By and large, U.S. Rep. Paul Broun has been a toned-down version of himself since jumping into the Republican race for U.S. Senate.
That may be changing. In a just-posted interview with Joshua Stewart of Georgia Public Broadcasting, the Athens congressman cut loose with some flowery language on the topic of electability and the viability of a Democratic candidate such as Michelle Nunn.
The audio can be found here. In this bit, Broun is clearly targeting GOP rival Jack Kingston, the congressman from Savannah:
"That may give a Democrat the chance to win. But otherwise, when I'm nominated, I'll be the most-electable candidate out of the whole Republican field that's out there now in this race."
But it is the sound bite below, in which Broun addresses Georgia’s changing demographics, that’s likely to raise eyebrows. Said Broun:
"The only way Georgia is going to change is if we have all these illegal aliens in here in Georgia, [and] give them the right to vote. It would be morally wrong, it would be illegal to do so, under our current law. Actually, all these illegal aliens are getting federal largesse and taking taxpayer's dollars. That's the only way this state is going to become Democratic again, in the next number of decades."
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We already knew that former Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia had thrown in with Michelle Nunn's Democratic campaign for U.S. Senate. Yesterday we received word of another former GOP senator who's backing Nunn. Not that it's a surprise.
An Indiana political action committee, called the 19th Star PAC and under the direction of former Sen. Richard Lugar, donated $5,000 to Nunn's camp in early December. Nunn's father, former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn, worked with Lugar on plans to deactivate nuclear warheads in the former Soviet Union.
Lugar lost his 2012 primary bid to tea party rival Richard Mourdock, who went on to lose the general election – a poster child, in the minds of some Republicans, for ideological excess.
Nunn, who is trying to position herself as a pragmatic outsider, praised Lugar's tenure as the type of "problem-solving Georgians are yearning for in Washington."
She added: "We need more leaders like Senator Lugar – not less, and I will strive to follow this legacy in the U.S. Senate."
According to Bloomberg, Nunn was the only Democrat supported by Lugar's PAC:
Lugar's PAC also made donations in November and December to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Pat Roberts of Kansas.
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Crowded races for U.S. Senate and governor in Georgia have drawn attention – and perhaps some competition – away from down-ballot offices.
But Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is taking no chances. We’re told that he’ll report having raised $900,000 in 2013, and will have nearly $1.4 million on hand to start his 2014 re-election campaign.
Cagle has at least one Democratic rival – Connie Stokes, the former state senator and DeKalb County commissioner.
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One of the many who attended Monday's inauguration ceremonies for Atlanta city officials was Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves – who faces a Democratic primary challenge from Commissioner Robb Pitts, but reported only $6,000 or so in campaign cash on hand last July.
But Eaves confirmed that he in fact intends to run for re-election. “I’ve got to get through my budget first. I have to deal with the budget, and then we get into the political stuff,” he said.
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This piece by a trio of AJC reporters is worth checking out today, on myajc.com:
Robert Constantine was removed in August from a $100,000-a-year post with the state Board of Workers' Compensation, personnel records show. Two commission members told the AJC on Monday that they knew Constantine had been dismissed from the judgeship but said they remained confident in his leadership.
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