Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 30, 2015

In the second video from my interview of former Speaker Newt Gingrich, I asked about his characterizations of Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

Next is the third installment of the video from my talk with former Speaker Newt Gingrich earlier this week. We discussed his new book, Duplicity: A Novel, Callista Gingrich’s new book, Christmas in America (Ellis the Elephant), and how they’re using fiction to teach about politics and American History.

Today at 3 PM, I’ll join host Bill Nigut on Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “Political Rewind” with my fellow guests Jim Galloway, Eric Tannenblatt and Cathy Woolard, who is running for Mayor of Atlanta in 2017.

Please tune in on 88.5 FM in Atlanta or on GPB’s statewide radio network.

Georgia and American History

King Henry VII of England was crowned on October 30, 1485.

King Charles I of England granted a charter for a new colony called Carolana that included much of present-day Georgia, along with the current states of North and South Carolina, on October 30, 1629.

Stephen Douglas of Illinois campaigned in Atlanta for President of the United States on October 30, 1860. Douglas had defeated Abraham Lincoln for United States Senate in 1858, giving rise to the Lincoln-Douglas style of debate.

On October 30, 1871, Republican Benjamin Conley became acting Governor of Georgia after Republican Governor Rufus Bullock resigned; Conley served as President of the state Senate before taking office as Governor.

Conley took the oath of office on Oct. 30, 1871. Two days later, the new General Assembly convened and elected a new Democratic president of the Senate, but Conley refused to give up the office. The General Assembly then passed a law over Conley’s veto to hold a special election for governor on the third Tuesday in December. In that election, Democratic House speaker James M. Smith defeated Conley and assumed office Jan. 12, 1872.

On October 30, 1938, a science fiction drama called War of the Worlds was broadcast nationwide in the form of a series of simulated radio broadcasts.

Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 30, 1945, becoming the first African-American professional baseball player in the major leagues.

On October 30, 1970, a fastball from Nolan Ryan was timed at 100.9 miles per hour, putting him in the record books. On the same day, Jim Morrison of the Doors was sentenced to six months in prison and a $500 fine for allegedly exposing himself during a Miami concert. Morrision died before the case was heard on appeal.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Yesterday, Governor Nathan Deal announced three appointments to new seats on the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Amanda H. Mercier currently serves as a superior court judge within the Appalachian Judicial Circuit. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a law degree from Syracuse University College of Law. She and her husband, Joseph, have one child and reside in Blue Ridge.

Nels S.D. Peterson currently serves as vice chancellor for legal affairs and secretary to the Board of Regents. He previously worked at the Georgia Department of Law and established Georgia’s first Solicitor General Office where he served as solicitor general. He was also the deputy executive counsel and executive counsel for Gov. Sonny Perdue. Peterson earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Kennesaw State University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children and reside in Marietta.

Brian M. Rickman currently serves as district attorney of the Mountain Judicial Circuit, where he was previously an assistant district attorney. He is an adjunct professor and serves on the board of trustees at Piedmont College. Rickman earned a bachelor’s degree from Piedmont College and a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. He and his wife, Maggie, have two children and reside in Tiger.

“It is unusual. Usually you might have two or three but this year every race is contested. I think that’s a first in a long time that I can remember…. I think voters are in the mood for change, not just in the Mayor’s race, but in all the district races, and you’re seeing that reflected in the number of candidates. The last time I can remember voters feeling this way was about 25 years ago when the Ricky Jivens crime syndicate was running the streets and the murder rate was off the charts and Johnny Rousakis was the Mayor…. that year he fumbled the crime issue and you had an outsider to Savannah by the name of Susan Weiner and she won, and this year, I kind of see like almost a repeat of that …. I think you’re going to see some changes based on crime.”

Erick Erickson opines in the Macon Telegraph on the upcoming E-SPLOST vote.

Until I read about it in the newspaper recently, I did not even know there was a tax increase on the ballot. It may be meritorious. But the fact that our school system has worked overtime to keep everyone’s mouth shut about it suggests to me that this is not a meritorious tax increase.

Remember the Macon City Council? I was on that City Council. It was a routine clown car show of embarrassment. Every week the council caused more scandalous and silly headlines. It was an embarrassment to Middle Georgia. Consolidation and the abolition of the city was a net positive for Middle Georgia. The Warner Robins City Council got to become the dysfunctional city council for a while and now the Forsyth City Council and the Monroe County Commission are our regional embarrassment and indictment waiting to happen.

But rising above them all is the Bibb County school board. It keeps trying to change its ways, but I keep being reminded of the Persian fable often attributed to Aesop about the scorpion and the frog. The frog hesitates to carry the scorpion on its back across a river. The scorpion assures the frog that both would die if he stung the frog. Reassured, the frog agreed and carries the scorpion. Half way across the river, the scorpion stings the frog. Both would surely die. The frog asked the scorpion “why?” “It is my nature,” said the doomed scorpion.

The Bibb County school board is our collective scorpion. It has repeatedly cut off its nose to spite the entire school system’s face. This Dallemand situation bears serious watching and may cause serious trouble. As The Telegraph noted, the school system’s insurance company has told the school board that it is on its own in this. That means that we are on our own for possibly millions of dollars depending on how the case goes.

Truth be told, perhaps my words would not be so biting except for one thing. There is a tax increase on the ballot and our school system has done absolutely everything possible to make sure you know nothing about it.

Kyle Wingfield of the AJC follows-up on a notion I first heard earlier this week from Newt Gingrich – that the GOP might end up with a brokered convention and Presidential nominee in 2016.

“If you think you can get 5 or 6 or 7 percent of the delegates, you can come to the convention with some muscle, and you end up with a brokered convention,” he said, describing that scenario as “chaos” and “wild” but also, “as an observer … very cool.”

Very cool chaos could happen if low-polling candidates stick around and prevail in winner-take-all states. “(Ohio Gov. John) Kasich will probably carry Ohio. (New Jersey Gov. Chris) Christie will probably carry New Jersey,” Gingrich said. “They’re asking themselves, ‘Why would I drop out?’ ”

“Under the current rules, there is a 1 in 3 chance we’ll have a brokered convention,” offered Randy Evans, one of Georgia’s Republican National Committee members. That’s a significantly better chance than in past contests, even if it’s way too soon to push the panic button.

Can you imagine the voter outrage should, for example, Donald Trump win a 40 percent plurality but not end up with the nomination because all the other delegates ganged up on him? Or if Jeb Bush were to slog his way to third place, only to wind up atop the ticket?

2016 Georgia General Assembly

The issue of breweries selling beer as part of tours continues to bubble up. Perhaps foam is the better word.

Georgia breweries are foaming after the Georgia Department of Revenue quietly released a bulletin last month with its interpretation of the recently passed State Bill 63, also known as the Beer Jobs Bill, which updated the state’s post-prohibition-era beer laws.

The original bill, which went into effect July 1, allowed breweries to charge for tours and classified beer brewed on site as a souvenir, meaning you could get up to 72 ounces, the equivalent of a six pack or two 32-ounce growlers, of your favorite ale to go — as long as you had taken a physical tour of the facility.

But now, new tightened regulations state that the volume of alcohol can’t dictate the price of the tour, so the price of the tour must be the same regardless of whether a patron wants a to-go souvenir.

In July, Carly Wiggins, marketing director and co-founder of Savannah’s Southbound Brewing Co., said the changes were welcome and the brewery was already making plans to spend thousands for new equipment, staff and other modifications to benefit their customers, but now with the tightened regulations Wiggins just hopes to break even.

“The law was interpreted completely different than intended. One of the most concerning things was that we actually had to submit proposed tour and tasting menus to show how we would be operating after the (July) law changed. These were approved and breweries in the state were operating ‘legally’ as the law and DoR regulated,” Wiggins said.

“Then, boom, a notice comes out with a completely new interpretation stripping us of everything we worked so hard to get passed.”

I would be surprised if changes to the “Beer Jobs Bill” are not on the menu in the 2016 Session.

A Georgia Supreme Court ruling that has had surprising effects on DUI prosecutions may also lead to legislative action when the legislature convenes in January 2016. From WSB-TV’s Jodie Fleischer,

A Georgia Supreme Court ruling earlier this year has created a legal trick by which drunk drivers are getting key evidence against them thrown out, by arguing they were too drunk.

Drivers are convincing judges that they were not thinking clearly when they agreed to take the voluntary breath, blood, or urine tests, due to intoxication.

“It certainly is a ruling that’s going to impact every DUI case,” said defense attorney Mike Hawkins, who doesn’t see it as a trick, but a sound constitutional argument.

If it sounds ridiculous for a defense attorney to argue that their client was so intoxicated they were unable to make a sound legal decision about consenting to a DUI test, it’s equally strange to hear a prosecutor argue that the driver wasn’t that drunk.

“You would think that that’s absurd, right?” said Gwinnett County Solicitor Rosanna Szabo, who’s office has been the most impacted, mainly due to [Gwinnett State Court Judge Joseph] Iannazzone’s interpretation of the Williams ruling.

Szabo says she will not dismiss any cases just because her best evidence got suppressed.

In fact, she’s already decided to appeal 6 of Iannazzone’s rulings, which could leave the cases pending for some time.

“Oh it is frustrating,” said Szabo, “I think anybody who values the truth is frustrated to not be able to reveal the truth.”