Today’s newsletter highlights include:
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates ban on most abortions.
- Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is coming to Georgia to campaign for his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Democrats support write-in candidate in Georgia’s 11th Congressional District.
Credit: Greg Bluestein/AJC
Credit: Greg Bluestein/AJC
A somber ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel doubled as a bipartisan show of support for Atlanta’s Jewish community and other allies of Israel as state leaders put aside their misgivings — with one notable exception.
The gathering in Sandy Springs drew some of the same politicians that turned out for a similar event a year ago, shortly after the Hamas attack killed roughly 1,200 people, including 46 U.S. citizens, and took about 250 hostages. Five U.S. House members and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff each spoke.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins of Jackson pledged to ensure that “Israel has the resources to defend themselves,” as did U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams of Atlanta, who is the chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia.
“I remain committed to Israel’s right to defend itself and a long term solution, protecting civilian lives and bringing peace and stability to the region,” she said.
And Democrat Jon Ossoff, the first Jewish U.S. senator in Georgia’s history, repeatedly urged the crowd not to forget the atrocities inflicted by Hamas on the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.
“I still believe that in the long arc of history, peace and security and freedom are possible. Indeed, they are essential,” said Ossoff.
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
That brings us to the exception to the bipartisan bonhomie. Republican U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde of Athens started and ended his speech condemning Hamas for its “brutal, senseless and unprovoked attack” on Israel.
But his words were drowned out by loud boos when he said President Joe Biden’s administration has “not done everything it could” to help Israel, primarily by not supplying it with more rifles and other firearms. Clyde, who owns several gun stores, said the sales were needed “to successfully defend its citizens.”
Several attendees told us they showered Clyde with catcalls because they were furious he used the event to deliver partisan attacks, though others elsewhere in the theater said at least some of the jeers were aimed at Biden.
Either way, Clyde soon changed course. He closed his speech to wild applause when he called for the protection of “Jewish Americans here at home as well as hold violent Hamas sympathizers accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
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GOOD MORNING! The presidential election is in 28 days. Be sure to tune into “Politically Georgia” today to hear an interview with Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Here are three things to know for today:
- Vice President Kamala Harris was on CBS “60 Minutes” last night, one of many media interviews she’s doing this week. Today, she’ll be on Howard Stern’s satellite radio show, ABC’s “The View” and CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
- State lawmakers will hear testimony at 10 a.m. from people impacted by the BioLab chemical fire.
- Gov. Brian Kemp will discuss how lawsuits are impacting the state’s business climate during a meeting today with business leaders and policymakers, including Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Insurance Commissioner John King.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
WHIPLASH. Georgia’s ban on most abortions is back in place after a weeklong absence.
Last week, a state judge struck down the law that bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, with some exceptions. On Monday, the state Supreme Court put the ban back in place pending the outcome of an appeal, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu reports.
Abortion hasn’t needed help staying at the forefront of many voters’ minds this election cycle. The news of two Georgia women who died while seeking abortions in the state dominated the presidential news cycle last month.
But for state legislative candidates, the rulings leave Georgia’s abortion law uncertain — meaning anyone who had hoped to tiptoe around the issue could have a hard time avoiding it.
“It reinforces the fact that women’s reproductive freedom is on the ballot in Georgia,” said Melita Easters, executive director of Georgia WIN List, a group that works to elect women who support abortion rights.
Vice President Kamala Harris has campaigned on her support for abortion rights, with the vocal support of her Democratic base. Republicans are more divided, making it tricky for former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Asked if he wanted Georgia’s abortion ban reinstated, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance — Trump’s running mate — told a crowd in Lindale last week that “the people of Georgia can make up their own minds.”
“On the abortion question, what Donald Trump has said, he couldn’t be more clear, is he wants the people of Georgia to make this decision in the same way he wants the people of California to make the decision for the people of California,” Vance said. “We’re a big enough country that we can agree or disagree with one another on these issues.”
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DOUGIE FRESH. Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, is making a three-stop, two-day swing through Georgia starting Wednesday to stump for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Emhoff has been deployed across the nation to pitch his wife’s candidacy by drawing on their decade-old relationship.
His stops include a campaign reception on Wednesday in Atlanta, a reception on Thursday in Newnan and a get-out-the-vote rally that evening in Athens.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
HE’S BACK. Bill White may have decamped to Palm Beach from Atlanta after his “City of Buckhead City” effort was a bust.
But White, a member of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle, has been spending plenty of time in his old haunts trying to help Trump win Georgia in November.
White’s latest project is organizing an Oct. 19th “Trump Unity Rally” in Atlanta for the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that supports LGBT issues. In a text obtained by one of your Insiders, White wrote to his contact list, “please everybody come… Pls bring the kids bring everybody... We gotta really blow this out.” Trump, he said, “will be watching this particular one and is calling in.”
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Credit: John Spink/AJC
Credit: John Spink/AJC
MAIL HOLDUP. Georgia must send more than 219,000 absentee ballots to voters this week. But about 700 of them will have to take the long way home.
The U.S. Postal Service has suspended service in some areas of the state because of Hurricane Helene, impacting delivery of fewer than 700 absentee ballots, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office.
State officials don’t seem too worried. There are other options for delivering those ballots, including using a company like UPS or having voters pick them up from a neighboring post office.
“Our intent in working with the counties is to make sure everything follows the law and every request we have on file this week gets mailed this week,” Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer of the secretary of state’s office said Monday.
Sterling said state officials are not expecting any delays to in-person early voting, which is set to begin next week on Oct. 15.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
VOTER CHALLENGES. A new state law this year gave people more time to challenge the eligibility of some registered voters. But since that law took effect, county election boards in Metro Atlanta have rejected 45,000 such challenges filed by conservative activists.
Today, the State Election Board is set to hear initial findings from an investigation into how eight of those counties handled those investigations, the AJC’s Mark Niesse reports. The investigation was ordered by the board’s conservative majority, which has approved several election rules changes this year that have alarmed both Democrats and some Republicans.
The investigation includes Athens-Clarke, Bibb, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and Jackson counties. Election officials there say they have not received guidance from the State Election Board on how to handle voter eligibility challenges, the AJC’s Caleb Groves reported.
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Credit: Courtesy photos
Credit: Courtesy photos
DEMS BACK WRITE-IN. The Democratic Party is backing a write-in candidate in Georgia’s 11th Congressional District instead of the woman who won the primary and is running as a Democrat on the ballot.
Democrats believe their party’s official nominee, Katy Stamper, is a Republican who won the primary under false pretenses. And they have plenty of proof including her past contributions to Republican candidates and her former alignment with a Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group.
So when Stamper won May’s primary, party activists got to work finding a replacement to support. And they found their candidate in Tracey Verhoeven.
Of course, neither Stamper or Verhoeven is expected to pose a serious threat to incumbent U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville. But Democrats say they still wanted to find a person they can support instead of feeling like their choice was between two conservatives.
“This is not about me running and my campaign. This is about us,” Verhoeven said in a recent interview. “And standing up and saying, ‘We’re not going to be cheated anymore.’ And now we have a voice where we wouldn’t have if I wasn’t running.”
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LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones joins the show. Later, you’ll hear from Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
You can listen live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 or follow “Politically Georgia” 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. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297.
On Friday’s show, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia joined the show. Then, Dov Wilker, regional director of the American Jewish Committee Atlanta, discussed the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
MILTON APPROACHES. Even as Georgia and other states continue to remove debris and restore power after Hurricane Helene, an even more powerful storm is expected to make landfall later this week.
Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 5 on Monday and the latest models predict landfall on Wednesday near Tampa and a path that would impact much of Florida.
Former President Donald Trump canceled his planned roundtable at the Latino Summit in Miami today to avoid diverting resources as communities prepare for the storm.
President Joe Biden has already declared a state of emergency in Florida ahead of the storm.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. Here is what is happening today:
- President Joe Biden will speak at a fundraiser in Philadelphia in support of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania.
- Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will campaign at a get out the vote rally, a Republicans for Harris organizing event and a fundraiser in Phoenix.
- Vice President Kamala Harris is in New York City to tape appearances on “The View,” Howard Stern’s radio show and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
- The Harris-Walz campaign is hosting an event today to celebrate the opening of a field office in Gainesville and a roundtable on maternal care in Atlanta.
- U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, will speak at a campaign rally in Detroit.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, will speak at campaign fundraisers in Seattle and Sacramento, California, and at a fundraiser and rally in Reno, Nevada.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
SHOUTOUTS. Today’s birthdays:
- State Rep. Marcus Wiedower, R-Watkinsville.
Kudos:
- Chris Jones, a retired Verizon public affairs representative in Atlanta, has co-authored a book about The Embers, the iconic North Carolina beach music band famous for their hit “I Love Beach Music.” “The Embers: The Bobby Tomlinson Story,” is due out Nov. 1 by McBryde Publishing in New Bern, North Carolina. It’s co-written by McBryde Publishing’s owner and CEO Bill Benners and veteran journalist Skip Crayton.
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that! Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
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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.
