How an email jolted the race for Sandy Springs mayor
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Early voting starts today for the Nov. 4 elections.
- Tim Echols leans in to hardball campaign tactics.
- Sam Couvillon raises just over $100,000 for congressional bid.
October surprise
The four-way battle for Sandy Springs mayor got an unexpected jolt in the last week after a four-year-old email suddenly became campaign fodder in a race to lead one of Georgia’s biggest cities.
It started at a forum sponsored by WSB-TV and Rough Draft Atlanta last week, when Council member Andy Bauman invoked a June 2021 email sent by incumbent Mayor Rusty Paul in which he called himself a “tired puppy.”
“This is a very demanding job and I probably have made it even more so,” Paul wrote in the email, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I just don’t have gas left in the tank to do a full campaign and do the job this community deserves.”
Things obviously changed. He wound up running for reelection that year, trouncing liberal challenger Dontaye Carter in the November 2021 vote.
Bauman seized on that email during the debate, accusing Paul of “tired leadership” that led to stalled growth, more traffic and infrastructure issues. Paul shot back that he has “refueled the tank” and is moving forward as he seeks yet another term.
But it was Carter, who is also running again, who came to Paul’s defense. (Council member Jody Reichel is the fourth candidate in the race.) In a lengthy Facebook post, Carter said Bauman “crossed a line that should never be crossed” by reading from a personal email Paul sent while struggling with his mother’s death.
“We can debate policy all day — but we should never weaponize someone’s grief. That’s not politics; that’s personal,” Carter wrote. “And if we can’t show compassion for each other, how can we show compassion for the people we’re elected to serve?”
Paul thanked Carter, adding that the email was sent in a moment of “crisis.”
“Those words came from a place of deep emotional exhaustion, not from being tired of serving this city, but from carrying a heavy personal burden while still showing up every day to do the job,” Paul said.
Bauman, meanwhile, didn’t back down. He said the record makes clear that Paul’s 2021 dispatch didn’t cite a “family loss from 2020.”
“My focus has always been on leadership, transparency, and whether our city has the energy to meet the challenges ahead — never, ever on anyone’s grief,” Bauman said.
“I have deep empathy for anyone who has experienced loss; empathy and accountability can, and should, coexist. Sandy Springs deserves a leader focused on facts, accountability, and the future of our city.”
Things to know
Good morning! It’s day 14 of the federal government shutdown. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the shutdown could become the longest in history, meaning more than 35 days.
Here are three things to know for today:
- Two Republican U.S. Senate hopefuls — U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and Derek Dooley — separately visited Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s Atlanta office on Monday to blame him and other Democrats for the government shutdown, Greg Bluestein reports.
- U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s most ardent voters are sticking with her despite her disagreement with Republicans and President Donald Trump on multiple issues, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman reports.
- A Delta Air Lines flight attendant who was fired for posting “good riddance” on social media after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated says he was not given an opportunity to explain himself before he was dismissed, the AJC’s Emma Hurt reports.
Here we go
Early voting starts today for the Nov. 4 elections. Surprised? That’s because, unlike last year, there are no billion-dollar campaigns aimed at convincing you to vote.
Here’s a look at the key races:
- Public Service Commission. This is the only statewide election on the ballot. Republicans control every seat on the board. But Democrats are making them nervous.
- Atlanta mayor. If history is our guide, Andre Dickens is set to cruise to a second term. But voters have choices.
- Atlanta City Council president. The “defund the police” movement made its way into this race as Council member Marci Collier Overstreet and progressive nonprofit leader Rohit Malhotra battle about public safety funding.
- Sandy Springs mayor. Longtime Mayor Rusty Paul faces strong challenges from two council members — Andy Bauman and Jody Reichel — and public relations executive Dontaye Carter in Georgia’s seventh-largest city.
- Chattahoochee Hills mayor. This race between Council members Camille Lowe and Richard “Richie” Schmidt is complicated by a recorded phone call of Schmidt threatening harm to a city contractor.
- South Fulton mayor. Eight people are challenging Mayor khalid “Kobi” kamau after the City Council called for a forensic audit of his public spending, temporarily barred him from city buildings and seized a $1,800 pool table from his office.
- Stone Mountain mayor. The City Council voted to remove Mayor Beverly Jones from office. Jones sued the council to stop them. Voters will have their say on Nov. 4.
Sorry, not sorry
Republican Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols makes no apologies for his hard-edged approach against Democratic challenger Alicia Johnson.
“I was way too nice. I was thinking because I wore a Bulldog shirt and they supposedly had been seeing me for 15 years, they would vote for me,” Echols said in an interview for today’s “Politically Georgia” podcast. “Well, that didn’t happen. Democrats doubled our vote total on June 17. Now we’ve gone with a little more aggressive campaign.”
That might be an understatement. Echols has painted Johnson, a health care executive, as a “DEI specialist” — a reference to the diversity, equity and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has sought to eliminate. And Echols warned Johnson would steer the commission toward liberal policies, even though Democrats still wouldn’t control the five-member panel if she won.
Johnson, who also joined the show, called Echols’ DEI attacks a “racist, MAGA dog whistle.”
“It’s more of a reflection of him than my particular résumé,” she said, adding that “every time families have been on the agenda for the PSC, Mr. Echols and the PSC have voted against them and voted in favor of Georgia Power.”
Echols said he used that phrase deliberately — arguing that she could echo Democrats in other states by pressuring utilities to hold off on disconnecting power and forgiving bills for struggling customers.
“This is not a dog whistle. This is a whistle. I’m not being shy about it,” he said.
Special education
Georgia school officials were already on edge about cuts to federal education spending. Now a wave of layoffs amid the federal government shutdown has them fretting about the future of special education services.
The Trump administration laid off more than 450 federal education employees over the weekend. That appears to include nearly everyone who implemented the Individuals with Disabilities with Education Act, according to a union that represents federal workers.
The uncertainty prompted questions Monday during a meeting led by the Georgia Association of Black County Officials.
State Rep. Tanya Miller, chair of the House Minority Caucus, warned local elected officials they “need to be prepared to advocate and fight for that.”
“We are dealing with a level of chaos in policy coming from Washington, D.C., that is just hard to keep up with, and I think it is by design,” said Miller, a Democrat from Atlanta who is running for attorney general.
Miller suggested Georgia could backfill any loss of federal funding, noting the state has “substantial reserves they have not yet tapped into.” But any move to do that would need votes from the Republicans who have majorities in the state Legislature.
Listen up
Today on “Politically Georgia” Public Service Commission candidates Tim Echols and Alicia Johnson join the show to talk about their campaigns.
You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia for free a 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.
Red zone
Derek Dooley is fast learning to always give Georgia Bulldogs the benefit of the doubt.
After his news conference on the shutdown wrapped up on Monday, the former Tennessee football coach who is now a Republican U.S. Senate candidate was asked about the controversial call that shifted the momentum of Saturday’s Auburn-Georgia grudge match.
Up 10-0 in the waning minutes of the second quarter, Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold tried to edge across the goal line to give the Tigers a commanding lead. But as he stretched toward the end zone a Georgia defender pried the ball loose. Officials called it a fumble that Georgia recovered, though it could have gone either way.
Dooley doesn’t agree.
“It was not a touchdown. … He was losing control of the ball before it crossed. So when it crossed, he didn’t have control of the ball. Then the punch-out came.”
Then, he added with a smile: “And oh, by the way, they’re not the first team to get screwed by an official.”
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump will meet at the White House with President Javier Milei of Argentina, and posthumously award Charlie Kirk a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- The House is out again this week.
- The Senate will take yet another vote on a Republican proposal to fund the federal government through mid-November.
Couvillon’s money
Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon raised $103,000 in the past three months as he seeks to oust incumbent U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde of Athens in next year’s Republican primary.
Couvillon said he has raised a total of the $539,000 for the cycle.
“The momentum is on our side and we will continue to work hard to share our message,” he said.
Clyde and another Republican in the race — Hall County Commissioner Gregg Poole — have not announced their fundraising totals yet. The deadline to file financial disclosure reports is Wednesday.
Shoutout
Today’s birthday:
- State Rep. Esther Panitch, D-Sandy Springs.
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
Republican leaders in the North Carolina Legislature say they will vote next week on redrawing the state’s U.S. House district map aimed at securing more GOP seats.
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.
This story has been updated to correct that Sam Couvillon has raised a total of $539,000 this election cycle.
About the Authors
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
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