Oprah Winfrey made a virtual return to the Georgia campaign trail Wednesday night with a 30-minute, one-on-one conversation with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams.
The two women talked about the 2018 election, which Abrams acknowledged she lost, but never conceded, and why she decided to run again.
“What wakes me up every morning, what keeps me going is the responsibility is there, but so is the opportunity, right?” Abrams said. “That if we do this right, if we get this done, things are so much better. People are so much stronger. And the opportunity I have is to be a part of making that so. Plus, I’ve watched a lot of television and that also helps a lot.”
Oprah is just one big name, along with Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton” fame and former President Barack Obama, coming in for the Democrats. But one who has yet to come to Georgia: President Joe Biden.
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
A few hours before the Oprah event, Abrams was asked whether she would welcome the president to the state.
“We’ve been in conversations with everyone. We’re inviting everyone down here,” she said. “But despite the fact that we think we’re the center of the universe, there are apparently some other elections happening around the country.”
Gov. Brian Kemp’s latest ad highlights the Democrat’s embrace of Biden, whose approval rating remains below 40% in recent Georgia polls.
“She sucked up to Biden. She backed his economic agenda, destroyed retirement savings, ravaged family budgets, sent America into recession,” the narrator says. “Here in Georgia, Brian Kemp stands his ground. Cowers to no one.”
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LISTEN UP. We cover the celebrity factor for the Democrats in the Friday edition of the Politically Georgia podcast, along with Herschel Walker’s police badges, Kelly Loeffler’s emails, questions from our mail bag, and lots more.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
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EASY THERE. Stacey Abrams cast her ballot early Wednesday at a Stone Mountain YMCA.
Unlike four years ago, when Abrams was almost blocked by a poll worker who incorrectly told her she requested an absentee ballot and couldn’t cast an in-person vote, the Democrat had no problem voting this time.
At a news conference before a bank of cameras outside the voting site, she warned not to take the soaring early voting turnout as a sign that Georgia’s election system is free of obstacles to the ballot box.
“Voter suppression is not about turnout, it’s about barriers to access,” she said. “And unfortunately, there are new barriers to access in the state of Georgia. As much as we are excited about the turnout, the record turnout that we’re seeing so far in a midterm election, we also know that people are being denied the right to vote.”
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NOPE. A federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled Thursday that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham must testify before the Fulton County special purpose grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies for possible interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections.
Our colleagues Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman reported that the court denied Graham’s request for an emergency stay in order to stop the grand jury from compelling him to testify. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit flatly denied the South Carolina Republican, writing that Graham had “failed to demonstrate that he is likely to succeed on the merits of that appeal.” One of the judges was a Clinton appointee. Two were appointed by Trump.
Graham is likely to file another appeal. His options are to either ask the entire 11th Circuit court to consider the panel’s decision or to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Graham may not want to testify in Fulton County, but he remains highly interested in the outcome of Georgia elections. He’s been a frequent flier on the Georgia campaign trail lately for GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker.
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Curtis Compton/AJC
Curtis Compton/AJC
COACH CONFIDENCE. Speaking of Herschel Walker, former UGA football coach Vince Dooley is starring in a closing-argument ad for his most famous former player.
Dooley calls Walker “a patriot” and talks about him succeeding, even when people didn’t believe he could.
“He falls sometimes along the way, but he gets back up,” Dooley says.
“There is a need in this country, there is a need in this state, for somebody like Herschel,” Dooley closes. “Knowing him, and the character that he has, he will make a great United States senator.”
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GLOVES OFF. Herschel Walker’s character is the subject of a far less flattering ad from U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign, which CNN reports will hit Georgia airwaves soon.
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
The ad, titled “Hypocrite,” highlights Walker’s past support for a total ban on abortion, along with allegations that he paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion in the past. Walker recently acknowledged to NBC News that a $700 check to the woman came from him, but he said he doesn’t know what it was for.
The Warnock campaign told CNN voters deserve “to know the facts about Herschel Walker’s record.” Will Kiley, a spokesman for the Walker campaign, said that Warnock “embarrassed himself at the debate in Savannah” and is “desperate and it shows.”
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Alyssa Pointer/AJC
Alyssa Pointer/AJC
NOT HAPPY. Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler has responded to the leak of text messages between her and multiple other elected officials during the weeks leading up to the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.
“The radical Left doesn’t want this election to be about their broken agenda. That’s why they’re weaponizing the media to distract Georgians,” she wrote on Twitter. “They are desperate to destroy conservatives by any means necessary — which is exactly why we’ve got to vote them out in November.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, along with multiple national outlets, published a portion of the text messages that shed light on the pressure campaign surrounding former Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
A federal judge ruled this week that Trump made false claims of fraud in Georgia courts, despite being told by his own legal team that his accusations were not true. Loeffler had announced her plan to object to certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden on January 6, but reversed course after the Capitol attack.
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Screenshot via Atlanta Press Club Facebook page
Screenshot via Atlanta Press Club Facebook page
POLLING THE 2ND. Another poll of voters in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District shows a tight race, with incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop slightly ahead but within the margin of error.
The latest survey was conducted by Insider Advantage and shows that Bishop had the support of 47% of voters compared to 44% for Republican challenger Chris West, with 9.3% undecided. The margin of error is 4.2 percentage points.
The poll of 550 likely voters was conducted Oct. 17.
Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District is now the most competitive House race in the Deep South.
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File photo
File photo
LATE BLOOMER. Former President Donald Trump has endorsed the GOP nominee for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, Rich McCormick, for the general election. McCormick defeated Jake Evans, Trump’s initial pick for the seat, during the June primary runoff.
It’s the second time this cycle that Trump has made a follow-up endorsement in a Georgia contest. Earlier this month, he backed Republican nominee Mike Collins, who beat Trump-backed Vernon Jones in the 10th District in May.
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Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times
Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times
EARLY BIRDS. Georgia voters continue to break records for early vote turnout in the 2022 midterm elections.
Our honorary vote goes to the AJC’s data guru, Charles Minshew, who is spending all his waking hours tracking the early vote and sharing the trends with readers.
As of 10:00 last night, Minshew reported more than half-a-million Georgians had cast their midterm ballots, shy of 2020 presidential levels at the same in early voting, but a more than 70% jump from 2018.
You can follow Minshew on social media for up-to-the-minute reports on county-level Georgia voting trends and Taylor Swift music releases.
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BALLOT QUESTIONS. You asked for it — you’re getting it. After lots of reader questions, our colleague David Wickert has a breakdown of each of the four ballot measures that Georgians will see as they’re voting in the general election.
The four questions on the ballot include two proposed amendments to the Georgia Constitution and two statewide ballot initiatives.
They deal with officials indicted for felonies, property taxes after a disaster, taxing timber production like other crops, and what it means to be a “family farm.” Your vote will decide if they become the law of the land.
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Steve Schaefer/AJC
Steve Schaefer/AJC
ON THE TRAIL:
- Herschel Walker’s Unite Georgia Bus Tour makes stops at the NAPA Auto Parts in Americus this morning and at a Columbus-area Piggly Wiggly in the afternoon.
- Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison will join U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, chairwoman of the state party, for a get-out-the-vote canvass launch in East Point this morning.
- Later, Harrison will join state Sen. Jen Jordan, the party’s nominee for attorney general, and Nakita Hemingway, candidate for agriculture commissioner, at two barbershop meet-and-greets in Gwinnett County.
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Troy Stolt/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Troy Stolt/Chattanooga Times Free Press
PUPPY AD. GOP state Sen. Burt Jones is getting in on the new Georgia tradition of shamelessly adorable puppy ads in his campaign for lieutenant governor.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock got the trend going in 2020, when he warned voters that the GOP would try to convince them that he was such a bad person, he even hated puppies. Alvin the Beagle, the star of Warnock’s puppy campaign ad, became an overnight sensation and Warnock’s nice-guy image was cemented.
Jones has not one, but a dozen puppies in his ad, including baby beagles. The 30-second spot highlights Jones’ bill that made adoptable puppies the official state dog of Georgia. The bill also went to support animal shelters and foster efforts.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
