Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > June > 23
Monday, June 23, 2008
Knight picks up endorsement
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Association of Educators on Monday endorsed Democrat Rand Knight for the U.S. Senate.
Knight is running against DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones, former Democratic lawmaker Jim Martin, former television report Dale Cardwell and retired businessman Josh Lanier for the Democatic nomination to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Libertarian Allen Buckley in November.
The Board of Directors of the GAE approved the recommendation, passed by the GAE Fund for Public Education Committee, to endorse Rand Knight for U.S. Senate, and has recommended Knight’s candidacy to the National Education Associations’ Fund for Children and Public Education.
“The recommendation was based on (Knight’s) commitment to strengthen public education for 1.6 million Georgia children by opposing private school vouchers and tuition subsidies; improve the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; prepare students for jobs of tomorrow; protect and strengthen Social Security; reduce the cost of health care and improve access; and respect the rights of school employees as full participants in educational improvement efforts,” Jeff Hubbard, President of the GAE, said in a prepared statement.
Knight, an Atlanta businessman, was previously endorsed by the state AFL-CIO.
“I am, of course, both flattered and humbled by the show of confidence from the GAE,” Knight said. “When I get to D.C., I’m going to fight to bring the changes necessary to improve our public education system.”
— Jim Tharpe
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment |
Senator qualifies for appellate seat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State Sen. Michael Meyer von Bremen (D-Albany) on Monday was the first lawyer to qualify for what is expected to be a crowded race for a seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals.
The seat is open because Judge John H. Ruffin Jr. is not seeking re-election.
Qualifying for the state appeals court seat ends Friday.
— Bill Rankin
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Lawmaker to get school-choice award
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
James Salzer reports that Senate President Pro-Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) is scheduled to be presented the Alliance for School Choice’s National Legislator of the Year Award Tuesday in Savannah.
That probably puts him out of the running for any awards from public school groups, like the Georgia Association of Educators.
Johnson championed legislation creating a private school voucher program for students with special needs, such as learning disabilities. He also has been a long-time supporter of legislation allowing more taxpayer-funded choice in education.
The Alliance is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that advocates for vouchers and tax credits for parents to send their children to private schools. Vouchers advocates have been fighting for legislative support for years in Georgia and in other states, but they gained little ground here until Republicans began taking over the statehouse six years ago.
Groups like GAE have traditionally fought vouchers, saying they will weaken public schools by taking money out of public systems. Supporters of vouchers say the public school systems need the competition private schools provide to make them better.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Knight brings the pun
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s still a few weeks until the Democratic primary to determine which Democrat will win the right to run against incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss in November.
No one is making predictions in the five-man field that includes former TV reporter Dale Cardwell, DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, former state legislator Jim Martin, Atlanta businessman Rand Knight and retired businessman and former U.S. Senate staffer Josh Lanier. If one of the five does not win outright in the July 15 contest, there will be a runoff three weeks later.
However, a clear crowd favorite for the best political slogan has emerged at two U.S. Senate forums in recent weeks. At an Atlanta forum two weeks back and one last week in Athens, candidate Knight was given an enthusiastic round of applause — despite moderator warnings — when he vowed: “The sun is setting on Saxby Chambliss. It’s Knight time.”
Before Knight can deliver on the slogan, however, he must first get past candidates who are much better known than himself. Cardwell was a frequent face on WSB-TV for years. CEO Jones is in the news weekly. And Martin has been a fixture in the Democratic party for years.
None of that mattered much to organized labor, a key group underpinning most successful Democrat campaigns. The state chapter of the AFL-CIO took at pass on the better-known Martin and threw its support behind the newcomer Knight.
— Jim Tharpe
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment |
Obama voter drive continues
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you’re taking MARTA through Atlanta this week, you might run into some of Barack Obama’s local supporters.
Fans of the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting will be fan out to local MARTA stations as part of Obama’s voter registration drive. And no, you don’t have to be an Obama supporter to register.
Today, Tuesday and Wednesday they’ll be at the Inman Park station from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Today through Thursday they’ll also set up at the Midtown MARTA station at noon for a lunch-hour registration drive.
Every Monday through Thursday volunteers will also register voters at Woodruff Park and Broad Street Plaza downtown from noon to 3 p.m.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
Perdue to lose ally
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
James Salzer reports that Gov. Sonny Perdue is unexpectedly losing one of his floor leaders in the state Senate.
Sen. Joseph Carter (R-Tifton) is giving up his Senate seat to run for a superior court judgeship. Qualifying for such nonpartisan seats starts today.
Carter had already qualified to run for re-election to his Senate seat. Nobody signed up to run against him. So now Perdue’s staffers are working to decide how to elect his replacement with the state’s primaries only three weeks away. Among those mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Carter is state Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton).
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment |
Gone fishing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ladies and gentlemen:
Summer’s here, and it’s time to take a little time off. My colleagues at the state Capitol and elsewhere will be filling in with the occasional post, so don’t stop checking in.
If you’ve got news, don’t hesitate to pop an e-mail to our political team: editor Susan Abramson at sabramson@ajc.com; staffers Aaron Sheinin at asheinin@ajc.com; James Salzer at jsalzer@ajc.com; Ben Smith at bsmith@ajc.com; and Jim Tharpe at jtharpe@ajc.com.
Back at you soon.
Services »
