Top Republicans rebuke right-wing majority of State Election Board
Today’s highlights include:
- Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock denounces Jan. 6 as “a sickness” at the Democratic National Convention.
- A conspiracy theorist will lead a training session for volunteers to the Trump campaign.
- A Georgia House study committee meets to discuss whether college students should be on semesters or quarters.
Top Georgia Republicans are smacking down the right-wing majority that holds sway over the State Election Board.
First it was Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who warned a series of proposed rules amounted to dangerous eleventh-hour changes orchestrated by unelected bureaucrats.
Then came the stinging rebuke from Attorney General Chris Carr, who issued an official opinion Monday that the board can’t order his office to conduct a new probe of Fulton County’s 2020 recount.
Carr’s letter means an attempt to reinvestigate the recount is going nowhere after the secretary of state’s office already completed its own inquiry. And former President Donald Trump’s allies were furious.
“Chris Carr: You promised to investigate voter fraud, but when Georgia’s State Election Board called on you to act, you chose deflections over integrity,” DeKalb GOP chair Marci McCarthy posted on social media.
Board member Janice Johnston, one of three Republicans on the board lauded by Trump at his recent Atlanta rally, had sought to revive the case by sending it to the attorney general’s office.
She also wanted further review of claims that there were 17,852 missing digital ballot images and missing verification documents from 10 ballot scanners.
“I would like nothing more than to find the missing documents,” Johnston said at a board meeting earlier this month. “This is about the data, this is about the documents, nothing more. This is about the proper counting of votes.”
Meanwhile, three Republican former State Election Board members commended Carr for his decision.
“Multiple investigations were completed. The matter has been legally resolved,” wrote Bill Duffey, Matt Mashburn and Ed Lindsey in a joint statement. “If the State Election Board rejects the proposed monitors or attempts to reopen the closed matter, they jeopardize the implementation of those monitors in the upcoming election.”
The State Election Board didn’t address Carr’s opinion at its meeting Monday, and Chairman John Fervier said he planned to meet with Fulton elections officials next week.
The board voted Monday to create additional requirements before election certification but rejected efforts to switch Georgia’s primary voting method to hand-marked paper ballots.
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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. For Democrats, it’s Day 2 of their national convention in Chicago. Prime-time speakers include former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Jason Carter, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, also has a slot and will talk about his grandfather’s legacy.
Delegates from each state and territory will also participate in a symbolic nomination roll call vote to confirm Vice President Kamala Harris as their choice to lead the party’s ticket.
Harris won’t be at the United Center tonight. Instead, she will appear at a simultaneous campaign rally in Milwaukee where Republicans held their convention last month.
For Republicans, former President Donald Trump will host a campaign event in Howell, Michigan. Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, will hold a news conference on crime and safety in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Follow all of the convention action on the AJC’s live blog.
PASSING THE TORCH. Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention ended with a spirited speech from President Joe Biden as he ceded the spotlight to Vice President Kamala Harris. The Georgia delegation had a prime view from their coveted floor seats in the United Center, a symbol of the state’s status as a must-win battleground.
And for some Georgia Democrats, “bittersweet” didn’t describe the passing of the torch as Biden gave a speech he never imagined he would give.
There was a time when Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock distanced himself from presidential politics. Not anymore. Warnock has become a significant surrogate for the Harris campaign, as his packed DNC schedule shows, reports AJC political insider Greg Bluestein.
Warnock took to the stage Monday night to deliver a speech decrying voter suppression and labeling the legacy of the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol “a sickness.”
Other Day 1 highlights:
- Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on the stage, causing the crowd to roar. She and her family also joined members of the Biden family on the stage at the conclusion of the president’s keynote.
- Protesters breached an outer fence at the United Center, contributing to massive delays getting delegates to the venue as shuttle buses were idled until police got things under control. Police said the demonstrators never got close to the inner perimeter and did not pose a threat.
- U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, had an alliterative viral moment insulting Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, during a May committee hearing. Monday night, she focused on former President Donald Trump with a new turn of phrase. “Will a vindictive vile villain violate voters’ vision for a better America, or not?” she said. “I hear alliterations are back in style.”
- Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, had one of the best seats in the house — on stage directly behind Biden — as he delivered his remarks to close the show.
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WHERE IS OSSOFF? Most of Georgia’s Democratic elite is at the party’s nominating convention in Chicago — except for U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. His office said he had “pre-scheduled family commitments this week and looks forward to campaigning again alongside Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz in Georgia soon.”
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PARTY TIME. The hottest ticket on the first night of the convention was the Democratic Party of Georgia’s bash, held at a trendy nightclub about three miles from the United Center.
The headliner was Lil Jon, but U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams of Atlanta, the party’s chair, gave him a run for his money as the guest DJ.
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TRUMP VOLUNTEERS. Jack Posobiec, the far-right internet personality who promoted the outlandish “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory, will be on hand today for a training session for volunteers of former President Donald Trump’s campaign in Georgia.
Posobiec, whose contacts include fringe figures ranging from alt-right figure Richard Spencer to InfoWars’ Alex Jones, is a Trump enthusiast and has been a guest on Lara Trump’s podcast. He caused a stir at this year’s CPAC conference when, on a panel with Trump ally Steve Bannon, he introduced himself by saying, “I just wanted to say welcome to the end of democracy.”
“We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on Jan. 6. But we will endeavor to get rid of it completely and replace it with this right here,” he said, holding up a chain with a cross on it.
Conservative talk show host Matt Walsh blasted the uproar over Posobiec’s comments, saying critics on the left were intentionally ignoring “obvious sarcasm.”
Posobiec spent some time as a show host on the far-right One News Network before taking a job with the youth-oriented Turning Point USA. Since 2021, he has worked for the conservative publication Human Events as a senior editor.
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DAY IN COURT. We should know by the end of next week whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and three other long-shot candidates for president will appear on Georgia’s ballot in November.
Georgia Administrative Law Judge Chief Judge Michael Malihi of the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings said Monday he hopes to make a decision on the candidates’ status by the end of next week, the AJC’s Caleb Groves reported.
Democrats have sued to block independent candidates Kennedy, Claudia De la Cruz, Cornel West and Green Party nominee Jill Stein from appearing on the ballot. While these candidates likely won’t win Georgia, they could play the spoiler in what’s expected to be a close race between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump.
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LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson and state Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, share their thoughts about the opening night of the Democratic National Convention and what they are most looking forward to for the remainder of the week.
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.
Monday’s show featured Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, who previewed this week’s convention and talked about his party’s efforts to win Georgia again.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden has no public events.
- Vice President Kamala Harris appears at a campaign rally in Milwaukee.
- The U.S. House and Senate are in recess until Sept. 9.
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RIVIAN REDUX? Today marks the close of a Georgia Environmental Protection Division public comment period on permits for four proposed wells that will feed hundreds of millions of gallons of water to the Hyundai electric vehicle plant near Savannah.
EPD could issue those permits in as soon as 30 days. In the meantime, residents of Bulloch County, which neighbors the Hyundai plant’s home of Bryan County, are furiously gathering signatures that could trigger a citizen referendum meant to block the wells.
As insider Adam Van Brimmer wrote in a story published in recent days, the opposition is loud and organized, led by community members who unseated incumbents on the county commission in the May primaries. The pushback is also a stark turn in attitudes toward the Hyundai plant, which unlike the Rivian factory near Social Circle had not encountered strong public resistance.
The fight against Rivian failed, although the factory remains unbuilt. The fledgling automaker — Rivian produced its first cars in 2020 — paused site prep earlier this year, citing uncertainty over market conditions. Hyundai is not Rivan. The third largest automaker in the world is already producing test vehicles at its 16 million-square-foot Georgia factory.
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QUARTER VS. SEMESTER. We told you earlier this month that state lawmakers were considering moving Georgia’s public university students back to a quarter system after 25 years on a semester system. A special legislative committee to study the issue will have its first public hearing today on the campus of Georgia Southern University.
A semester system consists of two 15-week terms. A quarter system usually has four 10-week terms, with breaks after each session.
Most U.S. colleges and universities use the semester system. It’s difficult for a student to transfer from a school with a quarter system to a school with a semester system. That’s one of the reasons Georgia’s public universities made the switch in 1999.
But a semester system means longer terms with fewer graduating classes each year. Switching back to a quarter system could provide more workers each year, making it a better option for workforce development, according to a resolution the Georgia House of Representatives passed earlier this year.
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TRANSITIONS. Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday appointed a new judge, a district attorney and a solicitor to fill vacancies.
- Sarah Griffie will succeed Wayne D. McLocklin as Superior Court judge in the Piedmont Judicial Circuit. Griffie has been a prosecutor in the district since 2007 and has been the chief assistant district attorney since 2016.
- Robert S. Lane is the new district attorney for the Paulding Judicial Circuit, replacing Matt Rollins, who is now a Superior Court judge. Lane was formerly the executive director and general counsel for the Georgia State Ethics Commission.
- Bradley L. Collins is the new solicitor of Charlton County, succeeding Patrick Brooks. Collins founded and owns The Collins Law Group P.C. in Waycross.
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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to adam.beam@ajc.com, greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
About the Authors
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Adam Van Brimmer is a journalist who covers politics and Coastal Georgia news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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