No rush to rally behind Fuller in MTG’s old seat
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- The latest on Fulton County’s battle with the DOJ over seized 2020 ballots.
- A bill related to the First Liberty scandal is headed to Gov. Kemp’s desk.
- Georgia lawmakers not running for reelection say their goodbyes.
Waiting to rally
As Republican Clay Fuller heads into next week’s 14th Congressional District runoff, two notable figures are on the sidelines: former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Colton Moore, the third-place finisher in last month’s election.
Normally, a runoff in a deep-red seat would quickly trigger a circle-the-wagons GOP consolidation behind the front-runner. But this runoff to fill Greene’s unexpired term is anything but normal.
Greene has stuck to her promise not to wade into the race, while Moore has incentive to stay silent as he prepares to compete against Fuller again, this time in a separate May primary for a full term.
That vacuum is not going unnoticed by Democrat Shawn Harris, who argues the silence is a sign Fuller can’t fully lock down the GOP base.
“None of his opponents have actually rallied around him. So he’s still trying to get a base together,” Harris told the “Politically Georgia” podcast. “Marjorie Taylor Greene, the biggest Republican in our district — and she’s a voter — has not come up and endorsed him.”
Fuller has cast himself as “a proud MAGA conservative who’s going to fight each and every day for the hardworking people in northwest Georgia.”
Is this a sign of bigger trouble? Don’t bet on it. He’s still the heavy favorite to win the April 7 runoff in Georgia’s Trumpiest district.
He carries the most important blessing in GOP politics — President Donald Trump’s endorsement — along with the backing of Gov. Brian Kemp, the state’s most popular Republican.
As for Greene, she has made clear that any candidate who turns the race into a referendum on her legacy could quickly find themselves on her bad side.
“Run on your own merits, your own record, your own platform, and how YOU will REPRESENT the good people of Georgia’s 14th district,” she said on social media. “Don’t throw rocks at me from your self righteous naive judgmental position.”
Things to know
Good morning! Here are three things to know for today:
- Georgians for Integrity, the mysterious political group attacking Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ campaign for governor, now faces formal state ethics charges, the AJC’s David Wickert reports.
- The unexpectedly competitive race to fill Marjorie Taylor Greene’s unexpired term in one of Trump’s most loyal districts pits two military veterans who have sharply differing views on the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, Greg Bluestein reports.
- Georgia lawmakers are weighing changes to how people can and cannot use hemp ahead of a looming federal restriction, the AJC’s Caleb Groves reports.
Farewell season
We’re down to two days left in the legislative session, so it’s time for retiring lawmakers to start saying their goodbyes.
House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones had her moment Friday. Jones is not running for reelection after serving more than two decades in office as the highest-ranking woman in a male-dominated caucus.
“I grew up in nobody from nowhere,” she said while recounting her journey from being a mother who taught piano lessons to Georgia’s highest political stage.
“My message to young people when I speak is always that if someone as unlikely as me can serve in the Georgia General Assembly, they can as well or aspire to other things that maybe they haven’t even imagined.”
In the Senate, Appropriations Chair Blake Tillery presented his final budget Friday. The Vidalia Republican is leaving the Senate to run for lieutenant governor. Tillery got emotional when remembering former Appropriations Chair Jack Hill, who died in 2020. He also had kind words to say about House Appropriations Chair Matt Hatchett (“a statesman,” he said) and House Speaker Jon Burns (“You just can’t fight him. He’s too nice.”)
He saved the last word to remind lawmakers they work for the people.
“It is always their money that you are spending,” he said.
Fulton County update
Fulton County went to federal court to reclaim its 2020 election records from the Trump administration. Now it’s demanding to know how the FBI’s criminal investigation started in the first place.
After a Friday court hearing, county attorneys asked a federal judge to force the federal government to disclose when Kurt Olsen, Trump’s director of election security and integrity, first referred the Fulton probe and when the FBI formally opened its investigation.
The county is also pressing the Justice Department to reveal whether officials discussed seeking a criminal search warrant because of what they viewed as “delays” in a separate civil case over the county’s 2020 ballots.
“The timing of the search warrant, especially as it relates to the status of the civil proceedings, creates a strong inference that the search warrant served as an improper means to expedite access to the 2020 election records that DOJ sought in the civil case,” county attorneys argued in a Monday filing.
MAGA feud
Congressional hopeful Rob Adkerson is launching a new digital attack campaign that turns the GOP primary in Georgia’s 11th District into an explicit loyalty test to Trump.
The campaign unveiled a daily “Never Trump/RINO battle,” inviting voters to weigh past comments from rivals Dr. John Cowan and Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore.
The first round highlights critical comments both made of Trump. Adkerson’s campaign calls the matchup a “RINO vs. Never Trumper cage match for Georgia’s 11th Congressional District.”
Pridemore, meanwhile, plans a show of force. She’s having a fundraiser tonight in Cobb County co-hosted by state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, Marietta Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin, Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood and dozens of supporters.
Under the Gold Dome
It’s Day 39 of the legislative session. Some happenings:
- 10 a.m.: House and Senate convene.
- 2 p.m.: Joint Appropriations Conference Committee meets to discuss the 2027 state budget.
First Liberty fallout
One of the biggest reactions to the First Liberty scandal is now headed to Kemp’s desk.
Lawmakers last week passed Senate Bill 284, a top priority for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that would expand his office’s power to crack down on investment fraud.
Raffensperger, who is also the state’s securities commissioner, would be able to order fraudsters to repay investors directly if Kemp signs it. Under current law, the penalties largely flow to the state.
The legislation gained traction after the First Liberty mess, which brought scrutiny into whether Georgia regulators had enough authority to recover money for investors caught up in alleged fraud schemes.
Raffensperger is framing the bill as a deterrent and a path to restitution.
“When this becomes law, scammers will face greater obstacles in Georgia,” he said.
Carr’s pitch
Attorney General Chris Carr has a fresh pitch for Republican voters exhausted by the $77 million slugfest dominating the governor’s race.
His latest ad aims squarely at the bare-knuckle brawl between Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson: “Aren’t you tired of rich guys spending their money on negative political ads?”
The spot then races through a familiar set of GOP touchstones — swipes at Stacey Abrams and former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama; warnings about antifa; and praise for Kemp.
Carr hopes his more mainstream GOP pitch breaks through a race dominated by the big-money grudge match between Jackson and Jones.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, Democrat Shawn Harris joins the show to talk about his campaign for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District ahead of next week’s runoff race.
You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on 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.
Union backing
Democrat Jason Esteves’s campaign for governor picked up the endorsement of Workers United Southern Region this morning in his bid for governor.
The union, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, said he’s shown a commitment to working families, fair wages and economic opportunity.
Esteves said the backing reinforces that his campaign is “all about health, wealth and opportunity — because the workers who have built Georgia deserve fair wages, safe workplaces and a strong voice under the Gold Dome.”
Notable
Notes from the campaign trail:
- Georgia WIN List has endorsed state Rep. Tanya Miller in the attorney general’s race. That makes Miller the only statewide candidate to be endorsed by the high-profile PAC that supports abortion-rights female Democrats.
- Randall Woodfin, the mayor of Birmingham, endorsed Everton Blair in his challenge to U.S. Rep. David Scott in the 13th Congressional District Democratic primary.
Today in Washington
- Trump and first lady Melania Trump will attend opening night of the musical “Chicago” at the Kennedy Center.
- The House and Senate are out this week.
- U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, will host an event in Decatur to highlight the federal funding she obtained for the dropout prevention group Communities in Schools of Atlanta.
Election confusion
State Rep. Ruwa Romman will be on the May 19 primary ballot for Senate District 7. But she won’t be on the ballot twice.
Romman is running for a full term in the state Senate. But that district is vacant after Democrat Nabilah Parkes resigned to run for lieutenant governor. The special election to fulfill the remainder of Parkes’ term is set for May 19 — the same day as the primary for the full term that begins in January.
Normally when this happens, people running for the full term will also run to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. But to do so, Romman would have had to qualify for that race by 1 p.m. Monday, forcing her to resign her seat in the House of Representatives.
Romman said she chose to stay in the House for now and forgo the partial Senate run because she promised her constituents she would finish the rest of her term. There are still two days left in the legislative session and lawmakers still have not passed a budget.
“Qualifying for this race would leave my constituents with no representation during the most contentious time of session,” she said.
What she didn’t say is that some Democrats remain angry that Parkes’ departure has done just that in the Senate.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthday
- State Rep. Martin Momtahan, R-Dallas.
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
Before you go
Georgia-based AGCO brought a gold tractor to the White House last week to highlight “the essential role of agriculture in the United States and honor the American farmer.” Trump has decorated the Oval Office in gold, so presumably he is a fan.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider information to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
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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