We've told you that, while Gwinnett County turned out more Democrats than Republicans in the May 22 primary, Cobb County wasn't too far behind this demographic curve.
Republicans edged out Democrats in the gubernatorial contest in Cobb, but Democrats cast more ballots in many down-ticket races, including the contest for lieutenant governor.
Over the weekend, the Marietta Daily Journal raised a trial balloon that we had heard mulled over during idle hours of the most recent legislative session – i.e., a post-gubernatorial career for Stacey Evans, who finished 'way out of the money in last month's voting, as the first female chair of the Cobb County Commission. From the newspaper:
[T]he next Cobb County chair could in all probability be a Democrat. And the rumblings on the grapevine are that there is an opportunity for Stacey Evans as a pro-business Democrat and recent gubernatorial candidate to take advantage of such an opportunity.
Republican incumbent Mike Boyce has yet to say whether he will seek re-election in 2020. Bob Ott, a GOP commissioner whose district includes the new Braves stadium, has been mentioned as a possible candidate. As has Lisa Cupid, a Democrat representing southwest Cobb.
Evans’ old House District includes the bulk of Cobb’s economic engine, including the new stadium. We reached out to one of her close associates, who assured us that Evans has given no thought to the above possibility, and is now intent on catching up with her family and law firm.
***
In that same MDJ column was another tidbit: Former Gov. Roy Barnes has endorsed Matt Bentley, the Republican nominee in the race to replace state Rep. Rich Golick, R-Smyrna. House District 40, centered on south Cobb, is one of those contests that Democrats have hoped to pick up in November. The quote from Barnes:
"I've known Matt Bentley and his family for years…Though I am a Democrat and he is a Republican, I believe we should choose the best qualified person, regardless of party. What is wrong in politics today is choosing candidates on the basis of party rather than qualifications. Matt is a person of honesty and integrity, and I am pleased to support his candidacy. He will be good for all of us."
Couple, three things:
-- This is the House race in which, until late last week, an unknown with the fortunate name of Sandra Bullock was the Democratic nominee. She has withdrawn, and Erick Allen – who has vied for the seat in the past – will replace her.
-- The May 22 primary for governor, in which Stacey Abrams obliterated Barnes-backed candidate Stacey Evans, pretty much marked the end of the former Democratic governor’s dominance of the state party apparatus. So this may also be a situation of consequences-be-damned.
-- The Bentley’s hold a unique place in Cobb’s political hierarchy. The patriarch, Fred “Bow-tie” Bentley Sr., was the most influential attorney in the county for several decades, and is a former member of the state House and Senate. His son, “Red” Fred Bentley Jr. – so nicknamed because of his red hair – is a former chair of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, and likewise is a major player in the county. Matt Bentley is of the third generation – in the same law firm.
***
We told you Friday that Randy Evans, the Atlanta attorney who will be sworn in today as the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, had resigned his position as co-chair of the state commission that vets judicial nominees for the governor.
He has now sent a similar letter of resignation to state GOP chair John Watson, setting off a contest for an even more prized position: His spot as a state representative to the Republican National Committee.
In his letter, Evans also dropped this nugget: His Georgia co-hort on the RNC, Ginger Howard, is has clinched one of the most sought-after spots in the national party. She’s a “full member of the 2020 site selection committee for the next Republican National Convention.”
***
If nothing else, the election of U.S. Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama and the Democratic nomination of Stacey Abrams for governor of Georgia has begun some soul-searching in the national media for a more nuanced examination of Southern politics. Author Alexis Okeowo had an op-ed in the New York Times on Sunday that closed with these paragraphs:
Ask anyone living outside the Deep South about it now, and you'll usually hear a term: Trump Country. It's where some of his most fervent supporters are. Last year, I attended a Confederate memorial rally near my hometown that was filled with hundreds of white working-class people, several of whom told me that their idea of the Confederate legacy was desperately vital to their sense of identity.
But Alabama is also a place where the black working class, a group often left out of the discussion about the country's blue-collar workers, is largely responsible for one of the biggest electoral upsets of our time. A significant number of black women are now running for office in the state.
This is a key part of what Alabama looks like going into the midterms. How can we start to include that complexity when we talk about the South?
***
The U.S. Supreme Court has more than two-dozen cases it must decide before the end of the month. There are the blockbusters, of course, on gerrymandering, "religious liberty" and President Trump's travel ban. But also on the list of pending opinions is one of utmost importance to Georgia. And Florida. And Alabama.
The justices have yet to rule on the Southeastern water wars: the Apalachicola Bay case Florida brought against Georgia and argued before the court in January. The Supreme Court doesn't leak, so stakeholders have only the questions the justices asked back in January as a guide for what could be coming from the high court. Georgia interests left the courtroom that day feeling a bit concerned: Despite the state racking up a series of earlier legal and regulatory victories, some of the justices implied they were looking to give Florida a hand.
Questions are one thing. A legal decision is another. One of those could come as soon as this morning.
