Today’s highlights include:
- Q&A with Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver.
- Georgia GOP chair condemns antisemitic remarks.
- State Democrats appeal ballot ruling.
The ad wars in Georgia are heating up with Labor Day behind us.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign unveiled a new ad today in Georgia and other battleground states that aims to contrast her economic agenda with former President Donald Trump’s plans.
The 30-second ad, which vows to crack down on “price gouging” and encourage more affordable housing, marks the campaign’s fourth new economic-themed spot since the party’s convention last month.
It’s no secret why. Trump and his allies hope to win swing voters in Georgia by playing into concerns about the economy, the top concern for many in polls.
But even with that salvo, Democrats are just keeping pace with the GOP in Georgia. The latest analysis by the AdImpact tracking firm shows that Harris and her allies have reserved more than twice as much airtime as Trump in the post-Labor Day phase.
But in Georgia, the two campaigns are on par, with both securing about $39 million in airtime so far for the final nine weeks.
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Credit: Adam Beam/AJC
Credit: Adam Beam/AJC
THIRD WHEEL. Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver, a Georgia native who grew up in the Atlanta area, is used to crashing parties. He had a major impact in Georgia’s 2022 U.S. Senate race. Now, he’s looking to do it again in the presidential race, where he will appear on ballots in 48 states, including Georgia.
Oliver spoke with Politically Georgia recently about his campaign. Here are key excerpts:
PG: You are pro-gun and pro-abortion. That’s a little odd in today’s political climate. Are you trying to give people more lanes?
Oliver: The great thing about the Libertarian lane is it’s very wide because it allows you to have your own personal convictions, whatever they may be, just not to seek to use the government to push those personal convictions on others.
PG: What do people say to you? What kind of questions do you get?
OLIVER: One that I get all the time is, “Don’t you know you’re going to hurt Trump?” Or, “Don’t you know you’re going to hurt Harris?” My immediate answer is, I hope I hurt both of them in the election totals, right? Like, I’m running against them both.
PG: Do people get mad at you?
OLIVER: I’ll get people saying that, “Oh my God, you’re running and Trump’s going to win, and you’re going to lead the complete destruction of all of our democracy, and the entire country will fail,” right? Or, “Oh my God, you’re going to let Kamala Harris win and she’s going to take all our guns and indoctrinate all our children and completely destroy everything, and we’re just going to be the Soviet Union.” I’m not a fan of either of these people, but I don’t think we’re going to see that hard of a swing, one way or the other. If either of those people win, what we’re going to see most likely is continuation of status quo. We’ll continue adding trillions of dollars to the debt and the deficit. We’ll continue to see mudslinging contests in Congress.
PG: What are your expectations for this race? Do you think you can win? Or do you have other goals?
Oliver: I’m running as hard as I can with the purposes of trying to win this election. If you don’t do it that way, you’re really just not doing it right. You have to run with that expectation that if you try your hardest and the stars align and you do this, you’re winning. Am I in the multiverse where Chase Oliver wins the presidency or not? I don’t know, but I’m going to run like I am in that world where I’m going to win in November.
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Credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP
Credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP
IT MIGHT NOT BE OVER YET. Georgia Democrats are not giving up their quest to block lesser-known presidential candidates from appearing on the state’s ballot this fall.
The party has asked the Fulton Superior Court to overrule a decision by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger allowing socialist Claudia De la Cruz and independent Cornel West to appear on the ballot along with Democrat Kamala Harris, Republican Donald Trump, Libertarian Chase Oliver and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
The clock is ticking. The AJC’s Caleb Groves reports Democrats have requested emergency hearings for their appeals on the West and De la Cruz cases before ballots are mailed to overseas and military voters on Sept. 17.
What about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? He voluntarily withdrew his ballot petition after suspending his presidential campaign last month.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
ABOUT THAT ACCOUNT. A new X account that seemed to represent the Georgia State Election Board raised some eyebrows last week after it appeared to be controlled by just one member: Republican Janice Johnston.
It’s apparent now that the account is a personal one for Johnston. The account is labeled “Dr. Jan-Election Advocate” and the bio reads: “Physician, Mother, Grandmother, and Election advocate.”
“Social media use for the State Election Board is a work in progress,” one post reads. “Thank you for all the interest and responses.”
Speaking of responses, comments have been restricted to only accounts mentioned in a post. Similar efforts to limit Facebook comments have landed Georgia public officials in hot water with First Amendment advocates and federal courts over the years.
The State Election Board has been under scrutiny lately for passing a number of rules changes this close to the election. The Democratic Party sued the board last week to try and block those rules.
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Credit: Morry Gash/AP
Credit: Morry Gash/AP
JOKING OR BULLYING? U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, posted a 17-year-old video of a South Carolina beauty pageant contestant’s incoherent answer to an interview question, saying that it was an exclusive preview of Vice President Kamala Harris’ CNN interview.
That beauty pageant contestant, Caitlin “Caite” Upton, then posted to social media herself that “online bullying needs to stop,” according to a report in the Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.
Upton has shared previously how her internet infamy impacted her, telling New York magazine in a 2015 interview that she had thoughts of suicide.
Vance declined to apologize during a CNN interview, saying “I’m not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin. I hope that she’s doing well. And again, what I’d say is one bad moment shouldn’t define anybody, and the best way to deal with this stuff is to laugh at ourselves.”
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GOP REBUKE. Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon has rebuked a party leader’s antisemitic comments, breaking days of silence that drew the criticism of the Legislature’s lone Jewish member.
A report by the Media Matters watchdog group found that Kandiss Taylor, the Georgia GOP 1st Congressional District chair, complained that Jewish people are “controlling everything” and alleged that unnamed politicians “pander to the Jews.”
McKoon said in a statement Friday that Taylor affirmed antisemitic comments made by Stew Peters during an appearance on his radio show.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
“Kandiss Taylor does not speak for the Georgia Republican Party,” read the statement from McKoon and Chuck Berk, co-chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Atlanta. “The Georgia Republican Party firmly rejects the antisemitic comments and age-old canards expressed by Peters. Obviously, these comments do not represent the values of the Georgia Republican Party.”
Attorney General Chris Carr is among the top Republicans who have condemned Taylor, who waged a “Jesus, Guns and Babies” campaign for governor in 2022.
The bid made no headway but she refused to concede anyway, wrongly claiming to be the victim of illegal votes. She called for a purge of every Republican official in Georgia, claiming they are Communist collaborators who forged a deal with the devil. Not long ago, her musings about whether Earth could actually be flat went viral.
Last week, Taylor said she regrets not making it “explicitly clear that I do not buy into antisemitic conspiracy theories.”
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LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” Parker Short, president of the Young Democrats of Georgia, will recap their convention from over the weekend.
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.
Monday’s episode revisited some of the show’s recent interviews. On Friday’s show, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson talked about Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign rally and discussed her CNN interview with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Also, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons Island, spoke about the Republican ground game. And the “Politically Georgia” hosts answered questions from the listener mailbag.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will deliver remarks at the White House to kick off a series of events focused on highlighting his economic agenda.
- Vice President Kamala Harris has no public events on her schedule.
- The U.S. House and Senate are in recess until Monday.
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Credit: Mustafa Hussain/The New York Times
Credit: Mustafa Hussain/The New York Times
DO SOMETHING. The Harris-Walz campaign on Monday saw the launch of their “Do Something” week of action. It will include organizing events to encourage more supporters to sign up as campaign volunteers.
Tonight there will be a Women for Harris-Walz organizing call with a parade of speakers, including LaTosha Brown, the cofounder of Black Voters Matter who is based in Georgia.
“Do Something” week started Sunday with a phone bank and Monday with volunteer training. There will be another phone bank Wednesday followed by another volunteer training on Thursday.
In a memo last month, the Harris-Walz campaign said that 200,000 volunteers joined the effort in the first month after Vice President Kamala Harris launched her bid for president. The rally in Atlanta on July 30 resulted in 1,000 volunteer sign ups alone.
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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:
- U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and former Trump administration officials Linda McMahon and Robert Lighthizer will appear at a Trump campaign event in Braselton. A similar event with surrogates will be held in Mesa, Arizona.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
RAISING CASH. Sally Yates, the Atlanta attorney and former acting U.S. attorney general, is hosting two different fundraisers for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, Punchbowl News reported.
The first “lawyers for Harris” event is Wednesday in San Francisco followed by a second in Los Angeles. Punchbowl says it will cost attendees $1,000 to $10,000 to get in the door for the San Francisco fundraiser.
Meanwhile, Punchbowl also caught wind of a fundraiser U.S. Rep. David Scott is hosting in Atlanta via his Brave PAC.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
HOORAY! Sam West, top aide to House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, R-Auburn, proposed to his girlfriend Lauren Hunter on the House floor on their way to Georgia’s demolition of Clemson in Atlanta over the weekend.
Hunter, the publisher of the Gainesville-based Poultry Times, is also the daughter of former Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter.
We’re wishing the couple many happy legislative sessions together.
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Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
SHOUTOUTS. Happy birthday to State Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens (was Sunday).
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.
