The Jolt: Kemp suggests Trump focus on Biden — not 2020 — to win in Georgia

And he reinforced that he’s “disappointed” about the pace of District Attorney Fani Willis’s investigation into Trump’s effort to reverse his 2020 defeat in Georgia.

But his most telling remarks Monday night might have come when anchor Kaitlan Collins questioned whether Trump could win Georgia despite his struggles in the state in 2020 and the defeats of his allies here in last year’s midterm.

Kemp sounded a note of cautious optimism for the Trump rivals who trail the former president in the GOP primary. He said some are “getting their legs under them now” and that the race is just getting started.

“I think Ron was in a pretty tough spot when he got in the race,” Kemp said of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“His numbers were so high before he got in, in some ways, he didn’t have anywhere to go. And now he’s gotten in a stagnant place,” he said, then added that DeSantis is “in it for the long haul.”

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KEMP ON THE HILL. Maybe more important than the media interviews he’s doing, Gov. Brian Kemp is in Washington this week for a series of meetings that is sure to stoke speculation that he’s taking a hard look at a Senate run in 2026, when Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff will be up for reelection.

Credit: AJC file photos

Credit: AJC file photos

Kemp will be meeting this week with the top Republicans in the Senate: Minority Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate GOP Whip John Thune and Montana Sen. Steve Daines, who chairs the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

In addition to outreach to that trio, Kemp will also meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and raise money for his federal PAC while he’s in the town. That will be cash that could go to a federal race down the road.

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MTG ON MTG. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she wasn’t surprised that her fundraising remains robust, despite criticism from conservative colleagues and party insiders who say she is bending too far toward the establishment.

“The reason why my fundraising numbers are good is because the work I do here represents my district, and my district is very similar to a lot of rural America and rural Americans,” the Rome Republican said.

Greene said internal polling conducted by her political staff shows that she remains wildly popular among her constituents. Of course, such polling should be taken with a grain of salt, but here is what Greene had to say of its findings:

“The memo says Marjorie can do no wrong,” she told us. “Her favorability strengthened by 16 points since February. It was 70% favorable (and) 21% unfavorable, and now it stands at 80% favorable (and) 15% unfavorable. Sixty-four percent say they’re strong support for MTG is as strong as ever, an 8-point increase from February.”

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Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC

Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC

GEARING UP. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff has proven in the past that he’s one of the nation’s most prolific fundraisers. But the latest campaign finance reports show he hasn’t ratcheted up his money-raising activities yet ahead of a 2026 reelection campaign.

The first-term Democrat collected roughly $335,000 in the three-month span between April and June — and spent roughly $20,000 more than he raised over the same period. In all, he has $2.85 million in his campaign account.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock outraised his Democratic colleague coming off his reelection victory. Warnock collected about $600,000 over the three months, and has $4.76 million in cash on hand.

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Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC

Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC

PROPERTY TAXES. Tax cuts are in the air in the Democratic stronghold of DeKalb County.

Chief Executive Michael Thurmond announced homeowners will get $147 million in tax relief this year from the homestead sales tax credit. It means the owner of a property valued at $375,000 would get a credit worth roughly $1,400.

For some homeowners, the county said, it would effectively nullify a projected 2023 property tax increase.

The tax credit is funded by the EHOST program — a sales tax that’s collected throughout the year and then used to offset property tax increases.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

AUDIT MISTAKES. Election workers made numerous mistakes during an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election in Fulton County, including double-counting and misallocating votes for the audit results, state officials have announced.

The AJC’s Mark Niesse writes that the finding doesn’t change the outcome of the audit or the original vote, which showed that Democrat Joe Biden defeated Republican Donald Trump in Georgia. The audit also confirmed two machine counts that found Biden won by about 12,000 votes.

State election investigators blamed “human error” for mistakes in a system that relied on sorting paper ballots by candidate, counting them by hand, writing totals on sheets of paper and then transcribing numbers into computers, according to the consent order recently approved by the State Election Board and the county.

The board ordered Fulton County to “cease and desist” from violations in future audits, implement new audit procedures and adequately train elections staff.

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TRUMP CHALLENGE TOSSED. The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously rejected former President Donald Trump’s bid to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 presidential election probe and to quash a special purpose grand jury’s final report that recommends people be indicted, the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin report.

The state’s highest court acted quickly on Trump’s motion filed late Thursday, saying the former president’s legal team had failed to present “extraordinary circumstances” that warranted intervention. As for Willis, Trump “has not presented in his original petition either the facts or the law” necessary to warrant her disqualification, the court said in an unsigned five-page order.

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ELECTION BOARD DRAMA. Body cam footage of a woman being carried out of a Chatham County Election Board meeting by police is causing a stir on the coast this week.

The incident happened last week when Beth Majeroni, a local Republican activist aligned with Kandiss Taylor, spoke at the meeting to insist that Dominion voting machines in the county be replaced with paper ballots.

Eventually ruled out of order, WJCL-TV reports what happened next:

Police did not press charges or arrest Majeroni, but she’s still fuming, telling WJCL, " I have never been treated like that in my life. I mean, it was like a communist country.”

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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

EDUCATION ROUNDTABLE. U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta stopped by an annual gathering of school counselors on Monday, participating in a roundtable discussion with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

“Students in America today face hurdles that are new and unknown to the generations that preceded them — the constant threat of gun violence, learning loss from a global pandemic, and an alarming mental health crisis among young people,” McBath said in a news release about the event.

The 2023 American School Counselor Association Annual Conference concludes today in downtown Atlanta. Cardona said he had spent his time there listening to professionals who say they need better support at the local, state and federal levels.

In an event hosted by the AJC at Agnes Scott College, Cardona said efforts to undermine school diversity programs are connected to feelings about race.

“It’s frustrating,” he said.

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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

TERRY’S BACK. Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns has hired former state Rep. Terry England, the chamber’s longtime budget guru and Appropriations Committee chairman, as his new top aide. England will replace Spiro Amburn, Burns’ current chief, who was the top aide to the late David Ralston during his long tenure as speaker.

England, a Barrow County Republican, retired from the legislature and has been out of office since early this year.

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Credit: File photos

Credit: File photos

THREE YEARS AGO. Elected officials of all stripes paid respects to Congressman John Lewis and fellow civil rights activist C.T. Vivian, who died within hours of each other three years ago. “Revolutionary ancestors” is what Bernice King called them.

The loss of both men on July 17, 2020, came during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. They each were honored in memorial services that stretched over the following several weeks to allow both men to be celebrated without overshadowing the other and with social distancing.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock posted a tribute Monday to Lewis, a political mentor who was also a member at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

“Remembering my parishioner and hero Congressman John Lewis today on the anniversary of his transition to ancestorhood,” Warnock wrote. “We need to keep making #GoodTrouble until we secure the sacred right to vote for every American—just like Congressman Lewis and so many others taught us.”

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DOG OF THE DAY. Like our readers, the Jolt’s Dogs of the Day come from far and wide.

So let’s meet Bader and Lucy Adsit, the two adopted pals who call loyal Jolt reader Harley Adsit their person. Bader and Lucy live in Washington, D.C., where Harley is communications director for Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler.

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

We count all three as honorary Georgians. And a reliable source tells us all three are also counting the days until August recess, when they can spend more time together.

Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and cats on a cat-by-cat basis to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.

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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.