Georgia's Very Own Megathread!

[NewYorkExpress]

David Ralston calls for constitutional admendment to strip picking the Secretary of State from voters.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston on Thursday called for a constitutional amendment to allow state legislators to choose the Secretary of State — thereby taking away the responsibility from voters — in response to continued Republican unrest over President-elect Joe Biden's statewide victory over President Donald Trump in the November election.

Ralston, a Republican, said that legislators in the GOP-controlled Georgia General Assembly, which includes the state House of Representatives and Senate, would select the Secretary of State, who runs statewide elections, upon approval of the amendment.

However, voters would have to approve the constitutional amendment.

After Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, declined to participate in a state Senate hearing on the election, Ralston said that he was "shocked" and "disappointed" by the move, according to Atlanta's NBC affiliate 11 Alive.

[GALeftist]

Ballot was just accepted today, the tracking system seems a little worse than it was in the general though.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Ballot was just accepted today, the tracking system seems a little worse than it was in the general though.

Yes, they're slow to update.  I took mine to the dropbox on Thursday last week, and it didn't show up as "received" until this morning.  But it did show the correct receipt date of Dec. 10.

[Adam Griffin]

It's based on individual counties. Heavily-populated and/or Democratic counties seem to be dropping the ball in the runoff compared to the GE: in heavily-GOP turf, it took my ballot a total of 4 days via USPS mail (with it being mailed on a Thursday and marked received/accepted on a Monday).

More often than not, it's the satellite D counties that are terrible at day-to-day electoral bureaucracy. Notorious multi-cycle offenders include Muscogee, Bibb, Dougherty and Chatham (and of course Fulton is usually a mess as well).

[Biden his time]

Bumpity

[Bacon King]

so this poll is certainly something

https://winwithjmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Georgia-Senate-Runoff-Executive-Summary.pdf (pdf)

50 Ossoff to 43 Perdue
(becomes 53 Ossoff to 45 Perdue when undecideds are pushed)

53 Warnock to 44 Loeffler
(becomes 54 Warnock to 45 Loeffler when undecideds are pushed)

Brian Kemp
29 approve
57 disapprove

Brad Raffensperger
47 approve
35 disapprove

not sure if I believe it but JMC is really putting his reputation on the line here

most interesting thing in the crosstabs is the white vote

[Biden his time]

so this poll is certainly something

https://winwithjmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Georgia-Senate-Runoff-Executive-Summary.pdf (pdf)

50 Ossoff to 43 Perdue
(becomes 53 Ossoff to 45 Perdue when undecideds are pushed)

53 Warnock to 44 Loeffler
(becomes 54 Warnock to 45 Loeffler when undecideds are pushed)

Brian Kemp
29 approve
57 disapprove

Brad Raffensperger
47 approve
35 disapprove

not sure if I believe it but JMC is really putting his reputation on the line here

most interesting thing in the crosstabs is the white vote

How did this pollster do during the general election?

[tosk]

so this poll is certainly something

https://winwithjmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Georgia-Senate-Runoff-Executive-Summary.pdf (pdf)

50 Ossoff to 43 Perdue
(becomes 53 Ossoff to 45 Perdue when undecideds are pushed)

53 Warnock to 44 Loeffler
(becomes 54 Warnock to 45 Loeffler when undecideds are pushed)

Brian Kemp
29 approve
57 disapprove

Brad Raffensperger
47 approve
35 disapprove

not sure if I believe it but JMC is really putting his reputation on the line here

most interesting thing in the crosstabs is the white vote

How did this pollster do during the general election?

rated b/c by 538

[skbl17]

Speaking of David Ralston, he gave a press conference on January 7. He thanked outgoing Senators Perdue and Loeffler, and congratulated Sen.-elect Ossoff (despite Perdue not yet conceding,) Sen.-elect Warnock, and the reelected PSC chair Lauren (Bubba) McDonald.

On the topic of changing election rules, as some Republican lawmakers have proposed:

- He's against requiring an excuse to vote absentee, as some Republicans (including SoS Raffensperger) have called for. He notes that the GOP brought in no-excuse absentee voting themselves. He did note that the "security" of VBM ballots should match those of in-person votes, so I do think a photo ID requirement will be introduced, but he mentioned that it would take a lot to convince him to support eliminating the no-excuse absentee voting system. No mention of their proposals to eliminate drop boxes, ban the mailing of absentee ballot applications, and forbid the use of mobile voting sites by county election boards.

- On redistricting, he criticized recent Democratic proposals for independent commissions, bringing up that they never brought in a commission in the "145 years" they ran Georgia. Ralston remarks that SCOTUS upheld redistricting as a "political process", and that "there's nothing wrong with that".

- A special House "election integrity committee" will be appointed to "keep our elections open and accessible" and "ensure proper oversight and security of our elections process". However, he says that the focus is not on "looking back", but "looking forward", implying that the state House (at least) won't be preoccupied by election-related issues.

- The special committee will look into how special elections are conducted, including weighing the future of the jungle primary system (he supports abolishing jungle primaries). However, Ralston is skeptical of changing the "basic rules" of state elections, remarking that he is "very cautious" of changing the general runoff rules. Runoffs may live on.

- Significantly, Ralston is looking into the possibility of removing election oversight powers from the Secretary of State's office and moving it to a separate "Chief Elections Officer", mentioning that such an act wouldn't require a constitutional amendment. He's still supportive of but not "wedded" to his earlier proposal to make the SoS an appointed position (which would require an amendment, which would require buy-in from Dems and approval by voters).

- On a question regarding the creation of a joint committee on looking into some Republicans' election fraud allegations, Ralston's not keen on the idea, not wanting this to become a "political pandering" situation.

The new legislative session starts Monday.

[Virginiá]

Even when I agree with certain issues, like changing the Sec. of State position that Georgia Republicans have frequently abused (Kemp) for electoral gain, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Republicans rarely do this just out of a desire for good government. It's almost always a reaction to losing an election (or fearing a loss), where they start wringing their hands as they desperately try to think of some way to leverage their positions in government to cling to power.

[QAnonKelly]

Even when I agree with certain issues, like changing the Sec. of State position that Georgia Republicans have frequently abused (Kemp) for electoral gain, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Republicans rarely do this just out of a desire for good government. It's almost always a reaction to losing an election (or fearing a loss), where they start wringing their hands as they desperately try to think of some way to leverage their positions in government to cling to power.

Yeah, I don’t think the SoS should be an elected position either but it’s clearly in bad faith why they want to reform the office.

[libertpaulian]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1347604436563202049

Who would be a good candidate to run against Carr? 

Evans?  Carter?

[tosk]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1347604436563202049

Who would be a good candidate to run against Carr? 

Evans?  Carter?

if he comes out to denounce this and make amends he could be. statewide name id, successfully won, slightly outran top of the ticket.

[prag_prog]

imo people are overrating Abram's chances in 2022. Some of the GA runoff polls had net favorables data on various politicians and Abrams net favorables in GA were not that great. Her net favorables were 47/47. For comparison, Ossoff's were 47/46, Warnock was at 48/46 in the same poll. I think she can win but right now, I'd still rate that race as tossup or maybe even Kemp with slight edge. One thing re-Abrams I am definitely confident about though is her being able to juice up the base turnout.

[lfromnj]

imo people are overrating Abram's chances in 2022. Some of the GA runoff polls had net favorables data on various politicians and Abrams net favorables in GA were not that great. Her net favorables were 47/47. For comparison, Ossoff's were 47/46, Warnock was at 48/46 in the same poll. I think she can win but right now, I'd still rate that race as tossup or maybe even Kemp with slight edge. One thing re-Abrams I am definitely confident about though is her being able to juice up the base turnout.

Said net favorables aren't including the extra 100k African Americans who will be moving into Suburban Atlanta.(ok maybe a bit less due to COVID afteraffects slowdown)

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1348600545611837442

[Adam Griffin]

Simplistic, but not too much: a graph showing each gubernatorial and presidential margin since 2000 (with the odd-numbered years being an average of the two bookended elections; 2021 being an exception that uses the runoff numbers). It's a relatively tight grouping save for the zenith of the GOP/nadir of Democrats in 2004 and 2006. Clear inelastic trends since 2008 afoot.

[Real Texan Politics]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1348600545611837442

How much was the margin between the two of them last time?

[Roll Roons]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1348600545611837442

How much was the margin between the two of them last time?

Carr won by a little under 3.

[Adam Griffin]

How much was the margin between the two of them last time?

[Real Texan Politics]

How much was the margin between the two of them last time?

He won by 100,000 votes while Kemp only won by 55,000 votes in the same election. Maybe Carr might not be as toast as Kemp is? Seems more like tossup/tilt R for Carr while for Kemp vs Abrams rematch it's probably lean D.

My guess is a handful of Trump supporters either sit out the governor election or vote third party while simultaneously voting for Carr. Kemp could lose by 3 to Abrams but Carr still wins by like 1% or less.

And if Carr does win, it'll probably be the last time a republican wins the attorney general election for a long time.

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1353906565204504576

[Real Texan Politics]

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1353906565204504576

That or he's grooming Doug Collins to primary Kemp. Of course he won't endorse Kemp and there's no way he's endorsing Abrams either.

[NewYorkExpress]

State Representative David Clark banned from House Chamber after refusing a COVID test.

A Georgia state lawmaker said his refusal to take a Covid-19 test got him kicked out of the House chambers on Tuesday.

But Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said the lawmaker, Rep. David Clark, has repeatedly refused to follow House policy which states that all members and staff be tested for the coronavirus twice a week.

"The member in question had been advised numerous times about the requirements and had refused to be tested at any point during this session," Ralston's office said in a statement on Twitter.

"The member refused to leave of his/her own accord. As such, under the authority granted to the Speaker by House Rules, the member was escorted out of the Chamber by a member of the Georgia Department of Public Safety."

Clark, a Republican, said in an emailed statement Tuesday that he arrived at the chamber ready to follow the required protocols by wearing a mask, social distancing and having his temperature taken.

But "what I will not do is be forced to have a Covid test, or any unnecessary medical test, done without a basis for doing so," he said.

"The seat that I hold for District 98 is not my seat, but the people’s seat. I work for you, and I cannot in good conscience watch expensive tests that should be given to Georgia citizens who desperately need them be wasted for nothing more than political optics at the Capitol."

https://twitter.com/rahulbali/status/1354102643652759553

[Calthrina950]

State Representative David Clark banned from House Chamber after refusing a COVID test.

A Georgia state lawmaker said his refusal to take a Covid-19 test got him kicked out of the House chambers on Tuesday.

But Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said the lawmaker, Rep. David Clark, has repeatedly refused to follow House policy which states that all members and staff be tested for the coronavirus twice a week.

"The member in question had been advised numerous times about the requirements and had refused to be tested at any point during this session," Ralston's office said in a statement on Twitter.

"The member refused to leave of his/her own accord. As such, under the authority granted to the Speaker by House Rules, the member was escorted out of the Chamber by a member of the Georgia Department of Public Safety."

Clark, a Republican, said in an emailed statement Tuesday that he arrived at the chamber ready to follow the required protocols by wearing a mask, social distancing and having his temperature taken.

But "what I will not do is be forced to have a Covid test, or any unnecessary medical test, done without a basis for doing so," he said.

"The seat that I hold for District 98 is not my seat, but the people’s seat. I work for you, and I cannot in good conscience watch expensive tests that should be given to Georgia citizens who desperately need them be wasted for nothing more than political optics at the Capitol."

https://twitter.com/rahulbali/status/1354102643652759553

When seeing the name, I immediately thought of the former Sheriff of Milwaukee County who's been an outspoken "voice" on the right, if you want to describe him as such.