Donald Trump’s comeback fuels a new kind of Georgia Democratic campaign

Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves sent an unambiguous message when he entered the race for governor this morning. He’s not just running on his party’s platform. He’s also running against President Donald Trump.

The Atlanta Democrat made that clear in his roughly 3-minute launch video. It opens by linking Trump to two likely GOP rivals: Attorney General Chris Carr and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, both allies of the president. Then it pivots to Esteves’ background and policy agenda.

Not so long ago, Democrats running for statewide office in Georgia steered clear of national politics, focusing on closer-to-home issues.

In the heat of the 2014 campaign, Jason Carter and Michelle Nunn — a pair of Democrats running for governor and U.S. Senate — kept their distance from then-President Barack Obama. Back then, it was often smart politics for Democrats to avoid wading into national debates.

But Trump’s rise scrambled that formula. Stacey Abrams vowed to “resist” Trump at her first rally in 2017. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., has made fighting the Republican’s policies a theme of his unsuccessful bid for a House seat in 2017 and his election to the Senate in 2021.

Democratic leaders in Georgia seem more emboldened than ever to lean into that approach this cycle, despite Trump narrowly winning Georgia in November. That includes Esteves, who told us his campaign will focus on stopping Trump’s “chaos” from hurting Georgians.

“Georgia Republican leaders have failed to do that. In fact, they’ve stayed silent while all of this has been happening. And if they’re not silent, they’re cheerleading it,” he said.

Things to know

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Good morning! Gov. Brian Kemp has 23 days left to either sign or veto bills passed by the state Legislature this year. He’s signed eight bills into law so far and hasn’t vetoed anything yet. You can follow along at the AJC Legislative Navigator.

Here are three things to know for today:

Still water

Credit: AJC file photo

Credit: AJC file photo

Sandy beaches are a big part of Georgia’s tourism industry. But what happens if tourists can’t reach them?

That’s the situation along a stretch of coastline in Glynn County. A tidal pool near a public access points at East Beach is separating vacationers from the sand. The pool can be several feet deep in some places. And because normal tides don’t reach it, the water just sits there and gets, well, gross.

County officials have built some temporary bridges across it. But what they really want to do is get rid of it.

They’ll soon get some help from the state. Lawmakers included $1 million in the budget to help drain the pool and fill it with sand.

“The beach belongs to the state of Georgia, so I think the state of Georgia should help maintain it,” said state Sen. Mike Hodges, a Republican from Brunswick.

Hodges said the Department of Natural Resources is working on a plan that will include scraping as much sand as they can from other parts of the beach while trucking in the rest.

“We won’t get it fixed this summer,” Hodges said. But if everything goes right, “it’ll be filled in for the next tourist season.”

Seeing pink

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

University of Georgia fans are famously averse to orange, what with it being the primary color for two of their biggest rivals in Tennessee and Florida. And yet, every hunting season countless members of Dawg Nation are forced to don fluorescent orange on top of their camouflage when hunting, as it’s the only color allowed by Georgia law.

Gov. Brian Kemp could soon change that. The governor has until May 14 to decide whether to sign House Bill 167, which would allow hunters to wear bright pink in the field along with orange.

“We feel like it adds an option for people who may be offended by orange, as many of us are,” state Rep. Leesa Hagan, a Republican from Lyons, told her colleagues in a public hearing earlier this year.

Wisconsin was the first state to allow bright pink hunting gear, and since then at least nine other states have joined them.

Aside from giving hunters more options, many supporters have touted pink as opening the door to more female hunters. But we’ll note that there’s nothing in the bill that would prevent men from wearing pink, too.

Campus clash

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

One of Atlanta’s biggest law firms is playing a role in the high-stakes battle between the Trump administration and Harvard University over academic independence.

Robert Hur of King & Spalding is one of two lead attorneys who signed Harvard’s April 14 letter elaborating on the school’s refusal to meet President Donald Trump’s demands. The White House retaliated by announcing plans to freeze $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard over several years.

Hur is perhaps best known as the special counsel who investigated former President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. Hur’s report referred to Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Follow the money

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

We’ve been busy combing through the latest campaign finance reports from Georgia’s congressional delegation. We told you last week about how most of U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s $11 million haul came from out-of-state donors and how five of Georgia’s U.S. representatives have spent more than they raised during the three-month reporting period.

But you might have noticed we’ve been silent about candidates for state offices. That’s because those numbers aren’t available. Georgia’s campaign finance law only requires candidates to disclose their fundraising totals twice per year during nonelection years: June 30, and again on Dec. 31.

But a bill that passed the state Legislature this year could change that. Senate Bill 199 would require candidates for state and local office to file campaign disclosures four times per year, meaning they would file reports by Jan. 31, April 30, July 31 and Oct. 20.

While it would give us more insight into candidates’ off-year fundraising, the change would scale back disclosures in election years. Currently, state and local candidates must file reports six times per year when they’re on the ballot.

Told you so

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

One of the biggest fights during the state budget process was over how much money to set aside for the state’s new school voucher program. Now that the first application window has closed, it looks like the Senate was right.

The program offers up to $6,500 scholarships for families to use on things like private school tuition. The Senate wanted to fund 22,000 scholarships while the House proposed paying for about 7,000 scholarships.

The first application window closed last week, and nearly 12,000 people applied. Of those, about 7,300 are eligible, the AJC’s Cassidy Alexander reports. There will be three more application windows this year in June, September and December.

Listen up

On today’s "Politically Georgia,” the hosts are answering your questions, comments, and vents in a supersized listener mailbag segment.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

You can listen and subscribe to the show for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trump today

Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Shoutouts

Credit: AJC file photo

Credit: AJC file photo

Belated birthdays:

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.

Before you go

Credit: AJC file photos

Credit: AJC file photos

A pair of former governors — Roy Barnes, a Democrat, and Nathan Deal, a Republican — wrote a bipartisan thank-you note to the state Legislature, along with former Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can 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.