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Monday, July 14, 2008
Update: Powell back on the ballot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Insider just got word that Jim Powell will be on the ballot as a PSC candidate Tuesday after all.
We hear Fulton County Superior Court Judge John Goger granted Powell a stay after Secretary of State Karen Handel declared that Powell didn’t meet residency requirements.
Handel said Powell claimed a homestead exemption on a house in Cobb County, which is outside the Public Service Commission district he is hoping to represent.
Powell was one of three Democrats who Handel, a Republican, kicked off the ballot Monday, saying each didn’t meet residency requirements.
—James Salzer
Jim Galloway is out of town, but will return soon. If you’ve got news, 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; and Ben Smith at bsmith@ajc.com.
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McCain camp works to rally Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican John McCain announced the statewide leadership team for his presidential bid Monday in a raucous event at the Georgia Capitol.
While the Arizona senator himself was not there, the event, and three similar ones held around the state, showcased the GOP nominee-in-waiting for the first time since McCain claimed the party mantle.
More than 100 supporters gathered on the north steps inside the Capitol as Alec Poitevint, the Republican activist who chaired McCain’s primary campaign here, announced the state campaign chairs. Joining him as co-chairs of the general election campaign are Gov. Sonny Perdue and U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. Perdue and Isakson both spoke at Monday’s event.
Here’s the rest of the leadership team: Honorary vice chairs: Lt. Governor Casey Cagle Speaker Glenn Richardson Speaker Pro-Tem Mark Burkhalter Senate President Pro-Tem Eric Johnson Former Sen. Mack Mattingly Former Sen. David Gambrell Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox Public Service Commissioner Bobby Baker Public Service Commissioner Chuck Eaton Public Service Commissioner Doug Everett Public Service Commissioner Angela Speir Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise U.S. Rep. Paul Broun U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey U..S. Rep. Jack Kingston U.S. Rep. John Linder U.S. Rep. Tom Price U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland
Vice chairman: State Sen. Jeff Mullis
State advisory committee: Tony Campbell Marty Klein Steve Croy Joel McElhannon Edens Davis Nolan Murrah Shawn Davis Scott Rials Derrick Dickey John Sours Leigh Ann Gillis Jay Walker
State steering committee:
Gloria Alday
Dave McCleary
Johnny Blankenship
Mansell McCord
Linton Broome
Joe Montero, Jr
Esther Clark
Rufus Montgomery
Don Cole
Toria Morgan
Dennis Coxwell
Wayne Mosley
Rob Doll
John Padgett
Randy Evans
Rick Richardson
Sue Everhart
Larry Reynolds
Cameron Fash
Millie Rogers
Art Gunter
Dawn Strickland
Bert Guy
Sandra Thompson
Kevin Harris
BJ Van Gundy
Linda Herren
John Watson
Anne Lewis
Lane Watts
Bob Mayzes
John White
John McCane
Volunteer coordinators: Dan Regenstein Vincent Russo Martin Sullivan, Jr.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Jim Galloway is out of town, but will return soon. If you’ve got news, 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; and Ben Smith at bsmith@ajc.com.
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Obama pops up in more campaign lit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It appears U.S. Senate candidate Vernon Jones is not the only one aligning himself in campaign materials with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell, who is running for a second term, said he used a photograph of him and Barack Obama on his campaign literature for to show his support for the Democratic presidential nominee.
Bell told the AJC’s Megan Matteucci on Monday that the photograph was taken at an Obama fund raiser sponsored by Obama backer Gene Duffy earlier this year.
“I didn’t ask him to support me. This is in support of him,” Bell said. “The effort I was trying to make is to show how far I am willing to reach - and can reach - to assist the people of Clayton County.”
Bell said he requested permission to use the picture from the fund-raiser hosts and the photographer, who works for Mayor Shirley Franklin.
“We agonized over it a long time,” Bell said. “I didn’t want to appear like I’m using him.”
Lee Scott, who is running against Bell for chairman, and his wife Jewel Scott have also promised any one who helps with their campaign a T-shirt featuring the Scotts, Obama and Vernon Jones. District attorney Jewel Scott is running for re-election in Clayton.
DeKalb CEO candidate Stan Watson, too, has posted photographs of himself with potential first-lady Michelle Obama, as well as U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) to his campaign Web site. Watson, too, has used the photo in a campaign door-hanger.
And then there’s Sharon Barnes-Sutton, a Democratic candidate for DeKalb County Commission. A reader in Decatur sent in a copy of a mailer he said he received over the weekend that features Barnes-Sutton in a series of photos with prominent politicians, including Obama.
But Jones, the sitting DeKalb CEO who is in a five-way primary Tuesday for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, has caught heat because the photo he is using was doctored. In the photo, Jones appears to be standing next to Obama, both holding microphones. It is actually two or more photos digitally merged together.
Jones has said the only ones who have a problem with what he did are the “liberal media and my opponents.” But Obama, too, should be added to that list, as the candidate told the AJC last week that it was “unusual” for a U.S. Senate candidate to do something like that. Obama also emphasized that he has not endorsed Jones or anyone else in the race.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin and Megan Matteucci
Jim Galloway is out of town, but will return soon. If you’ve got news, 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; and Ben Smith at bsmith@ajc.com.
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Perdue: Guns should be OK at airport
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue said Monday that he believes guns should be allowed in the non-secure areas of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
A new state law that went into effect July allows individuals who pass background checks to carry concealed weapons on public transportation, in state parks and restaurants that serve alcohol.
But the question of whether that extends to parts of the airport is the subject of a federal lawsuit. Perdue on Monday said he has not asked for a legal opinion on the issue, but that his “lay opinion” would be that guns would be allowed in the airport’s parking lots, atrium and all areas before the security gates. Guns would still not be allowed in the boarding gates or terminals, which require security screening, he said.
Asked whether it was his opinion that it was a good idea to allow guns at the airport, Perude said yes.
“If my wife wanted to carry a gun, if she was going from the parking lot, walking from one of those far parking lots to pick up a grandchild or something like that, I think that’s a good idea, yes,” he said.
The gun rights group GeorgiaCarry.org is suing the city of Atlanta and its airport over restrictions on firearms in the terminal. They’ve asked a federal judge for a temporary order stopping officials from arresting anyone caught with a weapon. A hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 11.
The day the new gun law took effect, airport officials threatened to arrest a state legislator who had announced he planned to bring a handgun to the airport when he went there to pick up visitors. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said guns in the airport would violate another state law that bans firearms at “public gatherings, ” and said they would have police arrest anyone bringing a firearm to the airport.
In the request for a temporary restraining order, attorney John Monroe said state Rep. Tim Bearden’s Fourth Amendment protection from illegal searches and seizures would be violated if he were arrested for exercising his Second Amendment right to carry a gun inside nonsecured areas of the airport.
The motion for a temporary restraining order said Bearden, a Villa Rica Republican, would be harmed if the airport carried out its threat to arrest him while the airport would not suffer harm waiting until there is a decision on the suit.
—Aaron Gould Sheinin
Jim Galloway is out of town, but will return soon. If you’ve got news, 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; and Ben Smith at bsmith@ajc.com.
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James plans ‘victory’ party
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Political candidates always say they’re going to win. Rarely do they swear themselves into office before the voting starts.
Donzella James did just that Monday. The subject line in an 11th e-mail blast to supporters stated “Join Congresswoman Donzella James for a Victory Celebration.”
Those are strong words for a Democratic challenger running without a lot of money and who got thumped 2-1 two years ago by the same incumbent, David Scott.
“Because of you we will prevail, because of you we will have the opportunity to have our voices heard on a national level and bring Service and Integrity back to our community,” James stated in her e-mail.
— Ben Smith
Jim Galloway is out of town, but will return soon. If you’ve got news, 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; and Ben Smith at bsmith@ajc.com.
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Handel boots three from ballot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Secretary of State Karen Handel concluded Keith Gross, the lone Democrat facing party-swiching Republican Rep. Mike Jacobs of Atlanta, doesn’t meet residency requirements and shouldn’t be on the ballot.
Handel’s office said notices will be placed at polling places in House District 80 on Tuesday letting voters know that ballots cast for Gross won’t be counted.
Handel’s decision leaves the Democrats without an opponent against Jacobs, who won re-election in 2006 as a Democrat and then switched parties. Michelle Conlon has signed up to challenge Jacobs in the November general election as an independent.
In booting Gross, Handel, a Republican, was following the findings of an administrative law judge.
Handel also tossed Eric Underwood from the Atlanta Democratic primary race he was running against state Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta). Handel said Underwood didn’t own property or pay rent in the district. Notices at polling places in state Senate 36, which includes the Grant Park and Ormewood Park areas, will note his disqualification and say that votes for Underwood won’t count.
Orrock still faces opposition from tax advisor and financial planner Andre Jamal Jerry. Handel also disqualified James Powell in one of the Public Service Commission races, saying at the time he signed up for the contest, he was receiving a homestead exemption for a house he lived in outside of the district.
— James Salzer
Jim Galloway is out of town, but will return soon. If you’ve got news, 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; and Ben Smith at bsmith@ajc.com.
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McCain camp to unveil Georgia team
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John McCain’s campaign in Georgia is beginning to show signs of life.
In about an hour, some of Georgia’s top Republicans will gather at the Capitol in Atlanta to unveil McCain’s statewide leadership team. There are also similar events today in Columbus, Savannah and Macon.
Coming to the Gold Dome to tout the presidential hopeful’s Georgia bid are Gov. Sonny Perdue, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and state GOP chairwoman Sue Everhart.
While naming a statewide leadership team doesn’t rank up there with, say, a personal visit from the candidate or opening a Georgia headquarters or buying airtime on Georgia television stations, today’s events are still important.
To this point, McCain’s campaign has been virtually non-existent in the state, while Democrat Barack Obama has been here personally, he’s running TV ads here, he has 75 paid staff on the ground and hundreds of trained volunteers.
While turning Georgia from red to blue is very much a difficult challenge for Obama, many observers believe McCain cannot afford to ignore Georgia. And given the somewhat tepid reception McCain has received from some Georgia conservatives, having these heavy hitters make a public declaration of action is vital.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Jim Galloway is out of town, but will return soon. If you’ve got news, 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; and Ben Smith at bsmith@ajc.com.
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