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4 videos of 2 candidates speaking: Sam Olens, as Chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission: Remarks from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and ARC Chair Sam Olens from Atlanta Regional Commission on Vimeo. In this video, note the repeated reference to following the “European Model”. While he is specifically speaking of transportation, if he is so interested in following the “European Model” in one area, will he be similarly interested in following it in other areas? While Nathan Deal and Karen Handel fight over abortion and teh gayz, there is another battle getting very nasty that you may not be aware of: The Hudgens/Sheffield battle for Insurance Commissioner. Both Hudgens and Sheffield are trying to put the noose of The Ox around the other’s neck. Both have been tied to him at various points – Sheffield as a lawyer and lobbyist for the Insurance Department, Hudgens as the Chair of the Senate Insurance Committee, where Ox was a frequent speaker. Both have donors who have supported Ox in both his Insurance Commissioner and Governor races, though Hudgens has the support of Ox’s Assistant Commissioner and was the only candidate of these two to receive money from John Oxendine himself. The money in question here was $500 to Hudgens’ State Senate account in 2008, a year before Hudgens filed to run to replace Ox, from Ox’s Better Georgia PAC. A version of this post went online last Thursday at UnitedLiberty.org Nearly all of us played on various playgrounds as kids. Whether it be swinging, sliding, climbing monkey bars, or simply playing tag on an open field, play is an important part of childhood and one many of us look back on fondly. The problem for local governments is that these days, playgrounds can be expensive. Depending on exactly what you want, they can easily cost upwards of $20K for a small one, and in the six figures for larger ones. Even for larger towns, this is a lot of money – and my town only has a population of around 3,000 people! So how do we as a community promote small government while also providing ample play space for our community’s children? Now that Al Lott has tendered his resignation, for a whole year from now (at least we can’t say he didn’t give sufficient notice), there’s understandably some question as to what will happen now. That’s more than a fair question, so I’m going to throw my own speculation into the mix. This is based on some conversations with others who follow the local government. First, Lott isn’t sticking around. That’s the good news. While the end date is set for July 30, 2011, don’t be surprised to see him not working much, much sooner than that. Continue reading Lott resigns…sort of a message from John Monds, Libertarian candidate for Governor: This was supposed to be the year of angry voters, right? Apparently the handful of establishment voters in yesterday’s primary didn’t get the message. Whatever they might say with their mouths, they spoke more clearly with their votes. And what did these partisans say? First, I want to congratulate Lee County Elections Supervisor Veronica Johnson and her team for a job well done. With the help of County IT staff, they were able to put up results of Lee County voting live as they got them. Those results can be seen here. In the only contested race in Lee County, Lee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Ed Duffy of the Palmyra District pushed back challenger Lester Leggette handily, 71% – 29%. The overall results can be seen on the SoS site, but I want to look briefly at how the candidates did in Lee County as compared to the State: In Lee County, the top three were Handel (27.3%), Johnson (26.3%), and Oxendine (25.2%), with Deal only getting 12.7% of the Lee County vote. Throughout the State, however, Handel and Deal came out as the top 2 (34.1% and 22.9%), with Johnson losing to Deal by 2.8% and Ox not quite cracking 17%. According to just Lee County votes, Hudgens and Sheffield should face a runoff, with Hudgens getting 18.45% of the Lee County vote to Sheffield’s 17.1%. Across the State, it is also Hudgens and Sheffield, who pulled out 20.7% and 19.6% across the State. I’ll have more analysis tonight. Once again, several Ga political blogs will unite to cover an event live. Tonight’s United Live Blog will be covering the incoming returns from the Primary Elections being held today throughout this State. Please join us for the latest returns, as well as just some good old political banter. We look forward to seeing you from 6:30p tonight to…. Breaking NewsThe Albany Journal is currently reporting that the Albany City Commission is meeting privately. These may be the last moments of Al Lott’s tenure as City Manager. Or it could be nothing at all. More details as they become available. The Albany Journal has a piece on their website, and presumably in their paper this week, about how Albany City Manager Al Lott may be finally being shown the door, possibly as early as the City Commission meeting today. It’s about time. Continue reading Al Lott outta here? and everywhere else in Ga as well, obviously. Voter turnout is predicted to be fairly low – the numbers I’ve heard are anywhere from 15% to 30%. In Lee County, only 487 votes were cast during advance and early voting, though that number may rise as more mail-in ballots come in today. In 2006, there were 1621 Repulican ballots and 1736 Democratic votes cast, for a total of 3357 votes cast. There were 14,151 registered voters in Lee County as of 2006, meaning that only 23.72% of them cast a ballot in that year’s Primaries. Turnout in the General Election that year in Lee County barely topped 50%. This is supposed to be an “anti-incumbent” year, a year where people are pissed off and ready to change things. Ladies and gentlemen, there are only 2 incumbents running in 10 Ga Statewide seats (Casey Cagle and Johnny Isakson), and both are running unopposed in the Primary, though they will face two challengers each in November. Don’t let someone else dictate to you who your options will be in November. Get out there and make that decision for yourself! Polls will be open from 7a-7p today. GO VOTE GA! |
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