Georgia leaders press MARTA on safety ahead of World Cup

Today’s newsletter highlights

• Rick Jackson weighs in on Georgia’s anti-abortion law at a campaign stop.
• The candidates in the Fulton County Commission chair race pick up new endorsements.
• U.S. House set to vote on $70B immigration bill this week.

Transit scrutiny

A MARTA police officer collects evidence from a train at the Midtown station Friday. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

Georgia legislative leaders are turning up the pressure on MARTA after several violent attacks on passengers using the transit system, demanding answers just days before Atlanta begins hosting matches for the FIFA World Cup.

House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration and Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte sent a letter Sunday to MARTA chief executive Jonathan Hunt demanding details on how the agency is protecting riders, preparing for the crush of World Cup visitors and using public funds to bolster security.

“Public transportation is essential to the city of Atlanta and the success of our region, but safety must remain the top priority,” they wrote.

The letter is the latest sign that MARTA safety has quickly become a political flashpoint after two stabbings and a shooting within weeks, including the fatal knife attack that killed 66-year-old Margaret Swan.

The four Republicans competing for their party’s U.S. Senate and governor nominations have praised the Trump administration’s decision to investigate MARTA. Democratic nominee for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms said, if elected governor, she would work with local and federal leaders “on any responsible and reasonable efforts to increase resources for safety on our public transit systems.”

Democrats also argue that if Republican leaders want to improve MARTA safety, they could start by doing what Georgia has long resisted: providing dedicated state funding for transit operations. MARTA relies heavily on local sales taxes, fares and federal support, while state funding is largely aimed at capital projects.

Federal authorities say that since October 2023, violent crimes resulting in injuries that required medical attention or death have happened on MARTA nearly twice as often as the national average.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of the federal data the agency cites identified 90 such crimes in a system that had 170 million passenger trips during that time frame.

That’s about one crime for every 1.9 million trips on a MARTA train or bus. Across all transit systems nationwide, the rate is about one crime for every 3.5 million trips.

But when the same crimes are measured against the total miles MARTA’s trains and buses traveled in that period, the rate is roughly the same as the national average — about one crime per 1.7 million miles on MARTA, compared with one per 1.8 million miles on transit nationwide.

Things to know

State Rep. Ruwa Romman (left) and civil rights attorney Rahul Garabadu are vying for a Georgia Senate seat. (Photo illustration source: Arvin Temkar for the AJC)

Good morning. Here are three things to know for today:

• A Gwinnett County state Senate race shows how Democrats are using the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act to motivate their voters, Greg Bluestein reports.
• The company owned by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and his family has filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Rick Jackson, the AJC’s Rosie Manins reports.
• Early voting for next week’s runoffs started Saturday in some metro Atlanta counties. It begins everywhere today.

Endorsement drama

In March, Fulton County Commissioner Marvin S. Arrington Jr. speaks on a proposed plan to lower the population of the Fulton County Jail. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

Marvin S. Arrington Jr. and Mo Ivory have spent months telling people not to reelect Robb Pitts as chair of the Fulton County Commission. So it was a little surprising on Friday to see Arrington — who finished third in the May 19 primary — endorse Pitts in next week’s runoff against Ivory.

Things got interesting Friday night when Chantel Mullen, a local Democrat backing Ivory, posted a screenshot of a text message Arrington sent Ivory two days after the primary. In that message, which Mullen says she received anonymously in a Signal chat, Arrington said his campaign was $100,000 in debt and added he was “definitely not” endorsing Pitts “unless he comes up with w 100K.”

Arrington said the screenshot Mullen posted had been doctored. His original text also included three laughing-crying emojis, indicating he was joking.

“That image is altered and doctored,” he said.

But was he joking?

Arrington told our AJC colleague Reed Williams he let both Ivory and Pitts know about his campaign debt and that he hoped “to some extent” one of them would host a fundraiser to help him pay it off if he endorsed them.

When asked if he thinks Pitts will help him with his debt, Arrington said: “I imagine that he will try to help me retire the debt, right, but my endorsement is not contingent on him doing that.”

Pitts did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Ivory was the top vote-getter in last month’s primary ahead of Pitts, who has been chair since 2017. Ivory said it was “disappointing to hear two men spend so much time discussing the ambition of a woman.”

Dickens weighs in

Former Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory speaks at a news conference in front of 405 Cooper St., an under-construction rapid housing site for unhoused residents, in January. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

It wasn’t a bad weekend for Ivory, who picked up the endorsement of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens on Sunday.

In a news release, Dickens called Ivory the “new leader Fulton County needs at a pivotal moment for public safety, affordable housing and accountable government.”

“Fulton County is at a turning point, and this race is critical for Atlanta and our region,” Dickens said, adding, “It’s about electing someone with the vision and determination to tackle our biggest challenges.”

What are those challenges? Dickens said they are “reducing overcrowding in the Fulton County Jail, where too many people have lost their lives, improving services for our seniors, our neighbors experiencing homelessness, and our most vulnerable residents.”

Ivory said Dickens, who won reelection last year, “knows what it takes to move a community forward, and he knows this campaign is about working for the people of Fulton County who have been overlooked for too long.”

Abortion law

Healthcare business owner Rick Jackson greets supporters at a campaign kickoff in February. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Jackson supports Georgia’s anti-abortion law, which bans the procedure as early as six weeks and includes exceptions for rape and incest.

But at a recent campaign stop in east Georgia, he appeared open to new limits pressed by a voter who worried doctors could “fudge” records to claim a pregnancy was earlier than it was.

“What do you think you could do as governor to go after doctors who just do something like that?” asked the voter at a Walton County barbecue in audio obtained by the AJC.

“Well, you basically make it against the law, No. 1,” Jackson said. “No. 2, they have to have evidence to prove in order to not have liability themselves. They need to be able to prove it.”

He added: “If you implement that, doctors are not going to risk their license.”

The voter responded: “I think you know that you could make an example of one or two doctors.”

Jackson: “Absolutely.”

The same voter also pressed him on the law’s rape exception, which she said she opposes, saying “two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Jackson responded: “You’ve still got life.”

The voter continued: “It seems to me that, if a woman is saying she was raped, she needs to prove it. You know?”

Bobblehead

The logo for the Double-A Columbus Clingstones. (Special to the AJC)

Some reporters win Pulitzer Prizes or Peabody awards. But the dean of political reporters in Columbus is getting what we think is a far greater recognition.

The Columbus Clingstones minor league baseball team has a Chuck Williams Bobblehead giveaway night Aug. 8 in honor of the esteemed reporter, whose career spanned 44 years with local outlets, including the Ledger-Enquirer and WRBL.

The tribute caps quite a year for Williams. In May, the 65-year-old earned a master’s degree in communication from Columbus State University, adding a new credential to a career that has already made him one of Georgia’s most recognizable journalists.

And Williams says he’s not slowing down. As he weighs postretirement opportunities, he said the degree has “moved the finish line and changed the race,” opening new doors and creating fresh possibilities.

Not bad for a guy who can now add “bobblehead” to his resume.

Listen up

A woman leaves a voting center after casting her ballot in last month's primaries in Marietta. (Mike Stewart/AP)

On today’s “Politically Georgia” podcast, we’re answering listener and reader questions about confusion over endorsements, whether there will be a postprimary “pivot,” and what to expect in next Tuesday’s runoffs.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube 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.

$70 billion

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., speaks during a voting rights rally last month in Montgomery, Alabama. (Mike Stewart/AP)

As soon as Tuesday, the U.S. House could vote to send the reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement to President Donald Trump to sign into law. The bill would allocate $70 billion to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol ― enough money to sustain these agencies for several years.

The reconciliation bill, which Republicans are expected to pass without support from Democrats, allows the GOP to fund a key portion of Trump’s agenda that became the focus of the longest government shutdown in history earlier this year.

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock is among the Democrats highlighting the bill’s price tag and how it shows the priorities of Republicans under Trump. According to Warnock, $70 billion could fund universal pre-K for all 3-and 4-year-olds in America for two years, a year’s worth of groceries for 10.8 million Americans or $40,000 in down payment assistance for every first-time homebuyer this year.