After defying Trump, Raffensperger touts his policies in governor’s race

Today’s newsletter highlights:

Brian Kemp rejects a request to reschedule a state Senate election.
Local officials bemoan high costs of 911 upgrades.
Georgia tourism set records in 2024.

Conservative credentials

Credit: AJC file photo

Credit: AJC file photo

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is best known as the Republican who defied President Donald Trump’s demand to overturn the 2020 election. He’s also now a candidate for governor who champions many of Trump’s policies.

In a “Politically Georgia” podcast interview out this morning, Raffensperger tried to square those competing threads.

He brushed off resistance from some corners of the GOP, including a state party resolution seeking to block him from qualifying as a Republican, by pointing to his conservative record and his 2022 win over a Trump-backed challenger.

“I won a primary without a runoff and I won in the fall — the largest winning percentage,” he said. “People need to understand, I’m a conservative Republican. I think I was just born that way.”

Raffensperger leaned on kitchen table economics, saying job creation and affordability will be the centerpiece of his campaign. He also stressed border security and the fentanyl crisis, connecting it to the loss of his own son in 2018.

“It has hit everywhere across the state, and securing the border to stop fentanyl — that’s a good, noble thing. And I’m glad that happened."

Raffensperger made clear he opposes Medicaid expansion and supports the new federal tax and spending package. It funds tax cuts by slashing health care spending and safety net programs.

And as he charts a path through a GOP primary dominated by MAGA voters, he sounded confident.

“My voters are conservative Republicans who are looking for someone who is honest, someone who has integrity and someone who’s going to tell them the truth — always, no matter how hard it is for them to hear it,” he said.

Things to know

Good morning! We’re 36 days away from a statewide election to fill two seats on the Public Service Commission and municipal elections for local government seats across the state.

Here are three other things to know for today:

The State Election Board’s two-day meeting last week was marked by arguments over manhood, attempts to subpoena ballots from the 2020 election and efforts to end no-excuse absentee voting, the AJC’s Mark Niesse reports.
State agencies have asked for more than $1 billion in new funding next year amid uncertainty over the toll federal spending cuts will take on Georgia’s budget, the AJC’s David Wickert and Ariel Hart report.
Georgia’s health care providers stand to lose $3.7 billion in revenue next year if Congress and President Donald Trump allow insurance subsidies to expire in December, Hart reports.

Special election

Credit: Jeff Amy/AP

Gov. Brian Kemp virtually guaranteed a low turnout special election to replace Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves when he scheduled it on a different day than this year’s statewide Public Service Commission election.

Esteves resigned from his heavily Democratic district covering parts of Cobb and Fulton counties to focus on his run for governor. Kemp, a Republican, had to call a special election to replace him. But instead of putting it on Nov. 4 when voters will already be going to the polls across the state, Kemp scheduled it for Nov. 18. That’s the latest possible date he could choose under state law.

Daniel White, an attorney for the Cobb County election board, asked Kemp to reschedule the election for Nov. 4, saying the later date “will unquestionably lead to increased cost and wasted resources for the taxpayers of Cobb and Fulton County and increased voter confusion.”

White also told Kemp he’s uncertain whether it’s possible to reprogram voting equipment so quickly before another election under the state’s timelines.

But Kemp refused.

“Convenience, however, is not — and should not be — the paramount concern,” Kemp wrote in a response Friday. “Above all, the voters in Senate District 35 should be provided with the maximum amount of time possible to evaluate candidates and make an informed, considered choice when they cast their votes.”

It’s worth noting that lower turnout among Democratic-leaning voters would benefit Republican candidates in the race. We saw that in the recent special election for state Senate District 21, where Democrat Debra Shigley performed better than expected while losing in a heavily Republican district.

Costly update

Georgia lawmakers and local officials want to upgrade 911 systems across the state. But local officials say the overhaul carries a price tag that counties can’t afford.

After Cherokee County spent $1.3 million to modernize its 911 operations, the monthly phone bill for operations more than doubled from about $16,000 to nearly $38,000.

“I know this isn’t a funding meeting, I know it’s not, but we need every penny that we can get, because the counties can’t afford it,” Cherokee E911 Director Shane Bonebrake told lawmakers last week.

Bonebrake isn’t the only one saying this. In a House study committee for funding the technology last month, local leaders asked legislators to increase a fee on phone lines that pays for local 911 systems.

To pay for the overhaul and five years of phone bills, Bonebrake said the county dipped into its reserves and spent $1.9 million. The monthly phone bill is expected to decrease in a few years once the county updates its phone system, he said.

The state Legislature has encouraged counties to modernize their 911 systems to better handle calls from cellphones and other internet connected devices.

Tourism records

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Tourism set state records for the third consecutive year in 2024, Gov. Brian Kemp revealed last week.

Speaking at the annual Governor’s Tourism Conference at the Savannah Convention Center, Kemp noted a 3% year-over-year uptick in total economic impact and a nearly 4% jump in visitor spending.

“Georgians know how to make people feel at home, sharing our stories and our way of life in a way that connects with people and keeps them coming back,” he said.

The results were cheered by the hundreds of tourism industry leaders at the conference, but there’s little optimism that Georgia will break records again in 2025. A tourism official told Georgia Senate lawmakers at a hearing earlier in the week that hotel occupancy is flat statewide and “in correction mode” along the coast, home to several of Georgia’s most popular destinations.

Yet expectations are for better times ahead, especially with eight 2026 FIFA World Cup matches slated to be played in Atlanta next year. Tourism pros also expect an uptick for festivities tied the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.

Listen up

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger joins the show to talk about his campaign for governor. Plus, we answer questions from the listener mailbag.

You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Today in Washington

Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

President Donald Trump will meet at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and later with congressional leaders.
No votes are scheduled in the House this week, but Democrats will meet.
The Senate returns for evening votes.

Rest in peace

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

DeKalb County judge Ronald B. Ramsey Sr., a former state senator, died on Thursday. He was 66.

Judge Mike Jacobs, who worked alongside Ramsey both in the DeKalb State Court and in the Legislature, said on Facebook that, “few people have influenced my thinking as a public servant the way Judge Ron Ramsey has.”

“We’ve spent more hours on the phone than I can count talking about this, that, and the other issue,” he wrote. “I’m very sad Ron passed away today.”

Ramsey was the first Black person appointed as a municipal judge in Stone Mountain in 2000. He later spent nine years in the General Assembly and 10 years as chief legal officer for DeKalb County schools. Former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal appointed him to the state court in 2015.

Ramsey is survived by his wife and two adult children.

Shoutouts

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Today’s birthday:

Former state Rep. Doug Stoner.

Belated birthdays:

Oconee County Commissioner Chuck Horton (was Saturday)
Former state Rep. James Beverly (was Sunday).
Will Bradley, Lockheed Martin government relations lead (was Sunday).

Recognition:

Georgia Court of Appeals Presiding Judge Stephen Dillard has been named the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence from the National Center for State Courts. He’ll receive the award from Chief Justice John Roberts later this year at a ceremony at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.

Before you go

Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC

How did U.S. Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, respond when the Trump administration told her how to vote? “I told them, ‘You didn’t get me elected. I do not work for you; I work for my district,’” she told The New York Times.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.

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