Melissa Clink, the head of Forsyth County’s Democratic party, opened a candidate forum Sunday by reminding liberal voters in the deep-red area to “find a way to get in the way.”
But over the last few days, it’s been the local Republican Party that couldn’t get out of its own way.
As news spread that Stacey Abrams and other top Democrats would address the exurban county’s voters, the local GOP issued a call to protest the candidates who are “crossing over our county border.”
For many, it evoked memories of the county’s painful past, shaped by a violent racial cleansing campaign in 1912 that forced much of the Black population of roughly 1,100 at the time to flee to neighboring areas.
Facing mounting pressure, the Forsyth GOP called off the protest late Friday and said in a statement it would, “err on the side of caution” and focus on a visit from Gov. Brian Kemp that’s set for Monday instead.
And aside from a burst of Republican signs strategically placed near the Forsyth County arts center, there was no sign of any GOP pushback at Sunday’s event.
Instead, it became the showcase for a Democratic pledge to narrow the GOP edge in the vote-rich exurbs, which have grown slightly more competitive amid an influx in new voters and backlash to Donald Trump.
“Democrats are coming to Forsyth County,” said Bee Nguyen, the Democratic nominee for secretary of state. “They aren’t going to scare or intimidate us. We believe in the people of Georgia and we’re going to every corner of this state.”
Local contenders spoke frankly of uphill battles in a county where Joe Biden only captured one-third of the vote in 2020 — but also expressed hope of a changing tide.
“If my opponent is to be stopped, it would take — God forbid — a Democrat winning in Forsyth County,” Elaine Padgett, a candidate for a local board of education seat, said sarcastically.
“It would take me. It hasn’t happened in 20 years here. Do I doubt myself? Of course. But I know I’m the better candidate.”
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ABRAMS’ ABORTION VIEW. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams was a guest on ABC’s “The View” on Friday, where she discussed her position on abortion restrictions.
Asked if she thinks any restrictions, including a limit at the third trimester or at viability, are appropriate, Abrams said, “I believe abortion is a medical decision, not a political decision. Arbitrary, politically defined timelines are deeply problematic because they ignore the reality of medical and physiological issues.”
She added that “viability is the metric, and that if a woman’s health or life is at danger, then viability extends until the time of birth.”
In June, Abrams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she would support a limit to abortions at the point of fetal viability, but also did not specify a time limit for any restrictions.
Abrams told the AJC that she intends to pass legislation that enshrines a woman’s right to an abortion, “and that right continues until a physician determines the fetus is viable outside of the body, except in the case of protecting the woman’s life or health.”
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AG SHOWDOWN. The race for state Attorney General is one of the most closely watched down-ballot battles this year. And the issue of abortion is taking center stage there.
Our colleague Maya T. Prabhu stopped by the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting held Sunday in Sandy Springs. Attorney General Chris Carr, who is seeking reelection in November, was asked what could be done about district attorneys who refuse to prosecute the state’s newly enacted abortion law. Vote, he said.
“Elections have consequences. I keep telling my friends in Athens, stop electing Communists,” Carr said, referencing Athens-Clarke County District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez.
Credit: Maya T. Prabhu
Credit: Maya T. Prabhu
Gonzalez is one of several Georgia district attorneys who, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the state’s law took effect, said she would not prosecute anyone under the abortion statute.
Carr has called those positions a violation of their oath and a “dereliction of duty” that “undermines democracy.”
Carr’s Democratic opponent, state Sen. Jen Jordan, has also said she would not use state resources to defend the abortion law against legal challenges, saying she doesn’t believe the statute is lawful.
“She is running a campaign based on what laws she will not enforce,” Carr said. “She is standing with district attorneys in this state who are saying they are not going to enforce laws. It’s the new criminal justice reform on the left: don’t enforce the laws you don’t like. Well that, my friends, is a dereliction of duty.”
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JORDAN WARNING. The Democratic nominee for Attorney General, state Sen. Jen Jordan, told a group in Gwinnett County on Saturday that the state’s new anti-abortion law opens the door for women to be investigated following a miscarriage. NBC News recently reported on women jailed after miscarriage in El Salvador, where abortion is banned.
“Early abortions that are medication abortions … forensically look like miscarriages,” she said. “What we’ve seen in other countries that have adopted bans like this, they literally have had law enforcement come into the hospitals, into the emergency rooms, start questioning women, start seizing medical records.”
Jordan was speaking during a panel discussion on House Bill 481 with state Sen. Michelle Au, a Democrat running for state House who is also a doctor.
Like Carr, she told her audience that the only way to reverse course is to vote in November.
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GUN VIOLENCE. Before Stacey Abrams campaigned in Forsyth County Sunday, she spoke with community leaders about the impact of gun violence on the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities.
At the event, family members of women killed in the Atlanta-area spa shootings last year criticized Gov. Brian Kemp for signing a measure that expands gun rights, our AJC colleague Anjali Huynh reports.
“My mother would not have wanted a lot of attention, but it’s important for us to now speak out about this because the current governor did not really care, and gave us this sense of not feeling seen in that moment,” said Robert Peterson, the son of Yong Ae Yue, who was one of six Asian women murdered in March 2021.
It also was the first time Abrams aired an ad featuring Michael Webb, the ex-husband of spa shooting victim Xiaojie Tan. In the ad, Webb criticized Kemp’s support for the law, which allows Georgians to carry concealed handguns without getting a state license.
“I’m not a Democrat. I’m a gun owner and a hunter. But I cannot remain silent. Brian Kemp put his loyalty to his gun lobby donors ahead of keeping Georgia safe. For that, he needs to go.”
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Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
NOT-SO-GREAT EXPECTATIONS. It’s a tried and true axiom that political debates can be a game of expectations. If you set the bar low enough, even a ho-hum performance can exceed expectations and claim a win.
GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker seems to have received that message ahead of his Oct. 14 faceoff with U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
At an appearance on Friday at the Port of Savannah, Walker called himself “a country boy.”
“I’m not that smart,” he said, according to a report in the Savannah Morning News. “He’s a preacher. (Warnock) is smart and wears these nice suits. So, he is going to show up and embarrass me at the debate Oct. 14th, and I’m just waiting to show up and I will do my best.”
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BOLDLY GO. Gov. Brian Kemp, Senate hopeful Herschel Walker and other top Republicans stumped in Hartwell over the weekend.
But off the trail, Kemp’s campaign sent glossy mailers to thousands of likely GOP supporters with images of Stacey Abrams decked in her Star Trek finery alongside images of President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Planet Stacey. Boldly going where California and New York have gone before,” the mailer said.
It was a play on Abrams’ cameo earlier this year on the season finale of Star Trek: Discovery as the president of “United Earth.”
The Democrat is a proud Trekker who has said many times that the show has shaped her worldview. One of her books, “Lead from the Outside,” explores one of her favorite scenes from The Next Generation.
>@GovKemp’s campaign swipes at @staceyabrams Star Trek fandom with this mailer hitting Georgia households this week: “Planet Stacey. Boldly going where California and New York have gone before.” #gapol https://t.co/R8XmKObpFd pic.twitter.com/YbKGcd7gCf
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) September 18, 2022
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden attends the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II’s at Westminster Abbey in London. He’ll then return to the White House.
- The House is back and focused on non-controversial measures, while the Senate returns to work through more confirmations.
- The main item on this week’s Congressional agenda is to begin work on a stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded past Sept. 30.
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PRISON DEATHS HEARING. The mother of a nonviolent drug offender, whose son died while being detained by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, is among those scheduled to testify during Tuesday’s hearing of the Senate Investigations Subcommittee.
Belinda Maley and her family sued Corizon Correctional Healthcare, the private medical provider at the Chatham County Detention Center, after her son, Matthew Loflin, died of congestive heart failure in 2014. The family alleged that Loflin had complained to jailers and medical staff for weeks but had not been getting proper medical attention.
The hearing will also include testimony from the sister of a man who died while in custody at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison in Louisiana, a law professor who is an expert on prison and jail conditions and two federal officials who have oversight of prisons.
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VOTER OUTREACH. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, was in Atlanta over the weekend for campaign appearances on behalf of Stacey Abrams and his colleague, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Booker also joined U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia, for a visit to Atlanta’s West End neighborhood on Sunday in hopes of boosting Black voter turnout.
I went to Georgia this weekend to campaign for my friends @ReverendWarnock and @staceyabrams.
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 18, 2022
The Abrams team made this fun video. pic.twitter.com/I8atQ7qJIB
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DEVELOPING THE CHATTAHOOCHEE. Former Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall has been named chief executive of Chattahoochee Trails Water Hub, an organization advocating for public resources to develop a new park along the banks of the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta.
Hall, who briefly succeeded the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis and waged a failed bid for lieutenant governor this year, said he was hired to help create a 40-acre park between Veterans Memorial Highway and I-285.
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Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
NEXT WEEK IN WASHINGTON. The Atlanta Braves will travel to Washington next week for the traditional World Series champion event in the East Room of the White House Monday.
“It’ll be a great experience. We’re world champions, and we get to go to the White House,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s kind of something special to get to tour and experience that. I think it’ll be something I’ll remember the rest of my life.”
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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.
