Most Republicans in Georgia have shied
away from
after business behemoths and others came out against the proposals. Former Dalton Mayor David Pennington is betting his campaign for governor on his support for the bills.
Pennington, who stepped down from the Dalton post last week to run a full-time campaign, said if Deal were a "true patriot" he would have supported the legislation. Deal and other Republicans ducked away from the bills after overwhelming opposition from the state's corporate titans and other critics who feared it would allow private business owners to discriminate against gays by citing religious beliefs.
Said Pennington:
"Instead of standing for principle, he sided with big business. Protecting religious liberty is and will continue to be a priority of mine. As Governor, I will support and promote legislation that protects our First Amendment rights, so no law prohibits the free exercise of religion. The federal government and 29 other states have passed such legislation; and, as a Christian, I will work to pass a bill that supports religious freedom for all Georgians without discriminating against our brothers and sisters."
Pennington faces long odds as he tries to outflank Deal on the right. His willingness to embraced legislation that most politicians in his party have abandoned shows just how far to the right he's willing to go.
A new GOP line of attack targets the cast of Democratic scions gunning for their forefathers' seats as imperial royalists. Here's the Twitter feed for Brian Robinson, Gov. Nathan Deal's chief spokesman:
Qualifying over and the opposition offers up the Downton Abbey Democrats -- , those who think titles are inherited.
Our first reaction: You know times are changing when a GOP operative cites a PBS show to take a swipe at Democrats.
***
Rep. Hank Johnson got a big boost this morning in his reelection campaign against fellow Democrat Sheriff Tom Brown.
President Barack Obama is endorsing him in his bid for another term. From the release:
"Congressman Johnson has done an outstanding job," said President Obama. "Together, we are fighting to restore middle class security and expand opportunity for all Americans. I've worked with Congressman Johnson as we've extended the security of health care to millions and pulled our economy back from the brink of collapse while protecting consumers and passing historic Wall Street reform. I am proud to stand with Hank and support his re-election."
***
The campaign arm of the U.S. House Democrats wants its members to pay up – and some of Georgia's members are on the naughty list.
Buzzfeed got hold of a spreadsheet sent out by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Steve Israel laying out how their members are performing as compared to the DCCC fundraising goals before them.
It gives outsiders a peek at how much members of Congress are harangued to raise money for their parties and how certain committee slots – the ones with the well-heeled lobbyists circling about – are expected to raise much more.
Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, is the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing military construction. That means he is supposed to contribute $250,000 in dues to the DCCC from his campaign and raise another $250,000 for the organization. As of February, he had paid just $10,000 and raised $20,000.
As a chief deputy whip, Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, has forked over $125,000 of the expected $300,000 and raised just $17,500 of the $500,000 goal.
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-DeKalb County, who needs every penny for a tough primary challenge, has paid $10,000 of the expected $125,000 and raised $600 of the expected $75,000.
Financial Services Committee member David Scott, D-Atlanta, has given $63,000 of $200,000 and raised $20,500 of $250,000. And the endangered Energy and Commerce Committee member John Barrow – whom the DCCC likely will be pumping big money in to preserve, as it did in 2012 – has given zero in dues (of his $200,000 goal) and raised $58,500 (of $250,000).
***
It turns out that campaign finance laws apply to first-time candidates, too. Eugene Yu learned that lesson the hard way.
Russ Bynum of The Associated Press reports that Yu, who recently abandoned a long-shot Senate bid to challenge Democratic Rep. John Barrow, happily accepted more than $54,000 from businessman Wayne B. Brown and his company since last summer. Writes Bynum:
"This is the first time I'm running in an election," Yu said in a phone interview Monday. "If anything, it was an honest mistake."
Fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show Yu's campaign waited three months to disclose any of the prohibited contributions. Instead, the campaign first reported most of the cash as a $45,000 personal loan of Yu's own money.
"It looks more sketchy because it raises a question of whether or not the candidate was trying to conceal the contribution," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that tracks money in politics. "He took this large sum of money and passed it off as money from his own pocket."
Both the candidate and his donor said they weren't trying to deceive anybody. They said Brown owed Yu money for his share of a real-estate investment they have together in Augusta, and the money was deposited into the candidate's campaign account to help his largely self-funded race.
***
Rep. David Scott continues to be the House Democrat banging the drum the loudest against President Barack Obama's judicial nominees for Georgia.
He lent his name to a call for action from NARAL Pro-Choice America on Monday asking recipients to write letters to their senators urging them to reject Michael Boggs, the most controversial of the long-negotiated nominee six-pack.
***
Rep. John Lewis traveled to Mississippi this week to visit the home of another civil rights icon.
Here's the scene from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger:
Lewis turned to Evers' daughter, Reena Evers-Everette, "Your father …," and then to Evers' widow, Myrlie Evers, "… your husband, was a brave and courageous man."
Lewis told fellow congressmen and others on the Faith and Politics Institute pilgrimage Saturday about Evers' military service in World War II, where the civil rights leader was a part of a wave that followed the initial invasion of D-Day beaches in Normandy in 1944.
***
We told you last week about the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List's endorsement of Karen Handel in the Georgia U.S. Senate race.
Georgia Right to Life, which has had a long-running feud with Handel and has endorsed Paul Broun, is not pleased because Handel does not oppose abortion in cases of rape and incest.
A blast email from Dan Becker plays the Hitler card:
***
The Senate Conservatives Fund has been pouring money into the challenge of Matt Bevin against U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., among other insurgents in Republican primaries around the country.
Now it's branching out into House races, and Barry Loudermilk is a beneficiary in the 11th Congressional District that shoots north and west of Atlanta. Loudermilk is one of five candidates SCF is supporting in its new "House Conservatives Project."
SCF has set an early goal of raising $100,000 for the quintet. According to a release, Loudermilk earned the group's backing in part because of a pledge to rattle House GOP leadership. From this morning's release:
"Barry Loudermilk will be a strong conservative in Congress. He's already shown that he's willing to shake up the Washington establishment by pledging to oppose John Boehner for Speaker."
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