Ex-GOP leaders warn: Keep eye on January
While President Donald Trump was stepping up attacks on Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over November’s election — making unsubstantiated claims that the contest was rigged — more than a dozen former GOP leaders in the state tried to remind fellow Republicans that Georgians will soon be heading to the polls again.
In a letter, they expressed “increasing concern” that fighting over what happened in November will depress turnout in January — especially among Trump supporters — increasing the risks for Republican U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in their runoffs.
Trump supporters such as Sidney Powell, who had been part of the president’s legal team before she was disavowed by his campaign, said his backers should consider sitting out the runoffs until sweeping changes are made to the electoral system.
“I would encourage all Georgians to make it known that you will not vote at all unless your vote is secure,” Powell said.
That kind of thinking, the former GOP officials said in their letter, raises the possibility that “the trajectory of our state and nation will be irreparably altered.”
The letter doesn’t directly address Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results, instead pleading with conservatives to “realize that our common opponent is a Democratic party ideology that wishes to fundamentally alter the fabric of our nation into something unrecognizable.”
Signatures on the letter represented some of the most prominent Republicans in the state, including former Gov. Nathan Deal; ex-U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss, Johnny Isakson and Mack Mattingly; former U.S. Reps. Bob Barr and Jack Kingston; and three former chairs of the state GOP.
Somebody with similar concerns about Republicans skipping the election is the president’s son Donald Jr.
He launched a super PAC this past week that will air ads on conservative outlets prodding Republicans to vote against Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Perdue tops all senators in stock activity
The New York Times took a look at Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s stock trading this past week and found that he’s been busy.
“An examination of Mr. Perdue’s stock trading during his six years in office,” the Times wrote, “reveals that he has been the Senate’s most prolific stock trader by far, sometimes reporting 20 or more transactions in a single day.
“The Times analyzed data compiled by Senate Stock Watcher, a nonpartisan website that aggregates publicly available information on lawmakers’ trading, and found that Mr. Perdue’s transactions accounted for nearly a third of all senators’ trades reported in the past six years. His 2,596 trades, mostly in stocks but also in bonds and funds, roughly equal the combined trading volume of the next five most active traders in the Senate.”
Perdue’s investments and those of U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler have been an issue in Georgia’s Senate runoffs. Both fell under scrutiny earlier this year for stock purchases and sales they made following a private senators-only briefing on the coronavirus.
A Perdue spokesperson has said the senator did not attend that session, and both of the lawmakers have said their investments were made by independent financial advisers. The Times reported late last month, however, that a federal investigation into Perdue’s trades during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic shows he did have some input on trades made on his behalf.
Both Perdue and Loeffler have been cleared of wrongdoing by the Senate Ethics Committee.
Legislators pursue more examination of election
The Georgia Legislature took formal steps this past week to scrutinize the use of absentee ballots and other issues involving November’s election.
A hearing was held by the state Senate Committee on Government Oversight that senators said in advance was meant “to evaluate the election process to ensure the integrity of Georgia’s voting process.” A Senate Judiciary subcommittee also held a hearing focused on the election.
They were just the latest moves by legislators to examine the process following unsubstantiated allegations by Republican President Donald Trump and his supporters that voter fraud had determined the outcome of the presidential election in Georgia, which Democrat Joe Biden won.
Earlier efforts included state Republicans’ calls for an audit of absentee ballot signatures ahead of the Jan. 5 U.S. Senate runoff — a plea repeated this past week by House Speaker David Ralston. Some state senators have called for a special session of the General Assembly to address voting concerns, but Ralston joined Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan in rejecting that idea.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has dismissed allegations of widespread voter fraud and other significant problems as unsubstantiated misinformation.
He did announce, however, that his office is investigating some 250 allegations of improprieties related to this year’s elections. He also said this past week that his office is investigating four voter registration groups for attempting to register out-of-state residents. The groups deny any wrongdoing.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
GOP now encourages use of absentee ballots
President Donald Trump is no fan of absentee ballots, making the unsubstantiated claim that millions of illegal votes cast by mail “rigged” November’s election.
Even so, Republicans are now telling the party faithful that voting by mail would be perfectly all right for the Jan. 5 runoffs for the U.S. Senate.
Vice President Mike Pence, while campaigning here last month for Republican U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, made a pitch for using absentee ballots and drew a few boos.
But it’s a practical approach. Rainy or icy weather on election day could deter some from going to the polls to vote in person.
Besides, absentee ballots have proved to be a popular option in a year when the country is in the grips of a coronavirus pandemic. About 1.3 million Georgians cast absentee ballots in the November general election. In the June primary, a record number of the state’s voters, 1.15 million, sent in ballots by mail — accounting for nearly half of all votes cast.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has dealt with an onslaught of derisive tweets from Trump, has maintained that the president’s opposition to mail-in ballots helped do him in.
Raffensperger notes that roughly 24,000 Republicans who voted in the June primary didn’t cast ballots in the general election. Joe Biden won Georgia — becoming the first Democrat to carry the state in a presidential election since 1992 — by less than 13,000 votes.
Scott gets a promotion: Ag chairman
U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, won his bid to become the next chairman of the House Agriculture Committee after a majority of steering committee members backed him.
Scott — the most senior member of the committee after its leader lost his seat in November’s election — beat a challenge by U.S. Rep. Jim Costa of California.
It’s a big win for Georgia, where agriculture is the largest single industry, with an annual economic impact of $73 billion.
Scott’s promotion also comes at a time when Georgia is about to lose some significant clout, since former Gov. Sonny Perdue will soon be making an exit as U.S. secretary of agriculture.
The Agriculture Committee has a wide range of duties. It writes the massive Farm Bill, oversees some education scholarships and the food stamp program, contributes funds toward school lunches for poor students, and decides how to assist farms hurt by natural disasters and trade fights.
Hall heads to the halls of Congress — if only temporarily
Kwanza Hall may not cast many votes in Congress, but they could be big ones.
Hall won Tuesday’s special election to fill the final weeks of the term of U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died in July. He’ll only be on the job until Jan. 3, when Nikema Williams takes over representation of the 5th Congressional District.
He will serve during a lame-duck session, but Hall could have an opportunity to make an impact, said Michael Collins, who worked for Lewis for 21 years as his floor assistant and chief of staff.
“He might be able to vote on the budget — the stimulus package, if that gets before us. It’s going to go by pretty fast. Christmas break is upon us,” Collins said. “Whatever it is, the vote will be important. Representation is key. So it’s important.”
The brief tenure means Hall will not be eligible for retirement benefits and many other amenities that most congressmen enjoy. He will, however, have lifetime access to the House floor and its facilities. That includes its physical training site, making for one very special gym membership.
Halpern moves into state Senate seat
Marketing executive Sonya Halpern can add a new entry on her resume: state senator.
She won Tuesday’s special election runoff to fill the seat given up by U.S. Rep.-elect Nikema Williams.
Halpern, a Mississippi native, is a former marketing and advertising executive who previously worked for Cox Enterprises, the parent company of The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Kemp fills high court opening that fueled dispute
Gov. Brian Kemp named Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn Lagrua to fill a vacancy on the Georgia Supreme Court.
The position opened when a retiring justice sparked a legal battle by announcing months in advance that he would step down after the November election.
That move by Justice Keith Blackwell in February gave Kemp the opportunity to select a new member of the high court instead of allowing an election to fill the position.
The state Supreme Court allowed Kemp to make the choice when it ruled 6-2 against a lawsuit filed by two potential contenders for the spot on the bench — former Democratic U.S. Rep. John Barrow and onetime Republican state Rep. Beth Beskin.
Kemp picked LaGrua, who once worked for him in the secretary of state’s office, from among four finalists.
She comes to the job with extensive experience.
LaGrua was a prosecutor who then rose to become the solicitor general for DeKalb County from 2004 to 2007. In that position, she expanded the domestic violence unit and founded an anti-truancy initiative.
She then spent three years as the inspector general of the secretary of state’s office, before then-Gov. Sonny Perdue named her to a newly created seat on the Fulton County bench. Shortly after joining the court, she started an alternative sentencing program that, unlike other accountability courts that deal with drug addicts or the mentally ill, handled mostly violent offenders.
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