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Monday, June 26, 2006
The gavel bangs on judicial elections
Qualifying begins just as Supreme Court asked to wrestle with gay marriage amendment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
All four Georgia Supreme Court justices up for re-election, a majority of the high-court bench, filed their campaign qualifying papers on Monday.
J. Michael Wiggins, the former Bush Administration lawyer, will decide which one he’ll run against sometime this week — possibly by Wednesday, said his campaign chairman, attorney Frank B. Strickland.
Perhaps, Wiggins is waiting until he watches today’s 10 a.m. high-court arguments over the constitutional ban on gay marriage, which can be seen live, at this locale.
The four incumbents on the November ballot: Carol Hunstein, a 14-year veteran of the bench; George H. Carley, who has served since 1979; Hugh P. Thompson, a 12-year veteran; and Harold D. Melton, who was appointed to the bench last year by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Melton, nearly all our political contacts agree, will get a pass because of his sponsor. The best evidence is last month’s leaked memo from George Israel, the president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, to other chamber members.
It included ratings on three justices — Thompson, Hunstein and Carley — compiled by the Institute for Legal Reform, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that has guided millions of dollars toward judicial elections in other states.
From what we’ve heard, Thompson and Hunstein are the most likely target for Wiggins.
Qualifying ends at noon Friday.
Until then, those two justices — or at least their seconds — will be making every effort to make themselves look as impregnable as possible. We know more about Thompson’s efforts than Hunstein’s.
Thompson, we’re told, has raised $100,000 and has pledges for $200,000 more. He’s also developed an impressive list of supporters, including Chuck Clay, publisher Otis Brumby, Jimmy Blanchard of Synovus, former attorney general Michael Bowers, and — perhaps most important of all — well-connected Republican attorney Randy Evans.
Hunstein’s best defense may be the co-chairman of her campaign: former governor Zell Miller, who appointed her to the bench in 1992.
Front moving in, heavy storms in sight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Weekend news in the Republican lieutenant governor’s race consists of one barbecue, and one flyer.
At a gathering of something called the GOP Capitol Political Action Committee in Duluth, Reed won 56 percent of the vote in a straw poll taken on-site. Reed’s people claim activists from Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, Hall, Cherokee, Banks, Paulding, Forsyth, and surrounding counties participated.
A total 298 ballots were cast.
“For me grassroots isn’t a slogan, it’s a strategy,” Reed is quoted as saying in his latest release.
Cagle’s mouthpiece, Brad Alexander pointed out that his man was on the Georgia coast at another function: “We’re quite pleased to come within 30 votes of beating Ralph in a straw poll at an event in Ralph’s backyard that Casey did not even attend.” Cagle said.
Though not for long, Cagle is still depending on direct mail to do most of his talking. The latest flyer has more bite to it, and lays out much of his plan of attack against Reed, the former head of both the national Christian Coalition and the state GOP.
First, it’s “Lobbyist” Ralph Reed versus “Senator” Casey Cagle, to emphasize that this is Reed’s first try at elected politics.
It’s clear that immigration will become a topic of conversation in the next few weeks. Reed has already attacked Cagle for allegedly opposing a bill to mark the drivers licenses of legal aliens, to prevent them from registering to vote or signing up for public services.
Here, Cagle assaults Reed referring to an immigration initiative pushed by President Bush in ‘04 as “responsible policy.” It would, Cagle said, have granted “amnesty” to Illegal aliens.
The flyer slams Reed for hiring Bill Clinton’s defense lawyer “to protective him multiple investigations.” It says Reed “laundered millions through Christian non-profit groups to hide his secret work with convicted felon Jack Abramoff and gambling interests.”
And it charges Reed with, as a political consultant, advocating the elections of pro-choice candidates. That’s a reference to Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, and Mitch Skandalakis of Georgia.
Cagle also accuses Reed of suggesting “radical budget claims” and “massive tax cuts,” but offering no plan to balance the budget. That could be an interesting riff on Republican discontent with a free-spending Congress in Washington.
Cagle closes with a last notation intended to sow doubt with another hardcore Republican constituency: He has “no record of rating” on Second Amendment issues.
We’d be happy to reward, with private praise, anyone who can fill us in on Reed’s weekend mailings….
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