Over the last 18 hours or so, Preston Smith, the State Senator representing the 52nd District (which includes Rome and parts of my native Bartow County), has become the talk of Georgia politics. Over 100 people have already joined the effort to draft him to challenge Lt Governor Casey Cagle, and virtually every major political blog in the State, as well as many of the newspapers I read daily, have discussed his speech yesterday – many of the blogs re-posting the text of the speech in its entirety.
But one thing has not come out yet, and I think it needs to be discussed.
You see, this whole battle rages in and around one certain bill in the Georgia General Assembly – HB 307. The fact that this is a House bill that has now passed the Senate means that every single member of the General Assembly who is running for Statewide office has had some degree of say on this bill, and I want to run down the list briefly: [Continue Reading]
Well, at least this would be a married (to each other) couple, if it happens.
Yesterday, Jim Galloway reported on speculation that Carol Porter -the wife of DuBose Porter, who is a Democratic candidate for Governor- is considering a run for Lt Governor. Steve and Dustin over at Ga Liberal both readily jumped behind the idea.
Apparently, this speculation started after Carol spoke for DuBose at a National Federation of Independent Businesses event and from all accounts did a superb job. See for yourself here:
Yesterday, Karen Handel had what has been described as a very successful event with more than 500 women in attendance (it was a “Women for Handel” event).
From the report:
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Karen Handel on Tuesday said the culture of “sex, lies and lobbyists” at the Gold Dome has to end, but said the men running against her can’t clean it up because they “created the mess.”
In a speech to more than 300 women at a fund-raiser at the Westin Atlanta North, Handel said the atmosphere at the Capitol is one “where legislation passes or fails based on the size of the contribution, the lavish dinner, luxury trip. This is not public service.”
“If we are going to end this cycle of abuse and corruption … if we’re going to get real progress on the issues our state is facing, it’s going to take radical change and reform,” said Handel
…
Handel campaign spokesman Dan McLagan would not identify the person who told her to hire a “hottie” as a legislative aide, but said Handel has a clear record of fighting for tighter ethics rules whether as a member of the Fulton County Commission or as secretary of state.
There’s several issues here though, and I’ll tackle them in no particular order: [Continue Reading]
Obviously, when the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives is accused of threatening to beat his (ex)wife, it becomes an issue for Governor candidates. So let’s look at each of them in regards to this issue (in strict alphabetical order by last name):
Thurbert Baker: No statement yet. Understandable, given that he is currently the top lawyer in the State and this could turn into a criminal case.
Roy Barnes: No statement yet. As a former Governor, he should have a bit of insight here, though he also has to contend with the King Roy image that his opponents would be sure to bring up in response to any statement he issued.
Carl Camon: No statement yet. As someone WELL below the radar, he could have made a name for himself – possibly – by being the first to come out calling for Richardson’s resignation.
Jeff Chapman: No statement yet. Has a record of bucking the GOP establishment which could help him weather this issue – could even improve his chances, given the rest of the GOP field.
Nathan Deal: No statement yet. Faces corruption charges of his own, has been listed as one of the 15 most corrupt Congressmen. Also had a multi-million dollar scandal of his own surface this year that began when he was still in the General Assembly. Scandals anywhere within the GOP become fodder for reminding people of these things, which is not good for him. Futhermore, Richardson -along with Speaker Pro-Tem Mark Burkhalter and Majority Leader Jerry Keen – is a maxed-out donor to Deal, meaning that Deal is clearly the chosen candidate of Richardson. [Continue Reading]
Note from Jeff: I did some basic checking into this post, and apparently Porter is correct that the Hawk system was a creation of the Republicans when they took power in the House of Representatives. Before that, many House leaders were ex-officio members of most committees – meaning that they themselves could still swoop in and potentially change the outcome of a vote to suit their wishes, but they did not have a system of “roving enforcers” that the Hawk system creates. That said, I’m not sure I agree with the title of this post, but I didn’t create it. This post, minus this paragraph and a brief question at the end, was completely written by a candidate, and I happen to agree with its general premise that the Hawk system needs to be disbanded. Without further ado, here is some commentary on the Hawks in the Georgia House of Representatives written by House Minority Leader and Democratic Candidate for Governor DuBose Porter.
Have you ever wondered why Georgia, one of the most beautiful states in the world, is at the bottom of the good lists and at the top of the bad ones? It is corruption, plain and simple. Corruption blocks jobs, keeps gridlock, designs water plans to fail. Georgia’s corrupt government keeps education down and prison populations up.
As a State Representative I have fought corruption on either side of the aisle, but the number one corruption facing Georgia today, is a corruption that allows other corruption to thrive- the Hawks in the Georgia House of Representatives.
The Hawks in the Georgia House of Representatives have taken away representative government in Georgia. Only in Georgia does this threat to the American way of life exist. [Continue Reading]
Georgia leaders like to talk about how they are bringing jobs to Georgia, especially under this economic climate. DuBose Porter has one plan and Republicans in the General Assembly consistently talk about how proud they are of their own efforts this past session with the passage of the JOBS Act.
But I ran into a dirty little secret over the past few days, one which State Rep Jeff Mays was kind enough to point out to me was part of Georgia Law.
You see, I like to do most of my Christmas shopping online. Quite frankly, I’m not such a fan of the crowds on Black Friday or pretty much any day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and most stores offer the same deals online as you get in the physical store. So I get the same price with nowhere NEAR the hassle. As an added bonus, if I shop online I don’t have to pay sales tax. But that is where the dirty little secret comes in. [Continue Reading]
John Monds, Karen Handel, and DuBose Porter will have a debate in Thomasville three weeks from tonight.
The event will be Sept 29 at 6p at the Thomasville Municipal Auditorium and will be hosted by the Thomasville Times-Enterprise.
Apparently, the Times-Enterprise has some advance coverage of the three participants planned, starting with Rep Porter this coming Sunday, Sept 13.
I can’t be there due to other commitments that night, but I look forward to seeing any media coverage I can find of the event – or any first hand accounts, if any of y’all decide to go!
Candidates for governor who hold state office — including Republicans Eric Johnson, Karen Handel, John Oxendine and Austin Scott — would be barred from raising money.
But U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, the choice of House Republican leaders, would not be prohibited — because his current office is federal.
Looking at campaign disclosures, there is one line that tends to get overlooked in most analyses. It is line 4 of the Summary Report, that says “Total amount of all separate contributions of less than $101.00 received in this reporting period and not listed on the “Itemized Contributions” page.” In other words, these are donations at the $100 mark or lower.
I tend to look at these numbers in particular as one way to determine actual support among the every day Georgian. To me, these numbers represent the people who can’t afford to give $6,100 (the current maximum), $5,000, $1,000, $500, or even $105 because even $105 might mean their entire family goes hungry that week. But they don’t mind sacrificing lunch one day themselves, so they give that $5 they would have spent on their own lunch one day that week. Or maybe they give the $25/$50 they would have put in their car in gas that week and find another way to get to work. Or, let’s be honest, maybe they’re just cheap and could afford to give the $5,000, but choose to only give $100 – but that’s the only $100 they’re giving to ANY candidate.
Regardless, those numbers mean something to me, and since this blog is my creation, let’s look at them, shall we? [What are the Numbers?
I’ll be doing various analyses on campaign disclosures over the next couple of weeks, but based solely on total contributions reported this reporting period (line 5 of the Summary Report on the Campaign Disclosure Reports), this is how the Governor’s race stacks up thus far:
Overall:
Nathan Deal ($1,230,290.00) includes loans of $250,000
Eric Johnson ($962,773.40)
Thurbert Baker ($704,331.00)
Karen Handel ($431,178.57)
John Oxendine ($416,580.35)
David Poythress ($304,045.00) includes loans of $185,000
DuBose Porter ($231,250.00)
Austin Scott ($180,620.00) includes loans of $9,225
Ray McBerry ($18,596.44)
John Monds ($11,157.15)
Roy Barnes ($0.00) [Party Breakdown]
