Georgia’s presidential ballot could include some disqualified candidates

A pair of court rulings in the span of a few hours disqualified two longshot candidates from Georgia’s presidential race. In a twist, though, both could still appear on the ballot in this battleground state.

In separate rulings on Wednesday, two Fulton County judges voided Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate Claudia De la Cruz and independent Cornel West from Georgia’s ballot. But Judge Thomas A. Cox Jr. wrote in his ruling that it’s too close to the election to strike West’s name. Instead, he ordered officials to post notices at polling sites that West is not a valid contender.

In De la Cruz’s case, Judge Emily Richardson said officials should take “all steps” to reprint ballots where feasible. Votes for either candidate won’t be counted, even if their names still appear on the ballot.

The dual rulings were a blow to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who in August decided to include their names on the ballot despite legal challenges from Democrats arguing they failed to follow the rules.

The litigation is part of a broader strategy by Vice President Kamala Harris’ allies to block far-left candidates from siphoning votes away from her Democratic campaign.

Both De la Cruz and West signaled they are likely to appeal. If the judicial ruling stands, however, it means four presidential contenders will officially be on Georgia’s ballot: Harris, Republican Donald Trump, Libertarian Chase Oliver and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

GOP GUN PLAN. Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns is the first senior Republican to endorse gun safety proposals in the aftermath of last week’s deadly school shooting.

The AJC’s Greg Bluestein got ahold of a letter that Burns sent to the House Republican Caucus today outlining his plan to consider a statewide mandate for mental health and behavior monitoring of students.

He also wants to study new security methods to detect guns in schools and try again to pass laws encouraging safe storage of firearms.

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FOREVER GUNS. A letter to the editor in The Washington Post this week caught our eyes. The headline: “Why the gun from a Georgia shooting could be used to kill again.”

Following last week’s tragic Apalachee High School shooting, the author detailed the special treatment one Georgia law requires for firearms, which ensures they will go back into circulation even if after a violent crime:

The author says it’s one of many provisions that Republican lawmakers have added to the Georgia code that sets firearms apart from other weapons like knives or blunt objects. And the author ought to know — the letter came from Jim Galloway, the longtime AJC political columnist and founder of this newsletter.

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EYE-POPPING. When Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday challenged former President Donald Trump to a second debate, network executives were undoubtedly praying the former president would accept.

That’s because more than 67 million people tuned in to the 90-minute debate, according to Nielsen. That’s more than double the number of eyeballs that watched the highest-rated NFL game during its opening weekend.

The impact in battleground states is even more substantial. In Atlanta alone, the campaigns paid for nearly 700 ads on debate day, the AJC’s Phoebe Quinton reported.

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AWAY GAME. Rome may be the hometown of Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, but that isn’t stopping the campaign of the Democratic presidential nominee — Vice President Kamala Harris — from opening a field office there. In fact, that may be part of the appeal.

Democrats supporting the campaign will cut the ribbon on the new North Georgia digs later today. It will be the campaign’s 27th office in the state and is part of a two-fold effort to dominate turnout in deep blue areas, while also narrowing Republicans’ expected margins of victory in deep red territory. That includes Greene’s backyard.

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

LOEFFLER’S BIG PUSH. We’re 25 days away from Georgia’s voter registration deadline and one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest donors is spending big to make sure more conservatives can participate.

Former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler is spending about $100,000 targeting about 180,000 unregistered voters in the state leading up to the Oct. 7 registration deadline. The effort includes phone calls, digital ads, text messages and in-person voter registration drives.

It’s all orchestrated by Greater Georgia, the group Loeffler launched to counter Fair Fight, the political organization founded by former two-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams.

The organization said it has registered 40,000 voters since 2021. That’s above and beyond the vast majority of Georgia voters who are automatically registered when applying for a Georgia drivers’ license.

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THE PROSECUTION EXITS. A Southeast Georgia district attorney says prosecutors will stop handling Glynn County juvenile court cases starting in October, citing funding and a lack of staffing, according to reporting by the Brunswick News.

In a letter dated last week, Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins said he’ll be down to just four full-time prosecutors by the end of the month in Glynn County, leaving them with an “overwhelming workload” of 657 cases each. Meanwhile, the county is demanding Higgins reimburse them more than $900,000 for payroll overruns, the newspaper reported.

Glynn County is along the Southeast Georgia coast, about 73 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida.

While it’s unusual for a district attorney to stop representing the state in juvenile court cases, state law allows it. When this happens, the county can appoint attorneys to represent the state in those instances.

Lack of resources is a common problem for district attorneys across the state. In Clayton County, District Attorney Tasha Mosely says prosecutors handle between 600 and 700 cases each, “which in my opinion is about 400 too many,” she said.

“I think you will find that across the state,” she said. “We all could use more prosecutors and the pay for the prosecutors needs to be up there, too.”

Higgins, a Republican, won a primary in March and has no opposition in November. He was first elected in 2020 after defeating incumbent Jackie Johnson who was heavily criticized — and later indicted — for allegedly hindering the police investigation in the aftermath of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder.

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VOUCHER VOIDED. Georgia Republicans celebrated in April when, after years of work, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law to use public money to pay for private schools.

But a court ruling in neighboring South Carolina on Wednesday showed how fragile those victories can be. The S.C. Supreme Court struck down a similar law, ruling it violates the state Constitution’s ban on using public money “for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.”

Georgia’s Constitution is not as clear cut. It doesn’t specifically ban using public money for private schools, but it does prohibit using tax dollars “in aid of any church, sect, cult, or religious denomination or of any sectarian institution.” Many private schools are run by religious groups.

So far, no one has challenged Georgia’s law in court.

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Credit: Seeger Gray/AJC

Credit: Seeger Gray/AJC

LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” state Sens. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, and Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, talk about what’s next in the presidential race after Tuesday’s debate. Also, Paulding County Elections Director Deidre Holden discusses local election boards.

You can listen live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 or follow “Politically Georgia” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

On Wednesday, we had two shows: a bonus podcast featuring the AJC’s political insiders offering their expert analysis of the presidential debate.

In addition, our regularly scheduled program featured PolitiFact chief correspondent Lou Jacobson offering a reality check on claims made during the debate. Plus, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux and Republican state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, both from Georgia, offered their takes.

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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

HOUSE HOLDS OFF. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson postponed a vote Wednesday on legislation to temporarily fund the federal government and avoid a shutdown at the end of the month because he didn’t have enough support from fellow Republicans to pass it.

But GOP members of Georgia’s delegation don’t want him to give up the fight. They say they support Johnson’s proposal, which extends current funding levels for six months and requires proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

“I think he ought to continue to push on,” said U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville. “We have to make significant changes, or nothing is ever going to be different around here.”

Credit: Hyosub Shin

Credit: Hyosub Shin

But it’s unclear if the math will improve for Johnson over the weekend.

Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany and one of the top-ranking Democrats on the Appropriations Committee, said the only path forward is for Johnson to strip the voting language and reduce the extension from six months to two or three.

“The (continuing resolution) should be clean,” Bishop said. “It should extend the government so that we can get the permanent bill passed ASAP. We shouldn’t kick it down the road.”

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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

TODAY IN WASHINGTON:

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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. We’re 53 days away from the election. Here’s what’s happening:

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Credit: C-SPAN screenshot

Credit: C-SPAN screenshot

MOMENT OF SILENCE. Members of Georgia’s congressional delegation gathered on the U.S. House floor Wednesday to honor the four people killed in a mass shooting at Apalachee High School.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, whose district includes Winder where the shooting occurred, led the observance by reading out the names of the two 14-year-old students and two teachers who died. Collins, a Republican from Jackson, also noted that nine others were treated for injuries and countless others were affected.

“Mr. Speaker, I just ask that our colleagues join us for a moment of silence to reflect and remember those people that lost their lives, their family and those people that are still healing from this incident,” he said.

In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp spoke at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in the state Capitol. He connected the grief from the attacks 23 years ago with the sorrow from last week in Winder. The brief ceremony included stirring performances by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

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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.