House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, will be challenged again in next year's GOP primary.
In 2014, tea party forces lined up behind Sam Snider, a high school wrestling coach. It was the first intra-party challenge Ralston had experienced in a decade. Ralston spent $937,670 to win 65 percent of the vote, to Snider’s $25,000.
In a Monday interview at Fetchyournews.com, Snider said he intends to take another crack at toppling the second-most powerful figure in the state Capitol.
“It was a good race last time and we feel like we’d like to give the people a choice again,” Snider said. “It’s the same situation. We still had our taxes raised, we still have a RFRA problem.”
A gas tax increased passed by the Legislature last year is intended to raise nearly $1 billion annually for road and bridge repair. “We have a need across this state for improved bridges and roads, but at the end of the last campaign it was stated that we wouldn’t be raising taxes – that we’d be creating jobs and maintain [roads] the right way. Which is just to reduce spending,” Snider said. “I know we’ve got a low cost of gas now, but eventually that’s going to come back and hit us in the belt.”
Snider said he would support state Sen. Josh McKoon’s S.B. 129, which many conservative Christian supporters say would provide shelter to business that don’t want to have anything to do with gay marriage.
Ralston has said he will back a “pastor protection” bill to guarantee that clergy aren’t required to perform gay marriage rites.
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From Atlanta Unfiltered's Jim Walls, more detail on a campaign finance case that just won't die:
In amended disclosures filed Oct. 30, Oxendine said his 2010 bid for governor raised about $175,000 more than he'd previously reported. The new filings also reported that his campaign "invested" $237,000 in leftover funds in his law firm, John Oxendine P.C.
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The U.S. Senate recently announced its 2016 schedule, which includes quite a bit more election year time away from Washington.
"August recess" includes nearly half of July because of the political conventions. And lawmakers skip town Oct. 10 for the final campaigning through Election Day on Nov. 8.
Freshman Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., who does not have to run again until 2020, is aghast that campaigning is trampling the duties of legislating. Here's what he told Politico: "It's unbelievable. It's awful. I don't even know how to respond."
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One of us is in Milwaukee, Wisc., waiting for tonight's GOP presidential debate. Here's another reason it could get interesting:
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President Barack Obama joined V-103's Ryan Cameron for an interview that aired Monday focusing on his healthcare overhaul. Among the topics:
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WSAV-TV in Savannah reports that longtime Chatham County Sheriff Al St. Lawrence is "incapacitated with terminal cancer." But nobody's talking about it, and the television station posits this theory for the silence:
The outcome of the investigation can lead to the suspension of the sheriff's duties and the governor requesting the local district attorney to petition for removal from office.
But if a sheriff dies in office, a different course is mandated:
Chatham County Chief Deputy Sheriff Roy J. Harris would assume the powers for a maximum of six months until a special election is held for voters to select a replacement, unless the vacancy occurs within six months of the end of the sheriff's term.
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Keep an eye out for protesters in downtown Atlanta today. Fast food workers are striking, starting at 6 a.m., and then marching to City Hall at 5 p.m. to demand a $15 per hour minimum wage. It's part of a nationwide union-backed effort to increase the minimum wage.
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State Rep. Taylor Bennett, D-Brookhaven, has a new GOP challenger.
Meagan Hanson, an attorney and former chair of the Georgia Young Republicans, announced her candidacy today for House District 80. It's one of the few swing districts in the state, and Bennett, a former Georgia Tech quarterback, was a narrow victor in an August special election runoff against Republican J. Max Davis.
It appears she decided to run a while ago. Records show she registered HansonforHouse.com on Aug. 13 - days after Bennett defeated Davis in that much-watched race.
A third candidate could yet get in. Republican Catherine Bernard has said she is considering the race. She did not make the runoff last time.
One interesting note: All three -- Bennett, Bernard and Hanson -- are well under 40. Those silly millennials.
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Mercedes-Benz has already snapped up naming rights to the budding downtown Atlanta stadium that will host the city's NFL and MLS franchises.
Now the German automaker wants to rename the Sandy Springs street where its new North American headquarters will be located.
WABE reports that the company's executives asked Sandy Springs council members to rename a section of the road leading to the automaker's site. Mercedes official Donna Boland told the radio station it was a company tradition.
"We've been made to feel like this is our home, and we have many employees who came from New Jersey," Boland told WABE. "This will certainly make them feel even more at home."
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U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville, is out selling the $325 billion transportation bill cleared last week by the House. The Atlanta Business Chronicle captures the speech Woodall gave to the Council for Quality Growth:
One thing the House bill doesn't do is increase the federal gasoline tax, a step advocated by business organizations and transportation agencies across the country.
"I can't raise gas taxes today because folks don't believe the gas taxes they paid yesterday are getting them their money's worth," Woodall said. "Washington hasn't proven it can efficient and effective in responding to local needs."
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U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will not be on either presidential debate stage tonight in Milwaukee, as he failed to get enough polling support to even meet Fox Business Network's criteria to make the "kids' table."
But Graham has every intention of sticking around until the SEC Primary, he wants you to know. His campaign sent out a press release Monday informing the world that Graham had paid the fee to qualify for the Arkansas ballot, and has made each deadline so far, including South Carolina and Alabama.
But even his home state has not been so kind.
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GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio rolled out some of his Georgia support on PeachPundit.com this morning. Backers now include state Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, who had been backing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
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