In today’s Politically Georgia newsletter, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock prepares for his big moment at the Democratic National Convention. Follow all of the convention action on the AJC’s live blog.
In addition, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign has a court hearing to decide whether he’ll appear on Georgia’s presidential ballot. And a watershed moment for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s health care policy.
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Long before former President Donald Trump won the GOP’s nomination, his supporters here were pressing the same message: Georgia is a “must win” for Republicans.
That isn’t just lip service. And as the Democratic National Convention begins today, Georgia’s importance to both campaigns is coming into clearer focus.
Pro-Trump forces have poured even more money into the state since Vice President Kamala Harris secured her party’s nomination, including another $24 million that was placed this week.
And the campaign is insisting it’s keeping up with the expanding Democratic infrastructure in Georgia, with more than 20 offices across the state staffed with dozens of employees.
But Trump’s allies seem more concerned than ever about his chances in Georgia, especially after the former president inexplicably reopened a one-sided feud with Gov. Brian Kemp.
It’s one reason why the campaign plans to dispatch JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, to deep-red Valdosta on Thursday — the same day Harris will give her DNC acceptance speech.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
PARTY TIME. It’s the first day of the Democratic National Convention, and the AJC’s political insiders are in Chicago to bring you all of the news and analysis of the four-day gathering.
Today’s main event will be President Joe Biden’s speech in what is sure to be a bittersweet bookend to a political career that has spanned more than half a century.
But the big news from a Georgia perspective is the primetime speaking slot for U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock — dubbed one of the “Democratic Avengers” by DNC chair Jamie Harrison last week.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
It’s a big moment for Warnock, whose national profile has only grown after winning two statewide elections that flipped control of the U.S. Senate and then helped Democrats maintain it.
The convention begins on a high note for Democrats, as the Harris-Walz ticket has enjoyed a month of bumps in the polls following Biden’s decision to step aside. Over the weekend, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College showed 50% of likely voters preferred Trump compared to 46% for Harris — a gap that falls within the poll’s margin of error.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
With Georgia in play, it makes the state’s DNC delegation one of the most popular stops during the convention. Check out this schedule, courtesy of political insider Greg Bluestein:
- Today: Warnock
- Tuesday: New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Georgia U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop.
- Wednesday: Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Reproductive Freedom for All CEO Mini Timmaraju.
- Thursday: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and a host of Georgia politicians, including U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson, Lucy McBath and David Scott as well as Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
More reading:
- Greg Bluestein on the “joyful” contrast Democrats hope to have compared to the Republican National Convention
- Tia Mitchell and Caroline Silva spoke to Georgia’s Democratic delegates, including one woman who said “I never thought in my wildest dreams” she could vote for the country’s potentially first woman of color president.
- Columnist Patricia Murphy writes about how the convention will be one last party for President Joe Biden.
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Credit: Al Drago/The New York Times
Credit: Al Drago/The New York Times
LISTEN UP. “Politically Georgia” radio and podcast listeners have a real treat today: a sit-down interview with Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison. You can listen live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 or follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Until then, here’s a preview, lightly edited for brevity:
AJC: How do you think Georgia plays in the national campaign?
HARRISON: Well, Georgia is critical. It’s so important and personally important to me because that’s where my mom is and my sister and my nieces and nephews. Georgia is my second home and it’s such an important state as it relates to the presidential calculus — how you get to 270 electoral votes. And we’ve seen how Georgia has been so significant over these last few election cycles and particularly with the rise of the Democratic party once again in this new South, which I think Georgia is really at the heart of. And so, it’s going to be really, really important. … And we’re gonna spend the time, the energy and the efforts to make sure that we do everything in our power to win Georgia once again.
AJC: What does your operation in Georgia look like right now and what are we going to see before November?
HARRISON: I often think about our state parties as the unicorns of Democratic politics, right? Because they do some things that even the national party itself can’t do. And that is they can coordinate on a local level and on a federal level. And as a national organization, we can pour resources in that to help them deliver the message to build the operations. In Georgia alone, we have 24 field offices, over 150 staffers already on the ground. We were on the ground in Georgia the last cycle during the midterms and we worked hand in glove with the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) and (Georgia U.S. Sen.) Raphael Warnock and (U.S. Rep.) Nikema Williams, who’s a fantastic state party chair. … Now on the flip side, the Republicans are engaged in their own civil war in Georgia. The president is constantly dragging the governor in that state. The former lieutenant governor, Republican, is supporting Kamala Harris in the presidential race. And so, while the Democrats are all in formation, to quote Beyoncé, we are moving along and we are focused on winning Georgia once again.”
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
SPOILER ALERT. Court hearings starting today will determine whether some independent and third-party presidential candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., can play the spoiler in the presidential election in Georgia.
Kennedy, Cornell West and Claudia De la Cruz all submitted enough signatures to appear on the ballot in November. And Green Party nominee Jill Stein is trying to make Georgia’s ballot through a new state law that allows access to candidates that qualify in at least 20 other states. But Democrats have asked a judge to keep them off Georgia’s ballot, arguing the campaigns did not follow the rules correctly.
Hearings for Kennedy and De la Cruz are today. Hearings for West and Stein are scheduled for Thursday.
There’s next to no chance any of these longshots will win Georgia’s 16 electoral votes in November. But with only about 12,000 votes separating Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the 2020 election, an independent candidate who gets just a little bit of traction could influence the outcome.
Democrats see these candidates as a threat, especially in battleground states, of siphoning votes away from Harris.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
READY OR NOT. It’s time to start the voting process in Georgia.
Today is the first day voters can request an absentee ballot for the November general election. Any registered voter can ask for one for any reason. Just be sure to get the ballot back to your county registrar’s office before the polls close on Election Day in order for it to be counted.
Just for fun, let’s look at the percent of absentee ballots cast in the past three presidential elections in Georgia:
- 2012: 5.5%
- 2016: 5.1%
- 2020: 26.3%
Of course, 2020 was the height of the pandemic, when more people were unwilling to go to the ballot box in person. In 2012 and 2016, the Republican candidate for president got more absentee votes than the Democratic candidate. But in 2020 — when Donald Trump was criticizing the validity of the electoral process — Joe Biden got more than twice as many absentee votes as Trump.
Absentee voting levels returned to Earth during the 2022 midterm elections.
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Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
SURVEY SAYS. A big question surrounding the presidential election in Georgia is how many local election board members might be willing to hold up certification of the results. Now, thanks to the AJC’s Mark Niesse, Caleb Groves and David Wickert, we have a good idea.
The trio surveyed election boards across the state and found at least 19 board members have objected to certifying elections in the past four years. Their must-read investigation was published online last week and appeared in Sunday’s print edition.
Today, the State Election Board could give local election boards even more authority to question certification. The board will consider a rule allowing local board members to review lots of documents before certifying the results.
Be sure and follow the AJC’s Mark Niesse for updates from today’s vote.
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Credit: Screenshot
Credit: Screenshot
KEMP’S HEALTH AGENDA. Later this morning, Gov. Brian Kemp plans to mark a watershed moment: all major pieces of his landmark 2019 Patients First Act health agenda are finally rolling out.
Our AJC colleague Ariel Hart reports the final accomplishment came last week as Washington approved a State-Based Exchange for Georgia to take over management of the Affordable Care Act and its 1.3 million Georgia health insurance policyholders, along with the federal healthcare.gov site.
The other two major pieces of the Patients First Act were reinsurance — a state subsidy that helped upper-income ACA policyholders — and his limited Medicaid expansion called Pathways to Coverage, which just now completed its first year of coverage.
Kemp will promote his policies in a discussion Monday with Insurance Commissioner John King, who is responsible for ACA activities in the state, Department of Community Health Commissioner Russel Carlson, who oversees Medicaid, and other state officials.
It’s a battle to claim credit for the successes, including stabilizing Georgia’s ACA marketplace and soaring enrollment in ACA plans that has resulted in some 700,000 low-income Georgians who now have near-free ACA plans.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will headline the Democratic National Convention tonight.
- Vice President Kamala Harris will be in the audience for Biden’s speech.
- The U.S. House and Senate are in recess until Sept. 9.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
CONGRATS. Love was in the air for two longtime politicos over the weekend.
State Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, popped the question to his longtime girlfriend Gabrielle Deliz. She said “yes” on the banks of Lake Oconee, where they met almost two years ago.
And Grant Thomas, a state health official and key Gov. Brian Kemp aide, surprised his girlfriend Miranda Williams with a proposal on the 50-yard-line of Sanford Stadium, where she was a star fire-spinning baton twirler in college.
Williams, who works for an educational advocacy group, is the daughter of Mark Williams, the director of the Jekyll Island Authority.
Mazel tov!
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
RIP. Anne Sterchi, the longtime executive director of the J.B. Fuqua Foundation, died Saturday. She was 69.
Sterchi helped distribute charitable funds to countless education, health and human and social service projects across Atlanta, the AJC’s Rosie Manins reports.
Sterchi died after complications from a viral infection, said her brother, Kent Sterchi, of Orlando. She is survived by Kent Sterchi and another brother.
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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to adam.beam@ajc.com, greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
