo Hatchett and Democrat Dee Daley.

State Senator Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) is challenged in the General Election by a UGA law student, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

Cowsert, first elected to the Senate in 2006, is the Athens area’s most senior state legislator, while Democratic challenger and third-year law student Zachary Perry is a political newcomer inspired to run, he says, by seeing firsthand the struggles of working families and the contrast between the “immense wealth” of many UGA students and the deep poverty he’s seen in Athens.

“I like low taxes and low regulation,” said Macon native Cowsert in a recent candidate forum, describing his political philosophy as “a common-sense conservative approach to government.”

Gwinnett County Sheriff candidates, Republican Luis “Lou” Solis, and Democrat Keybo Taylor, spoke to AccessWDUN about their qualifications.

Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Natalie Paine met her opponent in a debate, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Incumbent Natalie Paine and challenger Jared Williams discussed their platforms and ideas in their race for Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney at a forum hosted by Columbia County Chamber of Commerce at Columbia County Library in Evans on Wednesday night.

Both candidates started their legal careers at the district attorney’s office, Paine in 2009 and Williams in 2013. Paine remained a prosecutor with more than 50 trials before replacing now Superior Court Judge Ashley Wright in 2017. Williams left the office after two years and about 20 trials to live and work in Spain. Upon his 2017 return, he began criminal defense work with The Hawk Firm.

Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson met her independent opponent, Keith Higgins,  in a second debate, according to The Brunswick News.

Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson will end the city’s mask mandate, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Henderson says the city cannot enforce a mask mandate because the number of COVID-19 infections has dropped below the state’s case rate threshold.

The city’s number of cases has fallen to 72 cases per 100,000 persons, according to data from Georgia’s Department of Public Health. Governor Brian Kemp signed an executive order in August allowing cities and town to create their own mask mandates in the absence of a statewide mask mandate. But they can only do so if their case rate is above 100 cases per 100,000 people for 14 consecutive days.

Columbus first dropped below the threshold on Oct. 9. It appears Muscogee is the only Georgia county so far that has had to suspend its mask mandate due to falling below the threshold requirement.

“We are not backing off of our encouragement for people to wear masks,” Henderson said. “I think if you look at how successful we’ve been over the last several weeks, despite school being back in, in holding our numbers down — that’s not by accident. It’s because people have been very careful about social distancing and because they’ve been wearing masks.”