Here's something to ponder while you wait at the polls:
On Monday, our AJC colleague Isaac Sabetai gave us a breakdown of partisan balloting in 11 metro Atlanta counties, as of the end of early voting on Friday. The match is imperfect, given today’s continued balloting, but we then compared those early voting stats with the county-by-county results of the 2018 race for governor.
Only in Forsyth County did the percentage of early GOP primary ballots cast exceed Republican Brian Kemp’s share of votes in November 2018 – and then just barely.
Douglas (+8), Fayette (+5), Fulton (+6), Henry (+6) and Rockdale (+8) showed the greatest gap of early Democratic ballots cast over Stacey Abrams’ share of the vote in 2018.
We’ll have to wait until the dust clears to be certain, but a -7 point gap between early GOP votes and 2018 results in Fulton could indicate a further erosion of Republican support in Sandy Springs, Roswell and points north.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
-- Cherokee: 34,032 early ballots cast; 30% Democrat, 68% Republican: In 2018, 26% Stacey Abrams and 72% Brian Kemp.
-- Clayton: 25,700 early ballots cast; 86% Democrat, 12% Republican: In 2018, 88% Stacey Abrams and 12% Brian Kemp.
-- Cobb: 91,775 early ballots cast; 54% Democrat, 43% Republican: In 2018, 54% Stacey Abrams and 45% Brian Kemp.
-- DeKalb: 85,943 early ballots cast; 86% Democrat, 12% Republican: In 2018, 83% Stacey Abrams and 16% Brian Kemp.
-- Douglas: 7,095 early ballots cast; 68% Democrat, 30% Republican: In 2018, 60% Stacey Abrams and 39% Brian Kemp.
-- Fayette: 18,219 early ballots cast; 48% Democrat, 50% Republican: In 2018, 43% Stacey Abrams and 56% Brian Kemp.
-- Forsyth: 27,368 early ballots cast; 31% Democrat, 67% Republican: In 2018, 28% Stacey Abrams and 66% Brian Kemp.
-- Fulton: 96,347 early ballots cast; 78% Democrat, 20% Republican: In 2018, 72% Stacey Abrams and 27% Brian Kemp.
-- Gwinnett: 82,875 early ballots cast; 58% Democrat, 39% Republican: In 2018, 57% Stacey Abrams and 42% Brian Kemp.
-- Henry: 33,279 early ballots cast; 63% Democrat, 35% Republican: In 2018, 57% Stacey Abrams and 42% Brian Kemp.
-- Rockdale: 14,538 early ballots cast; 75% Democrat, 24% Republican: In 2018, 67% Stacey Abrams and 32% Brian Kemp.
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Here's what to watch for on this Election Day, according to our AJC colleague Mark Niesse, who has been following voting issues:
-- Long lines at the polls, which we’re already seeing in places like Park Tavern at Piedmont Park.
-- Longer waits as poll workers disinfect machines between uses and implement social distancing.
-- Late election results because Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he won't post numbers until the last precinct closes, including any kept open after the scheduled 7 p.m. to accommodate people already in line.
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As you stand in line, visit the AJC's elections page for the latest on voting and our series of profiles and candidate guides.
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More sobering numbers, but maybe less sobriety: State tax revenue declined only 10.1% in May, according to our AJC colleague James Salzer – good news, given that state lawmakers have been planning on 14% cuts when they come back into session on June 15.
Hotel taxes were off 64.4% as the industry continued to struggle during the pandemic. Motor fuels taxes were down 25.7% as traffic remained down.
But the good news – at least of a sort – is that we’re drinking more. Alcohol sales tax collections remained strong with a 12.3% improvement over May 2019.
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Gov. Brian Kemp was in Savannah on Monday, talking up the city as an alternative GOP convention site with representatives of the Republican National Convention. On the other hand, Mayor Van Johnson was rattling off reasons why his city wouldn't want that attention in August. From the Savannah Morning News:
"I'm wondering, are we ready to invite thousands of people from across the country here, which could adversely affect our measured approach to fully reopening?" Johnson said.
Johnson also noted that the convention could attract more aggressive protesters than what the city has seen so far in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Again, from the Morning News:
"There's an impact of thousands of people from out of town flooding into the city, particularly in this very volatile political year, in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of hurricane season," Johnson said. "And this is a different type of protester, these are people that have proven themselves to be absolutely committed to using mass civil disobedience."
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Per the Marietta Daily Journal, the Cobb County Commission is poised tonight to pass a resolution asking the Legislature to pass House Bill 426, a hate crimes measure, when it reconvenes on June 15.
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Politico.com reports that the Pentagon again is considering renaming 10 military installations named for Confederate military figures. The list includes Fort Benning outside of Columbus and Fort Gordon near Augusta.
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With the arrival of Election Day, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Doug Collins' insurgent Republican campaign to oust U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler offered a glimpse of an alternate reality: What if, Dan McLagan asked, the race for Sen. Kelly Loeffler's seat were on today's ballot, too?
Because it’s not. The all-comers special election for her seat will be Nov. 3. Loeffler, Collins and 19 others will be on the ballot -- which pretty much guarantees a Jan. 5, 2021 runoff. An effort in the Legislature earlier this year, to subject the contest to a regular primary, never got off the ground.
But if it had, McLagan said, Republicans could launch TV ads on Wednesday talking about “a conservative vision for the future.” And President Donald Trump could come to Georgia without worry about slighting one candidate or another.
“We could be a unified team against the radical left,” he said. “Oh well, what could have been.”
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Georgia's other senator, Republican incumbent David Perdue, didn't draw a primary challenge, and so will be declared his party's nominee as soon as polls close tonight.
Perdue is already telegraphing his strategy for the general election. He intends to tie his Democratic opponents -- two are likely to move into a runoff -- to calls among some members of their party to cut law enforcement funding as a way of forcing changes to current policing practices.
"In recent days we've seen radical Democrats call for the defunding of law enforcement during a time of crisis," Perdue tweeted. "Georgia voters deserve to know before tomorrow's primary if @ossoff, @SarahRiggsAmico, and @teresatomlinson support this reckless and lawless proposal."
None of their campaign platforms call for “defunding the police.” The presidential campaign of Joe Biden said Monday that he’s not in favor of it, either.
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On election eve, two of Atlanta's biggest hip-hop stars took a side in Georgia's U.S. Senate race. T.I. and Usher both took to social media to back former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson's bid to challenge Republican incumbent David Perdue.
Both also endorsed Christian Wise-Smith, a former prosecutor who is one of the challengers to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.
There's a backstory there. At a recent forum, T.I. grilled Howard on a case involving a close friend who died in prison and accused the district attorney of pursuing an unfair prosecution.
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Speaking of celebrity endorsements, Stacey Abrams' Fair Fight Action says that pop superstar Lady Gaga will be promoting the organization to her 42.2 million Instagram followers today.
The campaign coincides with primary day in Georgia, Nevada and South Carolina. Gaga, who previously made a financial contribution to Fair Fight, will post a video of Abrams and other information encouraging people to vote in local elections and support the organization’s voter access initiatives.
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Democrats in Congress credited lawmakers from Georgia with helping build the foundation upon which their policing overhaul bill was created.
The sweeping proposal, called the Justice in Policing Act, would change federal policies for searches and detaining people accused of crime. It would also make it easier to subject police officers accused of misconduct to criminal charges, and remove barriers to victims who would sue them in civil court.
The bill also ties federal funding to certain policy changes at the local level, such as banning chokeholds and requiring body and dashboard cameras.
During Monday’s news conference to release the bill, U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson of Lithonia and John Lewis of Atlanta were credited by name for their work and previous initiatives that helped shape the new bill.
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More endorsement news: The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 178,000 federal employees in Georgia, is backing Carolyn Bourdeaux in the Democratic primary for the Seventh District congressional seat.
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In case you missed it, U.S. Rep. John Lewis was on the "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Monday, where he spoke about protesting and the importance of voting. Stacey Abrams is scheduled for Thursday.
