On October 25, 1774, the First Continental Congress addressed a petition to King George III raising concerns about the Coercive Acts passed by Parliament and asserting its loyalty to the monarch.
The wooden keel of USS Monitor was laid at Continental Iron Works at Greenpoint, New York on October 25, 1861.
On October 25, 1980, “You Shook Me All Night Long” became AC/DC’s first top 40 hit.
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #10.23.22.01, setting a December 20, 2022 special election to fill the House District 129 seat vacated by the death of State Rep. Henry “Wayne” Howard.
Standardized math test scores showed dramatic learning losses among some Georgia students, according to WALB.
Students in Georgia scored low on the National Milestones Assessment Test, according to state education officials. They also say this test provides a clear picture of the educational damage from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Experts are saying the pandemic caused historic learning setbacks for children. Math scores saw their largest decreases ever, according to the Georgia Department of Education.
Jennifer Johnson, principal of Northeast Middle School in Tifton, Ga, says she thinks students who spent longer periods learning online suffered greater setbacks.
From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Albany Herald:
The Georgia results on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress tests show that average fourth-grade reading and math scores and eighth-grade reading scores hovered around pre-pandemic rates.
But in eighth-grade math, Georgia’s average score dropped from 279 in 2019 to 271 this year, a significant decline. This year, only about 59% of Georgia eighth-graders were considered to have basic skills in math, while 67% met that bar in 2019.
While many states saw drops from 2019 levels across the board or in many categories, Georgia bucked that trend, with its only significant decline coming in eighth-grade math.
[State School Superintendent Richard] Woods said he was pleased with the results.
“[It’s] a testament to the hard work of teachers and students across this state,” he said. “Knowing that there is still work to be done together, we will remain laser-focused on academic recovery and providing the resources and teachers need.”
United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who by court rules handles emergency petitions from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, stayed enforcement of a Fulton County subpoena to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, according to the Associated Press via the Valdosta Daily Times.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday temporarily blocked Sen. Lindsey Graham’s testimony to a special grand jury investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in the state.
Thomas’ order is intended to prevent Fani Willis, Fulton County district attorney, from compelling Graham to testify while the Supreme Court weighs the senator’s request for a lengthier halt to the proceedings.
Willis has a deadline Thursday to tell the high court why Graham should have to answer the grand jury’s questions. Lower courts have ruled that his testimony can take place.
Justice Thomas’s brief order was an “administrative stay,” meant to give the court some breathing room to weigh the senator’s emergency application asking the Supreme Court to bar the grand jury from questioning him.
On Saturday, Justice Thomas, who oversees the appeals court whose ruling is at issue, ordered prosecutors to respond to the application by Thursday. Such a request for a response is almost always a sign that the full court will weigh in on the matter.
On Thursday, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, refused to block a trial judge’s ruling that Mr. Graham could be required to answer some but not all questions from the grand jury.
The panel based its ruling on the Constitution’s protection of members of Congress in its “speech or debate” clause. “For any speech or debate in either house,” the clause says of senators and representatives, “they shall not be questioned in any other place.”
The panel, which included two judges appointed by President Donald J. Trump, drew a distinction between Mr. Graham’s activities in investigating supposed irregularities in the 2020 election and some of his other statements and conduct. Though the lower courts are divided over whether “an informal investigation by an individual legislator acting without committee authorization is ever protected legislative activity under the speech and debate clause,” the panel said, it would assume that the clause applied to such inquiries made by Mr. Graham.
In his emergency application, Mr. Graham said that all of his activities were related to his legislative obligations and that the proposed questions were a “backdoor” attempt to examine them.
“Without a stay, Senator Lindsey Graham will soon be questioned by a local Georgia prosecutor and her ad hoc investigative body about his protected ‘speech or debate’ related to the 2020 election,” Mr. Graham’s lawyers wrote in their application. “This will occur despite the Constitution’s command that senators ‘shall not be questioned’ about ‘any speech or debate.’”
Justice Thomas, who oversees emergency matters from the 11th Circuit, ordered the prosecutor to respond to the filing by Thursday. The justices have a private meeting already scheduled for Friday to review pending cases, where Mr. Graham’s application could be discussed. The Supreme Court could decide whether to block Mr. Graham’s testimony any time after that.
From the Secretary of State’s Absentee Voting Database:
Total ballots cast: 991,048
Total mail ballots cast: 96,672
Total in-person ballots cast: 892,845
In-person October 17, 2022: 134,786
In-person October 18, 2022: 135,078 *
In-person October 19, 2022: 127,803 *
In-person October 20, 2022: 122,999
In-person October 21, 2022: 141,687
In-person October 22, 2022: 80,042
In-person October 23, 2022: 18,129
In-person October 24, 2022: 132,320
Total Electronic ballots cast (overseas and military voters): 1531
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.
* this appears to be down from yesterday’s number for 10/18/2022 in person voting
Early voting numbers lead many to assume high voter turnout for the November elections. From the Associated Press via the Valdosta Daily Times:
Through Sunday, about 838,000 Georgians had cast their ballots, most of them in person at advance voting sites, the rest returning mail ballots. That’s almost 60% higher than advance voting totals at this point in 2018, the last midterm election.
More than 10% of Georgia’s registered voters have already cast votes, a share that trails only Massachusetts and Vermont, where 22% and 16% of voters have sent in ballots, according to an Associated Press analysis of data collected by University of Florida professor Michael McDonald. California and Florida have each accepted more than 1 million mail ballots thus far. And the numbers nationwide are likely to accelerate this week as more states open early in-person polling places or send ballots to voters.
“We’re seeing very robust numbers of people who are voting early, so at this point we’d have to see turnout crater before election day for the trajectory we’re on to change,” McDonald said.
The turnout is record-setting, said Tate Mitchell, a spokesperson for the Kemp campaign, “while Stacey Abrams continues to spread the myth of voter suppression.”
Abrams pushes back against that taunt, even as she, too, celebrates the high early turnout.
“More people in the water does not mean there are fewer sharks,” Abrams said Monday.
“It is wrong to suggest that there is a correlation between voter turnout and voter suppression because suppression is about barriers,” Abrams said. “If those barriers are not completely successful, the credit does not go to those who erected the barriers. The credit goes to those voters who found a way to navigate, overwhelm and overcome those barriers.”
The Abrams campaign touted high Black turnout thus far, with about 35.5% of the advance ballots coming from Black voters. In 2020, when Biden won, that was 33% through one week of advance voting. In 2018, when Abrams lost, it was 31%. Groh-Wargo highlighted Black men, as well, saying the campaign’s analysis shows that about 97,000 Black men have voted already; that was about 45,000 at this point during Abrams’ losing effort. Abrams, who would be the first female Black governor in the United States, has more openly concentrated on reaching Black men in her second campaign.
The Georgia electorate does not yet reflect a surge in turnout among women, even as Democrats insist that the Supreme Court decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion will sway women nationally. Data show that the advance vote thus far is 54.5% female, which is about average in Georgia general elections. It is notable, however, that mail ballot requesters are 59% female, and most of those have yet to be returned. So the electorate could still end up being more female than usual.
From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Statesboro Herald:
More than 18,100 voters cast early ballots on Sunday, when early voting was only offered in some counties. The Sunday total soared 211% above the early voting mark set on the first day of Sunday early voting ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
As of Monday morning, about 758,000 voters had taken advantage of the first week of early voting. That shattered previous midterm turnout records during every day of early voting last week and was close to the early voting turnout ahead of the presidential election in 2020.
“Voters are enthusiastic, but most importantly, have the options available to get that vote in early,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “Voters registered at the [state Department of Driver Services] or online, took advantage of My Voter Page, and have the most up-to-date information available to make a plan.”
Abrams campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo said while in-person early voting turnout is setting records, far fewer Georgians have requested absentee ballots this year. Last year’s bill requires voters to show a photo ID to vote absentee and significantly limits the number of absentee ballot drop boxes.
“That’s where you really see the impact of SB202,” Groh-Wargo said.
Groh-Wargo said Democrats are encouraged by the strong early voting turnout among women, which she ascribed to concern over the abortion issue, and among Black voters, who historically lean Democratic.
Raffensperger said reports of long lines have been rare, with some lines in the metro areas being reported.
From Atlanta News First via WTOC:
Poll numbers show roughly 45% of early voters are 65 or older despite the group making up about 20% of the state’s active voter population.
This trend could be attributed to changes during the pandemic or the visibility of the races on the ticket. Political science professor Charles Bullock said the pandemic shifted behaviors and seniors had to look for other options.
“Part of it has to move, going back to COVID. I think probably a lot of these older voters voted absentee two years ago, send out the absentee ballots with the primary, you could check a box and get it for the general election. So I got them into the idea of voting before Election Day,” said Bullock.
Bullock said that while older voters typically vote Republican, both parties might feel good about these solid early voting numbers. He predicts at least half of the state’s 7 million registered voters will turn out for this election, possibly setting records for a midterm year.
More than 16,000 people have already cast their ballot early in Chatham County.
Those numbers are record breaking for the county and there are still nearly two weeks left in the early voting period.
That 16,000 voters is about eight percent higher than the last presidential election in 2020 and about 28 percent higher than the last midterm election in 2018.
“Part of the reason I think the turnout for early voting has been so good is word has gotten out that wait times are much lower than they were in 2020, 2020 has some technological challenges at the outset that I think may have caused some voters to avoid the early voting period, we have seen those problems, in fact the wait times are great,” said Chatham County Board of Registrars Chair Colin McRae.
Those are anywhere between five to 30 minutes, with the early morning right when they open usually being the longest wait times.
“Georgia voters continued to hit record-breaking turnout on the first optional Sunday of early voting,” Raffenserpger’s office said in a release.
Georgia has had record early voting turnout since the first day of early voting this year, surging to nearly twice the number on the first day of early voting in 2018, according to Raffensperger.
Raffenperger’s office said voting totals have remained within striking distance of the 2020 presidential election turnout and have shattered previous midterm turnout records by 50% or higher during every day of early voting since starting on Oct. 17.
“211% of 2018 shows that voters are enthusiastic, but most importantly, have the options available to get that vote in early,” said Raffensperger. “Reducing the Election Day burden on county election officials ensures success on Election Day. County election officials deserve our praise, as both counties and voters are prepared this year. Voters registered at the DDS or online, took advantage of My Voter Page and have the most up-to-date information available to make a plan. County election officials have done a great job getting that information to their voters.”
“Early voting turnout is expected to increase during the last week of early voting, and voters are encouraged to take advantage of next Saturday’s (Oct. 29) mandatory early voting day,” Raffensperger’s office said in a release.
From USA Today via the Augusta Chronicle:
Despite widespread concerns that a controversial new law would deter many Georgia residents from casting ballots, voter turnout in the May primary rose across every category of race, gender and geography, an analysis by the USA TODAY Network found.
Experts in Georgia politics said the increase largely reflected an enormous outpouring of voter interest since the 2020 presidential election and subsequent national news events that have electrified the electorate.
The turnout growth, measured since the last midterm primary in 2018, was not uniform. It was stronger among white voters than Black, and participation rose more in the Republican primary than in Democratic contests. Black turnout dropped in some pockets of the state.
“We have struck the balance, we think, between election security and voter convenience,” Mike Hassinger, public information coordinator on voting and elections for the Secretary of State, told the USA TODAY Network’s Georgia GO Team in September. “We want to make it as easy as possible for registered, eligible voters to vote.”
Hispanic voters had the smallest increase of any racial or ethnic group, about 1 percentage point statewide. Native Americans and Asian Americans had larger increases in turnout but remained, with Hispanics, near the bottom for participation rates among all racial and ethnic groups.
White women, meanwhile, had some of the biggest increases. The rates for white women in suburban and rural areas rose by 12 and 13 percentage points, respectively.
Turnout rates for Black men and women in all types of geography also rose, but to smaller degrees. Black turnout actually fell by a percentage point or more in 22 of Georgia’s 159 counties, many of them small in population and almost all rural. In one, rural Clinch County with under 5,000 voters, Black turnout fell by 22 percentage points.
White turnout fell in only two counties, Augusta’s Richmond County and Taliaferro County, between Augusta and Athens.
Although participation grew across the board, the gap between white and Black voting rates widened in 2022, and consequently white voters comprised a slightly bigger share of all Georgians casting a vote in May than they did four years earlier.
Older voters, who skew more Republican, also had the highest increase in turnout. Voters age 68 to 87 posted the highest turnout rates of any age group and had the most significant increases in turnout this spring.
White men in that age range had a nearly 60% turnout rate in the 2022 primary. Voters aged 18-37 had turnout rates of under 10%.
“We’ve broken records in all categories,” Hassinger said. “That’s the worst case of voter suppression ever. It’s actually having the opposite effect.”
It’s a surprisingly good analysis in the USA Today article, but I still must issue one demerit for incorrect use of the word “comprising.”
According to Pete McDonald with the Floyd County elections office, all of the local numbers are trending upwards.
“Saturday turnout was especially strong when compared to the past,” he said.
Former First Lady of Georgia Shirley Miller endorsed Governor Kemp’s reelection, according to the AJC.
Miller’s late husband, Zell Miller, was a two-term Democratic governor who was later appointed to the U.S. Senate by then-Gov. Roy Barnes.
Although Zell Miller never left the Democratic Party, the occasionally irascible man from Young Harris in rural northeast Georgia quickly grew estranged from national Democratic leaders during his time in Washington.
“Governor Kemp has ably guided our state through one of our toughest chapters in modern times,” she said in a statement. “He has a proven record of acting in the best interest of all Georgians.”
Herschel Walker will campaign in northwest Georgia with fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, according to the AJC.
While other statewide Republicans have steered clear of the controversial legislator, Walker hopes she can help rev up support in north Georgia. He’ll need soaring turnout in the GOP-friendly area to score a victory over U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
“He’s not just a liar, he’s a cheat. He’s not just a cheat, I say he’s a Marxist,” Walker said of Warnock. “I’m running against a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Eulene Dupree of Rome said Walker’s appearance with Greene solidified her support for the former football star.
“I love Margie,” she said. “We need Herschel and we need Margie.”
Burt Jones, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, predicted that “this election cycle is going to come down to gas and grocery issues” — issues he expects to play into the GOP’s favor.
The Lowndes County Board of Elections will hold a special called meeting tonight to determine whether probable cause exists for a challege, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
13WMAZ profiles the candidates for State Senate District 25.
13WMAZ’s Jessica Cha talked to District 25’s state senate candidates– Republican representative Rick Williams and Democratic representative Valerie Rodgers– in Baldwin County about what’s important to them as they run.
Rick Williams has been a long time business owner in Milledgeville and involved in local politics for decades.
“I have a servant’s heart. I’ve always enjoyed helping people,” he says.
“There’s a number of things we can do from continuing to implement bonuses and benefits for the teachers and other personnel in the education systems in Georgia,” Williams explains. “We want to keep those teachers and show them the benefit of staying with our school systems.”
Both candidates also say their supporters’ biggest concerns are with job security and the economy.
“You know we lost the Food Service Partners down here in Milledgeville. We’re rich in natural resources, so I think we’re in a great position to keep expanding and moving forward in Middle Georgia,” Williams says.
“I have experience locally and in government, and I have run my own business since 1975, so I have the background of business experience, and knowing the community,” Williams says. “Having been in the legislature for six years, I have met the people who run those different state agencies, I know who to contact to help solve constituents issues. I enjoy working for the people and will continue to work and give myself to the community.”
Valerie Rodgers is not a state representative, but Rick Williams is. I think the writer meant to call each their party’s nominee or candidate, not representative.
Senate District 25 covers Baldwin and Putnam counties, and parts of Jones and Bibb.
The Gainesville Times covers the candidates for Lula City Council District 1.
Cyber security professional Tony Cornett and Gainesville attorney Mike Hinton are going head-to-head in the race to fill City of Lula’s vacant District 1 council seat.
Augusta Transit is promoting its service to early voters, according to WJBF.
Augusta Transit wants those folks to know that there is service near most polls in Richmond County. And if there isn’t a bus stop near you and you live in McBean or Blythe, you can call Augusta Transit to pick you up so you can cast your ballot.
“We believe everyone has the right to vote and if you do not have your own personal transportation, you shouldn’t be disenfranchised. So we are ensuring that our buses will be running on the days running up to election day. We will have at least one bus on each of our 9 fixed routes,” said Dr. Oliver Page, Deputy Director at Augusta Transit.
Dr. Page said that most of their 9 routes have stops within a quarter mile of one of the polling locations, except for Diamond Lakes.
Rides are not free this year, but Dr. Page said the fare is reasonable.
“We feel that $1.25 is very affordable to everyone. So everyone who would like to vote in Augusta Richmond County that may not have a car, that may not have the financial means of getting or using an Uber lift, there are ways and means of getting to the polls.”
A Fulton County Superior Court trial on the constitutionality of Georgia’s “Heartbeat” bill abortion restrictions began yesterday, according to the Associated Press via AccessWDUN.
Georgia’s law bans most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” is present. Cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in cells within an embryo that will eventually become the heart as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. That means most abortions in Georgia are effectively banned at a point before many women know they are pregnant.
The law includes exceptions for rape and incest, as long as a police report is filed, and allows for later abortions when the woman’s life is at risk or a serious medical condition renders a fetus unviable.
Cwiak said the law, however, does not provide clear guidance about when doctors can intervene. The potential penalty for an error is also chilling, she said.
“The fact that the bill has as the consequence criminal prosecution if you have a different interpretation than the legal interpretation, that’s very distressing to physicians,” she said.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney has scheduled two days of testimony in the lawsuit that seeks to strike down the law on multiple grounds, including that it violates the Georgia Constitution’s right to privacy and liberty by “forcing pregnancy and childbirth upon countless Georgians.” He will then issue a ruling, though he said Monday that it will not come right away.
The state attorney general’s office responded in a court filing that Georgia’s privacy protections do not extend to abortion because it affects another “human life.”
“There is a third party involved,” Georgia Solicitor General Stephen Petrany told McBurney.
Governor Brian Kemp spoke at the “State of the Region” in Statesboro, according to the Statesboro Herald.
Leaders from Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, and Effingham gathered to discuss teamwork and how they can work together to handle the thousands of new jobs and new people moving here.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was the speaker. He commended the partnerships that helped bring the company to our part of Georgia.
“The foresight that these folks had is incredible. But it’s not just what’s coming. It’s also what’s already happened here in the last few years too,” said Governor Kemp.
Gwinnett County Commission Chair Nicole Love Hendrickson visited the White House, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson was among a group of local leaders who participated in a Communities in Action Forum with First Lady Jill Biden last week.
The officials who participated in the forum discusses the impacts from the American Rescue Plan, the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act. In all 40 officials from across Georgia participated in the forum.
“It was an honor to be included among likeminded colleagues who have the same goal in mind – building a better Georgia,” Hendrickson said. “By having these insightful conversations, we can leverage these opportunities to look ahead and build a strong foundation for long-term social and economic prosperity.”
The Muscogee County School Board discussed food insecurity and homelessness among students, according to WTVM.
The Georgia Ports Authority is asking for relief from proposed new Right Whale protection regulations, according to The Brunswick News.
Billions of dollars and thousands of jobs are at stake in Georgia if the federal government expands the North Atlantic Whale Strike Reduction Rule in its current form, the head of the Georgia Ports Authority warns.
That’s not all, GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch notes in a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo. There is also human safety to consider when ordering ocean-going cargo ships and harbor pilot boats to cap speed at 10 knots for close to half the year annually.
“We believe NOAA is overlooking several critical factors as it seeks to implement harmful changes to the rule,” Lynch wrote. “The proposed rule raises considerable life and safety concerns, and would cause further interruptions to an already strained supply chain. If implemented in its current form, this rule will exacerbate congestion at American ports — resulting in detrimental effects on the nation’s economy.”
“NOAA’s economic impact assessment for the newly proposed rule does not consider any additional negative impacts to ocean going vessels because they are already regulated under the existing rule,” Lynch wrote. “The changes in deviation reporting and enforcement proposed under this rule, however, greatly alter the enforcement and oversight of necessary deviations, thereby greatly expanding the impacts on ocean-going vessels.”
“The negative economic impact of this proposed rule equates to the loss of an estimated 1,283 diverted cargo ships destined for Georgia port facilities,” Lynch wrote. “Amongst the other cargoes, these diverted cargo ships would include up to 3.1 million TEUs, equating to an estimated $3.8 billion in revenue for Georgia businesses, 26,820 Georgia jobs, $1.3 billion in personal income and $1.85 billion in GDP — far surpassing the total negative impacts assumed by the 2022 Draft Regulatory Impact Review and Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis of this proposed rule for the entire East Coast.”
“The NOAA proposed speed restrictions will lead to reduced service capacity and ship delays along the entire Eastern seaboard,” Lynch wrote. “Without speed as an effective tool to overcome navigational influences, ocean-going cargo vessels will be unable to safety traverse our nation’s harbors. This will likely result in temporary port closures and significant congestion outside the affected harbors.”
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