Today’s newsletter highlights include:
- Former President Jimmy Carter votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz campaigns with cookies in Smyrna.
- Former Gov. Roy Barnes’ letter gets attention on social media.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is on a winning streak.
His office presided over a record-breaking start to Georgia’s three week early voting period that, by all accounts, has gone smoothly.
As early voting started on Tuesday, Judge Robert McBurney issued a pair of rulings that favored the viewpoint of the secretary of state’s office. The first mandated that county election boards certify results. The second halted a last minute planned hand count of ballots on election night.
And then on Wednesday came the most sweeping decision of all. Judge Thomas Cox rejected a range of new eleventh-hour rules adopted by the right-wing majority on the State Election Board, including a vague “reasonable inquiry” requirement before certification.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The decision was spurred by a lawsuit filed by two Republicans, former state Rep. Scot Turner and Chatham County election board member James Hall, who argued the state board exceeded its authority.
Their attorney, Chris Anulewicz, compared the trio that controls the board to modern day tyrants.
“Three members of the State Election Board, kind of like Napoleon, they put a crown on their head and said, ‘We are the emperors of elections.’ That is not the way our system of government works,” he said.
Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon vowed to appeal a decision he called “entirely wrongheaded.”
Today’s “Politically Georgia” podcast will focus on the legal decisions and other election maneuverings. Guests include Turner, Republican election board member Janelle King and Democratic state Rep. Saira Draper of Atlanta.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
GOOD MORNING! We’re 19 days away from the presidential election. Come see us in Atlanta next week for our AJC Live event, Politically Georgia on the Road.
Your political insiders will record a podcast episode on Tuesday featuring special guests U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta; Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and AJC political contributors: former U.S. Rep. Carolyn J. Bourdeaux, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former state Rep. Meagan Myers Hanson and Dekalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.
Plus, AJC President and Publisher Andrew Morse and Editor-in-Chief Leroy Chapman will talk about the AJC’s expanded political reporting and plans to cover the 2024 election.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Here are four things to know for today:
- Former first lady Michelle Obama is coming to Atlanta later this month to headline a rally for When We All Vote, the nonpartisan voter outreach initiative she founded in 2018.
- The family of Amber Thurman, the Georgia woman who died from abortion-related complications, has filmed an ad supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports.
- The Fulton County District Attorney’s office wants to reinstate six criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and five of his co-defendants, the AJC’s Bill Rankin reports.
- Former Georgia Govs. Roy Barnes and Nathan Deal, along with former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, offer advice for the presidential candidates.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
HE MADE IT. Former President Jimmy Carter voted for Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday.
The one-time peanut farmer from Plains, who turned 100 on Oct. 1, had told his family he was more interested in voting for Harris than reaching the century mark. Carter’s family put his ballot in a drop box at the Sumter County Courthouse, per the AJC’s Greg Bluestein.
Just so there is no confusion, Chip Carter said his dad “absolutely” voted for Harris.
“He’s never voted for a Republican in his life,” he said.
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP
SWEET TOOTH. Gwen Walz, wife of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, came to Cobb County bearing gifts — in the most Midwestern way.
“I brought with me some cookies — this is my great-grandmother’s recipe,” Walz said at a campaign stop in Smyrna, adding that she serves them to guests at the governor’s residence. “And so, as I go around the country, we’re bringing these. So maybe you’ll have to stand in line to vote, then you’ll have a cookie.”
The ginger snap cookies were a huge hit for everyone who was lucky enough to score one, our AJC colleague Maya T. Prabhu tells us.
“Delicious!” Shelli-Ann McKenzie said after taking a bite.
Speaking with reporters at a Marietta campaign stop, Walz was excited to share childhood memories of visiting her great-grandmother in Stewart, Minnesota.
“We would drink out of Mason jars like this orangish kind of Kool-Aid-y thing that I haven’t been able to replicate,” she said.
She said she’s not sure what exactly in the recipe gives her cookies the perfect “snap” without getting too hard.
“I roll them in sugar twice,” she said. “And then when they take them out, I check them and I sprinkle a little more sugar on top. And I think that might be part of it.”
Walz was in town campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband and had some pointed words for former President Donald Trump, who said during a Fox News town hall event filmed in Cumming on Tuesday that he was the father of in vitro fertilization.
“‘Father of IVF?’” Walz said. “More like, father of Georgia’s abortion ban.”
We’re told the recipe can be found online after making a donation to the Harris-Walz campaign. But, if you ask nicely, our colleague Maya might be willing to share her copy.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
TRUMP TANK. A 5,000-gallon water tank in rural South Georgia highlights just how close the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump could be in the Peach State.
Alfred Hudson, an 86-year-old retired peanut farmer, wrote “Trump Vance” on the side of his plastic water tank and stuck it on the side of Highway 520 in Webster County. Some of his neighbors liked it so much they signed their names on the tank, and now people from all over have done the same — including some from as far away as California.
That’s when someone decided to paint “Harris” across the tank in big letters.
Hudson quickly had the vandalism removed, but it served as a reminder about the tensions that accompany a close election, even in a small town.
Webster County was once reliably Democratic, but it has narrowly voted for Republicans in the past three presidential elections. In 2020, Trump won the county with 748 votes, or 53%. The margin was much closer when Obama was on the ballot in 2012.
These smaller counties, while not rich in votes, could have a big impact on the race. Trump needs to run up the score across rural Georgia to offset Harris’ support in the larger metro areas.
Hudson once considered himself a Democrat. But he changed, in part, because he said the party turned its back on farmers.
“I don’t know what I am. I’m a Republican right now,” he said. “I hope and pray (Trump) wins.”
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
BLESS YOUR HEART. Former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes is getting national attention now that a letter from the loquacious Cobb County lawyer has hit social media.
Barnes fired off the missive to U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, last month. He wrote it on behalf of his client, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, after Jordan subpoenaed former special prosecutor Nathan Wade to testify before the committee about his romantic relationship with Willis.
Along with declaring himself “just a country lawyer” and suggesting anger management classes for Jordan, Barnes poked the congressman for issuing a subpoena to Wade, even after Jordan ignored a similar summons related to his role in the Jan. 6th, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“That is like a skunk telling a possum his breath stinks,” Barnes wrote.
Along with representing Willis, Barnes also accompanied Wade to Capitol Hill this week when he appeared before the committee, as requested.
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BATTLEGROUND GEORGIA. “Let’s turn the page on politics and pettiness, and chart a new way forward.”
That was the tag line from a new Kamala Harris ad this morning targeting voters in Georgia and North Carolina.
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IT’S ELECTRIC. Georgia may have transformed itself into a clean technology giant in recent years, but some electric vehicle advocates worry the public doesn’t know about it.
That’s why the Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA) Education Fund launched a $1.3 million campaign this week to highlight what it says is the economic activity and job growth associated with the U.S. electric vehicle industry.
It’s paying for digital ads and billboards in Georgia, where a $7.6 billion Hyundai electric vehicle plant recently began production near Savannah. The ads will also appear in Tennessee and Arizona.
“Arizona, Georgia, and Tennessee are at the heart of this recent growth, but internal ZETA polling shows that more needs to be done to inform residents about the jobs being created in their communities,” said ZETA Executive Director Albert Gore (no, not the former U.S. vice president).
Georgia’s political leaders have been divided over the impact of federal tax credits for electric vehicles. Gov. Brian Kemp and other Republican leaders have criticized the law as a government giveaway, while the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators supported them.
A recent survey from the Program for Public Consumption at the University of Maryland found that 75% of Georgians support a $7,500 tax credit for purchasing new electric vehicles — including 66% of Republicans and 86% of Democrats.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” the hosts will discuss recent court rulings with State Election Board member Janelle King; state Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta; and former state Rep. Scot Turner, R-Holly Springs.
Be sure to download the AJC’s Politically Georgia podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes are uploaded by noon each day, just in time to have lunch with us. You can also listen live at 10 a.m. EDT on 90.1 FM WABE. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297.
On Wednesday’s show, GOP national spokesperson Elizabeth Pipko talked about former President Donald Trump’s Georgia town hall. Plus, the AJC’s Mark Niesse discussed the State Election Board.
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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. Today’s happenings:
- Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will speak at an early vote mobilization and a volunteer appreciation event in Savannah.
- Harris will host campaign events in Green Bay, La Crosse and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance will campaign in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and former President Bill Clinton will co-host a campaign rally in Durham, North Carolina.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
WHO’S WHO. A slew of Black business leaders endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, including two prominent Atlantans:
- Rosalind “Roz” Brewer, former CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and Sam’s Club.
- Pinky Cole Hayes, founder and CEO of Slutty Vegan, a vegan hamburger chain based in Atlanta.
Brewer and Hayes were among the more than 50 leaders who signed a letter endorsing Harris, part of the Black Economic Alliance PAC.
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Credit: Rodney Ho/AJC
Credit: Rodney Ho/AJC
ACTION! Georgia’s film industry has become a national leader since former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly created lucrative tax incentives to lure productions to the state. Today, Motion Picture Association CEO Charles Rivkin will be in Fayetteville for the “State of the Industry” Summit at Trilith Studios to discuss the future of the industry in Georgia.
Trilith, which was formerly Pinewood Studios, boasts the largest purpose-built film production campus in North America. The event will also announce the “Georgia List,” to name the best feature, scripts, musicals and plays with ties to Georgia.
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Credit: Mike Adams for the AJC
Credit: Mike Adams for the AJC
SHOUTOUTS. Kudos to:
- Last week’s fundraiser hosted by the Georgia State Society of Washington alongside sister organizations from Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee raised $622,522 toward Hurricane Helene relief efforts. Golden Harvest Food Bank of Augusta, Second Harvest Food Bank of South Georgia and Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Fund are among the nonprofits that will receive funds.
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AS ALWAYS, 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.
