Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2007 > June > 19
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The winner in the 10th District race: Saxby Chambliss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With 94 percent of the vote in, Republican Jim Whitehead of Columbia County has a comfortable, 44 percent lead.
The only question is the identity of his run-off opponent. Democrat James Marlow of Athens at this moment is running only a handful of votes ahead of Republican Paul Broun, also of Athens.
The high Republican turnout — at least in terms of percentage — and the boxes that remain outstanding don’t auger well for Marlow.
And that means U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who faces re-election next year, should be smiling. No matter all this brouhaha over immigration.
Still a squeaker….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With 67 percent of the vote reported in the 10th, it’s still very tight with Jim Whitehead at 39 percent, and a dogfight brewing for second place between James Marlow — 23 percent — and Paul Broun with 21 percent.
Meanwhile, Republican Bill Jackson wins Whitehead’s state Senate seat in a relative walk with 58 percent of the vote.
Permalink | |
Whitehead takes early, narrow lead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With 18 percent of the votes counted - and they should be rolling in fast in this light-turnout affair, State Sen. Jim Whitehead holds the lead in the 10-candidate special election for the 10th District congressional seat.
But in the early going, the frontrunner looks far from bullet-proof. He’s getting about 30 percent of the vote, with Democrat James Marlow at 26 percent and Republican Paul Broun at 23 percent.
One caution: Most of these votes are coming from the Athens area, where both Marlow and Broun live.
Leftovers from the day’s party-switching
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At 11 a.m., Mike Jacobs was waiting at the Starbucks on Peachtree Road, right across the DeKalb County line.
He seemed pretty jovial — probably relieved by a decision that has been several months in the making. He said all that he said in the straight story, which can be found elsewhere on ajc.com.
But he said a couple of other things, too.
First, Jacobs said that one of the issues that tipped him toward the Republican part was that Democratic radio ad recorded for John Eaves, the Democratic candidate for Fulton County Commission, by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, and former mayor Andrew Young.
The one in which Lewis said a Republican victory would turn back the clock: “You think fighting off dogs and water hoses in the ‘60s was bad?”
Said Jacobs: “That sort of tactic we see time and time again in DeKalb County politics, and I don’t like it.”
On a national level, Jacobs also pronounced himself uncomfortable with the direction that Democrats are taking on foreign policy. His soulmate is U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, who like Jacobs is Jewish. He draws a direct parallel between Lieberman’s experiences with Democrats, and his own.
“The parallels are uncanny,” he said. Only half in jest.
On the other side of the aisle, the roughest treatment that Jacobs received on Tuesday came in an open letter to Jacobs from state Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna).
Wrote Teilhet: “I am reminded of the time last summer in the days before the primary election when you sought to switch your support from Cathy Cox to Mark Taylor.
“I remember thinking then, as I find myself thinking again today, of how awful it must be to be someone whose only core value is expediency and whose thoughts are only of the very next political calculation that may advance their self-interest.”
Teilhet closed by demanding Jacobs refund past contributions that the Smyrna lawmaker made to the gentleman from north DeKalb County.
You can read Teilhet’s letter in its entirety on the jump.
Dear Mike,
It is with great interest that I read your blog post this morning, announcing your decision to become a member of the Republican Party. It is of course, a disappointment.
I am reminded of the time last summer in the days before the primary election when you sought to switch your support from Cathy Cox to Mark Taylor. I remember thinking then, as I find myself thinking again today, of how awful it must be to be someone whose only core value is expediency and whose thoughts are only of the very next political calculation that may advance their self-interest.
I am afraid your statement omitted some important points, so I thought I might remind you so that you can make your constituents aware of them.
You’ve made no mention of your support for cuts to Georgia’s Peachcare for Kids program, which helps provide health insurance coverage to children of working families. Your vote for HB 340 would have allowed thousands of children to be denied health insurance coverage arbitrarily by an unaccountable bureaucrat, and to have their dental and vision coverage removed altogether.
You’ve also not mentioned your support for this year’s ghoulish and predatory payday lending legislation. You voted this year, by supporting HB 163, to allow payday lenders to charge up to 395 percent interest rates and to provide de facto amnesty for those loan sharks that broke the law for the better part of the last century by offering these loans despite the fact that they were clearly illegal under Georgia law.
You also omitted from your message to constituents your support in the Judiciary Committee for several measures that would limit the applicability of the Open Records Act and make public documents more difficult to obtain. Most heinous was your support for requiring open records requests to be made in writing.
You supported this despite uncontested testimony in committee that the bill would have allowed government to require a citizen to identify themselves and state the reason they wanted certain records in writing before having their request for public information processed. Public documents belong to the public, and should be made available without requiring a citizen to be subjected to aggravation or even political retribution for requesting them.
Feigning a commitment to open government, while you seek to undermine it through your work in the legislature, is one of the oldest and worst parlor tricks in politics. Such duplicity creates fertile ground for the cynicism that makes good public service more difficult.
Further eroding any credentials you may think you have as an advocate for open government and individual liberty has been your unabashed support for Glenn Richardson as Speaker. Mr. Richardson has, each and every year that he has been Speaker, sought to limit public debate in the House by gutting the ability of legislators to offer amendments to bills both on the floor and in committee. Mr. Richardson has also sought to limit the Open Records Act to allow secret government negotiations affecting millions in taxpayer dollars with private business.
Mr. Richardson has also used his power, won with the aid and support of legislators like yourself, to pursue new limits on women’s reproductive freedom each year and repeatedly stifled ethics legislation that would eliminate or at least reduce the lavishing of expensive gifts on legislators by registered lobbyists.
Your support for Mr. Richardson as Speaker has also enabled the blockage of any meaningful legislation dealing with transportation and traffic congestion. Your constituents will have plenty of time to contemplate the many faces of Mike Jacobs as they continue to sit in ever worsening traffic without any meaningful plan for relief.
Your message also suggests support for Mr. Richardson’s tax plan, which depending on which version you support would increase current sales taxes by more than 25% and levy billions in new sales taxes on needed everyday goods and services such as groceries and doctors visits. Your statement of a belief in fiscal restraint, when combined with your willingness to support a plan to tax everything that moves, raises additional questions about your basic credibility.
One of the things about public service that can be most disheartening is watching the effect that politics can have on individuals who are not anchored in principle. Such individuals become, over time, unmoored and willing to sell anything for the right price.
It is a sad but important reminder to all public officials that you must always remember why you ran for office in the first place, and stay connected to values larger than your own gratification and self-interest.
I am requesting a return of my past contributions to your campaign efforts, which were funded overwhelmingly by Democrats who hoped for the best from you. They got something less, and we all deserve a refund.
I look forward to your unvarnished answer and direct response to my refund request.
Good luck.
Rob
A new radio spot in defense of the immigration bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the truisms of Georgia politics is that, if you bring the business community into a fight, it will certainly add clout. But count on that clout striking a bit behind the beat.
Just in time for the second round of debate, Georgia Employers for Immigration Reform on Tuesday launched a first round of radio ads in defense of the immigration reform deal in Washington. We heard it on, of all places, the Neal Boortz program on WSB.
We first learned of GEIR last month, during the state Republican convention.
The chairman is Wayne Lord, vice president for governmental affairs with Pilgrim’s Pride, the largest poultry company in Georgia. We’re looking for a complete membership list.
The 60-second spot argues that should immigrant labor disappear — the narrator never uses the world ‘illegal’ — then “native-born Americans” would suffer, too. Here’s most of the script:
“Many people think the immigration bill is an effort by business owners to get cheap labor. The fact is, business owners are looking for any labor, period. With unemployment very low and our economy running strong, businesses need immigrant workers to keep operating.
“And what if the immigrant workers all left the country tomorrow? Many of these businesses would have to shut their doors — simple as that. And to make matters worse, millions of native-born Americans, who also work for these companies, would lose their jobs, too.
“Immigrant workers are good for our economy. And new provisions in the immigration law are providing billions in additional border security measures, and giving businesses more tools to help enforce immigration laws.
“Call your senators and congressional representatives today. Tell them you want to protect American businesses, protect American jobs. And ask for their support on the immigration bill.”
State Rep. Mike Jacobs switches, Democrat to Republican
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After news of his intentions leaked out on Monday, state Rep. Mike Jacobs of Atlanta ‘fessed up on his web site this morning.
He’s finally decided to abandon Democrats and become a Republican.
“What has changed is that my strong belief in fiscal responsibility and restraint - a belief that the vast majority of my constituents share - is not a good fit within the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives,” Jacob says.
“I fit best with moderate Republican legislators like Jill Chambers (Chamblee, Doraville, and part of Brookhaven), Ed Lindsey (Buckhead and parts of Brookhaven and Sandy Springs), and Fran Millar (Dunwoody, Huntley Hills, and part of the Murphey Candler area).” he says.
“I’m proud to join them as a Republican member of the House.”
We don’t know if this means anything, but the Atlanta legislator closes by saying this: “I look forward to continuing to work with you to make our North DeKalb neighborhoods a great place to live.”
Blogwatch: Lucas in Macon, Orr in Gainesville, and Collins in Dreamland
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Amy Morton over at Georgia Women Vote says David Lucas, the cigar-totin’ Democratic state lawmaker from Macon, is collecting the signatures he needs to run for mayor — as an independent.
His wife, Elaine Lucas, is seeking re-election to her seat on the city council.
— Republicans at Peachpundit.com are stewing over Monday’s news that “Never-Say-Surrender” Mac Collins, who has yet to concede defeat to Democrat Jim Marshall in the 2006 congressional race, is thinking about another try at the seat.
This despite the fact that, after much wooing, Republicans have lured retired Air Force major general Rick Goddard into the GOP side of the contest. Here’s the story from the Macon Telegraph.
— Jon Flack, the blogger behind Tondee’s Tavern, wants to draft Gainesville attorney Wyc Orr into the Democratic race for U.S. Senate.
Orr is a former state representative and a former vice president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.
Flack has declared himself unimpressed with the two other Democratic candidates — Vernon Jones and Dale Cardwell. He shipped Orr into the water over the weekend, and says he’s collected signatures from voters in 22 counties.
Says a flattered Orr in today’s Gainesville Times: “(A Senate campaign) is not something I’ve given much thought to, until now,” Orr said. “A few people have mentioned this to me in casual conversations.”
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
