Gov. Brian Kemp isn’t the only top Republican official who plans to skip the state GOP convention in June.
Attorney General Chris Carr, Insurance Commissioner John King and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger also won’t attend the gathering of thousands of GOP delegates in Columbus, according to their aides.
All four of the Republicans overcame a failed campaign by Donald Trump to oust them from office that ended with landslide victories over his hand-picked primary challengers.
The four have also been criticized by far-right delegates who now hold positions of power in the state party, and they have distanced themselves from chair David Shafer, whose role in the fake elector plot is under scrutiny.
King told us he has already committed to a long-planned insurance conference; the others didn’t immediately offer a scheduling conflict.
It’s not clear whether other leaders, including House Speaker Jon Burns, will participate in the gathering.
But there’s at least one key exception: Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Trump-backed contender with close ties to the Georgia GOP’s current leadership, plans to appear at the convention.
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BIDEN’S BACK. President Joe Biden officially announced his reelection bid at 6 a.m. this morning, with a video posted to social media asking voters to help him “finish the job.”
Biden’s announcement sets up a possible rematch between him and former President Donald Trump. And as one of your Insiders reports this morning, that dynamic has top Georgia Democrats welcoming the Biden news, even as polls show him with sagging approval ratings. DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond called Biden “Trump kryptonite.”
Biden will have at least one, and possibly several, prominent Georgians in key leadership roles for the campaign.
Quentin Fulks, the Ellaville native and Georgia Southern alumn who managed U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s winning 2022 campaign, was tapped to serve as Biden’s deputy campaign manager.
And Michael Tyler, a veteran Democratic operative whose Twitter bio reads “D.C. for now, ATL forever,” could land the role of communications director. The Atlanta native helped lead the city’s bid for the Democratic National Committee.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who recently stepped down from a position in the West Wing, could serve as a national co-chair of the campaign.
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Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC
Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC
CALLING FOR BACKUP. While many key Republicans applauded Gov. Brian Kemp’s efforts to sideline the Georgia GOP and create a parallel fundraising structure, not all of his allies were happy about his maneuvering.
“The governor isn’t helping those of us who are not far right,” said John Beville, an east Cobb Republican, who said many in the party still oppose the fringe forces and need the governor to help rally the opposition.
“Kemp is forgetting that there’s lots of time before he might run for Senate,” he said of Kemp’s possible challenge to U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026.
“We’re having that discussion tonight at the Cobb GOP.”
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WINGMEN. Gov. Brian Kemp nonetheless has broad support among his fellow GOP’ers, even as he works to move the party past former President Donald Trump.
The latest sign: A photo of Kemp in today’s Augusta Chronicle, where he’s flanked by multiple Republican lawmakers for a bill signing ceremony to be photographed alongside the governor. This is not a man without a party.
Kemp was in Augusta to sign a bill to move a new James Brown Arena closer to fruition, along with other measures.
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DEBT LIMIT. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News on Sunday that he plans to hold a floor vote this week that would couple a debt ceiling increase with across-the-board spending cuts, a 1% cap on future spending, and a repeal of the clean energy tax credits that several major Georgia-based businesses say they need.
At a groundbreaking for the first-ever sewer system in McIntyre, paid for in part with $6.3 million in federal spending, Georgia’s two Democratic senators said Monday that gamesmanship over the debt limit is the one thing they won’t go for.
“We have to avoid default and it is irresponsible to threaten to impose on the American people the economic catastrophe that would result from a default,” said U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. “We have a budget process which is the appropriate mechanism for finding common ground on federal budget priorities.”
U.S. Sen. Warnock echoed that.
“It’s important for all of us that we not risk the full faith and credit of the United States government,” Warnock said. “The debt ceiling ought to be addressed as its own issue. The people of this county and the people of Georgia pay their bills and the government ought to pay its bills.”
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BLACKBURN BACKLASH. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s decision to partner with Democratic U.S. Jon Ossoff to investigate alleged abuse in Georgia’s foster care system has won her a new enemy.
When the Tennessee Republican’s campaign sent a note to former Georgia GOP executive director Jay Morgan about a May 15 fundraising luncheon in Atlanta, he countered with a stinging response.
Wrote Morgan:
Anyone who consorts with Sen. Ossoff is no friend of the state of Georgia. She has also endorsed the Trump party nominee for President. Trump has cost us two senate seats in Georgia alone and did nothing to assist Gov. Kemp's reelection. If she removes her name from that letter or rescinds her endorsement and apologizes for her lack of judgment , please be in touch."
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A DATE WITH IMMINENT. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis plans to announce this summer — sometime between July 11 and Sept. 1 — whether she will bring charges against former President Donald Trump or any of his allies.
Our colleagues Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin got the scoop from a letter Willis wrote to local law enforcement warning them that her announcement “may provoke a significant public reaction” and asking them to prepare accordingly.
Credit: Miguel Martinez for the AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez for the AJC
“Please accept this correspondence as notice to allow you sufficient time to prepare the Sheriff’s Office and coordinate with local, state and federal agencies to ensure that our law enforcement community is ready to protect the public,” Willis wrote to Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat.
Similar letters were hand-delivered to Darin Schierbaum, Atlanta’s chief of police, and Matthew Kallmyer, director of the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency.
The letter is being interpreted by legal veterans as a sign that an indictment could be coming for Trump.
Former Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said, “I don’t think any of the other targets would raise that level of caution. I think that’s the obvious implication.”
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Credit: Richie Lomba/Dreamstime/TNS
Credit: Richie Lomba/Dreamstime/TNS
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden is set to deliver remarks at North America’s Building Trades Unions Legislative Conference in Washington. In the evening, he will visit the Korean War Memorial with South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol.
- The House and Senate are back in action with most of the attention focused on the House, which is starting work on Republicans’ debt ceiling legislation.
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Credit: Chip Somodevilla via The New York Times
Credit: Chip Somodevilla via The New York Times
RAP ACT. U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson will reintroduce legislation Thursday to bar prosecutors from using musicians’ lyrics against them in criminal proceedings.
The bill, known as the RAP Act, would prevent actions like the ones Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is attempting to take against Young Thug and other “Young Slime Life” gang members who often recorded songs referencing illegal activities.
In a news conference last year about a separate indictment that included rap lyrics as evidence, Willis said: “I think if you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I’m going to use it.”
Johnson, D-Lithonia, and his co-sponsor, New York Democrat Jamaal Bowman, will hold a news conference on Thursday about their bill, which didn’t gain traction in the previous congressional session and is unlikely to see the light of day with Republicans now in control.
Grammy-nominated producer Rico, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason and actress Fran Drescher are expected to attend.
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MOVING ON. Tea Ryan, the longtime head of Georgia Public Broadcasting, is leaving the statewide public television, radio and digital network.
Ryan declined comment beyond saying the decision was long planned and that she told state officials about her plans to retire in January. She’s expected to be succeeded by Bert Wesley Huffman, GPB’s vice president for external affairs and chief development officer.
GPB was in the news recently when lawmakers passed a 9% cut to state funding for the broadcaster.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Have you ever heard the term “lucky dog?” If so, it’s likely in reference to Biscuit Tanenblatt, the much-loved goldendoodle of GOP power player Eric Tanenblatt.
Although Tanenblatt is best known for his roles getting Republicans elected to the highest levels of American politics, the head of global public policy for Denton’s is just a puppy when it comes to this pooch.
Biscuit’s hobbies include long walks on the beach with his best pal, riding the elevator in the Tanenblatts’ Atlanta high-rise, and looking adorable after a trip to the groomer.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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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.
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