Georgia voters favor loosening abortion restrictions, AJC poll finds
Today’s newsletter highlights include:
- When to expect election results in Georgia.
- Why Congress had a hard time finding a former Fulton County special prosecutor.
- Former Fulton County election workers to get Rudy Giuliani’s penthouse apartment.
Two years after Georgia’s anti-abortion law took effect, a plurality of likely Georgia voters — 45% — say they want to make abortion “easier to obtain.”
That’s according to the latest Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll, which found that about half of younger voters and broad majorities of women, Black Georgians and independents want to relax restrictions on the procedure.
Only 16% of voters support more stringent limits on abortion — including one in four Republicans — while one-quarter of voters say they want the current restrictions to remain in place.
The poll’s results come as Georgia lawmakers prepare for another legislative session where reproductive rights could be front-and-center.
Some anti-abortion activists are pressing Gov. Brian Kemp and GOP leaders to enact limits that go beyond Georgia’s 2019 law, which bans the procedure as early as six weeks, before many women know they’re pregnant.
Meanwhile, both House Speaker Jon Burns and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones have said they’ll support legislation next year to preserve in vitro fertilization amid growing conservative pushback to the procedure.
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GOOD MORNING. We’re 13 days away from the presidential election. Here are four things to know for today:
- The Boss is coming to town on Thursday. Bruce Springsteen will headline Vice President Kamala Harris’ joint rally with former President Barack Obama, one of a number of planned concerts in swing states. Also joining Springsteen: filmmaker Tyler Perry and DJ Mix Master David.
- Harris has raised more money from big Georgia donors than former President Donald Trump in every month since she joined the race in July, the AJC’s Phoebe Quinton reports.
- Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has surrendered his law license after pleading guilty for his part in a $3 million health fraud scheme, the AJC’s Shaddi Abusaid reports.
- Georgia taxpayers could get up to $500 when they file their taxes next year under a new proposal from Gov. Brian Kemp and other GOP legislative leaders.
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EARLY NIGHT. Georgia’s election night likely got a little shorter on Tuesday.
The Georgia Supreme Court rejected the Republican Party’s request to reinstate some new election rules, including one that would have required workers to count the number of ballots cast after the polls close — a manual review that could have delayed the results for hours.
The rules were put in place by the conservative majority of the State Election Board, but they were opposed by Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state.
“We’re going to have the results so much quicker,” Raffensperger told the packed crowd during Tuesday night’s live taping of the “Politically Georgia” podcast in Buckhead.
The proliferation of vote by mail in some states have slowed the counting of ballots, turning election night into election week and, in some extreme cases, election month. Some election officials fear a lengthy delay in counting ballots could undermine confidence in the results, especially as the totals change while the ballots are slowly counted.
In Georgia, most people vote in-person before Election Day. A new law that took effect this year requires those votes to be tabulated and reported by no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day. When including absentee votes, Raffensperger said that could be up to 70% of the total.
“We’ll be done by election night,” Raffensperger said to applause from the audience. “We don’t think you’ll have to be up to 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. We think that’s a good thing.”
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SLOW AND STEADY. Don’t count U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, among cynics who say new gun safety laws are a nonstarter in Congress.
McBath, whose son was fatally shot in 2012, noted that Congress recently passed a meaningful gun safety law for the first time in decades. And the White House now has, for the first time, an Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
“This is a cultural shift and change that we are dealing with,” McBath said during a live taping of the “Politically Georgia” podcast on Tuesday night in Buckhead.
McBath, a potential Democratic candidate for governor in 2026, compared it to the slow change for LGBTQ rights.
“It is going to take time to unravel this extremist culture we have been living in, changing one heart, one mind, one soul at a time,” she said.
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NO FOUL. We now know why Congress had a hard time finding former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade last month: he was recovering from breaking his ankle in a community basketball league.
The Republican-led U.S. House Judiciary Committee had been trying to interview Wade about his role leading the criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump in Georgia. The committee subpoenaed Wade last month, but it took awhile for the U.S. Marshals to find him.
Wade told the committee last week that he was “obviously prescription medicating because of the pain and the swelling in my right ankle,” which he described as a hairline fracture.
“When I was able to deal with the pain without the assistance of the prescription pain medication and came to, I turned on my cell phone,” Wade said, according to a transcript of the testimony released this week. “And when I did that, messages started to ring through.”
Wade said he had also turned his phone off as he prepared for an upcoming mediation and arbitration.
There were no big revelations in Wade’s testimony, the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman reports. He gave away next to nothing about meetings he billed for involving the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee and the White House counsel’s office. Most details he could not recall.
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GOLDEN ERA. It’s Dahlonega’s time to shine.
The distinctive dome of Georgia’s Capitol has glittered with gold from the north Georgia city since 1958. The city donated gold again when it was gilded a second time in 1981.
So when state lawmakers approved a $392 million renovation to the Capitol earlier this year that included another golden glow-up, Dahlonega knew what to do.
On Saturday, two Dahlonega mines donated 10 ounces of gold apiece for the new project, the AJC’s Danielle Charbonneau reports. It took three days for that first donation to reach the Capitol, as locals hauled it in a covered wagon as an homage to an 1807 wagon train that relocated the state treasury.
This time, the gold will arrive a little faster. Locals gave it to a Georgia state trooper and Capitol police officer to make the 66-mile trip to the Capitol.
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LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” you’ll hear a recording of the Politically Georgia On the Road event in Buckhead, which includes interviews with U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta; Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; plus AJC’s political contributors Carolyn J. Bourdeaux, Geoff Duncan and Megan Myers Hanson along with Dekalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.
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 Tuesday’s show, the hosts discussed the latest AJC poll with University of Georgia political science professor Trey Hood. Former Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins talked about Georgia’s battleground state status. And former Democratic state Rep. Brenda Lopez of Gwinnett County and state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, discussed how the Hispanic community could play a key role in deciding the election.
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KNOW YOUR STUFF. The economy is always near the top of election-year issues. But this year, there’s a twist: inflation.
The prices for just about everything soared in the aftermath of the pandemic, making it ripe for attack ads and talking points. What does it all mean?
The AJC’s Michael E. Kanell is here to help. He recently answered reader questions as part of our Know Your Stuff series, meant to equip you with knowledge before Election Day.
- The most cited number for inflation — the Consumer Price Index, which bundles a collection of items together — is roughly 20% higher than it was when the Biden-Harris administration began, with most of the increases coming in 2021 and 2022.
What about when Trump was president?
- It was up about 8% during Trump’s presidency, although it plummeted early in the pandemic. But the overall trend of the economy during the Trump years — on jobs, gross domestic product and inflation, too — was in line with much of the previous decade.
Who is to blame?
- The truth is, presidents get too much credit for good economies and too much blame for bad times. In a $29 trillion-a-year economy, presidents can have an effect, but on the most commonly cited prices, their influence is limited.
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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. Today’s happenings:
- Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, will campaign in Florida at a Get Out the Early Vote rally in Hallandale Beach and at a fundraiser in Coral Gables.
- Harris will participate in a town hall hosted by CNN in Chester Township, Pennsylvania.
- Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, will participate in campaign events supporting Harris in Atlanta and Augusta.
- Hip-hop artist Pastor Troy will headline a “Ballots and BBQ” get-out-the-vote event in Atlanta.
- Former President Donald Trump will campaign in Georgia, speaking at rallies in Zebulon and Duluth.
- Donald Trump Jr. will speak at a campaign event for his father in Queen Creek, Arizona.
- Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, will speak at Nevada rallies in Las Vegas and Reno.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, will record interviews with Univision and local stations in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania before speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Louisville, Kentucky.
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MAKING RUDY SETTLE UP. A federal judge in New York ordered former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to turn over his penthouse apartment and other luxury items to two former Fulton County election workers who successfully sued him for defamation, CNN reported.
Mother-daughter team Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss were awarded a $150 million judgment last year after suing Giuliani for falsely accusing them of election fraud. Giuliani was an attorney at the time for then-President Donald Trump.
The judge said Giuliani must turn over jewelry and watches, sports memorabilia, including a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey, and a Mercedes once owned by actress Lauren Bacall.
Manhattan-based federal Judge Lewis Liman still must decide if Freeman and Moss should take ownership of a condo in Florida that Giuliani owns and four New York Yankees World Series rings. Giuliani’s son told the court his father gifted him the rings long before the defamation judgment was ordered.
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SHOUTOUTS. Today’s birthday:
- State Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta.
Kudos:
- Arthur Blank will be honored at the Points of Light Foundation’s annual award celebration tonight in Washington. The nonpartisan organization focused on civic engagement and volunteerism was founded by former President George H.W. Bush. Blank is being recognized for his business successes and his many philanthropic endeavors.
Belated congrats:
- To Weston and Elizabeth Burleson on their 9th wedding anniversary on Oct. 17. Weston Burleson is a lobbyist with Freeman Mathis Decisions and is the former director of communications and legislative affairs for state Insurance Commissioner John King.
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.
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.
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