Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley captured more than 77,000 votes in Georgia’s Republican presidential primary last month, an election held after she dropped out of the race. Last night in Pennsylvania, she tallied more than 156,000 votes in that state’s primary.
Robert Schwartz sees a bounty of potential Joe Biden voters in those battleground state numbers. A leader of the pro-Haley PrimaryPivot organization, Schwartz changed the group’s name to “Haley Voters for Biden” shortly after she suspended her campaign.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
He told “Politically Georgia” on Tuesday the group is poised to ratchet up efforts to appeal to Haley’s supporters in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania as November nears.
“We’re really focused on the genuine Haley supporters. Many of them have strong policy disagreements with Joe Biden on things like Israel, the border,” Schwartz said, adding: “We want to actually have conversations and push Joe Biden to come more to their position.”
Schwartz is in Atlanta to meet with key Haley supporters and donors — he wouldn’t name names — and gauge their willingness to embrace Biden. He’s encouraging Biden’s campaign to meet Haley voters and try out messages that could appeal to conservative voters.
“We are going to be testing messages that perhaps Joe Biden cannot say on the border, about how he’s standing up to the Squad on protests, on things he maybe doesn’t want to emphasize,” Schwartz said.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
INKED. Gov. Brian Kemp signed two dozen bills large and small into law Tuesday, with the largest being Senate Bill 233, the measure creating a new public school voucher program in Georgia.
The bill allows eligible parents to create and control publicly funded “promise scholarship accounts” to use for private school tuition or on costs associated with homeschooling, such as books, tutors or online classes. Our colleague Ty Tagami has more details.
Later today, look for Kemp to sign a package of veteran-focused bills, along with several pieces of legislation targeting human trafficking, the top priority of first lady Marty Kemp.
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Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
FOREIGN AID. The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a slate of legislative measures late Tuesday, including emergency assistance to Ukraine and Israel, plus language that could lead to a national ban on TikTok.
The package was approved 79-18, with Georgia Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock both supporting the foreign aid bundle. In a statement ahead of the vote, Warnock noted the money was not just going to allies, including countries in the Indo-Pacific region, but also to increase humanitarian aid flowing to Gaza.
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin for the AJC
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin for the AJC
“I will keep pushing to use every tool at our disposal to get more humanitarian relief to defenseless Palestinians,” Warnock wrote. “And while this package is far from perfect, none of its provisions override the urgency to stand with Ukraine and our other allies to protect our national security interests, or the crucial need to address the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.”
President Joe Biden plans to sign the package quickly and deliver a speech about the foreign aid legislation.
“I will sign this bill into law and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week,” Biden said.
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GREENE V. JOHNSON. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to criticize House Speaker Mike Johnson for bringing the $95 billion foreign aid package to the floor. And she refuses to let up even as former President Donald Trump defends Johnson, a Louisiana Republican.
Our colleague and Washington Insider Jamie Dupree dug into the backlash Greene, R-Rome, has faced for her stance. And how it’s becoming less clear whether Greene will follow through on her threats to call for a vote on Johnson’s ouster and even less certain that such an attempt would be successful.
Greene's threats against Johnson escalated in the past six weeks as he agreed to bipartisan deals on two packages of government funding bills, a foreign intelligence surveillance bill and then the aid package.
But since House members went home on Saturday, no other Republicans have stepped up to join Greene's call for a GOP leadership shake-up.
“I think the timing of a motion to vacate is ill-timed," said U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, one of a number of Republicans voicing frustration about the speaker but not ready to do anything about it.
For Democrats, Greene offers both a target and a wedge inside the GOP.
“We overcame the propaganda of Marjorie Taylor Greene and other extremists," said U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., as Democrats have celebrated the bipartisan support for this foreign aid package.
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ALL WET. The U.S. Department of Justice is opposing part of Georgia’s 2021 voting law that requires voters to sign absentee ballot applications with pen and ink, a mandate that ended online-only absentee ballot requests.
The DOJ’s motion filed last week said the so-called “wet signature” requirement violates a federal civil rights law that prohibits denying the right to vote based on rules that aren’t material to voters’ qualifications.
Before the pen-and-ink rule, voters were able to request absentee ballots in 2020 through a state website that required a driver’s license number and digital signature. Now, voters have to print out, sign and then return their absentee applications to county election offices.
Credit: John Spink/AJC
Credit: John Spink/AJC
The DOJ’s motion supports a lawsuit brought by Vote.org, one of several cases against the voting law, Senate Bill 202. A broader suit by the DOJ opposing the law is also pending.
State defendants of the voting law are asking a federal judge to grant summary judgment dismissing the Vote.org lawsuit.
“A handwritten signature serves several important state interests,” according to the state’s motion. “Not only does such a signature assist in verifying the identity of the voter, but it has also been shown to deter fraud, to ensure that voters take their obligations associated with the absentee-ballot application seriously, and to promote the integrity of the absentee-by-mail process.”
Since Georgia ended paperless absentee ballot requests — along with other absentee voting regulations in the voting law — voting by mail has plunged as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. Roughly 5% of Georgia voters have cast absentee ballots in recent elections compared to 25% of voters using absentee ballots in the 2020 presidential election.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
SUPREME COURT ELECTIONS. When the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a case Monday against voting machines from Arizona Republicans Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, it also dealt a defeat to Georgia Republican parties.
The Georgia Republican Party, the Cobb County Republican Committee and the Fulton County Republican Party had filed briefs in support of the appeal, which sought to ban the use of electronic vote-counting machines in Arizona. The case relied in part on testimony from supporters of former President Donald Trump who made unfounded allegations of fraud related to Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Georgia Republicans had urged the nation’s highest court to consider the case, citing rulings in a Georgia election security case in which a judge found that plaintiffs, which include a group called the Coalition for Good Governance, do have standing to sue — a legal requirement for plaintiffs to be directly impacted by the conduct they’re suing over. The judge hasn’t yet ruled on the Georgia case after a 17-day trial in January.
But the Supreme Court declined to add the case to its docket, a decision that upheld lower court rulings that found Lake and Finchem lacked standing.
Lake is running for U.S. Senate and Finchem is running for state Senate.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on the “Politically Georgia” radio show, AJC education columnist Maureen Downey talks about the school voucher legislation that Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law on Tuesday.
Also, Democratic strategist Rick Dent reacts to the latest polling on the presidential contest.
The show airs at 10 a.m. on 90.1 FM, at AJC.com and at WABE.org.
If you missed Tuesday’s episode, state Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, spoke of his disappointment that legislation was not passed this year providing compensation for people wrongfully convicted of crimes. And Robert Schwartz, who once led a PAC supporting former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s bid for president, talked about his “Haley Voters For Biden” initiative.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
COCA-COLA PROBE. Republicans who lead the U.S. House Judiciary Committee have asked Coca-Cola’s chief executive to provide documents and information related to their work with a trade group for advertisers, the AJC’s J. Scott Trubey reports.
The letter to Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO James Quincey airs concerns that major companies, in boycotting conservative podcaster Joe Rogan’s popular show, are part of a coordinated campaign to suppress far-right speech online.
Last year, Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohioan who chairs the Judiciary committee, subpoenaed records from the Global Alliance of Responsible Media and the World Federation of Advertisers. In March, the committee sought information from a number of major corporations, including Unilever and Procter & Gamble.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden delivers remarks at North America’s Building Trade Union National Legislative Conference in Washington. He also may sign the $95 billion foreign aid package into law.
- The House and Senate are on recess through the rest of the week.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with Jewish students at Columbia University amid pro-Palestinian protests that some say have devolved into antisemitism.
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Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
DAWG OF THE DAY. Herschel Walker was spotted in class on the Athens campus of the University of Georgia recently. The former footballer left college before completing his degree in order to play professional football but re-enrolled at the university last year.
A social media post from @redcupgeorgia included a snap of Walker with the caption, “The guy trying to tell me he’s better at football than me …”
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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
