Georgia Republicans are opening new fronts in an ongoing battle over whether transgender students can compete in school sports.
Attorney General Chris Carr celebrated an appeals court ruling on Wednesday that temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s revised Title IX regulations that sought to extend federal discrimination protections for LGBTQ students.
And Lt. Gov. Burt Jones will today announce the creation of a new GOP-controlled committee designed to investigate how administrators and athletics associations are implementing policies “regarding the protection of women’s sports.”
Credit: John Bazemore/AP
Credit: John Bazemore/AP
Both Carr and Jones have expressed interest in running for governor in 2026, when term limits will prevent Gov. Brian Kemp from seeking reelection.
The moves are the latest in a series of legislative efforts focused on transgender athletes in high school sports.
The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) already requires athletes to compete on teams based on their gender assigned at birth, essentially banning transgender athletes from participating in school sports.
The GHSA policy and others like it across the country prompted the Biden administration to press for a new rule aiming to protect LGBTQ students under Title IX, the landmark legislation that bars sex-based discrimination in schools.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Carr highlighted a decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to temporarily block the Title IX revisions from taking effect in Georgia and three other states, saying it halts an “absurd policy that would allow biological males to compete against females.”
Meanwhile, Jones tapped eight lawmakers — six Republicans and two Democrats — to a Senate Special Committee on the Protection of Women’s Sports. It will be chaired by GOP state Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming.
Said Jones:
“My priority is to ensure that female athletes across Georgia have the right to compete on a fair and level playing field, and I will not waver on this effort. We will not stand idly by while radical politicians, athletic associations, schools and higher education institutions push policies threatening this right."
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
ABRAMS FLASHBACK. Former gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams clashed with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins after she questioned the Democrat’s refusal to concede the 2018 election to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Abrams accused Collins of spreading disinformation when she asked if she regrets “casting doubt on the outcome of that election, in light of what we now see, and how Republicans use that, to bolster their defense of Trump’s claims of a stolen election?”
Said Abrams:
“Well, go back to elementary school, again, and use comprehension as the basis. I acknowledged that Brian Kemp won that election. What I called into question was the process that was used. And courts agreed with us. Again, and again, during the overtime after Election Day, and again afterwards, so much so that he actually signed legislation, to fix some of the problems that we — that we were able to reveal.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
That led Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “set the record straight” in a lengthy statement that accused her of continuing to deny her defeat.
From Raffensperger:
“The fact is that she lost fair and square under the established rules of the game. She even spent over $50 million of her donors’ money to try to show that the rules were unfair to her, but she completely lost on all her claims. She lost not because of any technicality like she now tries to claim, but because, after getting millions of documents and conducting hundreds of depositions, the evidence didn’t support her claims.”
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
VOLUNTEER SURGE. Vice President Kamala Harris’ Georgia campaign is getting some tangible benefits from the rally that drew roughly 10,000 supporters to downtown Atlanta on Tuesday.
Her aides said the campaign signed up more than 1,000 volunteers from the crowd at the Georgia State University Convocation Center. In all, the Georgia campaign has drawn more than 16,000 volunteers.
“This new spike in volunteers shows how these visits can help drive our organizing efforts across the state,” the campaign said.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
WHITE WOMEN COALITION. The AJC’s Tia Mitchell and Phoebe Quinton are out with a piece analyzing how Vice President Kamala Harris is making a play for white women voters, a bloc that historically tends to lean slightly toward Republican presidential candidates.
In Georgia, white women comprise over 25% of the electorate, making them the largest race and gender demographic in the state.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Gun control activist Shannon Watts, who organized a conference call for white women Harris supporters that attracted over 160,000 participants, said white women cannot be treated as a monolith. Religion, marital status and education all play a part in how these women vote.
“That division makes us not only a crucial voting bloc, but an unpredictable one,” said Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action. “So even the smallest shifts in our voting behavior can have significant impact on election outcomes. In other words, if we do the work, white women can flip the script this time.”
The article digs into how Harris’ overtures to white women voters differs from that of former President Donald Trump both in approach and tone. Harris makes direct appeals, largely centered on the theme of reproductive rights, while Trump’s efforts are baked into his overall message about crime, the economy and stopping illegal immigration.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” the group discusses former President Donald Trump’s short yet combative interview during the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention. Trump’s remarks included him questioning whether Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent in the November election, is Black. Harris is the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as a U.S. vice president.
Then AJC contributor and former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux joins the show to talk about Harris reaching beyond her Democratic base.
Listen live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 or follow “Politically Georgia” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
In case you missed Wednesday’s show, Katy Gates, deputy communications director at Voters of Tomorrow, recapped Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Atlanta.
Also, former state Rep. Meagan Hanson, a Republican from Brookhaven, said that Trump can appeal to young voters with a message focused on the economy.
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Credit: Nell Carroll for the AJC
Credit: Nell Carroll for the AJC
THE CHIEF SPEAKS. Many journalists groaned this week over criticism from some members of the National Association of Black Journalists about the organization’s decision to interview former President Donald Trump at its annual convention.
AJC Editor-in-chief Leroy Chapman Jr., the first Black journalist to lead the publication’s newsroom, offered his insights on the situation in a commentary that published Wednesday under the headline: “Opposition to a Trump interview doesn’t serve journalism.”
More from Chapman:
“Journalists seize such opportunities to push candidates beyond their talking points. It is what we do.
When that interview is fewer than 100 days before an election, it makes for a potentially rare and important moment. Seldom do candidates for high office subject themselves to questioning nowadays.
Journalists understand this. So, we should question. It is what we owe."
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
‘KANGAROO COURT.’ Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is a likely future target of the prosecutors oversight panel established by the Georgia General Assembly last year to discipline district attorneys. As she runs for reelection this November, she’s using the existence of the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission to fundraise for her bid.
According to reporting by online news site The Center Square, Willis recently emailed potential donors with a message that referred to the commission as a “kangaroo court” and read “the other side will try every dirty trick in the book to get rid of me on Election Day 2024, from dark money to their kangaroo court for Georgia DA.”
Georgia House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, R-Milton, fired back, telling The Center Square, “This fundraising appeal doubles down on her image that she’ll politicize anything.”
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
DIVISIVE CONCEPTS. State School Superintendent Richard Woods on Wednesday answered calls for an explanation on why he denied approval — and funding — for an Advanced Placement African American Studies course taught in Georgia schools. Woods said the class violates Georgia’s ”divisive concepts” law, passed by the General Assembly in 2022 amid an election year controversy over critical race theory and the teaching of Black history.
The AJC’s Josh Reyes unpacks this latest twist in a saga that last week drew criticism from Gov. Brian Kemp and sparked a rally at the state Capitol.
Woods is seeking legal clarification on whether the law allows for exceptions for college-level coursework such as Advanced Placement classes. If not, offering the class would make school districts susceptible to court challenges, he said.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden has no public events scheduled.
- Vice President Kamala Harris delivers the eulogy at the funeral of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, in Houston.
- The U.S. Senate has nomination votes lined up.
- The House is in recess until Sept. 9.
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Credit: Elijah Nouvelage for the AJC
Credit: Elijah Nouvelage for the AJC
FEDERAL BENCH APPOINTEE. President Joe Biden has nominated a federal prosecutor to become the newest federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia.
The AJC’s Rosie Manins reports that Tiffany R. Johnson is Biden’s third appointee on the court, which has jurisdiction over federal cases in 46 Georgia counties. The district has courthouses in Atlanta, Rome, Newnan and Gainesville.
Johnson, 37, has been an assistant U.S. attorney in Northern Georgia since 2017. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Johnson will replace U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones, who announced in May his plan to become a senior judge on Jan. 1.
U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock both applauded Biden for accepting their recommendation that Johnson be appointed to a federal judgeship. Ossoff and Warnock are Georgia Democrats.
“I was proud to join Senator Ossoff in recommending Johnson, and I’m excited the White House accepted our recommendation,” Warnock said in a statement. “Johnson is a first-generation college graduate and a dedicated public servant with a distinguished record of community and legal service.”
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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.
