The annual AJC Peachtree Road Race is a rite of passage for many Atlantans plus the hundreds if not thousands of others who come from all around to race 6.2 miles through the heart of the city every Fourth of July.
Although weather necessitated an early and abrupt end to this year’s festivities, there were still plenty of politicians who joined the 50,000 or so runners.
It’s a chance not only to show their physical prowess but also to grab hands and pose for selfies in one of the city’s highest-profile and most recognizable community events.
Jason Getz/AJC
Jason Getz/AJC
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock ran the race for the third year in a row, finishing in 1:12:24.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens logged an impressive 1:01:53. State Rep. Ruwa Romman tallied a 1:38:41 finish, while City Councilman Matt Westmoreland clocked in at 1:30:39.
And then there’s Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman, an accomplished runner who in June completed a marathon. His time on Tuesday? A crisp 53:17.
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Jason Getz/AJC
Jason Getz/AJC
LISTEN UP. Now that we’re halfway through 2023, it’s worth looking back at the key questions we posed at the end of 2022 and where Georgia politics stand so far. Consider the latest Politically Georgia podcast our version of a midterm exam — without the grades.
Speaking of exams, if you have a question for our insiders this week, call the 24-hour Politically Georgia podcast hotline at 404-526-AJCP. That’s 404-526-2527. We’ll play your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on next Friday’s episode.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. You can also tell your smart speaker to “play Politically Georgia podcast.”
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TEFLON MTG. Some of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s conservative colleagues continue to gripe about her aligning with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the GOP establishment — and have threatened repercussions as a result. But appears that squeeze has not affected her standing in northwest Georgia.
Your Washington Jolter spoke with voters and activists in northwest Georgia, who generally reported no change in Greene’s stature in the 14th Congressional District. Sure, there are many Democrats and moderates who were never happy with the Rome Republican. But the conservatives who were in her corner in 2020 and 2022 remain there still, even if some question some of Greene’s recent decision making.
The most consternation from the right came first after Greene supported McCarthy’s bid for speaker because some conservatives don’t trust him. But the fervor increased when she supported his debt limit deal negotiated with President Joe Biden, criticizing fellow House Freedom Caucus members in the process.
Back in Georgia, these developments have been met more with curiosity than disdain, said Debbie Dooley, one of the founders of the Georgia Tea Party who has become a voice for conservatives in the state GOP. People are willing to see whether Greene’s embrace of the establishment will remain a rare occurrence.
“She’s still pushing for indictments and stuff like that, and I just don’t think overall her stance is going to hurt her,” Dooley said. “Now, if she just keeps on taking those little baby steps, that’s a different matter. But it doesn’t look like she’s going to.”
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Hyosub Shin/AJC
Hyosub Shin/AJC
DEI AT USG. Months before the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that colleges and universities cannot use race as a factor in admissions, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones asked University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue for an accounting of state spending on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the university system.
Jones was following the lead of other Republicans around the country who have questioned their own states’ DEI programs.
As the AJC’s James Salzer and Vanessa McCray write, Perdue sent Jones back a 200-plus page response detailing the millions spent on DEI and scholarship initiatives, with this note:
“Higher education is a place where people — young people particularly — come to realize that not everybody brings their same life perspective,” Perdue wrote. “We cannot learn from one another if we don’t listen to one another. We want people to feel free to express their First Amendment rights on our campuses without being shouted down or called out.”
Among the expenditures listed in Perdue’s response are Georgia Tech’s $8 million-a-year spending of state funds for programs, including 66 full-time staffers, six federally mandated positions and seven part-time staffers. The effort is led by a vice president of institute diversity, equity and inclusion who the report says earns $281,000 a year.
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Jenni Girtman for the AJC
Jenni Girtman for the AJC
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called a $55,000 grant to three local transgender organizations the “single largest investment” of its kind in city history. That caught the attention of Kenya Hunter of Capital B.
The outlet filed an open records request that revealed the city has donated $220,000 to LGBTQ causes over the past five years, including the donation that Dickens touted.
A spokesman said the spending amounts to “major investments” to the community, but advocates say more is needed to help a community that disproportionately suffers from HIV, AIDS and other medical crises.
“Atlanta sells a bill around inclusion that I'm not sure it's paying," said Tim'm West, the executive director of the LGBTQ Institute at the National Center for Civil Rights in Atlanta. “The question becomes what other investments are needed to ensure that this is going to be an inclusive mecca for people, [and] that there are resources and opportunities for people to be able to live here?"
Atlanta City Councilman Matt Westmoreland, the first openly gay man to represent the entire city, told Capital B the $55,000 is just a start.
“The fact that this is the largest investment to date to the transgender community, I think, is a testament to what has not been done in the past and what is changing in the present,” he said.
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TNS
TNS
MASK FINES UPHELD. A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that threw out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s challenge to fines she received under the U.S. House’s masking rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jamie Dupree, in his Regular Order newsletter, wrote that the three judge federal appeals panel was unanimous in ruling against Greene and her co-plaintiffs: Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Ralph Norman of South Carolina. All three Republicans had challenge the $500 per day mask fines passed down when they refused to keep their faces covered on the House floor.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at the White House.
- The U.S. House and Senate are out for a two-week recess for the Fourth of July holiday.
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TNS
TNS
RECORD BROKEN. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s record for the most money raised by a candidate for federal office in a single quarter has been bested.
Politico reports that U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff hauled in $8.1 million in April, May and June as he seeks a U.S. Senate seat in his home state of California. Schiff appears to have benefitted from the attention he received a couple of weeks ago when House Republicans insisted on censuring him because of past comments he made criticizing former President Donald Trump.
Schiff beat Warnock’s quarterly fundraising record by almost $1 million, Politico wrote. But he has raised just $29.5 million thus far. If he is to beat Warnock’s overall record-breaking fundraising total, he will have to get that number up past Warnock’s $180.9 million.
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HONORING KING. Three different memorial services will be held in honor of Christine King Farris, who died last week at age 95. The last of Martin Luther King Jr.’s siblings, she was a longtime educator at Spelman College and the longest-serving member of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Both venues will host remembrance services, the family announced over the holiday weekend. The AJC’s Ernie Suggs has the entire rundown, including information about public viewings.
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Natrice Miller/AJC
Natrice Miller/AJC
PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT. Gov. Brian Kemp announced a series of personnel moves for state departments and agencies at the end of last week.
Kemp appointed Rick Dunn as Director of the Office of Planning and Budget. Dunn currently serves as Director of the Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Protection Division and takes the OPB role over from Kelly Farr.
To fill Dunn’s role at DNR, the board of that agency voted to appoint the governor’s executive counsel, David Dove, as Interim Director of EPD. Dove will be working double duty, since he will also continue as executive counsel. The DNR board also voted to appoint Walter Rabon as Interim Commissioner of DNR.
Separately, Kemp announced his appointment of Russel Carlson to be Commissioner of the Department of Community Health, effective August 1. Carlson currently serves as Chief Health Policy Officer for the Department.
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Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. With eight players heading to the All-Star game, it’s good to be a Braves fan these days. And nobody knows that better Brooklyn and Bronx Pettys, the New York-named, Georgia-bred French Bulldawgs who call Richard Pettys Jr. their person.
Pettys is the son of the late legendary newsman Dick Pettys. Although he lives in Alabama now, he reports that he, Brooklyn and Bronx have remained Braves fans through and through. The trio watch Braves games together in the evenings, often from the same chair, which makes them our All-Star Dogs of the Day.
Send us your dogs 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.
