Pennsylvania governor campaigns for Kamala Harris in whirlwind Georgia stop

Today’s newsletter highlights include:

• Presidential candidates descend on Georgia this week as early voting begins.
• New ads target down-ballot state legislative seats.
• Georgia’s tax collections fell in September.

Call it a battleground exchange program.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro trekked to Georgia on Sunday to campaign alongside U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock. A few days from now, Warnock will journey to Shapiro’s home state to return the favor.

It was a whirlwind trip for Shapiro. The governor, one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish leaders, spoke to worshippers at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Warnock is the senior pastor. And he rallied voters at two stops in Fayette and Clayton counties.

We caught up with the duo at the latter stop, where they sat for an interview we’ll play later this week on the “Politically Georgia” podcast. They both pushed back on polls that suggested Vice President Kamala Harris was struggling to energize her base voters.

Said Shapiro:

“Don’t underestimate the power of enthusiasm. Don’t underestimate the fact that someone’s not just going to vote for Kamala Harris, but they’re going to put that lawn sign on their lawn, particularly in some of these swingier counties, that’s a permission slip to your neighbor. … It’s still gonna be close, but I think we got momentum on our side. I’m a sports guy. I’d much rather be us than them coming down to these final two minutes, and I think we got a better team on the field.”

Warnock then talked about how he viewed the upcoming race:

“This really is not an election of Democrats versus Republicans. There’s a reason why so many Republicans, some, even in Trump’s own administration, some in his circle have joined the Harris camp. … This election really is about the character of the nation. There’s so much of what Donald Trump represents that’s not conservative by any measure of that term. And I think that the more people hear from Donald Trump, the more Georgians hear from him, the clearer it becomes that regardless of your politics, there’s only one choice in this election.”

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Republican Deborah Silcox and Democrat Susie Greenberg are locked in a battle for House District 53, which has a large Jewish population.

GOOD MORNING! We’re 22 days away from the presidential election. Here are three things to know for today:

• State lawmakers don’t have much influence on U.S. foreign policy. But Israel’s war against Hamas is playing a role in one of Georgia’s competitive state House races, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman reports.
• The deadly shooting at a Georgia high school this year caused some Republicans in the state Legislature to back some gun safety measures. But that shift has not happened among Georgia’s Republican congressional representatives, the AJC’s Tia Mitchell reports.
• Michael Stipe, front man of the Athens-born band REM, gave a rare public performance at a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris last week.

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Former President Bill Clinton is campaigning in Georgia for Vice President Kamala Harris.

CAMPAIGN BLITZ. Get ready for a slew of visits by candidates and their top allies as Georgians finally start heading to the polls (early voting starts tomorrow).

• Today, former President Bill Clinton concludes his two-day swing through Georgia with a stop in Columbus. He campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in Albany and Fort Valley on Sunday — and made a McDonald’s pit stop.
• Tomorrow, former President Donald Trump is taping a Fox News town hall on “women’s issues” in Forsyth County followed by an evening rally in Cobb County.
• On Wednesday, first lady Gwen Walz, the wife of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, will campaign in metro Atlanta.
• On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris is returning to Georgia.

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DOWN-BALLOT DOLLARS. While the national media focuses on the Harris and Trump campaigns in Georgia, the truly astute observers know that spending in state legislative races can tell you where the “battlegrounds” of our state really lie.

We told you in August that an outside group tied to Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns would spend close to one million dollars before Election Day to boost Republicans in crucial swing districts around the state.

We now know which districts those are, as Georgia’s Future starts a blitz of digital ads, including on Hulu and YouTube, on the eve of tomorrow’s early voting kickoff.

Attack ads target two House Democrats in Gwinnett:

• Rep. Jasmine Clark.
• Rep. Farooq Mughal.

Positive ads boost incumbent Republicans locked in these competitive battles

• Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones in Milton.
• Rep. Deborah Silcox in Sandy Springs.
• Rep. Scott Hilton in Peachtree Corners.
• Rep. Matt Reeves in Duluth.
• Rep. Ken Vance in Milledgeville.

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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has weighed in on a dispute in Franklin County involving chickens.

CHICKEN SUIT. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is wading into a Franklin County dispute involving chickens and, allegedly, racism.

Sherran Lynn Wasserman inherited some land. She tried to sell it to Anthony Pham, a man of Vietnamese descent who wanted to use it for a chicken farm. But Franklin County refused to allow the farm, which tanked the sale. Wasserman sued Franklin County, alleging racial discrimination against Pham.

The case is now before the Georgia Supreme Court, but for a different reason. The court wants to know whether it’s OK for Wasserman to sue on behalf of someone else.

Carr, a Republican, says she can’t. His office filed a brief with the court, saying if Pham’s civil rights were violated, then he’d have to file the case himself.

Wasserman’s attorneys say Georgia follows the same rules as in federal court, which allows her to sue.

The court is scheduled to hear the case later this month. Pham, meanwhile, ended up with a farm in Elbert County instead.

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Tax collections in Georgia showed a revenue drop in September compared to a year ago.

BUDGET WATCH. Georgia’s tax collections had a small setback in September as revenues were down $91.2 million (2.8%) compared to this time last year.

Individual income tax collections were up by $50.2 million (3.6%) compared to a year ago. But it wasn’t enough to overcome these numbers:

• Sales tax collections were down $52.5 million (6.4%)
• Corporate income tax refunds (money the state gives back to businesses) were up $29.7 million.
• Estimated corporate income tax payments fell by $47.2 million.
• All other corporate tax payments dropped by $13.1 million.

Overall, corporation tax collections were down nearly $90 million, a 13.1% decrease.

The news wasn’t all bad for the state. Year to date, tax collections are up $29.5 million (0.4%) from the same time period last year.

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Most of the Georgia congressional delegation is trying to designate ancient the Ocmulgee Mounds site as a national park.

HAPPY MONDAY. Officially, it’s Columbus Day in Georgia. But it’s also Indigenous People’s Day in Atlanta, Athens and Savannah.

Columbus Day honors the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who sailed to the Americas in 1492. Congress made it a federal holiday in 1937, which was also meant to celebrate Italian-Americans.

But in recent years many cities and states have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day, noting Columbus’ voyage marked the beginning of European colonization that devastated Native populations.

While Indigenous People’s Day isn’t officially recognized by Georgia, most of the state’s congressional delegation is trying to designate the ancient Ocmulgee Mounds site as the state’s first national park.

U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Georgia Democrats, will try to advance that proposal when lawmakers return to Washington next month.

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The name of U.S. presidential candidate Cornel West will appear on ballots in Georgia though he has been disqualified in the state.

FOR THE RECORD. Independent presidential candidate Cornel West posted a few times on X recently that he is on the ballot in Georgia.

He’s technically correct. West’s name will appear on ballots in Georgia. But voters should know that any votes for him will not be counted. That’s because the Georgia Supreme Court disqualified West from the ballot because they said he did not follow the rules. But by the time the court ruled, it was too late to remove West’s name from the ballot.

The qualified candidates on Georgia’s presidential ballot are:

• Democrat Kamala Harris.
• Libertarian Chase Oliver.
• Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
• Republican Donald Trump.

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SHOWDOWNS. The Atlanta Press Club hosted a pair of congressional debates on Sunday. Republican Brian Jack and Democrat Maura Keller squared off in the open 3rd District. Republican Wayne Johnson had the stage to himself in the 2nd District after Democratic U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop was a late scratch.

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Yvonne Brooks is a guest today on the "Politically Georgia" show.

LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” Georgia AFL-CIO President Yvonne Brooks joins the show to talk about the importance of unions in the election. Also, Anna Johnson, the Washington bureau chief for the Associated Press, will talk about how the news organization prepares to call races on election night.

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.