If you want evidence of the waning influence of the six-year-old tea party movement in Georgia, consider that Debbie Dooley, one of its founding firebrands, now owes nearly $17,000 to a Norcross hotel.
PeachPundit.com was the first to report of the default judgment by a Gwinnett County judge against Dooley, her Georgia Integrity Project and Georgia Tea Party Patriots. Lori Geary of Channel 2 Action News put it on the air last night.
“The buck stops with me,” Dooley told Geary. The tea partyer gave a couple reasons for the debt. A voter outreach program last year attracted 300 people – more than expected – and someone ordered extra food, she said.
But this excuse was more interesting: “We had a substantial donor check that actually bounced and payment was stopped on it. It’s still my responsibility, even though we were dependent on that very large check.”
Dooley and her Georgia Integrity Project engaged in many causes last year, but their most prominent fight was an unsuccessful effort to unseat House Speaker David Ralston from his Blue Ridge district in north Georgia.
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Former Georgia Tech quarterback Taylor Bennett, now a 29-year-old attorney living in Brookhaven, has announced his candidacy to replace state Rep. Mike Jacobs in the upcoming July 14 special election in House District 80.
From the press release:
"I believe Georgia, and particularly my district, have reached a point in time where we need strong, principled, and energetic leadership. I'm running because I believe in building a better Georgia for employers and employees alike."
Jacobs has been appointed to a DeKalb County state court judgeship. Catherine Bernard, who was defeated by Jacobs in the 2014 Republican primary, has already announced her candidacy.
If you need a reminder of Bennett’s Tech career, we found this memory jogger on YouTube:
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We may have a new power couple emerging in metro Atlanta. Neighbor Newspapers reports that Betty Price, wife of U.S. Rep. Tom Price and a member of the Roswell City Council, will run for the state House seat held by the late Harry Geisinger. From the newspaper:
"For over 10 years Rep. Geisinger ably served our area," said Price, a Republican whose husband Tom is the District 6 U.S. representative. "The 48th District consists of individuals and families concerned about the future of our great state. Having served more than five years on the Roswell City Council, I've worked energetically to further responsible growth, serving constituents and advocating for their needs. I'm passionate about trying to affect transparent, common-sense decisions in the Legislature."
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They're gonna need a bigger stage. The Republican National Committee is already fretting about whether and how to limit the number of candidates on stage at the series of presidential debates, starting Aug. 6. From National Journal:
His words exacerbated a sense of panic already felt by a number of campaigns and their supporters, and by the end of the meeting, the RNC was backpedaling.
RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer, who is serving as the liaison between Duprey's committee and the networks hosting the debates, told reporters: "There's no cap."
Even a cap of a dozen presents problems. Just off the top of our heads, here's a list of candidates who are in or might announce by August: 1. Jeb Bush, 2. Scott Walker, 3. Ted Cruz, 4. Marco Rubio, 5. Rand Paul, 6. Ben Carson, 7. Chris Christie, 8. Lindsey Graham, 9. Mike Huckabee, 10. Rick Perry, 11. Bobby Jindal, 12. John Kasich, 13. Donald Trump, 14. Carly Fiorina, 15. Rick Santorum, 16. George Pataki.
Clearly, Republicans need to look to reality television -- or NCAA basketball -- for inspiration. A bracket system is required.
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U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy used the season finale of AMC's "Mad Men" to spur debate over smoking at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. On Twitter, Vivek posted this picture of himself standing in front of an airport smoking lounge:
"In every way, my experience at the Atlanta airport has been fantastic. It's a world-class airport. Which is why this smoking lounge really surprised me, because it's something out of the Mad Men days and I know we can do better."
Smoking is generally banned throughout the facility, but the airport maintains about 15 smoking lounges scattered throughout its terminals and airport officials said there weren't any plans to eliminate them.
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The Savannah Morning News has some more tidbits about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering for the $500 million Volvo plant.
Among the details, Trip Tollison and Anna Chafin - Savannah-area executives who worked to land the factory - were told by the automaker would walk them through how they picked South Carolina in due time. From the story:
Tollison and Chafin would later learn the company had been scouting locations since June.
"It was just a quick, 45-minute 'let's see your site' visit," Tollison said. "It was certainly nothing intense, and we heard nothing more after the visit.
"But we knew that, if we were going to pull off big projects like the kind this megasite would attract, we were all going to have to work together to make it happen."
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State House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, has earned another national accolade: She's on the list of the "40 Most Interesting Women in Politics," compiled by The Washington Post's "The Fix." Here's her blurb:
She's often highlighted as a young, up-and-coming lawmaker from Georgia. Governing magazine in 2012 called her one of 12 lawmakers to watch, and in 2014 it gave her a Public Official of the Year award. Democrats are intent on putting Georgia back in play, thanks to a burgeoning African-American population in the Atlanta area. If they can compete statewide, Abrams could be in the mix.
And they didn't even mention some of the most interesting stuff: Abrams' controversy-laden voter registration effort and her side gig as a romance novelist.
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Former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss had a strikingly pessimistic view on Iran that he shared with the Cobb Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, according to the Marietta Daily Journal:
Obama is "desperate" to sign such a deal as part of his legacy, Chambliss said, "but ultimately Iran will break it."
"This situation bodes well for helping Iran get that weapon — and I can tell you the Israelis are not going to let it happen."
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