Georgia's Very Own Megathread! (v2)

[Adam Griffin]

If Abrams goes for the Senate in 2020, who goes for Governor in 2022? Tomlinson?

Presumably a third Abrams run, which is half the reason I don't want her running for Senate in 2020. This'll be the next decade of GA politics until/unless she wins something.

[Rookie Yinzer]

If Abrams goes for the Senate in 2020, who goes for Governor in 2022? Tomlinson?

Presumably a third Abrams run, which is half the reason I don't want her running for Senate in 2020. This'll be the next decade of GA politics until/unless she wins something.

LOL. Seriously! I hope there is someone in the state Democratic Party that is dynamic and can run a spirited and bold campaign. We need other folks at the top of the ticket besides Ms. Abrams.

Scott Holcomb has aspirations for higher office but he’ll probably run for Isakson’s seat.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

If Abrams goes for the Senate in 2020, who goes for Governor in 2022? Tomlinson?

Presumably a third Abrams run, which is half the reason I don't want her running for Senate in 2020. This'll be the next decade of GA politics until/unless she wins something.

LOL. Seriously! I hope there is someone in the state Democratic Party that is dynamic and can run a spirited and bold campaign. We need other folks at the top of the ticket besides Ms. Abrams.

Scott Holcomb has aspirations for higher office but he’ll probably run for Isakson’s seat.

Would Holcomb run if a democratic president is elected in 2020?
And Isakson is probably not running, correct?

[QAnonKelly]

If Abrams goes for the Senate in 2020, who goes for Governor in 2022? Tomlinson?

Presumably a third Abrams run, which is half the reason I don't want her running for Senate in 2020. This'll be the next decade of GA politics until/unless she wins something.

LOL. Seriously! I hope there is someone in the state Democratic Party that is dynamic and can run a spirited and bold campaign. We need other folks at the top of the ticket besides Ms. Abrams.

Scott Holcomb has aspirations for higher office but he’ll probably run for Isakson’s seat.

Would Holcomb run if a democratic president is elected in 2020?
And Isakson is probably not running, correct?

Isakson has Parkinson's and has had it for several years, there's no way he runs again. He might not even be able to serve the whole four years he's got left. I  think he's doing better now than he has been though.

[Pollster]

This Senate race always seemed like it would be Tomlinson's turn. If not, what's next for her?

[Storr]

This Senate race always seemed like it would be Tomlinson's turn. If not, what's next for her?

She could stick it out as Mayor of Columbus and wait for Bishop to retire.

[QAnonKelly]

This Senate race always seemed like it would be Tomlinson's turn. If not, what's next for her?

There will be tons of stuff to go for in '22. Both statewide and the senate seat.

[GeorgiaModerate]

This might be a record.  A judge has ordered a SECOND new election for HD-28: https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/botched-election-for-georgia-house-must-redone-yet-again/bFrQtU59wLCTSvXL8UM68J/.

The story so far: this is a very Republican district in northeast Georgia.  No Democrat filed, so the R primary last May was effectively the general election.  The incumbent, Dan Gasaway, apparently lost by 67 votes to challenger Chris Erwin. 

However, it was discovered that mapping errors had placed about 100 voters in the wrong district.  Gasaway sued, and a judge ordered a new election on the date of the state runoff in December.   Erwin appeared to win that race by two votes after a recount.

But Gasaway sued again, claiming that 21 votes had been cast illegally.  The judge found that four of those voters had moved out of the district more than 30 days before the election, invalidating their votes.  He's ordered a second new election.  Erwin, who took office in January, must vacate the seat while the election remains in doubt.

[QAnonKelly]

Apparently Kemp is trying to expand Medicaid? That’d actually be smart of him. He’s walking on thin ice as is and that’d be a noose hanging around his neck in ‘22. He pretty much needs to do it to have any hope of winning again.

[Del Tachi]

Apparently Kemp is trying to expand Medicaid? That’d actually be smart of him. He’s walking on thin ice as is and that’d be a noose hanging around his neck in ‘22. He pretty much needs to do it to have any hope of winning again.

Not quite.  He's interested in seeking a "waiver" from HHS which would give Georgia more leeway in how it develops and implements its Medicaid program.  Kemp has stated that this would be done with the goal of increased eligibility, but it's still a big question how it would affect existing benefit standards and how rural hospitals would fare.  I have faith that Kemp and Republicans in the state legislature can come up with a quality plan, but it won't be the full-scale expansions we've seen in states like Louisiana and Virginia. 

AJC had a good write-up on the discussion yesterday.

[Badger]

So going back a few pages, what is going on with Southwest Georgia? A large African American population, relative big speaking outside Savannah in Georgia, but it's been shifting Republican to the point that even Bishop has been somewhat threatened in bad years. What gives , Adam?

[Del Tachi]

So going back a few pages, what is going on with Southwest Georgia? A large African American population, relative big speaking outside Savannah in Georgia, but it's been shifting Republican to the point that even Bishop has been somewhat threatened in bad years. What gives , Adam?

Black depopulation, combined with continued GOP trends among White voters.

[Adam Griffin]

So going back a few pages, what is going on with Southwest Georgia? A large African American population, relative big speaking outside Savannah in Georgia, but it's been shifting Republican to the point that even Bishop has been somewhat threatened in bad years. What gives , Adam?

Black depopulation, combined with continued GOP trends among White voters.

Yeah, that's the gist.

[RogueBeaver]

Abrams is increasingly open to challenging Perdue but still prefers a rematch.

[nolesfan2011]

Abrams is increasingly open to challenging Perdue but still prefers a rematch.

Hyping up her ego and suggesting the election was stolen is exactly the wrong message she needs to hear if she's going to win a Senate race against Perdue though. There needs to be some accountability

[Progressive Pessimist]

Abrams is increasingly open to challenging Perdue but still prefers a rematch.

Hyping up her ego and suggesting the election was stolen is exactly the wrong message she needs to hear if she's going to win a Senate race against Perdue though. There needs to be some accountability

No one is asserting that it was "stolen," just that there was a conflict of interest with Kemp not resigning as Secretary of State and implementing voter restrictions at a very suspicious time.

[Rookie Yinzer]

So what State Senate and State House seats can we (Democrats) take next year?

[QAnonKelly]

https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/justice-delayed/nJmIsk5XIHQ8LePmBRLPQI/

Yikes. He should definitely step down. I’m not a legal ethics expert or anything but you’d think he’d be disbarred too.

[QAnonKelly]

The legislature introduced another one of those dumbass religious liberty bills this week. Wonder what Kemp will do. FWIW Ralston says he’d rather work on other things.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The legislature introduced another one of those dumbass religious liberty bills this week. Wonder what Kemp will do. FWIW Ralston says he’d rather work on other things.

My guess is that it will never come up for a vote in the full legislature (it gets withdrawn or tabled or dies in committee).  I'd like to think, although this could be overly optimistic, that there are enough pragmatic legislators to not risk the business backlash from passing such a bill.  Among other things, the NCAA basketball Final Four is in Atlanta next year, and the NCAA's past actions with the Carolinas have demonstrated that they're willing to put pressure on a state.

[QAnonKelly]

The legislature introduced another one of those dumbass religious liberty bills this week. Wonder what Kemp will do. FWIW Ralston says he’d rather work on other things.

My guess is that it will never come up for a vote in the full legislature (it gets withdrawn or tabled or dies in committee).  I'd like to think, although this could be overly optimistic, that there are enough pragmatic legislators to not risk the business backlash from passing such a bill.  Among other things, the NCAA basketball Final Four is in Atlanta next year, and the NCAA's past actions with the Carolinas have demonstrated that they're willing to put pressure on a state.

Agreed. The house is fairly close now so even if it did come to a vote, it’d likely fail.

[lfromnj]

https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/georgia-legislators-pursue-redistricting-protect-their-seats/r6fm8ReoL3y9EpEwWXcf7J/


Redistricting bill to protect a D and R incumbent

[QAnonKelly]

Kemp and Raffensberger got sent wide ranging document requests by Elijah Cummings on behalf of the oversight committee today

[Adam Griffin]

https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/georgia-legislators-pursue-redistricting-protect-their-seats/r6fm8ReoL3y9EpEwWXcf7J/


Redistricting bill to protect a D and R incumbent

Looks like it got withdrawn after some public outcry. Apparently these 2 districts were redrawn in 2015 and this legislation would have reverted their boundaries to before the first tinkering. Surprising, given that the GOP could have just rammed it through regardless* (and obviously it was about them; McLeod's district isn't really in danger here).

*I'm pretty sure a simple majority is all that's needed? Could be wrong

[GeorgiaModerate]

On Tuesday, March 19, Gwinnett County will hold a referendum on joining MARTA, the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.  MARTA was initially conceived as including four counties (Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, and Gwinnett), but the initial 1971 referendum passed only in Fulton and DeKalb, so only those two counties received MARTA's bus and rail services.  Clayton subsequently voted to join in 2014.  If Gwinnett also votes to join, it would be a very significant development for public transportation in metro Atlanta.  Conventional wisdom seems to be that the referendum is slightly favored to pass, but by no means a sure thing.

Interestingly, both Stacey Abrams and Eric Erickson, who are about as far apart as you can get on the political spectrum, are supporting the referendum.

https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/stacey-abrams-and-eric-erickson-agree-something-marta-gwinnett/Rc79r9CpEmKbzTn3LsbgRI/