As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush reported lackluster fundraising totals on Tuesday, his well-stocked Super PAC announced major buy of $17 million in television ads in SEC Primary states and beyond, starting in early February. The breakdown from the New York Times:
Georgia ($2.6 million), Massachusetts ($630,000), Oklahoma ($550,000), Tennessee ($1.7 million), Texas ($6.1 million), Vermont ($60,000) and Virginia ($3.1 million) — as well as Michigan ($2.1 million), which holds its primary on March 8.
Right to Rise PAC spokesman Paul Lindsay told us the buy will be placed in the coming days, so he could not yet say which markets the money is going to. But note that Alabama, also an SEC primary state, is missing from the NYT list.
Meanwhile, an Federal Communications Commission disclosure search found that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's campaign has reserved $23,000 worth of ad time in Savannah and $17,000 worth in Augusta around the end of December and early January.
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The pedestrian numbers for the former governor also led to this line in a Washington Post summary:
After reporting Thursday that he has less cash in the bank than three other Republican candidates, Bush effectively cemented his status as just another aspirant in a presidential race where the surest predictions have been proven wrong time and again.
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Donald Trump picked up a third legislative endorsement on Thursday when state Rep. Steve Tarvin, R-Chickamauga, announced he would support the billionaire. Here's what Tarvin wrote on Facebook:
Therefore, I strongly endorse and recommend Donald J Trump for President of these united States of America. (A person the biased media outlets can not prevent from winning)
State Sen. Michael Williams became the first elected official in Georgia to back Trump earlier this month. And state Sen. Burt Jones also backed Trump over the weekend.
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The bean counters in Perry report that the peanut poll at the Georgia National Fair has just passed 17,790 votes, making it the largest straw poll in America. The largest Iowa straw poll got around 17,000 votes.
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On the other hand, you have to commend Buford officials for their dedication to the arts. From the Gwinnett Daily Post:
According to Chris Burge, the fight resulted from tensions over votes Smith's mother, Michael Smith, has made on the commission. Chris Burge said she should have abstained from voting on projects that involved developers who are reportedly also her son's customers.
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The Macon Telegraph reports that Brooks Keisler of Bonaire, vice president of an education software company, has become the fifth Republican candidate to announce for state Sen. Ross Tolleson's District 20 seat in middle Georgia.
The four others in the race: Kathleen businessman Larry Walker III, son of the former House majority leader; Perry businessman Michael Reece; Warner Robins youth minister Vivian Childs; and Laurens County businessman Jon Martin, who is also a county commissioner.
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An under-reported possible casualty of the U.S. House leadership turmoil is a bipartisan effort to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law. A House-Senate conference is under way, but the thorny issue is drawing continued flak from the right, from the same kind of folks who have helped create the chaos.
A letter this week from conservative grassroots types urges leaders from both chambers to stop working on the bill "until a new administration is elected that, we hope, will follow the rule of law and the Constitution regarding the proper federal role in education." The signers include the following Georgians:
Meg Norris, EdS – Founder, Opt Out Georgia
Christina Owen – President, Georgia Eagle Forum
Tanya Ditty – State Director, Concerned Women for America of Georgia
Dr. Patricia Daugherty - Conservative Republican Women of Northeast Georgia
Jack Smith – Liberty Group Tea Party
Carolyn Henderson – Chairman, Carroll County Tea Party
Roberta Magnasco--ACT4Georgia
Barbara Schmader--SW GA Republican Women
Kathy S. Hildebrand – President, Conservative Republican Women of North Atlanta
Conrad Quagliaroli - Cherokee Tea Party Patriots
Julianne Thompson, Pat Tippett, Kay Godwin - Capitol Coalition of Conservative Leaders of GA
Jeanne Seaver - Chariman & President, Georgia Grassroots Coalition
Kay Godwin & Pat Tippett - Georgia Conservatives in Action
Georgia Senator William Ligon
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