The Jolt: Bee Nguyen to join Warnock’s staff as top state aide
The hardest question for any candidate to answer after a losing race is usually not, “Why did you lose?” but, “What are you going to do next?”
Former Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen, who lost a nationally watched contest against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in 2022, now has an answer about her future plans. She will be U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s next state director.
Warnock’s office told the AJC on Thursday that Nguyen, a former state legislator, will succeed Meredith Lilly, who was promoted to serve as the senator’s senior adviser.
Nguyen will serve as both an adviser to Warnock and as manager of his state office in Atlanta. That operation includes a massive load of constituent casework and oversees a network of smaller field offices around the state.
In a statement, Warnock said Nguyen has “skillfully harnessed her passion and talents to move our state forward.”
“Her panoramic knowledge of our state and the issues facing Georgians is an invaluable asset, and I’m so thrilled that Bee will continue serving the people of Georgia in her new role,” he said.
Nguyen became the first Vietnamese-American elected to the Georgia House when she won a competitive 2017 race for the Atlanta-based district formerly held by Stacey Abrams.
After two full terms in the Legislature, she secured the Democratic nomination last year to challenge Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
The GOP incumbent handily defeated Nguyen by eight points, but Nguyen is still considered a strong future prospect for Democrats and is widely expected to mount another campaign. But first, she said she’s looking forward to supporting Warnock’s “vision for a stronger Georgia.”
“My family and I put our roots down in our great state nearly 35 years ago, and I am proud to call Georgia my home,” she said. “I remain committed to serving the people of Georgia in my new capacity.”
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ANY MINUTE NOW. We’re keeping our eyes peeled this morning in anticipation of the release of portions, yes portions, of the special grand jury report on the investigation into possible election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney announced earlier this week that three sections of the report would be made public as soon as this morning — the introduction, the conclusion and a section in which jurors raise the possibility that some witnesses in the process may have lied under oath.
No names will be included in the report and, as McBurney explained, large sections are being held back to protect the due-process rights of “potential future defendants.”
Does that mean indictments are coming? Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had said her decision on criminally charging anyone in the case would be “imminent.”
But in an interview with the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman, she clarified, “Legally imminent, not reporter imminent.”
Check back at AJC.com for Tamar and Bill’s Rankin throughout the day for continuing coverage of the Fulton County investigation.
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TAXING ISSUES. As Georgia lawmakers ready for a new push to get rid of billions of dollars of state tax incentives, an army of lobbyists for business boosters is preparing a counteroffensive.
The effort to roll back the tax breaks gained new energy last year when state audits suggested most of the jobs credited to tax breaks would have been created with or without the special treatment for specific industries.
Now a new nine-page report, sponsored by the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Pendleton Group (which specializes in economic development deals), is now making its way around the Capitol. It urges legislators to take extreme caution with curbing incentives for businesses to create jobs.
“Private employers place a high value on certainty on core economic conditions, and the tax environment in a given location often tops this list,” the report says.
It also outlines a host of perceived flaws in the state audit and recommended eight changes for future reviews.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition is out with a defense of the film tax credits that have transformed the state into “Y’allywood,” the hottest spot to shoot a movie east of L.A..
It argues that the credits — a perennial target of some fiscal conservatives — helped jumpstart the state’s economy during the pandemic, generated thousands of high-paying jobs and juiced spending on new infrastructure projects. Take a look.
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NO JAIL TIME. Former DeKalb County Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton did not receive prison time after being found guilty of extortion.
The AJC’s Tyler Estep writes that U.S. District Court Judge Mark H. Cohen instead sentenced Barnes Sutton to three years of probation, with nine months to be served on house arrest.
Barnes Sutton was found guilty three months ago of two counts of extortion. She was acquitted on a separate charge of bribery after a weeklong trial.
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UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 20:
- 8 a.m.: Committee hearings begin;
- 10 a.m.: The Senate gavels in;
- 1 p.m.: The House convenes.
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:
- The state Senate will vote today on Senate Bill 93, legislation from state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, to ban TikTok and some other social media platforms from state devices.
- The House Education Committee takes up House Bill 380, the sports betting bill from state Rep. Marcus Wiedower, R-Watkinsville, that would greenlight sports betting as a part of the Georgia Lottery.
- State Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, has introduced Senate Bill 88, which would ban classroom discussions on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity without parental consent. The language would apply to public and private schools and mirrors Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
- Freshman state Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, made an early splash Wednesday when she took the lead to introduce House Bill 419, which would eliminate runoffs as long as one candidate wins 45% of the vote. To that we say, “Happy Thanksgiving.”
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden is hosting a screening of the movie “Till” that tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old who was lynched in 1955.
- The U.S. Senate is voting on judicial nominees.
- The House is out for two weeks.
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NOT A FAN. Count U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene among the Republican elected officials critical of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s presidential bid. Haley was also former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Greene, a Rome Republican who remains loyal to Trump, aired her disapproval of Haley’s announcement in a post on Twitter. And she did so by comparing her to the Bush political family.
“If we wanted a ‘Bush in heels,’ Republicans would vote for Liz Cheney,” Greene wrote.
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SAD NEWS. Just days after he was honored by members of Georgia’s delegation in the U.S. House, Atlanta businessman and civic leader Tommy Dortch has died.
Dortch was an icon in Atlanta business and political circles and the longtime chairman of 100 Black Men of America, the AJC’s Ernie Suggs writes. Dortch was also a longtime top state aide to former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn and a Democratic booster.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called him a “connector and a facilitator.”
“He knew how to get the right people together to make something good happen for Atlanta,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams recently submitted legislation to award Dortch the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest recognition of national; appreciation. Georgia’s four other House Democrats signed on as cosponsors.
The Atlanta City Council also recognized Dortch during a meeting in November, where he revealed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Dortch died Wednesday at the age 72.
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PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT. Tate Mitchell, a key aide to Gov. Brian Kemp in the Capitol and on the campaign trail, has joined the National Republican Senatorial Committee as a regional press secretary. We wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in Georgia in 2026 when Sen. Jon Ossoff is on the ballot.
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CALLING ALL DOGS. Jolt Nation, starting next week, we’ll be bringing you the Jolt Dog of the Day, the pooch belonging to any politically adjacent Georgian, including Jolt readers, to include each morning. Send us your pups of any political persuasion (and cats on a case-by-case basis) to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
We’ve loved meeting your grand old pooches, ruff-ertarians, and a progressive pup named “Ruth Bassett Ginsburg.”
Keep them coming! You’ll start meeting your fellow Jolt readers’ politi-pets next week.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
About the Authors
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.
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.
