Not long ago, Gov. Brian Kemp’s most common refrain when asked about Donald Trump’s quest to destroy his political career was that he wouldn’t say “one bad word” about the former president.
It made sense, too, as Kemp could ill afford splintering his solid base of GOP support ahead of his midterm reelection bid.
But his tune started to change a few minutes after he defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in November, when he dinged Trump in his victory speech.
And he’s taken new steps to distance himself from Trump as the 2024 race ramps up.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
As part of our story on the many Georgia Republicans skeptical of Trump’s comeback bid, Kemp had one of the more notable comments.
While he didn’t directly criticize Trump, the governor pointedly said he expects a “wide-open primary that showcases the successes of Republican governors and the work of other conservative leaders.”
And then he made the case that the nominee should appeal to a broader coalition of voters — a nod to one of Trump’s biggest vulnerabilities.
“To save our country from the disasters of the Biden administration, we must have a Republican nominee in 2024 who can win the general election,” the governor said.
He’ll be taking that message to wider audiences as he continues to elevate his national profile.
The governor will be in Washington next week for the Republican Governors Association meeting. And on Feb. 24 he’ll participate in an Austin retreat that the Texas Tribune describes as a magnet for potential GOP presidential contenders.
Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
Other speakers at the private conference include former U.N. former Ambassador Nikki Haley, ex-Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott.
The event aims to raise money for a GOP registration initiative known as the Texas Voter Engagement Project. It’s being organized with help from the veteran GOP operative Karl Rove, who recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Donald Trump is the GOP’s Albatross.”
***
LISTEN UP. Donald Trump’s slipping grip on Georgia Republican officials is our top talker today on the Politically Georgia podcast.
We’re also updating you on action at the Georgia General Assembly, where bills are now moving, taking your listener calls, and naming our Who’s Up/ Who’s Down for the week.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
***
CORPORATE COALITION. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens got a boost in the form of an open letter to the city’s residents from the Atlanta for Progress Committee, which includes some of the city’s most powerful businesses. The letter comes as the mayor grapples with ongoing backlash over the city’s planned public safety training center, which was approved under Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
“Dear Atlanta,” the letter begins. Along with praising Dickens’ focus on public safety, the group notes his outreach to other leaders around the state to accomplish his goals for Atlanta.
“Importantly, Mayor Dickens has reenergized the collaboration with state leaders, including Governor Brian Kemp, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, and Speaker of the House Jon Burns,” read the letter.
Here’s more:
“We are encouraged that those in the State Capitol and City Hall are working together to address the most serious problems we face. Our public leaders are focused on what unites, not what divides.”
The Atlanta Committee for Progress includes leaders from AT&T, Delta, Georgia Power, Home Depot and UPS, along with nonprofits like Grady Hospital, Emory University and Spelman College. (Cox Enterprises, the parent company of the AJC, is also involved.)
***
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
COUNTERPOINT. One signee of the letter from the Atlanta Committee for Progress praising Dickens was Morehouse College, since Morehouse President David Thomas sits on the board of the leadership group.
But at a regularly scheduled student forum on the Morehouse campus this week, student activists from across the Atlanta University Center demanded that Thomas denounce the planned public safety center instead.
According to campus newspaper, The Maroon Tiger, student organizers took to the stage of the weekly Crown Forum and chanted, “We need you here,” and called on Thomas to address students’ concerns.
Separately, 28 members of Morehouse’s faculty signed onto an open letter saying the project should be abandoned.
“We, the undersigned members of the Morehouse College faculty, call upon our civic leaders and fellow educators in Atlanta to denounce Cop City, to take immediate action to cancel the project, and to respond to the will of the people — and not merely the wealthy and well connected — in determining the character of our communities and the conduct of those who claim to serve and protect us,” they wrote.
***
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
NOT SOUTH CAROLINA. Twenty Democratic Party elected officials and activists from Georgia and other swing states have written a letter to party officials urging them to rethink a plan to have South Carolina host the first presidential primary.
The letter, first reported by Politico’s West Wing Playbook, makes the argument that first-in-the-nation status, including the financial resources that come with it, is wasted on South Carolina because Republicans are likely to carry the state in the general election.
“As Democratic leaders from Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, and Nevada, we would suggest a simple principle when deciding which state holds the first-in-the-nation primary: The state should be diverse and competitive in the general election,” the letter said.
Among the Georgia signees are state Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry, Atlanta City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari, and a handful of other county-level officials outside the metro area.
Party leaders are gathered in Philadelphia this weekend for meetings, and President Joe Biden is among those scheduled to make an appearance. The primary calendar is among the agenda items.
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- Leaders are living up to their no-Fridays promise at the Capitol. The House, Senate, and formal committee work will resume Monday.
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
THE AYES HAVE IT. After a slow start to organize, the new session of the General Assembly is now passing bills.
Among the first for the House was Thursday’s passage of the all-important midyear budget, an annual tweak to the budget approved by lawmakers the previous year with any necessary changes.
Included in this year’s mid-year is a property tax rebate for homeowners proposed earlier this year by Gov. Brian Brian Kemp. As our James Salzer reports, the one-time exemption would save Georgians, on average, about $500. The price tag on that idea is about $1 billion, which the state should be able to easily cover with current surplus dollars.
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
POWER OVER PROSECUTORS. Republicans moved Thursday to make it easier to remove local elected District Attorneys from office.
House Bill 229 from state Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, would reduce the number of signatures required to trigger a vote to recall a DA from office. House Bill 231 from state Rep. Joseph Gullett, R-Dallas, would create an “oversight panel” that could remove a DA for “moral turpitude” and other offenses.
State-level Republicans have clashed with DAs around the state in recent years over some prosecutors’ plans not to enforce specific laws passed by the General Assembly, including the state’s 6-week abortion ban. Other DAs have drawn complaints for failing to schedule trials or for ethics offenses of their own.
Democrats argue that oversight for local prosecutors belongs to voters, who can choose whether or not to vote a DA back into office on their own.
***
WARNOCK ON NICHOLS. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock was among the half-dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus who met with President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday.
Warnock said the group received assurances from Biden that the issue of police accountability, especially in light of the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, will be included in Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. Nichols’ family has accepted an invitation to attend the speech.
Black Democrats in Congress are also working with the White House and reaching out to Republicans to move forward on potential policing legislation.
“We’re very clear that we have to get something done here,” the Atlanta Democrat said. “And all the leaders who were in the room were committed to doing that. And we need folks in both houses, on both sides of the aisle, in conjunction with the White House, to respond. This is a moral moment in America. Tyre Nichols should be alive.”
***
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will travel to Philadelphia where he will deliver remarks on his economic agenda before addressing party leaders during the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting.
- The U.S. House and Senate are done for the week.
***
OMAR OUT. The U.S. House vote to remove Minnesota’s U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee fell along party lines, with one Republican, U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio, voting present.
All nine Georgia Republicans supported Omar’s ouster on the grounds that she made past statements that were deemed antisemitic. All five Georgia Democrats opposed her removal.
Democrats have accused Republicans of removing Omar from her committee in retaliation for their vote in 2021 to remove two Republicans from their committees.
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
One of the two was U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, who was removed from her assignments following revelations about Greene’s previous comments supporting QAnon conspiracy theories, violence against House Democrats, and an earlier video showing Greene berating a school shooting survivor.
On Thursday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also blocked two Democrats from serving on the Intelligence Committee, a decision that belongs to the Speaker alone.
***
Credit: Chip Somodevilla via The New York Times
Credit: Chip Somodevilla via The New York Times
ON THE BORDER. Georgia U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson is headed to the southern border this weekend.
Johnson, who lives in Lithonia, is joining a congressional delegation led by a fellow Democrat, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas. The group will tour immigration processing centers in El Paso and speak to migrants, law enforcement and service providers about the challenges posted as border crossings continue to surge.
The group will also examine which infrastructure improvements are needed in the area and whether funding is available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.
***
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
SAD NEWS. Bunnie Jackson-Ransom, the former first lady of Atlanta, has died. Jackson-Ransom was the wife of the late Mayor Maynard Jackson.
Jackson was Atlanta’s first Black mayor, but Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens noted that the first lady was “an incredible force of her own.”
“Bunnie loved this city and we loved her back,” Dickens wrote in a statement.
Gov. Brian Kemp praised Jackson-Ransom’s “grace and leadership.”
“She will be truly missed,” Kemp said.
***
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.co
