Donald Trump’s cabinet pick has history of stirring things up in Georgia

Today’s newsletter highlights include:

Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff teams up with another influential Republican.
Commissioner floats raises for Georgia’s correctional officers.
Republicans win a majority in Congress.

President-elect Donald Trump has made a spree of provocative picks for Cabinet posts. But his selection of a Florida congressman facing serious ethics charges to lead the Justice Department adds a chaos agent with a penchant for picking fights in Georgia into the mix.

Matt Gaetz, who resigned from the U.S. House on Wednesday, was such an outspoken critic of Gov. Brian Kemp’s 2019 decision to tap Kelly Loeffler over then-U.S. Rep. Doug Collins to an open U.S. Senate seat that a social media spat ensued.

Kemp’s top advisers mocked Gaetz for wearing “tight, acid-washed jean shorts” — a favorite Georgia jab at Florida football fans — and accused him of having “Stacey Abrams syndrome.”

Gaetz berated Kemp because he thought Collins was the more proven conservative.

Credit: AJC

Credit: AJC

“It’s not the establishment you are screwing with your donor-induced stubbornness. You are hurting President Trump. You know this because he told you,” Gaetz tweeted at the time.

He went on to suggest the newly-elected governor needed a primary challenge in 2022. “Let’s see if you can win one w/o Trump,” he wrote.

Spoiler alert: Kemp won.

Gaetz counts many MAGA allies in Georgia, too. Foremost among them is U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Rome. The two embarked on an “America First” tour in 2021 with pro-Trump rallies around the nation.

On Wednesday, Greene praised Gaetz’s appointment as “a total repudiation of four years of tyranny by a government entity run amok.”

Democrats were horrified. State Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, noted Gaetz has been the focus of a federal probe into allegations of sex trafficking that didn’t yield criminal charges. That investigation effectively ended with Gaetz’s resignation from Congress.

“Who’s next?” he asked about Trump’s appointments. “Greene?”

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Credit: Courtesy photos

GOOD MORNING! Did you know the 2024 election isn’t over? It’s true. Voters in Atlanta will head to the polls again (we hope) in about three weeks to choose a City Council seat in a runoff race.

The AJC’s Riley Bunch has the details in her “Inside City Hall” column. It’s a good time to run for office in Atlanta, as City Council members are in line for a possible $49,000(!) raise.

Here are some other things to know today:

AJC political columnist Patricia Murphy writes about how podcaster Joe Rogan became the Walter Cronkite of 2024.
Republican U.S. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota will be the next Senate majority leader, despite his somewhat rocky relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump’s pick of Fox News host and military veteran Pete Hegseth to be the next defense secretary stunned the Pentagon because of his inexperience compared to some other potential candidates.

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Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

BIPARTISAN. Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is again cozying up to an influential Republican to co-sponsor legislation as he prepares for a tough fight for a second term.

This time it’s Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican who could be the next secretary of state under President-elect Donald Trump.

The pair on Wednesday announced they were backing a bipartisan bill aimed at making it a little easier for veterans to apply for home loans.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed a law co-sponsored by Ossoff and Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. And Ossoff has teamed up multiple times with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who was in the mix to be the next Senate Majority Leader before losing out to South Dakota Sen. John Thune on Wednesday.

Like Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock did through his 2022 campaign, Ossoff is trying to reinforce that he can work with Republicans. Expect that to be a key argument in 2026 when he runs for reelection in a state that just handed Trump a convincing victory.

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Credit: Ryon Horne/AJC

TOUGH JOB. Would you work behind the walls of a state prison? It’s a 12-hour shift with some dangerous people. You have to leave your cell phone at the door. And you can often make more money working from home.

It’s why many people who start the job often quit within two years. And it’s also why Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget proposal next year could include pay raises for correctional officers, Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver told lawmakers on Wednesday.

“Definitely salary increases are on the table,” Oliver said. “I don’t have any hard numbers, but I’m sure you all will be presented with that.”

This is more than just a nice gesture. A federal prosecutor last month presented a bleak picture of life inside Georgia’s prisons, saying inmates are “assaulted, stabbed, raped and killed or left to languish inside facilities that are woefully understaffed.” The federal government demanded a dramatic increase in staffing following a scathing audit.

Starting salaries for correctional officers in Georgia have increased from $31,000 to $44,000 during Kemp’s tenure, which the Governor’s Office said is the largest ever pay increase in a six-year period in state history.

Still, that salary is on the low end compared to Georgia’s other public safety jobs, lagging behind game wardens and state troopers. Starting salaries for medium security prisons in Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee are all higher, although some not by much.

While Georgia’s revenues have been declining recently, the state still has a surplus of more than $11 billion.

“Budget requests for the amended and upcoming fiscal year remain under review,” Kemp spokesman Garrison Douglas said.

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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

ALL IN THE FAMILY. Hall County voters have swapped one Echols for another in the state Senate.

State Sen. Shelly Echols, R-Gainesville, decided to retire earlier this year to spend more time with her son, Cohen, a high schooler with Down syndrome. But she won’t have to go far to find her new senator, as voters chose her husband, Drew Echols, to replace her.

“I couldn’t be mom, so I thought I could be a pretty good senator,” Drew Echols said.

Echols will be one of 22 new lawmakers in the General Assembly next year. He’s a fifth-generation farmer, growing peaches, pumpkins and strawberries at the legendary Jaemor Farms in Alto. While his farm had little damage from the hurricanes that battered Georgia this year, he said he wants to try to make whole those who did lose their harvests.

Credit: Matt Kempner/AJC

One idea floated by legislative leaders is to repeal the gratuities clause in the state Constitution, which prevents the Legislature from giving money to farmers without being repaid.

Echols said he might be interested in exploring that, but it would depend on how the proposal is crafted. He said he didn’t think farmers were interested in government handouts, but said it might be worth exploring how to exempt them from the gratuities clause in times of disaster.

“I might be interested in that,” he said. “I don’t know much about being a legislator, but I know don’t back yourself into a corner.”

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

SPOT CHECK. Lots of things deserve kickoffs. Football games, obviously. Concert tours. Even presidential campaigns.

But a risk-limiting audit? That sounds like an event only an accountant could love. And yet, today at 10 a.m. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will host a kickoff event at the state Capitol for a risk-limiting audit of the presidential election.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

These audits are not new. Georgia is one of five states that requires this kind of audit by law. But they’ve gotten a lot more attention in recent years after false claims of fraudulent elections. The audit checks a random sample of ballots to make sure everything is up to snuff.

At today’s kickoff event, rolls of twenty 10-sided dice will randomly select the batches of ballots to audit. Anyone who shows up could be selected to roll the dice. It’s a dream come true for election nerds everywhere.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, talks about Georgians who could join President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Then, state Rep. Teri Anulewicz, D-Smyrna, talks about what she thinks Democrats got right and wrong in 2024.

Be sure to download the AJC’s Politically Georgia podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes are uploaded by noon each day, just in time to have lunch with us. You can also listen live at 10 a.m. EDT on 90.1 FM WABE. Have a question for the show? Give us a call at 770-810-5297.

On Wednesday’s show, lawyer Chuck Kuck talked about what immigration policy will look like under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Then, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux discussed how the party must move beyond identity politics. And Hillary Holley, executive director of domestic worker advocacy group Care in Action, spoke about how organizers are regrouping.

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Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

TRIFECTA. Republicans have officially won 218 U.S. House seats, giving them control of the incoming session of Congress that begins in January. That coupled with the GOP majority in the Senate and Donald Trump winning the White House gives the party complete control in Washington. (Let’s not forget that there’s a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court as well.)

The Associated Press and other news organizations declared the GOP majority Wednesday after a contested race in Arizona went Republicans’ way. There are still nine undecided races, so the size of the GOP majority is yet to be determined.

Yet, the math is already getting complicated for Republicans. Trump has tapped three of the 218 to serve in the White House, and one of them, Florida’s Matt Gaetz, immediately resigned from the U.S. House upon Wednesday’s announcement.

Depending on the timing of the special election to replace him, Gaetz’s seat could be empty for the first few weeks of the new Congress that convenes on Jan. 3.

Just a handful of absences or vacancies could make it even harder for House Republicans to cobble together the majority vote needed to pass legislation implementing Trump’s agenda without any Democratic support.

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Credit: Evan Vucci/AP

TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

President Joe Biden is headed to Lima, Peru, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum with other world leaders.
House members will vote on two bills regarding regulation of natural resources.
The House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will hold a hearing on the lessons learned.
The Senate has confirmation votes lined up.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

SHOUTOUTS. Today’s birthday:

State Rep. Butch Parrish, R-Swainsboro.
Sydney Horwitz, communications specialist in the Georgia Senate Press Office.

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Transitions:

Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore has been elected president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and will lead the organization for the next year.

Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that! Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.

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AS ALWAYS, send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.

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