The one thing we know for sure about what’s going on in the Fulton County GOP is that it’s a mess.
Here’s what we’ve gathered: County chair Trey Kelly, who is no relation to GOP state Rep. Trey Kelley, appeared to have narrowly won a first tally to be reelected chairman by three votes at the Fulton County convention on April 17th.
However, Kelly then lost a second vote to newcomer Susan Opraseuth, which Kelly and his allies labeled as improper.
Kelly has since appealed to district GOP officials and last week was confirmed the winner.
Along the way, the bitter parochial fight over the post has become a proxy battle that has spread beyond Fulton’s borders between pro-Trump factions aligned with Opraseuth and the more establishment friendly -- but still pro-Trump -- activists behind Kelly.
Jason Shepherd, the former Cobb GOP chair who is running to lead the state party, said there were “numerous inconsistencies” during the first vote and that Opraseuth “clearly” won.
And U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who relocated from north Fulton to run for a vacant congressional seat in northwest Georgia, stepped in to accuse local Republicans of -- you guessed it -- election fraud.
“What matters to these Republicans?” she asked on Twitter. “The people’s vote? Election integrity? ...Or that they keep the same old good ‘ole boys in charge that just organize a monthly breakfast?”
“No wonder Stacey Abrams is whipping GA Republicans (sic.) ass,” she wrote.
Kelly’s backers say he won the tight vote fair-and-square, and point to confusion involving colored bingo chips used to tally the votes.
We also heard from Matthew Krull, who served as the convention’s sergeant at arms and sent over a lengthy statement about the proceedings. He noted that even if two disputed chips were left out of the initial tally, Kelly still would win with one vote to spare.
As if we needed any more reminders, Georgia Republicans’ ongoing battles over voter fraud may be just getting started.
***
If it seems like Georgia is too small to contain all of the chaos inside the Georgia GOP, you’re right.
South Carolina is now getting treated to its own dose of “a whole lot of crazy” now that Trump attorney, Lin Wood, has moved east, Politico reports.
Wood has taken up the mantle of running to chair the South Carolina Republican Party, a group so loyal to former president Donald Trump that it canceled the 2020 GOP primary rather than open Trump up to a challenge there. But Wood says the whole lot of them didn’t do nearly enough to keep Trump in office, as he did.
Wood’s allies are preemptively accusing the state party of “rigging” the election against him, a charge we assume they’ll drop if he wins.
“We need some chaos in the Republican Party in South Carolina. Somebody needs to shake it up,” Wood said last week in Aiken. “So here I am, Mr. Shaker.”
***
POSTED: The AJC is continuing to report out the details of Senate Bill 202 and what the state’s new election law will mean for voters in the state.
Our colleague, Mark Niesse, reports that language in the bill will disqualify votes cast in the wrong precinct. About 3,300 out-of-precinct ballots were counted in November.
More:
“Lawsuits fighting the voting law say it will disqualify ballots of eligible voters who accidentally go to the wrong precinct because their old voting location closed or the county merged polling places.
Republican legislators who support the law say voters need to report to the voting location where they're registered so they can vote a full ballot and won't cause lines elsewhere.
There are now 26 states, including Georgia, that don't count provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct and 20 that do, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Four states rarely or never use provisional ballots.
Rejecting provisional ballots could have a disproportionate effect on Democrats. About 63% of provisional ballots were cast for Democratic presidential candidates in the 2020 and 2016 general elections in Georgia."
***
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock joined other Democrats last week in urging President Joe Biden to forgive $50,000 of student loan debt per borrower, he said at a virtual town hall on Friday.
“I’m heartbroken when I see what young people are struggling with right now, in a moment when college debt has surpassed credit card debt in our country,” Warnock said.
“College debt has surpassed auto loans. In other words, our young people have a mortgage before they get the chance to have a mortgage, which has all kinds of implications not only for their personal economy, but for the Georgia economy and the American economy.”
***
Former Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood is amassing quite the war chest for her comeback bid.
Norwood, who narrowly lost two mayoral runs, is set to report she raised roughly $308,000 for her campaign for an open council seat this year. She boasts nearly $290,000 in the bank, which she’ll use to boost turnout in the district.
Among those she’ll target: some of the 19,000 voters who cast ballots in the 2020 election but didn’t vote in the last mayoral race four years ago.
***
It’s officially the end of the Newt era in Georgia when Newt Gingrich is a Florida man.
The couple has been spotted lately golfing and dining near Naples, a popular destination for retirees. Calista Gingrich had been serving as the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican under the Trump administration, and Newt, the former U.S. House speaker and Georgia congressman, came along for the ride. When Joe Biden won the presidency, it became clear the couple would need to move back to the states.
But a tweet from Mrs. Gingrich spilled the beans that they have apparently decided not to return to their old stomping grounds in Metro Atlanta.
“@newtgingrich and I are looking forward to being residents of the great state of Florida!” Calista wrote on Friday.
***
Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will criss-cross the state this week with events focused on infrastructure and transit. It’s part of the ongoing Democratic effort to sell President Joe Biden’s American Jobs and Families plans, which POTUS pitched in Gwinnett last week.
Look for Ossoff in Dalton and Commerce Monday for visits to the Q Cells solar and SK innovation battery plants. He’ll then head South to the Port of Savannah and Savannah State University Tuesday; Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base Wednesday and visits later in the week to Valdosta and the Atlanta University Center.
Warnock will travel to Waverly Hall (pop. 747) and Albany Monday to visit the Waverly Hall Telephone Company and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. On Tuesday he’ll head to Blue Bird Corporation in Fort Valley and also pay a visit the SK innovation plant in Commerce on Wednesday.
***
The city of Columbus got a boost last week when American Airlines announced two new nonstop routes between Columbus and Charlotte Douglas Airport and Dallas/ Ft. Worth International Airport.
The flights begin in August, but tickets will be available starting today.
Airline service is a huge factor in economic development outside of the Atlanta Metro region. American Airlines has not flown out of Columbus since 2013.
***
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson has hired an old hand as his new chief of staff. Johnson tapped Scott Goldstein, his former legislative director, to lead his office.
Goldstein is an Emory University alumnus who has also worked for U.S. Rep. David Scott in the past. Most recently, Goldstein worked as deputy director for transportation at Smart Growth America.
***
Stacey Abrams’ book tour publicity bonanza continues. The latest came in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, which spoke to Abrams about her writing process and why it took more than 10 years to sell the idea of a book about an incapacitated Supreme Court justice. Details within.
***
Calling all art critics: The submissions are in for the annual Congressional Art Competition and Rep. Drew Ferguson is looking for your input for his People’s Choice Award. Head over to the congressman’s Facebook page to choose your favorites among the wildly talented 3rd District future Van Goghs.
