Georgia governor candidates sharpen attacks in final primary stretch
Today’s newsletter highlights
- Test your knowledge with our weekly news quiz.
- The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus raises concerns ahead of June’s special session on redistricting.
- Georgia Supreme Court challenger Jen Jordan infuriates Republicans with a new fundraising email.
Ad war escalates
The primary for Georgia governor is ending the way it has unfolded for months. It’s loud, it’s expensive and it’s deeply personal.
The top contenders are using their final TV messages to sharpen the cases they’ve been making all along.
For Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, that means tagging billionaire Rick Jackson as a phony conservative with ties to GOP archenemy Stacey Abrams.
For Keisha Lance Bottoms, it means casting her GOP rivals as imitators of President Donald Trump while presenting herself as the Democrat most ready to take him on.
Bottoms’ new ad features look-alikes of Jones and Jackson feeding a braying donkey as a narrator says: “Two grown men, fighting to kiss the ass of an ass.”
Then, Bottoms delivers the punch: “Unlike some people, I’m not running for governor to be Donald Trump. I’m running to stand up to him.”
Jones’ latest ad takes a different angle, invoking a $500 donation that Jackson’s company, Jackson Healthcare, gave to Abrams in 2013 when she was the state House minority leader. “How many Trump conservatives do you know who have donated to Stacey Abrams? Rick Jackson says he’s conservative, but Rick Jackson is a fraud,” a narrator says.
Jackson’s campaign has cast the attack as a recycled version of the criticism Trump faced in 2016 over his past Democratic donations.
“Rick Jackson never donated to Stacey Abrams, and when she ran against Brian Kemp, Rick supported Kemp at the maximum level allowed,” his campaign said.
Friday news quiz
Good morning! How closely did you follow the news this week? Find out by taking our quiz. You’ll find the answers at the end of the newsletter.
Republican congressional candidate Tricia Pridemore released a video this week poking fun at a recent faux pas. What was it?
- A) A campaign video that showed footage from a Mississippi State football game instead of a University of Georgia game.
- B) She mispronounced “Bartow County” during a campaign speech in Cartersville.
- C) She fell asleep during a Public Service Commission meeting.
- D) She referred to Gov. Brian Kemp as “Brad” during a conference call with supporters.
Kemp reduced some spending from Georgia’s budget this week. How much did he cut?
- A) $500 million
- B) $300 million
- C) $1 billion
- D) $800 million
What Republican candidate for governor had a campaign event disrupted this week because of a security threat?
- A) Brad Raffensperger
- B) Burt Jones
- C) Rick Jackson
- D) Chris Carr
What industry has poured $10 million into Georgia’s state legislative campaigns this year?
- A) Electric utilities
- B) Data centers
- C) Oil and gas
- D) Sports betting
Democratic fears
Expect the worst. That was the message telegraphed by the leaders of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus on Thursday as they raised concerns about what could be done to their ranks during June’s special session focused on redistricting.
State Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson, who chairs the group, said she did not have an estimate on how many of her caucus could ultimately lose their seats. But she said the impact could be severe.
“We already know Black electeds are being targeted. Point blank. So I would say we can expect the worst,” Merritt told reporters during a news conference outside of the state Capitol. “I don’t have faith that this body is going to deliberate in a way that’s fair, in a way that’s just, and in a way that listens to the voices of Black people.”
In Washington, the Congressional Black Caucus estimates that it could lose up to one-third of its 58 members because of redistricting in statehouses around the country after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakened the Voting Rights Act. At least one of those seats could come from Georgia. Officials are likely to target U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop’s district in the state’s southwest corner.
Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II, D-Augusta, who has a seat on the redistricting committee, vowed to “try to make sure our views are taken seriously.” He said one of Democrats’ goals is to “bring up the fact that these lines are actually drawn basically on the basis of race.”
“I think that’s going to be key,” he said. “Now the question is going to be, how much debate are they actually going to allow? And if they don’t allow much debate, then that shows you exactly what’s going on.”
Voting update
More than 816,000 Georgians have cast ballots ahead of Tuesday’s primary, just over of 11% of those registered to vote.
Democrats still have an edge in total ballots cast, with 451,901 compared with 352,098 for Republicans. That total is worth watching in the Georgia Supreme Court races. The races are nonpartisan, but the Democratic Party has invested heavily in defeating incumbent Justices Charlie Bethel and Sarah Warren.
If Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin were to win, it would reshape a court that has made up of a majority of justices that were first appointed by Republican governors. But it would take a historic upset. As Greg Bluestein reported, the last sitting justice to lose reelection was in 1922, more than 100 years ago.
Court watch
Speaking of Jordan, the Georgia Supreme Court challenger infuriated Republicans with a fundraising email arguing that Kemp’s call for a special session of the state Legislature could shape the future of voting rights and redistricting in Georgia.
“Every decision made in that session will be challenged. Every new rule, every redrawn district, will end up before Georgia’s Supreme Court,” her campaign wrote, adding: “We need justices who will defend the right to vote, not enable its erosion. Justices who see the law as a shield for the people, not a weapon for politicians.”
That drew howls from Republicans who accused her of violating judicial rules barring candidates from discussing how they would rule on cases that could come before them.
“It is absolutely bonkers that she is raising money by telling people how she will vote on issues she admits will come before her on the bench if she is elected,” Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon said.
Justice Sarah Warren, her opponent in the Tuesday vote, piled on through a spokesperson.
“It appears Jen Jordan continues to violate the judicial code of ethics by promising outcomes. If she wants to be an activist, she never should’ve left the Legislature.”
Listen up
There is no “Politically Georgia” podcast today. We’ll be back on Monday.
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.
Abrams back in spotlight
Abrams is having an unwanted campaign trail moment.
For the first time since 2014, she’s not on the Democratic ballot for governor. But suddenly, her name is everywhere.
She’s showing up in Republican attack ads and in attacks at gatherings. (Kemp greeted Republican voters this week in Sandy Springs by thanking them for voting against her.)
And now a Georgia Senate committee that spent the last two years investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has moved on to Abrams.
The committee issued a subpoena for Abrams to testify. It’s investigating campaign finance violations by two groups founded by Abrams. The Democrat, a two-time gubernatorial nominee, has denied any wrongdoing.
Today in Washington
- Trump returns to the White House from his trip to China.
- The House will vote on the first of 12 appropriations bills for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. This one deal with the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects.
- The Senate is done for the week.
Budget brawl
House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley is accusing Kemp of skirting his legal authority by directing state agencies to withhold funding from spending items lawmakers already approved.
In a sharp letter sent this morning, Hugley said Kemp can veto appropriations, but he can’t unilaterally reduce them after the General Assembly has acted.
Her targets include withheld funding for disability waivers, school nurses, pre-K classrooms, foster youth supplies, school transportation and loan forgiveness for behavioral health professionals.
“Simply stated, you do not have the legal authority to change the sums that the General Assembly has allocated,” Hugley wrote.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthday:
- Atlanta City Council member Dustin R. Hillis.
Upcoming birthdays:
- Jennifer Snow, a faithful reader of this newsletter (Saturday).
- Former state Rep. Mesha Mainor (Sunday)
Congratulations:
- Chuck Williams, WRBL News 3’s legendary political reporter in Columbus, who is graduating from Columbus State University today with a master’s degree in strategic communications.
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
Answers to this week’s news quiz
- C) She fell asleep during a Public Service Commission meeting. In the video, Pridemore says “Even Ronald Reagan dozed off once in a while.”
- B) $300 million. Kemp said the cuts will help plug a $1.3 billion hole in the budget caused by an income tax cut.
- A) Brad Raffensperger. The Republican’s campaign alerted authorities to a suspicious object during a stop in Macon shortly after the campaign received an unrelated four-page “manifesto” threatening his life.
- D) Sports betting. Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature has consistently refused to legalize sports betting.
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.
More Stories
The Latest
