Fair Fight, the political organization that Stacey Abrams built after her 2018 defeat, isn’t fading away.
Cianti Stewart-Reid, Fair Fight’s new chief executive, outlined her vision for the voting rights group with Abrams and her top advisers focused on her gubernatorial bid.
Stewart-Reid said the organization will continue to harness partnerships with other groups across the nation “to make sure voters of color are heard across the South and across the country,” but she made clear what the center of her attention will be.
“Our heart is in Georgia. It always will be. We’ll lead efforts aimed at educating voters of color in Georgia, and that will never change,” she said.
The group and its allies will highlight voter education and mobilization efforts, along with policy pushes to expand Medicaid and boost healthcare funding in 2022. She said it will also track and combat disinformation.
“We’re going to lean into making investments in voter education,” Stewart-Reid said. “And we’re dedicated to being there for voters who have questions and concerns about whether their votes will be counted.”
One of the leading critics of the state’s sweeping election rewrite, Stewart-Reid said the organization is tracking several election-related bills this session of the Georgia General Assembly that she said would make election administration more difficult.
“What elections officials need is more support and more engagement,” she said, “not measures that will continue to stress their resources.”
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UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- 1:00 p.m.: Committee meetings begin;
- The House and Senate are adjourned until Tuesday, Feb. 22, with the day off Monday for Presidents Day.
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From the Capitol:
- The House passed the bill Thursday to make Gwinnett County Board of Education elections nonpartisan and move those elections to May. That bill, opposed by Gwinnett Democrats, now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature;
- The state Senate passed a bill to ban Chinese-owned companies from bidding on state contracts, although that the bill’s sponsor said he is not aware of any Chinese companies doing business with the state now;
- Gov. Brian Kemp signed off Thursday on the bill to put the City of East Cobb to a referendum for voters on the May primary election ballot.
- Spotted by our eagle-eyed colleague Maya Prabhu: U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, being escorted into the Senate chamber Thursday by Senate president Pro Tem Butch Miller.
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If 1,500 words a day from your Jolters isn’t nearly enough, be sure to catch the Politically Georgia podcast every Wednesday and Friday on AJC.com or your favorite podcast platform.
On today’s pod, we break down the scoop that Republican David Perdue’s campaign for governor may be struggling, but Trump-sized reinforcements are on the way.
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For the House leaders breathing a sigh of relief that resident rabble rouser, state Rep. David Clark, is retiring…not so fast.
Our colleague Alia Malik reports that Clark, who had previously announced that he won’t seek reelection, announced on social media last week that he has changed his mind and will run in the newly drawn House District 100 after all.
That means that Clark, who sits in the 98th district, will face fellow Republican and caucus chair, state Rep. Bonnie Rich, who represents the 97th. Rich oversaw the process last year that drew her and Clark into the same territory north of Atlanta.
Credit: Nathan Posner
Credit: Nathan Posner
Rich announced Thursday she will run for re-election in the new seat, which includes parts of northern Gwinnett, Forsyth and Hall Counties.
It sets up a primary well worth paying attention to.
Clark has clashed with House leaders for years. He recently accused House Speaker David Ralston, a fellow Republican, of trying to “silence” him after he was denied access to the House floor because he’d tested positive for COVID-19.
In his announcement, he said, “It was my sincere hope that someone would step up to take the reins against corruption in our government and be a voice that puts people over politics. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.”
Rich, who was elected in 2018, recently elicited the ire of Democrats after she redrew the Gwinnett County Commission map to create a conservative-leaning district, overriding the map approved by most of the county’s legislative delegation.
She also took heat for the new congressional map that made U.S. Rep Lucy McBath’s 6th District so conservative that McBath decided to run against fellow Democrat U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux in the 7th instead.
“This session, I’m working tirelessly to ensure parental control, transparency and accountability in education, fully fund K-12 schools, and overhaul our state’s broken mental health system,” Rich said in a news release announcing her re-election campaign.
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State Rep. Terry England stunned his colleagues Thursday with his announcement that he won’t seek reelection in 2022. The affection in the chamber for the Appropriations chairman was obvious as colleagues of both parties lined up to wish him well. Our pal Rahul Bali snapped a pic of the crowd.
Not only does England’s announcement mean somebody else is going to have to start sleeping with a calculator under their pillow as a steward of the state’s money pile, it also means England’s Barrow County seat will become vacant.
We hear businessman Danny Rampey is considering a run. Rampey owns Magnolia Estates, an assisted living and personal care home business with locations around Barrow County. Rampey’s allies say he would likely be ready to partially self-fund a campaign, a bonus for anyone who needs to get up and running for the rapidly approaching May primaries.
***
While Marjorie Taylor Greene was in the state Senate, a growing list of Democrats and Republicans were campaigning in North Georgia to run against her in 2022.
Holly McCormack, a Democrat, released a video with her own story of growing up in the district that Greene now represents.
***
Georgia Congressman Andrew Clyde is among the conservatives in the U.S. House vowing to revoke some of the District of Columbia’s autonomy if Republicans gain control of the chamber after the midterm elections.
“In the near future, we will free Washington D.C. from the failed experiment of so-called ‘Home Rule,’ and we will return our nation’s capital to the American people after the Democrats’ almost 50-year reign of terror and failed leadership,” Clyde said in a statement about his efforts.
He said he wants to address the booming city’s crime and homelessness problems by introducing legislation repealing the Home Rule Act of 1973, which granted Washington the ability to form its own government and pass its own legislation.
Jamie Dupree wrote more in his Regular Order newsletter Thursday about the potential impact:
While this might seem far-fetched to District residents, it would be wrong to treat this as an idle threat. It won't surprise me to see a GOP majority in Congress do all it can to hamstring the D.C. city government.
Most people outside of D.C. won't grasp the gravity of this threat. Since Congress has the ultimate power over the Federal City, the GOP could abolish the mayor-council form of government, and set up their own appointed board to rule over Washington, D.C. That's happened before.
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U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has introduced a bill that would cap insulin out-of-pocket costs for patients to $35 a month, and it already has the endorsement of Senate leadership.
Controlling the cost of insulin was among the many provisions contained in the now-stalled Build Back Better package, and now Warnock is attempting to push it as a standalone issue.
He told reporters this week that he would also welcome other opportunities to pass the cost-cutting measure through larger proposals, like the omnibus spending bill under negotiation.
Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that he will push for a vote on the measure, according to Politico.
“There’s enormous interest in our caucus to pursue this proposal, so it will be a priority for Democrats in the weeks ahead,” he said.
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Since it’s Friday, we’ve got your weekend reads, including:
- Wednesday’s Political Insider column, “The fast rise and faster fall of the ‘City of Buckhead city”;
- Jamie DuPree’s Thursday column from Washington, ”Gun owners blamed for TSA checkpoint surge”;
- And a sneak peek of Sunday’s Political Insider column, “Fulton DA Fani Willis finds GOP partners, despite Trump investigation”
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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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