Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for April 8, 2014

Hank Aaron hit home run number 715 on April 8, 1974 to become the all-time home run champion, a title he holds to this day.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig wrote yesterday about what Aaron meant to baseball and America.

As the last major league player who was a part of the Negro leagues, he was one of the game’s most prominent bridges to integration. For 23 years on the field, this humble native of Mobile, Ala., represented the game with unfailing grace, overcoming obstacles that most of us could not even imagine. In the years since then, Hank has remained one of the most distinguished and revered figures in American public life.

Aaron himself spoke to the Associated Press about the 40th anniversary of his record-breaking home run.

Aaron’s record-breaking homer will be celebrated tonight before the Atlanta Braves’ home opener against the New York Mets.

Hate mail and threats made it impossible for him to savor the chase of Ruth’s revered record, but on Monday he said he’ll enjoy the anniversary because such old friends as former teammate Dusty Baker will return for the pregame ceremony.

Aaron, 80, said he has a greater appreciation for fans who still celebrate his career.

“It does. It means an awful lot to me,” Aaron said.

“I’m not one to go around bragging about certain things. I played the game because I loved the game. … I am quite thrilled that people say that he, whatever he did, should be appreciated. That makes me feel good.”

The Braves will wear an Aaron 40th anniversary patch on their uniform sleeves this season. An outfield sign at Turner Field also will mark the anniversary.

Before hitting the homer into the Braves’ bullpen beyond the left-field wall, Aaron told [Dusty] Baker what was about to happen.

“That I can remember like it was yesterday,” Baker said. “It was a cold, cold night in April. Hank told me, ‘I’m going to get this over with now.’ He knew every pitch that was coming. He had total recall of pitch sequences. He was as smart as they came.”

Aaron confirmed Baker’s tale on Monday: “I think that was right. I think I made that remark and made it to Dusty maybe three or four times. I just felt within myself that eventually before the night was over I was going to hit a home run.”

Kurt Cobain was found dead by his own hand on April 8, 1994.

Governor Zell Miller signed legislation proclaiming Gainesville, Georgia the Poultry Capital of the World on April 8, 1995.

The Square Dance became the official state folk dance on April 8, 1996, when Gov. Zell Miller signed legislation recognizing it.

On April 8, 2005, Eric Rudolph agreed to plead guilty to the fatal 1996 bombing at Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park.

The Masters Tournament was won on this date by Gene Sarazen (1935), Jack Burke, Jr. (1956), Nick Faldo (2nd win – 1990), Tiger Woods (2nd win – 2001), and former University of Georgia player Bubba Watson in 2012.

A local variation of the “no white before Easter” rule was proposed, which I can support. It holds that the wearing of white may commence in Augusta, Georgia, upon the opening of the Masters Tournament. This begins with the practice rounds, which started yesterday and continue today.

Georgia Campaigns and Elections

Matt Towery writes for InsiderAdvantage that the Georgia Senate race could go into overtime if Libertarian nominee Amanda Swafford pulls enough votes to deny a majority to the two major-party candidates.

The Washington Post’s The Fix considers the possibility that runoff elections in Louisiana and Georgia may determine partisan control of the United States Senate.

Two states holding top Senate races this year hold runoffs if neither candidate attains 50 percent of the vote on Nov. 4: Georgia and Louisiana.

So what are the odds that runoffs in either (or both) of these states might determine who controls the Senate come 2015?

A runoff in Georgia is less likely, because Nov. 4 will feature a more standard general-election matchup between a Republican nominee, a Democratic nominee and third-party candidates. This means: 1) There needs to be a somewhat-viable third-party candidate, and 2) the race needs to be quite close.

On that first count, there is a Libertarian Party candidate  — former Flowery Branch city councilwoman Amanda Swafford  — but nobody else at this point.

The Libertarian nominee in 2008 took enough of the vote to push Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Democrat Jim Martin into a runoff, but that candidate  — Allen Buckley  — was more well-known than Swafford. And, of course, Democrats had a favorable national environment that allowed them to compete in a red state like Georgia.

In 2014, Democrats likely need Republicans to nominate a candidate with liabilities. National Republicans worry that Rep. Paul Broun or Rep. Phil Gingrey might open the door to a competitive race, but right now, there’s a crowded GOP primary featuring five viable candidates.

So let’s say, for argument’s sake, that the odds of the Georgia Senate race going to a runoff are about 10 percent.

A fly in the ointment for Democrats may be their complicated relationship with senior voters.

Democrats are facing a senior problem that could get even worse this year.

The party has traditionally had trouble with older voters, losing the group aged 65 and older by 21 points in 2010 — when Republicans picked up 63 seats — and by 12 points in the 2012 presidential race.

Seniors are the GOP’s most reliable voting bloc in midterm years, turning out in higher numbers than Democratic base voters. A recent Gallup poll showed seniors have become even more Republican over the last two decades; in 2013, 48 percent considered themselves Republican.

In 2008, the last year for which exit polls are available for Georgia, seniors (65+) gave an eight-point advantage to Republican John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama with a 54-46 margin, but Republican Saxby Chambliss only eked out a 49-46 margin over Democrat Jim Martin to head to overtime, where Chambliss took a 57-43 margin among seniors in the runoff.

The Senate Republican leadership in Washington is already preparing lists of committee chairs and agendas in preparation for the possible GOP takeover.

In interviews with The Hill, the senators promised to work closely with House Republicans to break the legislative gridlock that has defined Congress since 2011.

They are also vowing to step up oversight of the Obama administration dramatically and battle the president’s use of administrative power.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has vowed that if elected majority leader, he would give Republican committee chairmen more power to legislate.

If Republicans capture the majority, the incoming chairmen must be elected by the Republican members of each committee and ratified by a vote of the Senate GOP conference. Senate Republicans have almost always followed seniority, however.

Jim Galloway, in the AJC’s Political Insider has a chart that shows committed spending so far on the Georgia Senate race.

The screaming headline is that more than $5 million has already been spent by the candidates and outside forces ahead of the May 20 primary.

Look a little closer, though, and you’ll find some other interesting tidbits. One is that Ending Spending, the conservative Super PAC going after Democrat Michelle Nunn is spending a lot more than the $150,000 initially reported. Ending Spending confirmed the $1.3 million buy and said it will pay for more than just that one anti-Nunn ad, but the group would not provide further details.

Not surprisingly, Rep. Jack Kingston ($1.98 million bought) and businessman David Perdue, ($1.35 million bought) who have some of the biggest hauls, also have the biggest buys. And Democrat Michelle Nunn, facing little-known challengers in her party’s primary, seems to be conserving her campaign cash with the exception of a few strategic TV buys.

Rep. Phil Gingrey is focusing his ad spending on his home base of Atlanta with an ad buy of $725,000 in the metro market, while Kingston and Perdue are spreading their buys around the state.

Republican John McCallum has released the second television spot in his campaign for the First Congressional District.

After a Fulton County jury awarded former Georgia State Ethics Commission Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission Executive Director Stacey Kalbermann $700k in her whistleblower lawsuits, Gov. Deal has proposed ethics reform for the next session of the legislature.

He proposes that the three branches of government – judicial, executive and legislative – each appoint four members to a commission. The 12 members would select a chair, and they would not be allowed to hear any cases involving their branch. Said Deal:

“It is very clear we have had an ineffective commission in terms of being able to deal with cases appropriately and in the fashion they have been dealt with. We have seen for example in the case involving me. … It appears that the staff spent almost a year focusing exclusively on my campaign.”

The governor said this more “comprehensive” commission would not infringe on legislative ethics committees or the Judicial Qualifications Commission, which probes judicial branch issues.

“It is important to remember that this commission now and under any new configuration only deals with issues relating not to taxpayer funds but to private campaign funds that have been raised by candidates,” he said.

 

Deal reported $3.9 million cash on hand headed into the Primary elections to $1.6 for Democratic challenger Jason Carter.

Deal campaign spokeswoman Jen Talaber said 100 percent of their contributions came from within Georgia and criticized the Carter campaign for promoting a fundraiser before the session ended. By law, legislators and statewide officials are prohibited from raising money during the session, which began Jan. 13 and ended March 20.

“We followed the rules about not lining up fundraisers during session. Carter for Governor had no such concerns,” Talaber said. “Our cash-on-hand advantage allows the governor to dedicate this month to reviewing and signing bills that will benefit the people of Georgia and keep us the number one place to do business.”

Carter campaign spokesman Bryan Thomas dismissed the criticism, noting the fundraiser was for the Democratic Party of Georgia and that Deal had attended a fundraiser during the session for the Republican Governors Association.

“These numbers show that Jason has all the momentum in this race,” Thomas said. “Our campaign has seen an outpouring of grassroots support from people who are tired of the governor’s scandals and are looking for real leadership.”

 

Democratic primary voters will see four non-binding referendum questions on their May 20 ballots. From Walter Jones with Morris News:

Monday, the Secretary of State’s Office released the list of non-binding questions that will appear on Democratic ballots. The Democratic Party of Georgia submitted them during last month’s candidate qualifying period, but the Republican Party did not offer any, according to Jared Thomas, the agency’s spokesman.

Here are the questions that will appear on Democratic ballots. Voters can choose which primary they want to participate in, or can request a non-partisan ballot just to vote for the judicial candidates.

1. Should Georgia raise the state minimum wage above the current $5.15 an hour?

2. Should Georgians’ federal tax dollars be returned to Georgia to fund Medicaid expansion and relieve the indigent-care burden on our hospitals?

3. Should the Constitution of Georgia be amended to create an independent ethics commission, not tied to the governor’s office, legislature or other elected office, to more effectively police potential ethics violations by elected officials?

4. Should the Constitution of Georgia be amended to make the education budget Georgia’s first funding priority?

W.M. “Dick” Dickey, Jr., who served in the State House in the early 1970s and on Macon City Council from 1991 to 2003, has died.

“He was a great guy who was really good to me,” said Dickey’s nephew, state Rep. Robert Dickey, R-Musella. “He gave me good advice when I got elected and told me I’d have to do a lot of lifting those first few years … and that it’s all about relationships up there” in Atlanta.

Dickey was born in Crawford County on March 15, 1933, the younger son of Wilmer M. and Gladys Neel Dickey. His brother, Bob Dickey, followed their father in the peach business. But Dick Dickey preferred banking and politics. He worked for nearly 40 years in the banking sector and carved out a place for himself in the Republican Party when there were few other Georgia politicians carrying the GOP banner.

In 1972, Dickey beat Jack Chiles for a seat in the state House, but he didn’t seek re-election because at the time, he was busy helping run Macon Bank and Trust Co. Dickey was the bank’s first president.

Dickey sought a House seat again in 1976 but lost to Democrat Frank Horne.

During the rest of the decade and throughout the 1980s, Dickey remained a devoted member of the Bibb County Republican Party. But it wasn’t until 1991 that he was elected to a City Council seat.

“He prided himself in being a Republican,” said longtime City Councilman Ed DeFore, who now serves on the Macon-Bibb County Commission. “He worked closely with independents and Democrats on the City Council, but he really loved his party.”

Yesterday, in advance of the Georgia Republican Party’s Spring Fling featuring Republican former Oklahoma Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon, a fundraiser for Shannon’s OK Senate bid was hosted by Senator David Shafer, President Pro Tem of the Georgia Senate at the Commerce Club. Shafer wrote:

T.W. got his start in politics working for Congressman J.C. Watts. He won election in his own right to the Oklahoma House of Representatives and then was elected Speaker fo the House. He has stepped down from that office to seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

If T.W. wins this election, he will instantly be a national leader in our party.

To learn more about T.W. Shannon or to contribute to his Senate campaign, please visit his website, TWShannon.com.

Political Events Calendar

GA GOP: GA 12 District Debate – Laurens County

Muscogee County GOP April meeting
April 8, 2014, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Ben’s Chop House, 300 Sidney Simons Blvd., Suite 14, Columbus, GA 31909

+ Google Map

Expected speakers include – two Candidates for State School Superintendent, Mary Kay Bacallao and Nancy Jester – Nikki Broun on behalf of Paul Broun, Candidate for United States Senate – and State Senator Josh McKoon. Please join us Tuesday evening, April 8 starting at 6:00 PM! Come out and support your local party and let’s show a warm Columbus welcome to these Candidates who are running for State and National Office. Our sincere apologies go out to Mr. Dean Gemberling of…

Whitfield County GOP: Local Candidate Forum

The Georgia Conservative Summit

ACCG: 100th Annual Conference

Coweta County GOP: Meeting with Niki Broun, Mike Buck, & Oleg Ivutin

GA GOP District 10: Congressional Debate

David Perdue Senate: Alpharetta Meet & Greet

Tea Party Patriot Alliance: Tax Day Rally