Ronald Reagan Day

On November 4, 1980, Ronald Wilson Reagan was elected President of the United States in a landslide, sending incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter home to Georgia and beginning the process of creating the Pax Americana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G7csvV45-c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLuWI-hTCak

On November 4, 1991, Five living American Presidents gathered in Simi Valley, California for the first time in history to dedicate the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Voting Tomorrow

We shouldn’t have to say this, as we’ve been discussing ballot issues and races for tomorrow’s elections for weeks, but go ahead and write in your calendar or calendar app to vote tomorrow. As usual, polliing places will be open from 7 AM to 7 PM, and you will need a photo ID.

If you have questions about where to vote, the Secretary of State’s MVP system allows you to sign in and look up information. Also as usual, Democrats will vote Wednesday.

A wrinkle in Fulton County

Phil Kent mentioned on the Georgia Gang yesterday a political dimension of the death of State Rep. Calvin Hill. A sliver of Hill’s District 22 makes an incursion into Fulton County and having a Republican in that seat gives the GOP a one-vote majority on the Fulton County delegation, allowing GOP-led reforms to pass through the county delegation and the local legislation process. Until that seat is filled, the county delegation is deadlocked and legislation that falls on partisan lines cannot be passed through.

The funeral service for Rep. Calvin Hill will be held at 12:30 tomorrow, Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at the Canton First United Methodist Church. As his final act of service, the family of the former Marine and state legislator requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

#BlurredLines contest winner

On July 25th, I announced a “Quote of the Summer” contest:

To win “Quote of the Summer,” slip a #blurredlines reference into a quote in a mainstream media story about Georgia politics. There will be a prize for this.

Although we’re technically now in autumn, over the weekend, Johns Creek City Council Member Randall Johnson said in a WSB-TV interview, “It’s a little disappointing because the lines have been blurred.”

Finally, someone gets it right

After a number of the mainstream media wrote silly garbage suggesting “Certainly, there is no “smoking gun” that point to criminal or even ethics charges,” someone in the media got it right for a change. The irony is that it’s not a “journalist” who appears to be the first to have actually read the interim report, but a suit – Fox 5 Atlanta Vice President and General Manager Bill Schneider.

“The interim report says the Mayor accepted a free vacation at a developer’s beach house in Destin and then cast a favorable vote for the same developer. Did the Mayor pass Ethics 101?”

If those allegations are true, it’s a little more serious than an ethics violation. But the most concerning allegations from the interim report are found on page 11, which states,

“the Mayor began yelling at [the City Manager] that he did not want [Atlanta Athletic Club] members targeted or issued tickets.”

Asking for different treatment for members of a prestigious country club by city police is a serious matter and should be thoroughly investigated by law enforcement.

Light turnout for Early Voting

In Floyd County, where a SPLOST is on the ballot, roughly 3100 voters cast ballots during early voting.

Rockdale County also reported light turnout for early voting.

Albany reported low voter turnout in early voting.

Hart County reported “brisk” early voting activity.

In House District 127, the special election to fill the seat vacated by the death of State Rep. Quincy Murphy, 289 voters cast ballots early last week.

In Cherokee County, where a campaign is being waged to replace former Sen. Barry Loudermilk in SD 14, voters cast 1416 early ballots. According to the Cherokee Tribune,

There are more than 58,000 registered voters in [the Cherokee County portion of] state Senate District 14, and 1,136 of them turned out in the three weeks of early voting, Munda said. Many of those voters also voted in the Canton and Woodstock elections as the district covers parts of both cities.
The more than 12,000 registered voters in the District 14 portion of Cobb County didn’t do as well, with only 18 ballots cast in all of early voting, according to the Cobb elections office. In Bartow County, 374 District 14 voters had turned out by the end of the day Thursday, according to the county elections office. At the end of the day Friday, final numbers were not available, Bartow officials said.