Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 28, 2020

Christopher Columbus “discovered” Cuba on October 28, 1492.

The Battle of Wauhatchie, one of a handful of night battles in the Civil War, began along the Georgia-Tennessee border on October 28, 1863.

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886; the first ticker tape parade followed.

The United States Senate overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the Volstead Act on October 28, 1919.

The Cuban Missile Crisis ended on October 28, 1962 as Kruschev agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba if the United States would respect Cuban sovereignty.

Democratic President Jimmy Carter debated Republican Ronald Reagan in Cleveland, Ohio on October 28, 1980.

The Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Indians 1-0 to win the World Series on October 28, 1995.

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:       3,386,363

Mail-in votes cast:        1,225,181

Electronic votes cast:          9,906

In-person votes cast:    2,151,276

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms acknowledged the dramatic rise in Atlanta’s murder rate, according to the AJC.

“We are seeing numbers we have not seen in Atlanta as it relates to our murder rate,” Bottoms said during a press briefing with local media. “We recognize that this is a problem. … Right now, our eye is on crime in Atlanta.”

Rodney Bryant, the interim chief of the Atlanta Police Department, said curbing gun violence and homicides has become the department’s primary focus, along with concerns about street racing and morale within the police department. After several officers left the department over the summer, morale has improved in recent weeks, Bryant said.

Atlanta has seen 116 homicides this year, which is the most since 2007, according to APD data. For all of 2019, Atlanta had 99 homicides. Aggravated assault is up about 10% compared to this time last year.

Overall, serious crime is down 20% in Atlanta this year, statistics show, though officials said that may be partly due to the coronavirus pandemic. Burglary and larceny, for example, are down 25 to 30% compared to this time in 2019.

Governor Brian Kemp spoke yesterday at a “MAGA Rally” to welcome Democrat Joe Biden to Georgia. From the AJC:

Standing in front of a shuttered textile mill in Manchester, U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson told a crowd of more than 100 supporters to send pictures of the worn-out building to voters who rely on the oil industry — a nod to Biden’s remarks that he wanted to “transition” away from fossil fuels.

“Let me tell you what his promises mean: It will mean no jobs for you,” Ferguson said.

“Maybe he wants some good BBQ and Southern hospitality, or maybe he needed to get out of his basement and taste some freedom,” Kemp said. “But if Biden is down in Georgia looking for electoral votes, he’s come to the wrong place.”

The rally, scheduled late Monday, drew a dozen or so reporters and an enthusiastic crowd.

From WTVM:

“Georgia is clearly a battleground state, but we are going to do whatever it takes to win this war,” Kemp said.

Ferguson offered insight as to why Georgia has limited access to healthcare in rural areas, mentioning the Democratic health care system is to blame.

“If you wonder why we don’t have doctors and we don’t have hospitals, it is not because of things we have done,” Ferguson said. “It is not because of the leadership we have had here in this state. It is because of Obama Care.”

Kemp spoke exclusively with WTVM about the [healthcare] efforts from the Republican side.

“We are the first state in the country to sign one of these healthcare waivers,” Kemp said. “It is going to provide access for thousands of Georgians to healthcare with lower costs for millions. The Democrats never talk about lowering private-sector health insurance costs. They only talk about expanding the broken government program. We are going to reform that, but also work to reduce the cost.”

From Fox23:

Joe Biden is setting the stakes for Georgia voters: “We win Georgia, we win everything,” he says.

The Democratic presidential candidate told voters at a drive-in rally in Atlanta on Tuesday to turn out to help win the state not just for him but also for Democratic Senate candidates. Both of Georgia’s Republican-held Senate seats are up for a vote next week.

Biden slammed Republican Sen. David Perdue for recently making fun of running mate Sen. Kamala Harris’ name. He says, “That’s got to stop, and it will stop with us.”

Biden emphasized the importance of flipping the Senate and told the crowd: “There’s no state more consequential than Georgia in that fight.”

From the Albany Herald:

“This place, Warm Springs, is a reminder that though broken, each of us can be healed,” Biden said. “That as a people and a country, we can overcome this devastating virus, that we can heal a suffering world and, yes, we can restore our soul and save our country.”

Georgia Democrats are banking on changing demographics and voting patterns, particularly in the Atlanta suburbs, to help flip the presidency, a congressional seat and control of the state House of Representatives in their favor.

The president as well as his son, Donald Trump Jr., and daughter, Ivanka Trump, have made several stops in Georgia in recent months. Tuesday’s speech in Warm Springs was Biden’s first visit to Georgia since winning his party’s nomination.

Biden was joined at a get-out-the-vote rally in Atlanta Tuesday evening by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, local elected officials and the musician Common. His visit came on the heels of a campaign stop last week by his running mate, Kamala Harris.

From the Valdosta Daily Times:

“There aren’t a lot of pundits that would have guessed four years ago that a Democratic candidate for president would be campaigning in Georgia on the final week of the election,” the Democratic presidential candidate told the crowd. “Or that we’d have such competitive Senate races in Georgia, but we do.”

Hundreds of cars carrying nearly 800 people crowded into the Cellairis Amphitheater in Lakewood to see the former vice president speak following a star-studded line-up of Georgian politicians. In the past weeks, multiple polls have showed both the presidential and two Senate races in Georgia as close contests — ramping up Democratic enthusiasm throughout the state.

“I can’t tell you how important it is to flip the United States Senate,” Biden said. “There’s no state more consequential than Georgia in that fight.”

Biden heavily criticized Trump’s handling of the pandemic and touted protections for pre-existing conditions during his speech Tuesday. Health care has become the main issue for Democratic candidates both up and down the ballot as coronavirus cases remain prevalent and have started to rise.

“Donald Trump has waved the white flag, abandoned our families and surrendered to this virus. But the American people don’t give up, they don’t give in and, surely, they don’t cower. And neither will I,” he said. “I will put in place a plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly.”

Before his appearance in front of the large crowd in Atlanta, Biden traveled to Warm Springs — a small town where Franklin D. Roosevelt received treatment for polio because of the hot springs that bubble there. While there, Biden argued the nation is not so divided it can’t be unified.

But at both of his Georgia events, Trump supporters counter-protested.

Senator David Perdue (R-Glynn County) campaigned in Evans, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Georgia’s senior U.S. senator and his wife, Bonnie, greeted dozens of supporters at the Columbia County Republican Party headquarters in Evans and stressed the importance of GOP victories in both the presidential race and in Perdue’s race against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff.

“Make no mistake in this race. If you look at the Democrats right now, it very clear that the extreme, radical, leftist, Marxist side of that party is in total charge,” Perdue said.

Perdue said he, like Trump, was shown to be behind several points in the polls in previous elections, but Perdue won in 2014 by eight points and Trump won Georgia in 2016 by five points.

“There’s what I call a ‘Trump bump.’ These polls this year really are not, I believe, picking up as accurately as they want them to,” he said. “There are several reasons why I think that — COVID, the unrest in the summer, and just the general unsettledness of the Democratic Party right now with the extreme nature of some of the things they’re talking about.”

Georgia State House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) is touring the state in support of GOP house members, according to GPB News.

House Speaker David Ralston made a stop Monday in Warner Robins to show support for state Rep. Heath Clark and in Milledgeville to boost the chances of Rep. Rick Williams after both drew challenges from Democratic candidates who showed in the June primary they can turn out voters. This week’s crisscrossing of the state is intended to fend off a top goal of Georgia Democrats – to take at least 16 GOP-controlled seats of the chamber’s 180 to gain the majority on Nov. 3.

Ralston said during his stopover at the Baldwin County Regional Airport this is a pivotal election, from the presidency to the state legislative seats he is working to preserve. He predicted Republicans will at least retain control of the chamber.

“We are eight days away from the most important election in the history of the state of Georgia and I’m serious when I say that,” Ralston said at the campaign stop in Milledgeville stumping for Williams. “Georgia’s at a crossroads right now.”

Ralston praised Williams’ legislative push for laws that target human trafficking, expand transportation options and boost mental health care in Georgia.

Williams appears to be in a dogfight to keep his job, judging by the number of primary votes cast for his two Democratic challengers. About 5,200 GOP primary voters cast ballots for Williams and about 5,400 voters who requested a Democratic ballot in June. Quentin Howell of Hardwick emerged the victor to take on Williams.

Other stops on Ralston’s pre-election tour include St. Simons Island Wednesday to show support for Rep. Don Hogan, facing a challenge from Democrat Julie Jordan. Hogan won more than 6,100 votes in the June 9 primary while more than 4,500 Democrats cast ballots for Jordan.

Rep. David Clark announced Monday he intends to challenge Ralston if the Buford Republican wins his re-election bid. Clark was one of 10 state representatives who unsuccessfully pushed for Ralston to resign from his speaker’s position last year.

Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan‘s associated political committee has spent more than half-a-million dollars to reelect Republican Senators, according to the AJC.

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan created a fundraising committee last year to help Republican senators and candidates win this November, and the group is spending big in the campaign’s final days.

Reports filed this week show Advance Georgia has raised about $1.5 million, mostly from lobby groups and companies interested in state legislation and funding. It has spent about $600,000 in recent weeks, including more than $400,000 on campaign mailers.

Duncan, the Senate’s president, is working to maintain the Republican majority in his chamber. Republicans currently hold a 35-21 advantage over the Democrats in the Senate.

Outside spending in the Sixth and Seventh Congressional Districts has surpassed $25 million dollars, according to the AJC.

Emory University political science professor Andra Gillespie said the races are not only expected to be close again in 2020, but they will help indicate whether the Republican Party has lost its grip in areas that once were reliably conservative.

“These suburban districts are kind of the new frontlines in politics,” she said, “especially with groups that are interested in either trying to preserve and grow a Democratic House majority or more Republican-leaning groups that are interested in trying to stem losses and maybe make a few gains in these places.”

The Chatham County Board of Elections voted to disqualify Commission District 2 Democratic candidate Tony Riley, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Immediately following the hearing, Riley’s attorney Will Claiborne announced that the decision will be appealed to Chatham County Superior Court, along with a request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Board of Elections from posting signs at polling sites declaring that Riley’s candidacy was disqualified.

Elections Board Chairman Tom Mahoney cast the tie-breaking vote to disqualify Riley at the conclusion of Tuesday’s hearing, but repeated his vexation that the complaint was submitted just as early voting had begun, and that the timing of the disqualification made it impossible for Democrats to offer a replacement candidate.

“I think it stinks that it was brought to us this late,” Mahoney said of the complaint after Tuesday’s hearing. Following the complaint’s submission, allegations surfaced that Republican board member Debbie Rauers may have helped orchestrate the timing of Riley’s qualification challenge.

However, if the disqualification is upheld in Superior Court, all votes cast for Riley “will not be counted unless a Superior Court judge says otherwise,” Mahoney said. If the Superior Court decides against Riley, then his Republican opponent — Larry “Gator” Rivers — will win the District 2 election essentially unopposed.

Cobb County announced an emergency voting location change, according to the AJC.

Cobb voters assigned to the Influencers Church Kennesaw on Ben King Road on Nov. 3 have been reassigned to Kennesaw First Baptist Church on North Main Street in what elections officials described as an emergency precinct change.

The change, which a statement attributed to “issues with the facility,” affects voters in precinct Kennesaw 1A.

Absentee ballot counting should go quicker for the General Election than during the Primary, according to the Savannah Morning News.

[The Georgia Secretary of State] expects the counting of absentee ballots to go more smoothly this time because of a rule change the state elections board passed in August that allows counties to start the processing of absentee ballots 15 days prior to election night.

In Chatham County and around the state, that process began on Oct. 19. Droves of green containers, holding returned absentee ballots, were transferred from the Chatham County Board of Registrars to the Board of Elections.

Then begins the process of scanning the ballots. Scanned votes are stored on the memory of a computer, but the votes cannot be tabulated until the polls close on election day.

Board of Elections Chairman Tom Mahoney said the initial pile of absentee ballots — around 15,000 — took three days to process, though most of the actual processing took place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

As of Monday, 54,462 absentee ballots had been requested in Chatham County, and 28,040 of those ballots had been processed.

Bulloch County voting continues its fast and furious pace, according to the Statesboro Herald.

With four days of in-person early voting opportunity remaining and eight days left to return paper absentee ballots, more than 30% of Bulloch County’s registered voters have already voted in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election.

Adding the 5,001 absentee ballots returned and the 9,797 in-person early voters through Monday afternoon shows that 14,798 of the county’s roughly 47,970 registered voters have turned out so far. That exceeds the 13,651 total early and absentee ballots cast before the final Election Day in fall 2016.

“Sometimes if we don’t get here early enough we don’t have a place to park because the people are already lined up to vote,” Bulloch County Deputy Registrar Shontay Jones said of the employee parking situation at the County Annex.

The Floyd County school system is considering closing two schools, according to the Rome News Tribune.

The Floyd County school system is going to hold two public hearings in December concerning the proposed closures of Glenwood Primary School and Cave Spring Elementary School.

Up to this point, there’s been a lot of pushback from parents and community members. A local school governance team meeting Monday brought out a large group of people who opposed the change.

In the past several years, the school system has been faced with dropping tax revenues and declining student populations.

While the financial pinch continues, they’re still footing the bill for maintaining facilities designed for a larger student population.

The school system has too many buildings, [Superintendent Glenn] White said, and not enough students. Closing the two schools would be just a part of a long term plan to ensure the system’s fiscal strength, he said, with more closings likely.