We asked for “Geoff Duncan” voters and we found them.
No, not Georgians who cast ballots for the lieutenant governor, who didn’t seek a second term. We mean others who, like Duncan, went into the voting booth but didn’t choose either U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock or Herschel Walker in the runoff.
Election returns indicate that roughly 2,694 voters left their ballots blank. Among them is Beau Stubbs, who said he couldn’t bring himself to choose sides.
“Walker is embarrassing, and Warnock is a liberal Democrat,” said Stubbs. “I hope this gets Republicans’ attention that they can’t put up someone like Walker and expect to win.”
Warnock won the runoff by about 100,000 votes.
Of course, there are also 3.5 million registered voters who didn’t cast a ballot in the runoff election. There is no way to know how many of them did so because they didn’t support either of the choices before them.
Marty Jones voted for all statewide Republicans in the midterm except for Walker and Burt Jones, who won the race for lieutenant governor after backing former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
Marty Jones said nothing changed his mind in the runup to the runoff.
“I also could not be a hypocrite. When the Democrats run a bad candidate, I make fun of them for voting for the party guy. Country beats party, every time,” Jones said. “That also means not voting for Senator Warnock.”
Jones felt withholding his vote for Warnock wouldn’t matter: “The Republicans were not going to be in control of the Senate, so even if Herschel won, what would it change?”
Ryan Graham, the former Libertarian nominee for lieutenant governor, also turned up at the polls but opted not to support either Senate candidate.
“I went in and cast a blank ballot. Neither candidate made any attempt to earn my vote, so they didn’t get it.”
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Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
LISTEN UP. Fellow Jolter Tia Mitchell joins the Politically Georgia podcast today to help us unpack the results of the 2022 elections.
We look at what the runoff results tell us about Georgia politics, and we share memorable moments from this year’s campaign trail.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher
***
Alyssa Pointer/AJC
Alyssa Pointer/AJC
FIFTY-TWO. That’s the number of tweets in an unusual thread that former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo produced late Wednesday night to offer her take on this year’s mixed results for Democrats on the statewide ballot.
Groh-Wargo contends that Abrams’ 2018 race, along with her activism for Democratic priorities like voting rights, made the race “nearly impossible” once Republicans “poisoned her image.”
In another tweet, she gives much of the credit for U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s win Tuesday, and even entry into politics, to Abrams and herself.
After U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer failed to persuade Abrams to run for Senate in 2020, she “proposed an alternative leader who would stand up for all Georgians if elected, her friend Raphael Warnock. Stacey told Schumer clearly: Warnock could win, and she would do everything in her power to see that through.”
One Democrat said Abrams should get credit for making the state competitive but called the Warnock portion of the thread “deranged.” Democratic consultant David Brand called it a “delusional rant.”
And Cody Hall, a top aide to Gov. Brian Kemp, shot back: “Abrams donors will be so comforted to know they were swindled out of $130 million that the Abrams campaign lit on fire to try and win a ‘nearly impossible’ race.”
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BLAME GAME. Republican Herschel Walker lost the runoff to U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, in part, because of his history of scandal, lies and exaggerations, campaign missteps and personal baggage.
But his aides and allies told us that his wife, Julie Blanchard, also complicated his run by commandeering his schedule and prioritizing interviews with conservative media outlets. She also directed his press team to avoid interviews with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after it published coverage she didn’t like.
We were also told that she was focused on winning a majority of the Black vote even when strategists told her that was unfeasible. And she directed the campaign to falsely claim Walker’s high school football coach wasn’t his coach after he endorsed Warnock.
Blanchard initially didn’t comment on the criticism. But late Thursday, we heard from campaign consultant Timmy Teepell, who said the criticism was “unseemly, dishonest and unethical.”
“Julie is a professional, energetic and unwavering defender of her husband as she should be,” he said, adding: “The cowardly folks engaged in this dishonest whisper campaign should quit politics for the good of this country.”
Meanwhile, Walker campaign manager Scott Paradise tweeted a rejoinder to the attacks.
“We had a great team with a lot of talented people who poured their lives into this race for more than a year,” he wrote.
***
Hyosub Shin/AJC
Hyosub Shin/AJC
SENATE SHAKEUP. State Sens. Brandon Beach and Greg Dolezal were sidelined under Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan. But his successor is putting them in positions of power.
Incoming Lt. Gov. Burt Jones tapped both to serve on the influential Committee on Assignments. Other members include Jones, John Kennedy and Steve Gooch.
Beach and Dolezal were demoted by Duncan in 2021 after they endorsed Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the election. So was Jones, who was stripped of his role as chair of the Insurance and Labor Committee.
***
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
FLYNN GOES IN. Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn testified Thursday before the Fulton County special purpose grand jury, flanked by armed security.
The AJC’s Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin wrote that Flynn was inside the Fulton County courthouse for about 90 minutes. It is possible that during his special grand jury appearance Flynn invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege to not answer questions. That’s what he did when he appeared before the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
Flynn had tried to go through courts in his home state of Florida to quash his summons but was rebuked.
***
Chip Somodevilla via The New York Times
Chip Somodevilla via The New York Times
MARRIAGE PROTECTION. Legislation creating federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriage is now headed to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it into law soon.
The House approved the bill Thursday on bipartisan vote of 258-169 with 39 Republicans joining Democrats in signing off on the measure. Georgia’s delegation split along party lines with all six Democrats in favor and all eight Republicans opposed.
The bill gained traction after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion in the Dobbs decision, and Justice Clarence Thomas made it clear that he hoped courts would go after same-sex marriage next.
“Same-sex and interracial couples should not have to live in fear that a future Supreme Court decision could invalidate their marriages,” U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson wrote in a statement after the vote. “I am proud that Congress took this proactive measure to protect these marriages and send the message that love still wins.”
***
TNS
TNS
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House and Senate are done for the week.
- President Joe Biden also does not have any public events scheduled today.
***
Bob Andres/AJC/TNS
Bob Andres/AJC/TNS
NATIONAL DEFENSE. The U.S. House has signed off on a preliminary version of the National Defense Authorization Act, a package that outlines policy and spending priorities for the military.
It’s considered a must-pass piece of legislation. Congress has approved the legislation on an annual basis since 1961. Although most of the package is noncontroversial, Republicans insisted and were successful in inserting language this year rolling back COVID-19 vaccine mandates for service members.
While the House vote was bipartisan, dozens of conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats opposed the measure. The Democratic opposition usually centers around criticism of the size of the Pentagon’s budget. But this year, many Congressional Black Caucus members also voted no as part of a protest over lack of movement on a separate bill creating federal elections standards.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, the only Georgia Democrat to oppose the measure, indicated she was in the group who wants to reign in the level of defense spending.
“As we continue to underinvest here at home, I believe that we must find better balance to keep Americans safe while investing in our future,” she wrote on Twitter. “I’m hopeful that the enactment of my Cost of War Act, which was included in the NDAA, will create the transparency we need to find that balance.”
Three Georgia Republicans — Reps. Andrew Clyde, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jody Hice — also voted no.
Clyde released a statement saying he opposed the package because Democrats had inserted “radical policies and wasteful spending,” such as a pilot program that would allow people to voluntarily obtain gun storage units.
Meanwhile, other members of the delegation celebrated language they were able to get included in the legislation. A provision intended to combat the wildlife poaching and trafficking industry was sponsored by Rep. Buddy Carter. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux was behind language regarding the protection and restoration of waterways.
The Senate will take up the legislation next week, where more amendments are expected.
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GAS TAX REPRIVE. Gov. Brian Kemp has announced that the state’s gas tax moratorium, implemented as prices skyrocketed earlier this year, will end in January.
That means drivers will continue to save roughly 29 cents per gallon during the busy holiday travel period, the AJC’s James Salzer reports.
The average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. on Thursday was $3.32, according to AAA. In Georgia, the price was $2.92, down from a high of $4.33 on July 1.
Kemp said the latest suspension extension would allow Georgians to spend the savings over the holidays, but he added that it “was always intended as a short-term answer to a long-term” problem.
***
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
THERE’S MORE. Sheree Ralston has collected more endorsements for her campaign to succeed her late husband — Georgia House Speaker David Ralston — in Blue Ridge-based House District 7.
Former Gov. Nathan Deal said Sheree Ralston “was at the heart” of the her husband’s work. “I know she’ll continue defending the rights of our most vulnerable, protecting the families of Georgia’s 7th District and serving her community with distinction and integrity.”
And GOP state Rep. Will Wade from the neighboring 9th district said Ralston would focus on “conservative values while ensuring families, farmers and job creators have a voice in the process.”
Gov. Brian Kemp endorsed Ralston just after she entered the race.
Early voting in the unusually compressed special election cycle starts Monday, Dec. 12, while Election Day is set for Jan. 3.
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CONDOLENCES. We’re sending our deepest condolences to outgoing state Rep. Erick Allen, whose father, Rev. Harry E. Allen, passed away unexpectedly this week.
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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.
