Alabama and Georgia settle long-running Chattahoochee river water lawsuit
On Tuesday, Governors Kay Ivey (R-Alabama) and Brian Kemp (R-Georgia) announced that they have reached an agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected to finally settle a lawsuit brought by Alabama while assuring both states’ citizens who live and work in the Mid- and Lower Chattahoochee River Basin of sufficient minimum water flows during times of drought. “This agreement is a win-win for our states, with neither side sacrificing what is important to them,” said Governor Kemp. “The Chattahoochee River is the lifeblood of southwest Georgia, and this proposal would give citizens and businesses certainty about the flow of water they need for business and leisure alike. Just as significant, adoption of this proposal would end the current issues related to water supply for metro Atlanta at Lake Lanier, which is crucial to the future of our State. As we put this chapter behind us, I’m thankful for the diligent efforts of Attorney General Chris Carr; my Executive Counsel David Dove; John Allen, Shelly Ellerhorst, and the entire team at KMCL Law; and so many others whose work has made our State proud.” “I agree with Governor Kemp that this is a win-win solution for both Alabama and Georgia,” said Governor Ivey. “Alabama and Georgia have a lot in common. But we have spent a lot of time — and a lot of money on attorney fees — fighting in court over water. This proposal is a big deal for Alabama as the Corps has never before set minimum water-flow objectives in the parts of the Chattahoochee that affect us. It would provide Alabama with long-term assurances that, in times of drought, our citizens will be protected, and our stakeholders will know how much water is coming their way.” Under the agreement, the Corps of Engineers will begin formally considering a first-of-its-kind proposal to operate its dams and reservoirs to achieve minimum water-flow objectives at Columbus, Georgia, and Columbia, Alabama, on the Chattahoochee River along the States’ border. The proposal also provides that the Corps would continue to maintain the necessary minimum elevation at Lake Seminole, located in southwest Georgia, approximately twenty miles southwest of Bainbridge. The parties hope the proposal will resolve litigation Alabama brought challenging the Corps’ operations in the region. This agreement will allow Georgia to make water-supply withdrawals near Atlanta. Although this specific case was filed in 2017, litigation between the parties over these issues has been in the courts since 1990. The Corps’ consideration of the proposal will be subject to a public comment period and environmental review that could last several months. If the Corps adopts the proposal, Alabama will dismiss its appeal following a one-year review period, and the litigation will end. If the Corps does not adopt the proposal, Alabama’s lawsuit will resume. This agreement represents a spirit of cooperation between the two Southern Republican Governors. The U.S. Supreme Court has found in favor of Georgia in a similar lawsuit that Florida brought against them. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Georgia lawmakers kick off special session to redraw districts
Georgia lawmakers kicked off a special session Wednesday to redraw congressional and state legislative maps. Following U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones’ ruling that maps state lawmakers previously approved violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, called the special session. Jones set a Dec. 8 deadline for lawmakers to redraw congressional and state legislative maps. “The reason we gather here again today, at additional taxpayer expense, is because when the General Assembly met in 2021, Republicans passed legislative and congressional maps that discriminated against minority voters,” state Sen. Harold Jones II, D-Augusta, said during a Wednesday morning news conference. Georgia Democrats have expressed concerns about proposed maps Republicans have released and have offered versions of maps they say comply with Jones’ order for lawmakers to consider. “I’m hoping that the judge is watching us and looking at our plan and knowing that it is the best plan,” state Sen. Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, said during a Wednesday morning news conference. “I would be over the moon if the judge could recommend the Senate Democratic Caucus plan.” On the eve of lawmakers’ return to the Gold Dome, the plaintiffs who sued Georgia over its congressional and state legislative district maps have voiced concerns about a proposed state Senate district map. In a letter to the Georgia House and Senate Reapportionment & Redistricting Committees, their lawyers outlined their legal concerns and gave legislators alternate state House and Senate maps they say comply with Jones’ Oct. 26 order. “In sum: the Committee Plan operates a shell game, in which Black voters in the vote dilution area identified by the Court gain no new opportunities, and districts that the Court specifically struck down remain intact,” the lawyers said in a letter to the committees. In his ruling, Jones indicated the remedy includes an additional majority-Black congressional district, two additional majority-Black state Senate districts, and five additional majority-Black state House districts. The proposed state House map that state Rep. Rob Leverett, R-Elberton, chairman of the House Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting, released would pit state Reps. Beth Camp, R-Concord, and David Knight, R-Griffin, against one another. “While we do not agree with the ruling and an appeal to a high court has been filed, the Georgia General Assembly must take action to comply with the deadline to complete the maps, or the maps will be drawn by the court,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. During a Senate Reapportionment & Redistricting Committee hearing, state Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, said the new maps had to comply with the Voting Rights Act, Jones’ order, and “traditional redistricting principles.” “We met with Senate members whose districts would be impacted on both sides of the aisle,” Hatchett said. “It was eye-opening to me. Every member that we met with had the same request: keep my district exactly the way it is — I like the way my district is drawn. “We have the judge’s order on one hand telling us we’ve got to redraw these and then members, on the other hand, saying keep my district the same,” Hatchett added. “So, it was a challenge, but in response to those conversations, in response to the judge’s order and our traditional principles, we believe we drew a map that affected as few districts as possible.” Among the first matters for state senators on Wednesday was passing Senate Resolution 4EX denouncing the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and voicing support for Israel and the Jewish people. In a release, Lt. Governor Burt Jones, a Republican, called on lawmakers to pass House Bill 30, which would define antisemitism and require state agencies to “consider antisemitism as evidence of discriminatory intent for any criminal or noncriminal law or policy.” Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Rosalynn Carter acclaimed by admirers for her pioneering advocacy for mental health, caregiving
John McCosh, Alabama Reflector November 20, 2023 This story was originally published on Georgia Recorder. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has died, according to the Carter Center, leaving a rich legacy of championing mental health and women’s rights. She will be buried at the ranch house in Plains she and former President Jimmy Carter built in 1961. She died Sunday just days after the family announced she had entered hospice at the home. Carter was 96. She was married for 77 years to Jimmy Carter, who is now 99 years old and entered hospice early this year. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Jimmy Carter said in a statement on the center’s website. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.” Tributes poured in from across the political spectrum Sunday, a testament to her broad popularity that transcended partisan politics and her enduring contributions to causes and charities that stoked her passion. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Sunday were at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, participating in a Friendsgiving dinner with service members and military families from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford. “Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship – through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss – we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter,” the president said in a statement. “She will always be in our hearts. On behalf of a grateful nation, we send our love to President Carter, the entire Carter family, and the countless people across our nation and the world whose lives are better, fuller, and brighter because of the life and legacy of Rosalynn Carter.’’ Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff said Georgia and the country are better places because of Carter’s contributions. “A former First Lady of Georgia and the United States, Rosalynn’s lifetime of work and her dedication for public service changed the lives of many,’’ Ossoff said. “Among her many accomplishments, Rosalynn Carter will be remembered for her compassionate nature and her passion for women’s rights, human rights, and mental health reform.’’ Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp paid tribute to her, recalling her service as Georgia’s first lady during Jimmy Carter’s term as governor starting in 1971. “A proud native Georgian, she had an indelible impact on our state and nation as a First Lady to both,” Kemp said in a statement. “Working alongside her husband, she championed mental health services and promoted the state she loved across the globe. President Carter and his family are in our prayers as the world reflects on First Lady Carter’s storied life and the nation mourns her passing.’’ Former President Donald Trump said on X that he and his wife, Melania joined in mourning Carter. “She was a devoted First Lady, a great humanitarian, a champion for mental health, and a beloved wife to her husband for 77 years, President Carter,” said Trump. Georgia GOP Congressman Rick Allen posted on the X social media platform: “Rosalynn was a beloved Georgian and dedicated her life to serving others. Our nation will miss her dearly, but her legacy will never be forgotten.” Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Carter “a saintly and revered public servant” and a leader “deeply driven by her profound faith, compassion and kindness.” Pelosi, a California Democrat, recalled how Carter, while her husband was serving as Georgia governor, was moved by the stories of Georgia families touched by mental illness and took up their cause, despite the stigma of the time. “Later, First Lady Carter served as honorary chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health: offering recommendations that became the foundation for decades of change, including in the landmark Mental Health Systems Act,” Pelosi said. “At the same time, First Lady Carter was a powerful champion of our nation’s tens of millions of family and professional caregivers.” The eldest of four children, Rosalynn was born at home in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927. One of her best childhood friends was Ruth Carter, Jimmy’s younger sister. Jimmy Carter’s mother, Lillian, was a nurse who treated Rosalynn’s father when he was ill with leukemia. Rosalynn enrolled at Georgia Southwestern College in 1945 after she graduated from Plains High School with honors. Jimmy Carter was home on leave from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis that fall when he asked her to go to a movie. By Christmas, he’d proposed to her, but she turned him down because things were moving too fast for her. He soon asked again, and the couple married at Plains Methodist Church on July 7, 1946, a month after Jimmy graduated from Annapolis. As Jimmy Carter climbed the Navy’s ranks, the couple started a family with sons John William arriving in 1947, James Earl III (“Chip”) in 1950, and Donnell Jeffrey in 1952. Daughter Amy was born in 1967. Carter was accepted into an elite nuclear submarine program, and the young family then moved to Schenectady, N.Y. But when his father fell ill, Jimmy left his commission and moved back to Plains to take care of the family’s peanut business. Rosalynn was an active campaigner during her husband’s political climb, beginning with his run for state senator in the early 1960s. By the time he was elected president in 1976, she vowed to step out of the traditional first lady role. Five weeks after Inauguration Day, the President’s Commission on Mental Health was established with Rosalynn serving as honorary chairperson. The Mental Health Systems Act, which called for more community centers and important changes in health insurance coverage, passed in 1980 at her urging. In 1982, the couple founded the Carter Center in Atlanta, with a mission to “wage peace, fight disease and build hope.” She later founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving at the school now known
Hyundai and LG will invest an additional $2B into making batteries at Georgia electric vehicle plant
Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution said Thursday they will spend an additional $2 billion and hire an extra 400 workers to make batteries at the automaker’s sprawling U.S. electrical vehicle plant that’s under construction in Georgia. The announcement by the South Korea-based companies — one a major automaker, the other a leading producer of lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles — expands on a partnership they launched three months ago to produce batteries at the same site west of Savannah, where Hyundai plans to start EV production in 2025. The news Thursday brings the companies’ total investment in the Georgia plant to more than $7.5 billion and the site’s overall planned workforce to 8,500. “This incremental investment in Bryan County reflects our continued commitment to create a more sustainable future powered by American workers,” José Muñoz, president and global chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor Company, said in a statement. Hyundai said in 2022 it would invest $5.5 billion to assemble electric vehicles and batteries on 2,900 acres (1,170 hectares) in the community of Ellabell. It’s not clear whether the additional investment and jobs announced Thursday mean the Hyundai/LG battery plant will produce more batteries. When the joint venture was first announced in May, the companies said they would supply batteries for 300,000 EVs per year — equal to the initial projected production of the adjoining vehicle assembly plant. Hyundai has said the Georgia plant could later expand to build 500,000 vehicles annually. Landing Hyundai’s first U.S. plant dedicated to EV manufacturing was hailed as the largest economic development project in Georgia’s history when it was first announced last year. Since then, suppliers have pledged to invest nearly $2.2 billion and to hire 5,000 people. “Today, we’re building on that success as we continue to make Georgia the e-mobility capital of the nation,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement hailing Hyundai and LG’s additional investment in the plant. Georgia and local governments will kick in additional incentives, said Jessica Atwell, a spokesperson for the state Department of Economic Development. However, she said those won’t be disclosed until next week after documents are finalized. State and local governments have already pledged $1.8 billion in tax breaks and other perks. The new investment will allow more tax breaks that the company can claim by law, like another $10 million in state income tax credits at $5,250 per job over five years. Atwell said state and local governments could also end up spending more on discretionary incentives like infrastructure aid and equipment subsidies. The Hyundai package has already been described as the largest subsidy package a U.S. state has ever promised an automotive plant. That is according to Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a group skeptical of subsidies to private companies. The announcements are part of an electric vehicle and battery land rush across the United States. Under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, EVs must be assembled in North America, and a certain percentage of their battery parts and minerals must come from North America or a U.S. free trade partner to qualify for a full $7,500 EV tax credit. Currently, no Hyundai or Kia vehicles are eligible for the tax credit unless they are leased. Hyundai opposed having foreign-made vehicles excluded, in part because it is building American factories. Hyundai will need batteries for more than just vehicles made in Ellabell. The company is already assembling electric vehicles at its plant in Montgomery, Alabama, and announced in April it would start assembling its electric Kia EV9 large SUV at the Kia plant in West Point, Georgia. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Republican governors ask Biden administration to rescind Title IX guidance
Twenty-five of the nation’s 26 Republican governors have asked the Biden administration to shelve its intent to expand Title IX protections to transgender athletes. The letter, led by the signature of Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, says the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed regulation should be withdrawn pending litigation that could be addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court. “The Department’s proposed regulation would attempt to coerce compliance with an uncertain, fluid, and completely subjective standard that is based on a highly politicized gender ideology,” the letter reads. The letter comes as the public comment period ends Monday on a proposed revision to Title IX that would ban state and local governments from prohibiting transgender students from participating on sports teams aligned with their gender identity. Title IX was created to increase opportunities for female athletes. Federal funds can be withheld from those found to be in violation. The law, which was passed in 1972, prohibits discrimination based on sex for school districts, universities, museums, and other educational institutions that receive federal funds. “Compelling a subjective, athlete-by-athlete analysis controlled by a student’s self-identified ‘gender identity’ enforced under threat of Department retribution affords no clarity,” the letter reads. “It does the opposite. This ‘fluid’ subjective standard ensures chaos and confusion in schools and will no doubt result in protracted and disruptive litigation.” Twenty-one states prohibit transgender students from participating on sports teams that do not align with their biological sex at birth, according to the Movement Advancement Project that tracks state policies. The letter was signed by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon. The signature of Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott is not on the letter. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Failing at polls, election deniers focus on state GOP posts
In a basement event space in the Denver suburb of Parker, Tina Peters surveyed a crowd of Colorado Republicans last week and made an unusual pitch for why she should become chair of their beleaguered party: “There’s no way a jury of 12 people is going to put me in prison.” Peters was referring to her upcoming trial on seven felony charges related to her role in allegedly accessing confidential voting machine data while she was clerk in western Colorado’s Mesa County. The incident made her a hero to election conspiracy theorists but unpopular with all but her party’s hardest-core voters. Peters, who condemns the charges as politically motivated, finished second in last year’s GOP primary for secretary of state, Colorado’s top elections position. Now Peters has become part of a wave of election deniers who, unable to succeed at the polls, have targeted the one post—state party chair — that depends entirely on those hardest-core Republicans. Embracing election conspiracy theories was a political albatross for Republicans in states that weren’t completely red last year, with deniers losing every statewide bid in the swing states of Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. But the movement has focused on GOP state party chairs — positions that usually are selected by only dedicated activists and have the power to influence the party’s presidential nominating contest and some aspects of election operations, such as recruiting poll watchers. “The rise of this dangerous ideology nationwide and the rise within party machinery are ominous,” said Norm Eisen, a prominent Washington lawyer and former ambassador who is executive chair of States United Democracy Center, which tracks election deniers. “It’s an outrageous phenomenon.” Kristina Karamo, a former community college instructor who lost her bid last fall to become Michigan’s secretary of state by 14 percentage points, won the chair of the Michigan Republican Party a week ago. She beat a fellow election denier, failed attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno. In Kansas, Mike Brown, a conspiracy theorist who lost his primary bid for secretary of state, was named chair of the state party. Peters is just one of multiple candidates for the Colorado position who have repeated former President Donald Trump’s lies that President Joe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election. “We can’t just say, ‘Oh, it’s time to get over 2020 and be done with that,’” said Aaron Wood, a self-described Christian conservative father also running for Colorado GOP chair, who organized a slate of candidates to take over the party’s top posts. “Until I have 100% confidence that the election has integrity, I will not be done with that.” The wave of election deniers follows a push by Trump during his administration to stock the roster of party chairs with loyalists, several of whom supported his attempt to overturn the 2020 election and remain in the White House. Of those, Kelli Ward, the chair of the Arizona GOP, did not run again and was replaced by another Trump loyalist, former state Treasurer Jeff DeWitt. In Georgia, chairman David Shafer has announced he won’t seek another term this June amid scrutiny over whether he could be indicted for efforts to help Trump overturn the 2020 election. As in most states, the new Georgia party head will be selected by leaders of local county parties. Many of those are Trump loyalists who also backed Shafer’s bid to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in the state. But Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who defied Trump’s request and easily beat a primary challenger last year backed by Shafer, has marginalized the state party, creating a parallel structure to raise money and turn out voters. That’s an example of how the once powerful post of state party chair has changed. “It used to be adjacent to public service, to be the state party chair, and now it’s something where you get to dunk on Democrats on Twitter,” said Robert Jones, a Republican pollster in Idaho. In that state, Dorothy Moon, an election denier and former state representative who made an unsuccessful primary run for secretary of state, became the Idaho GOP chair last year. Still, Eisen noted that state parties have important roles in appointing poll workers and poll watchers in many states. A perennial fear has been that conspiracists could fill those positions and disrupt elections, though that did not happen in 2022 despite a prominent conservative effort to find more poll watchers. “Maybe the Karamos and the Browns and the Moons will implode,” Eisen said. “There is a kind of incompetence that goes with this ideology. But it’s a concerning trend given the power these state parties have.” Parties also have a major role in structuring their primaries. In Michigan, the party apparatus that Karamo now leads has the power to move its nominating contest to a closed convention, where activists select the winner. “Donald Trump would love there to be a convention for Michigan’s delegates,” Jason Roe, the former executive director of the state party, said in an interview. Ironically, Trump had endorsed DePerno, a lawyer who unsuccessfully sued to force a new count in 2020. Instead, Karamo, whom the former president had supported in her secretary-of-state race, won. She has described abortion as “child sacrifice” and Democrats as having a “Satanic agenda.” Last week, on the podcast of Trump adviser Steve Bannon last week, Karamo said Michigan was “ground zero for the globalist takeover of the United States of America.” In Colorado, many Republican strategists say they are prepared for Peters or another election denier to win the party chair position next month. “People seem almost resigned that the party is going to fall into the hands of this crowd for the next two years,” said Sage Naumann, one of the operatives, who said usually a chair’s impact on elections is “neutral,” but that could change. “If they’re constantly making controversial statements, then they can be detrimental,” Naumann said. The insurgent candidates running for Colorado’s chair argue things can’t get worse for the GOP in the state. Republicans lost every statewide race by double digits in November and have their smallest share of seats in the Legislature in state history. The candidates
25 GOP governors ask Biden administration to hit pause on broader clean water rule
Twenty-five Republican governors oppose a revised federal rule regulating U.S. waterways, citing uncertainty from an undecided U.S. Supreme Court case related to the rule. The governors sent a letter to the Biden administration on Monday asking it to delay the implementation of the revised Waters of the United States rule since the U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering Sackett v. EPA. The revised WOTUS rule, released on Dec. 30, reinstates pre-2015 water protections under the federal Clean Water Act. The rule was scaled back under the Trump administration, which triggered lawsuits from environmental groups. “The substance of the rule hinders State governments as we seek to give clarity and consistency to businesses, farms, and individuals regarding the regulatory framework for water,” the 25 GOP governors wrote. “The broad definitions used in the 514- page document only add to the confusing and complicated history of WOTUS. In fact, it appears that the EPA is seeking to regulate private ponds, ditches, and other small water features.” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in December the revised rule applies to “traditional navigable waters, the territorial seas, interstate waters, as well as upstream water resources that significantly affect those waters.” “When Congress passed the Clean Water Act 50 years ago, it recognized that protecting our waters is essential to ensuring healthy communities and a thriving economy,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Following extensive stakeholder engagement, and building on what we’ve learned from previous rules, EPA is working to deliver a durable definition of WOTUS that safeguards our nation’s waters, strengthens economic opportunity, and protects people’s health while providing greater certainty for farmers, ranchers, and landowners.” The governors also questioned the timing of the new rule, given ongoing inflation. “Another burdensome and overbroad regulation from the federal government could not come at a worse time for America,” they wrote. “Having already squandered much of America’s energy independence, you should not increase costs for consumers by tying up energy production with even more red tape.” Environmental groups praised the Biden administration’s revised WOTUS rule. “This comes at a time when we’re seeing unprecedented attacks on federal clean water protections by polluters and their allies,” Jon Devine, director of federal water policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement last month. “While the nation still has significant work to do to fully protect important waters, it’s encouraging to see the country taking a step in the right direction to protect the waters we need for everyone’s health and the environment.” The letter was signed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Georgia grand jury ends probe of Donald Trump, 2020 election
The special grand jury in Atlanta investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has finished its work, bringing the case closer to possible criminal charges against Trump and others. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the panel, issued a two-page order Monday dissolving the special grand jury, saying it had completed its work and submitted a final report. The lengthy investigation has been one of several around the country that threaten legal peril for Trump as he mounts a third bid for the White House. The decision on whether to seek an indictment from a regular grand jury will be up to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said the office had no comment on the completion of the panel’s work. McBurney wrote in his order that the special grand jury recommended that its report be made public. He scheduled a hearing for January 24 to determine whether all or part of the report should be released and said the district attorney’s office and news outlets would be given an opportunity to make arguments at that hearing. Since June, the special grand jury has heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including numerous close Trump associates such as the former New York mayor and Trump attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Assorted high-ranking Georgia officials have also testified, among them Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Last month, the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection asserted in its final report that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. The report concluded an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent attack. Special grand juries in Georgia cannot issue indictments but instead can issue a final report recommending actions to be taken. Willis opened the investigation in early 2021, shortly after a recording surfaced of a January 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Raffensperger. During that call, the president suggested the state’s top elections official could “find” the votes needed to overturn his loss in the state. “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump had said. “Because we won the state.” Since then, it has become clear that Willis has been focusing on several different areas: phone calls made to Georgia officials by Trump and his allies; false statements made by Trump associates before Georgia legislative committees; a panel of 16 Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors; the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta in January 2021; alleged attempts to pressure a Fulton County election worker; and a breach of election equipment in a rural south Georgia county. Lawyers for Giuliani confirmed in August that prosecutors told them he could possibly face criminal charges in the case. The 16 Republican fake electors have also been told they are targets of the investigation, according to public court filings. It is possible that others have also been notified they are targets of the investigation. Trump and his allies have consistently denied any wrongdoing, with the former president repeatedly describing his call with Raffensperger as “perfect” and dismissing Willis’ investigation as a “strictly political Witch Hunt!” Willis took the unusual step in January 2022 of requesting that a special grand jury be seated to aid the investigation. She noted that a special grand jury would have subpoena power which would help compel testimony from witnesses who were otherwise unwilling to participate in the investigation. In a letter asking the court to impanel the special grand jury, Willis wrote that her office had received information indicating a “reasonable probability” that Georgia’s 2020 election, including the presidential race, “was subject to possible criminal disruptions.” Her request was granted, and the special grand jury was seated in May. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Raphael Warnock defeats Herschel Walker in Georgia Senate race
In a highly watched and competitive race for U.S. Senate in Georgia, Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican retired football player Herschel Walker. The re-election of Warnock means that every incumbent Senator who ran in 2022 was re-elected. Democrats increased their majority in the Senate from 50 to 50, with the Vice President breaking the tie in favor of Democrats to a 51 to 49 Democratic edge. These numbers include two independents who caucus with the Democrats. Democrats picked up an open Senate seat in Pennsylvania, where incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey did not run for re-election in part due to a public feud with former President Donald Trump. With 98.67% of the vote in, Warnock had 1,817,465 votes (51.38% of the vote), and Herschel Walker had 1,719,868 votes (48.62% of the vote). Republicans did generally well in Georgia in statewide races. Still, the power of incumbency combined with a very negative campaign with many personal attacks was too much for Walker to overcome. In the Governor’s race last month, Republican incumbent Brian Kemp had 2,110,328 votes (53.43%) to Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams’ 1,811,471 (45.86%). Warnock, when all the final votes eventually come in, will beat Abrams’s totals by just a few thousand votes; but Walker, however, is trailing Kemp by nearly 400,000 votes. Walker’s underperformance compared to other high-profile Republicans on the statewide ballot in Georgia can be partially attributed to the many allegations levied against Walker. These include questions about his residency (he has a home in Dallas) and allegations that he (a pro-life candidate) paid for a former girlfriend’s abortion. There were additional allegations by a former girlfriend that he abused her, and many of his children claimed he was not a good father. There were also concerns that he lacked the political experience and intellect to serve effectively in the Senate. Democrats also outspent Republicans in Georgia, particularly in the last month of the race. Warnock, the Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, had his own allegations, including that he tried to run over his ex-wife (he did run over her foot), as well as questions about how a pastor can be pro-abortion, but Warnock ultimately prevailed. This is the second time in two years that Warnock has won a closely contested U.S. Senate race in Georgia. Warnock beat incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the 2020 Senate race. The race has implications for the 2024 Presidential election. Former President Trump is a close friend of Walker’s. Walker played for him at the failed USFL’s New Jersey Generals in the 1980s and was Trump’s endorsed candidate in the Republican primary. Trump held several rallies in Georgia before the general election for Walker, while former President Barack Obama campaigned for Warnock. President Joe Biden avoided campaigning heavily in Georgia as there were concerns that a heavy Biden presence might get out the vote for Republicans, who otherwise did not enthusiastically embrace Walker. Trump also alienated many Georgia Republicans by endorsing Kemp’s primary opponent. The Alabama Republican Party was heavily involved in the Georgia Senate race, with the Mighty Alabama Strike Force making several trips to Georgia to campaign for Walker. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Georgia runoff: Early voting for Warnock-Walker round 2
In-person early voting for the last U.S. Senate seat is underway statewide in Georgia’s runoff, with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock working to get the jump on Republican challenger Herschel Walker, who is putting less emphasis on advance balloting. After winning a state lawsuit to allow Saturday voting after Thanksgiving, Warnock spent the weekend urging his supporters not to wait until the December 6 runoff. Trying to leverage his role as pastor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s church and Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator, Warnock concentrated his efforts Sunday among Black communities in metro Atlanta. “What we are doing right now is soul work,” Warnock said at Liberty International Church southwest of downtown, where he rallied supporters before leading a march to a nearby early voting site where he cast his ballot. “We are engaged in a political exercise,” Warnock continued, “but this is moral and spiritual work, and for us, that has always been based on the foundation of the church.” Walker, in contrast, did not hold public events over the long Thanksgiving weekend, and he has not emphasized early voting in his runoff campaign appearances, even as the Republican Party and its aligned PACs attempt to drive voter turnout after Walker underperformed other Georgia Republicans in the general election. Walker finished the first round with about 200,000 fewer votes than Gov. Brian Kemp, who easily won a second term. Walker resumes his campaign Monday with stops in small-town Toccoa and suburban Cumming. Early in-person voting continues through Friday. Runoff Election Day is Tuesday of next week. Warnock led Walker by about 37,000 votes out of about 4 million cast in the general election but fell short of the majority required under Georgia law, triggering a four-week runoff blitz. Warnock first won the seat as part of concurrent Senate runoffs on January 5, 2021, when he and Sen. Jon Ossoff prevailed over Republican incumbents to give Democrats narrow control of the Senate for the start of President Joe Biden’s tenure. Warnock won a special election and now is seeking a full six-year term. This time, Senate control is not in play, with Democrats already having secured 50 seats to go with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote. That puts pressure on both Warnock and Walker to convince Georgia voters that it’s worth their time to cast a second ballot, even if the national stakes aren’t as high. As of late Sunday, almost 200,000 ballots had been cast in the relative handful of counties that opted to have weekend voting. That total was built on long lines in several heavily Democratic counties of metro Atlanta, enough to give Democrats confidence that their core supporters remain excited to vote for Warnock. But the total remains a small fraction of the nearly 2.3 million early in-person voters ahead of the November 8 general election. And Democrats remain cautious given that the early voting window is much shorter than two years ago when the second round spanned two months between the general election and runoff. Voting on Saturday was allowed only because Warnock and Democrats sued amid a dispute with the Republican secretary of state over whether Saturday voting could occur on a holiday weekend. The senator followed up with a parade of Black leaders for weekend rallies and a march reminiscent of voting rights demonstrations during the civil rights movement. “We have one vote here that can change the world,” Andrew Young, a former Atlanta mayor and onetime aide to King, implored Black voters on Sunday. Rising from his wheelchair to speak, the 90-year-old former congressman and U.N. ambassador reminded the assembly of the congressional compromise that ended post-Civil War Reconstruction and paved the way for Jim Crow segregation across the South. “One vote at the end of the Civil War pulled all of the Union troops out of the South and lost us the rights we had fought for in the war and that people had fought for us,” he said, starting “a struggle that we have been in ever since.” Warnock was shifting to a suburban focus late Monday with an evening concert headlined by the Dave Matthews Band. Walker, for his part, has drawn enthusiastic crowds in the early weeks of the runoff, as well, and his campaign aides remain confident that he has no problem among core Republicans. His challenge comes with the middle of the Georgia electorate, a gap highlighted by his shortfall compared to Kemp. “I feel Herschel Walker benefited by having Brian Kemp in the original election on Nov. 8, and I think Kemp not being there will hurt the Republicans a little bit,” said Alpharetta resident Marcelo Salvatierra, who voted for Republican Kemp and Democrat Warnock and still supports the senator in the runoff. Salvatierra said he backed Kemp’s re-election “because it seems to me Georgia has done well.” But Republicans at the federal level, he said, never offered a serious counter to Democratic control of Washington, while Walker also comes with considerable personal baggage. “Character matters, and I sense he doesn’t have character,” Salvatierra said. Warnock has encouraged that sentiment among core Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans. For months, he’s said Walker, a former football star making his first bid for public office, was “not ready” for the Senate. In recent weeks, he’s ratcheted up the attack to say Walker is “not fit,” highlighting the challenger’s falsehoods about his accomplishments in the private sector, along with allegations of violence against women and accusations by two women that Walker encouraged and paid for their abortions. Walker, who backs a national ban on abortions without exceptions, denies that he ever paid for any abortions. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Hyundai announces new Georgia plant’s $1B parts supplier
South Korean automaker Hyundai has announced a second large supplier for its new electric car plant on the Georgia coast. Hyundai Mobis plans to invest nearly $1 billion in a new facility in Bryan County that could employ around 1,500 workers, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a news release. The plant in Richmond Hill will make powertrains for Hyundai’s electric vehicles manufactured at its new plant scheduled to open in 2025 about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Savannah, as well as components for a Kia plant in West Point and another Hyundai plant in Montgomery, Alabama, officials said. Earlier this month, the governor announced that Joon Georgia would invest $317 million and hire 630 workers for a Hyundai parts plant in Statesboro. “When we celebrated the groundbreaking of Hyundai’s new electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in Bryan County, we knew it would unleash transformational job creation and investment in that entire region of our state,” Kemp said in a statement this week. In October, Kemp was in Bryan County for a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hyundai plant, which the company projects will make up to 300,000 vehicles a year. Georgia officials say it’s the largest economic development project the state has ever seen. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
U.S. Senate is focus of politicos across the country
In Alabama, with hours left in the 2022 election cycle, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Katie Britt, appears to be a prohibitive favorite over Democratic nominee Dr. Will Boyd and Libertarian nominee John Sophocleus for the open U.S. Senate seat, currently held by the retiring Richard Shelby. Nationally, though, there is intense speculation over what could happen on election day on Tuesday and which party will control the next Congress. Polling shows Republicans with growing momentum, and it appears almost a certainty that the GOP will take control of the U.S. House of Representatives after four years of Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, and it does not appear to even be close. Real Clear Politics does not see any of Alabama’s Seven Congressional Districts as even being in play in this election. With the House effectively lost to them, Democrats have focused their efforts on maintaining their narrow control of the U.S. Senate, which for the past two years has been tied 50 to 50; but Vice President Kamala Harris gives the Democrats control of the body. Democrats had staked their hopes on the Select Committee on January 6, and the abortion issue to energize their base. That has not happened. Instead, Republicans are running on inflation, crime, the border, and economic issues, and that strategy appears to be playing well with voters. It is too close to call who will control the Senate before the votes are counted, but clearly, the trend has been moving in favor of the GOP in the last three weeks. The best opportunity for a Republican pickup appears to be Nevada. There, the Republican challenger, former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, is leading Democratic incumbent Sen. Catharine Masto in recent polling. The latest Real Clear Politics rolling poll average has Laxalt leading Masto by 1.9 points. The best opportunity for a Democratic pickup appears to be Pennsylvania, where Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey is retiring even though he is only 60 years old. Toomey’s controversial vote in 2021 to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting the January 6 insurrection made his ability to win a Republican primary unlikely. Democratic lieutenant Governor John Fetterman had appeared to have an insurmountable lead over Republican nominee television host Dr. Mehmet Oz, but that lead has evaporated. The race is now a tossup, but Oz has the momentum after clearly besting Fetterman in the debate. Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden are both campaigning hard for Fetterman, and Trump is campaigning for Oz. Both parties recognize that there is little chance of the Democrats holding on to the Senate if Pennsylvania falls to the GOP. Georgia is a tossup between Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and college football star Republican challenger Hershel Walker, but Walker clearly has the momentum in this race. Due to Georgia’s election rules, however, this race will likely go to a December runoff. Warnock is being dragged down in the general election by the terrible performance of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Brian Kemp is sure to best Abrams on Tuesday. If Walker faces Warnock again on December 6, however, will those Kemp voters come out to help the Republicans lift Walker over Warnock? The trifecta of Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Georgia likely decide the Senate, but there are other races where Democratic incumbents are fighting for their political lives. In New Hampshire, Democratic incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan is leading Republican challenger Dan Bolduc, but this race is much closer at this point than politicos expected this summer. If there really is a Republican “red wave” where GOP voters come out to the polls on Tuesday with more enthusiasm than Democrats, then the Granite state could easily swing to the GOP. According to the latest Real Clear Politics rolling poll average, Hassan has a lead of just .8 – well inside the margin of error and trending in the wrong direction for Hassan. Another state where a “red wave” could unseat a Democratic incumbent is Arizona. This summer, it appeared that incumbent former astronaut and the husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Sen. Mark Kelly, would win easy reelection by more than ten points. Now this race is much closer than even the most enthusiastic GOP supporters thought possible. Republican nominee Blake Masters has won over a lot of voters. If the GOP candidate for Governor wins and wins big, Arizona could be a surprise U.S. Senate pickup for the GOP. This race has been a tie in two of the last 5 polls, with Kelly’s best performance being plus three in a Marist poll. Both Remington and Fox News have Kelly leading by just one point. If Republicans flip Arizona, there is little likelihood of the Democrats holding on to the Senate. In the summer, the Democrats believed that Republican incumbent Ron Johnson in Wisconsin was very vulnerable. Those hopes are fading fast as Johnson is surging in the polls over Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Senate colleague Bernie Sanders is on the ground campaigning for Barnes this weekend. Johnson leads Barnes by 3.2 points in the most recent Real Clear Politics rolling average. If there is no GOP wave, this could be closer than the polls indicate, and a Barnes upset win is still not outside the realm of possibility. In Washington state, even Republicans were expecting incumbent Sen. Patty Murray to coast to another easy re-election. That race is now much closer than anyone had previously thought possible. Republican challenger Tiffany Smiley has pushed Murray far harder than anyone could have anticipated in this blue state. Murray was consistently polling nine points or more in September, but recent polling has shown her lead shrink to just 1 to 4 points. The Real Clear Politics still has Murray up by 3.0 points in their most recent polling average, but that has dropped from 9 points just four weeks ago. This would still be an unlikely pickup for Republicans in a state that Biden won by 19.2 points just two years ago. That said, a Smiley victory is now within the margin of error in some recent polling. Murray holding on to her seat remains the most likely outcome, but that is now far from certain. In North Carolina, Republican incumbent Sen. Richard Burr is retiring. This seemed to be an opportunity for Democrats to flip this red seat blue, and Civitas/Cygnal had the race between Republican Ted Budd and Democratic nominee Cheri Beasley tied as recently as September 26, but Budd appears to
