One wonders whether the White House decided this needed to be done before midnight. From the Associated Press:

The Justice Department will sue the state of North Carolina for alleged racial discrimination over tough new voting rules, the latest effort by the Obama administration to fight back against a Supreme Court decision that struck down the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act and freed southern states from strict federal oversight of their elections.

North Carolina has a new law scaling back the period for early voting and imposing stringent voter identification requirements. It is among at least five Southern states adopting stricter voter ID and other election laws. The Justice Department on Aug. 22 sued Texas over the state's voter ID law and is seeking to intervene in a lawsuit over redistricting laws in Texas that minority groups consider to be discriminatory.

Republican lawmakers in southern states insist the new measures are needed to prevent voter fraud, though such crimes are infrequent. Democrats and civil rights groups argue the tough new laws are intended to make voting more difficult for minorities and students, voting groups that lean toward Democrats, in states with legacies of poll taxes and literacy tests.

Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce the lawsuit against North Carolina at a news conference Monday, according to a person who has been briefed on the department's plans but is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

***

Over at the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan have this sharp look at House Speaker John Boehner as the man under the gun when it comes to a federal shutdown:

Boehner’s conundrum is this: He knows that most polling shows Republicans will take the blame for a shutdown. But, he also knows that if he gives in and/or is perceived as giving in by cast-iron conservatives, his speakership is all-but-over. (You could argue Boehner’s speakership has been on the ropes for some time now but, say, passing a continuing resolution to keep the government running with a slew of Democratic votes would amount to a death blow.)

Cut a deal — literally, any deal — and he is effectively signing his own political death certificate (or damn close). Don’t cut a deal and run the very real risk of watching a political climate that should be conducive to Republican gains in 2014 shift against the GOP as they become the symbol of the blockade in Washington many voters are sick of.

***

In 2010, John Barge used his Bartow County school system post, as the head of Bartow County's curriculum, as a springboard to state school superintendent.

Now, Matt Shultz, a Bartow County school board member, is running to succeed him as Barge targets Gov. Nathan Deal in the GOP primary.

Shultzannounced before a gathering of the local GOP this weekend that he wanted to follow in Barge's footsteps and join an already crowded race for the top schools job. You can watch on YouTube.

"I just feel like I have the background, the ideas and the experience to move Georgia forward," said Shultz, adding that Barge's challenge to Deal will make education an even hotter issue next year.

"If education wasn't going to be a key topic, it's certainly going to be a key topic now," Shultz said.

No word from Barge on whether Shultz is his hand-picked successor -- we'll let you debate whether Barge or the governor would have more say-so. But we do know Shultz has his work cut out for him.

Richard Woods, who made it into a GOP runoff against Barge in 2010, is running again. Also thinking about the Republican side of the race is Nancy Jester, a former DeKalb County school board member. And state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan, D-Austell, is eyeing an attempt to help her party regain a foothold in state government.

***

A Sunday article in the New York Times says the number of children killed by gunfire in Georgia is double what federal statistics say:

Compiling a complete census of accidental gun deaths of children is difficult, because most states do not consider death certificate data a matter of public record. In a handful of states, however, the information is publicly available. Using these death records as a guide, along with hundreds of medical examiner and coroner reports and police investigative files, The Times sought to identify every accidental firearm death of a child age 14 and under in Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio dating to 1999, and in California to 2007. Records were also obtained from several county medical examiners’ offices in Florida, Illinois and Texas….

In four of the five states — California, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio — The Times identified roughly twice as many accidental killings as were tallied in the corresponding federal data. In the fifth, Minnesota, there were 50 percent more accidental gun deaths.

***

Former congressman Bob Barr of Smyrna, attempting a comeback in the GOP race for U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey's seat, takes a beating in a National Review piece today that includes this paragraph:

The good news is that whatever you think about the major issues of the day, at some point in the past two decades, Bob Barr agreed with you. The bad news is he may set a record for the most pieces of legislation a congressman voted for and then later renounced.

***

Christina Cassidy with the Associated Press had a weekend piece on Gov. Nathan Deal’s daughter-in-law and her fundraising company. It included these paragraphs:

Denise Deal's firm has received roughly $791,000 in payments from 27 state and federal candidates since 2010, with nearly half coming from the governor's campaign or a political action committee with ties to him, according to financial reports. The money includes fees and commissions, but also likely tens of thousands of dollars in reimbursements for event expenses for which the firm paid upfront costs.

Reporting descriptions vary by candidate and sometimes lump together consulting fees and event expenses, so it's not possible to sort out exactly how much revenue Southern Magnolia Capital has pulled in. Disclosure isn't required for the privately held company.

In an interview, Denise Deal said the firm's revenue is far lower than the total payments reported and that she and her business partner have worked hard to establish a record of success.

"What we set out to accomplish for the clients, we fulfill," she said. "We have lived up to the expectations and the goals we set."

***

No surprise here, from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer:

The state attorney general’s office has decided a Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe into allegations state Sen. Josh McKoon and Columbus attorney Frank Myers threatened Muscogee school board members uncovered no crime, the agency confirmed Friday.

In a letter Thursday to GBI Director Vernon Keenan, Senior Assistant Attorney General David McLaughlin wrote: “We have been discussing this matter throughout and following the investigation and I agree that a prosecutable crime is not present.”

Some school board members claimed McKoon and Myers met with them and threatened to withhold state funding from the district if they didn’t vote to end the board’s exclusive contract for legal services with Columbus law firm Hatcher-Stubbs and open that to other law firms.