The 2018 race for governor has been a largely down-state affair, with both Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp spending a good deal of bus time touring rural Georgia.
So today’s Atlanta Press Club debate offers up a chance to quiz the pair on some very specific Atlanta issues. (Libertarian Ted Metz will be in the mix, too.)
There is, of course, the news that Gov. Nathan Deal intends to call a special session of the Legislature after the Nov. 6 election to help cover clean-up costs in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. But there's a secondary issue the General Assembly will be asked to address:
Lawmakers will also get the chance to make permanent — or reject — a tax break for Delta Air Lines and other air carriers that Deal coveted, possibly finalizing it before the governor leaves office in January.
Deal signed an executive order in July suspending collection of the state sales tax on jet fuel. The tax break, and an earlier decision not to collect local jet fuel taxes, could save Delta about $40 million a year.
That could make for some interesting conversation tonight. Then there's a related topic: The current state Senate inquiry into a state takeover of the city of Atlanta-owned Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Even if, over at the Saporta Report, David Pendered says the issue is adrift and unlikely to have enough material to issue a report before its Dec. 1 dissolution. Notes Pendered:
For that matter, the sponsor of the legislation that created the study committee doesn't mention the airport issue on his campaign website. The website of Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson) names the airport and says of it only that it is, "the greatest economic engine in the southeast."
Finally, we have the issue of the Gulch and its proposed redevelopment into a 40-acre mix of office towers, apartments, hotels and retail is a chance to revitalize a hole in the heart of the city’s core. Currently, the site is a tangle of parking lots and railroad tracks that stretches from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to the Five Points MARTA station.
The City Council has balked at the project, which originally included a public financing package of up to $1.75 billion in bonds backed by portions of future sales taxes and property taxes created by the development.
It's highly unusual for a governor to inject himself into a local redevelopment project, but Deal has done so with his endorsement of the Gulch project. We heard from Abrams on the issue, during an interview earlier this month on GPB's "Political Rewind." Said the Democrat:
"I think, in the end, Gulch redevelopment is absolutely necessary. I worked on that project back when I was a deputy city attorney in 2003 and 2004. So this has been a long time coming.
"I'm very proud of the fact that Mayor Bottoms has advanced the cause as far as she has, but I do understand that the City Council is going to be accountable, to get the answers so they can make certain they can stand four-square behind the project."
But we have yet to hear from Kemp, the Republican in the contest, on one of the largest proposed makeovers in the history of the city of Atlanta.
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The Covington News surprised us today with news that, last Friday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas participated in the dedication of a new addition to the Newton County Judicial Center. Said Thomas, according to reporter Darryl Welch:
"Advancing a narrative all too often becomes more important than the rule of law and it can be tempting for us as judges to want to fit into that narrative or to confuse what we perceive as a just outcome with the justice that the law requires. And that flows from being fair and impartial.
"As judges, we have a sacred duty to resist that temptation. Our calling and our oath is not to be popular, but to be faithful in applying the law in a fair manner and an impartial manner."
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Earlier this year, we told you of those two Clemson University researchers who had captured a trove of Twitter messages generated by a Russian troll factory known as the International Research Agency in St. Petersburg.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the pair may have now discovered why we're arguing over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem: Because Vladimir Putin wants us to. From the WSJ:
In total, over the final months of 2014 through the middle of this year, 491 accounts linked to the IRA sent more than 12,000 tweets about the NFL or the anthem.
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Charlie Bailey, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, takes a swipe at Republican incumbent Chris Carr's lack of courtroom experience with this TV spot getting play across the state:
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The first attack ad of this year's Sixth District congressional race is on the whole pretty tame. The 30-second spot, cut by the National Republican Congressional Committee, focuses on Democrat Lucy McBath's health care platform. The ad, which you can watch here, will run on Atlanta broadcast networks through the election, opens with a harried mother on the phone trying to get a doctor's appointment for her sick child.
Given that Democrats across the country are emphasizing GOP attacks on Obamacare and its foundation of protection for those with pre-existing conditions, the message is likely to be one voiced by Republican congressional candidates across the country:
“Under the health care plan Lucy McBath supports, your employer-based health coverage could be eliminated… forcing everyone into an extreme government-run system … putting D.C. bureaucrats in charge,” the narrator states.
McBath has advocated for the preservation of Obamacare, instituting a public option, expanding Medicaid and lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 55.
Handel, meanwhile, has focused more on other issues this campaign cycle, although she has called Obamacare “the single biggest intrusion into the lives of Americans in decades.”
Handel was not in Congress when the House GOP voted to repeal the 2010 law in 2017, but she supported the effort, arguing that Obamacare should be replaced with “market-based, patient-centered reforms.”
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Speaking of the 6th District race, a new independent poll suggests why the NRCC may have gotten involved on Handel's behalf. A survey released this morning from Bold Blue Campaigns, a Democratic pollster, and the GOP firm JMC Analytics puts Handel at 49 percent support and McBath at 45 percent, with 6 percent of voters still undecided. The poll indicates that McBath has been successful at building up name ID in the district – only 6 percent of likely voters have never heard of her – as well as why she's been focusing more on tax cuts and health care lately rather than gun control. Respondents listed jobs and the economy and then health care and education as the top issues deciding their vote for Congress.
The survey has gubernatorial candidates Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams polling almost evenly in the district.
Crosstabs can be found here.
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While the organization says it's not endorsing her, the ACLU of Georgia certainly likes what Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is saying. The ACLU is spending $800,000 to air a new TV ad in the Atlanta media market to boost Stacey Abrams' campaign for governor. The ad spotlights her support for Gov. Nathan Deal's criminal justice overhaul, and insists she'll "end dependence on private prisons."
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The Augusta Chronicle made its pick in the race for Georgia governor, formally endorsing Brian Kemp's campaign. The newspaper said it backed Kemp to "protect what we've got, which is arguably the best-run state in America."
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It's not often that a former presidential contender eases into a local school board race. But that's exactly what U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio did during his Monday visit to Atlanta. Not only did the Floridian stump for Brian Kemp and the statewide ticket, he also endorsed Jason Anavitarte's bid for Paulding County school board. The two politicos have a long history: Anavitarte was one of his leading Georgia supporters during his 2016 run.
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