Welcome to Election Day in Georgia. It’s the final test for the candidates in Georgia’s top races, who have each waged their races their own way. Those distinct approaches were clearer than ever during Monday’s solo election eve events.
Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker held rival rallies about a mile from each other in suburban Kennesaw. Kemp’s event featured most of the GOP ticket at an airport hangar that drew a few hundred supporters who cheered his economic-themed message.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Just after it wrapped up, Walker headlined a rally at the Governors Gun Club that drew an even larger crowd.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Dr. Ben Carson, a former presidential contender, were among the openers at the raucous event, which drew some of the same officials at Kemp’s rally — but not the governor.
“Runoff? Runoff? We are winning this,” Walker said. “We ain’t talking about no runoff.”
The rally also had plenty of tough talk from speakers who spoke about their own sports exploits or mocked the media. “Reverend Raphael Warnock is about to get flattened tomorrow,” said Clay Travis, a pro-Walker radio personality.
Pointing to the media at the event, he continued, “I want to see the tears rolling down your cheeks. I want you to fall down in the fetal position and whimper and cry, because Herschel Walker is gonna run right over your story and I can’t wait to enjoy it all.”
Earlier, Kemp downplayed the separate campaigns and said his efforts were geared toward helping the entire ticket.
“I don’t think people should read anything into that. We’re dividing and conquering,” Kemp said. “The other question would be: Why isn’t Raphael Warnock campaigning with Joe Biden?”
Biden, whose approval ratings hovers around 37% in the state, never came to Georgia this cycle for the Democrats. And Stacey Abrams and Warnock have hardly campaigned together either, and they stuck to that strategy in the final hours of the campaign.
Warnock’s campaign events brought him to Macon and Columbus, while Abrams spoke to volunteers at a West End Brewery, telling them the campaign had sent 1.6 million texts to potential voters on Monday alone.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution / TNS
Credit: Miguel Martinez/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution / TNS
FINAL POLLS. Data for Progress, a left-leaning pollster, released poll results Monday that serves as a final pre-election forecast.
The survey was consistent in finding that Republican Herschel Walker and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock are in a statistical dead heat, with Walker receiving 49% of the vote compared to Warnock’s 48%.
The same poll showed Gov. Brian Kemp leading Stacey Abrams by 9 points, 54% to 45%.
The survey of 1,474 likely voters in Georgia was conducted Nov. 2-6 and carries a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
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Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
LISTEN UP. We landed the head honcho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, editor Kevin Riley, as a guest on our special election-preview edition of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
And be sure to check out our Election Day live blog on AJC.com. We will be bringing you updates from the polls and have continuous coverage of the results after polls close.
Tia Mitchell and Mark Niesse are also doing a Twitter Spaces at 1 p.m. to discuss what to expect.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
SPEAKER RACE. The behind-the-scenes battle to succeed House Speaker David Ralston is heating up.
State Rep. Jan Jones, the second-ranking Republican in the House, sent GOP members a lengthy letter outlining her platform to run for speaker. We were struck by this line: “We will remain in the majority by focusing on the conservative principles that unite us, not divide us.”
Other contenders include state Rep. Barry Fleming, a Ralston rival who confirmed he will run shortly after the speaker said he would step down amid an ongoing health challenge. House Majority Leader Jon Burns is also believed to be a contender.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
And then there’s this development: Longtime state Rep. Alan Powell, a plain-spoken Republican who has served for nearly 34 years, has told allies he’s “seriously considering” a run. In conversations with a few dozen lawmakers, he frames himself as a compromise candidate.
Among the other caucus races we’re watching is the contest to succeed Burns as majority leader. One of the leading candidates is state Rep. Chuck Efstration of Dacula.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
EN ESPANOL: A feature of the Brian Kemp rally was something new for Georgia Republicans — a stump speech in both English and Spanish from Insurance Commissioner John King.
Kemp appointed King to the role in 2019,making the Mexico native the first Hispanic statewide official in Georgia history. If he’s elected Tuesday, he’ll become the first Hispanic candidate ever elected statewide.
After delivering his remarks in English, King told the crowd, as well as the bank of television cameras at the event to vote, “Republicano manyana,” or “Republican tomorrow.”
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Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
TACTLESS. The far-right Georgia Republican Assembly has never been a friend to House Speaker David Ralston. But the group did itself no favors with a tasteless post on its website on the heels of Ralston’s decision to give up the gavel.
“We take no pleasure in Ralston’s bad health, but we do rejoice in the Lord for providentially using such an illness to rescue us all from Ralston’s reign of tyranny over the last decade,” the post said. “We confess that we are unapologetic in making that statement.”
We talked to several Republican legislators aghast by the group’s gloating who believe an apology is in order.
“This post by the GRA sickens me,” said former state Rep. Scot Turner, who was often on Ralston’s bad side. “Nobody fought him harder than me, but that’s over now.”
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TRUMP TALK. Has Donald Trump buried the hatchet with Gov. Brian Kemp?
The former president has hardly mentioned Kemp’s name after he made the first-term governor a target of his vengeance. With polls showing Kemp on the cusp of victory, Trump listed the governor among a litany of Republicans he is supporting in the midterms.
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DEADLINE EXTENDED. Cobb County will accept absentee ballots through Nov. 14 for more than 700 voters who did not receive them on time and who have not been able to vote in person.
A Cobb County judge agreed Monday to extend the absentee ballot return deadline during an emergency hearing, the AJC’s Taylor Croft reports.
Credit: Jenni Girtman for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Jenni Girtman for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cobb Elections officials earlier failed to send up to 1,036 ballots to voters in October, due to human error. Some canceled their absentee ballots and voted in person, but 716 have not yet voted.
Four out-of-state absentee voters and the Cobb County Democracy Center partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia to file suit asking the judge to extend the deadline to return ballots, which under state law were due by the time polls closed today.
Cobb elections officials agreed to the extended Nov. 14 deadline, which is already in place for people who live overseas and members of the military.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
TODAY ON THE TRAIL:
- U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock is canvassing around metro Atlanta while polls are open.
- Gov. Brian Kemp will cast his vote with the first lady and their three daughters at their polling place in Winterville.
- Most candidates will hold various election night parties throughout the state, from backyard barbeques to the governor’s GOP event at the Battery.
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TRAIL MIX. Statewide candidates were all over Georgia on election eve. Among the highlights:
- Gov. Brian Kemp kicked off a statewide fly-around tour Monday with most of the statewide GOP ticket behind him.
- Herschel Walker campaigned separately, ending the day in Kennesaw not far from where Kemp was also rallying.
- U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock responded to comments from former Ambassador Nikki Haley suggesting he should be deported. Warnock was born and raised in Savannah.
- U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff joined Warnock on the trail in Macon, where Ossoff spoke about what the two have accomplished changing the balance of power in the U.S. Senate in January of 2021.
- Stacey Abrams spoke to students at Georgia State University before rallying with the volunteers who were phone- and text-banking.
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Credit: Elijah Nouvelage/Special to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Elijah Nouvelage/Special to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SUBPOENA CHALLENGE. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich plans to fight a subpoena seeking his testimony before the Fulton County special purpose grand jury, the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman reports.
The grand jury wants Gingrich, a Trump ally, to answer questions related to its investigation of the former president’s attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 elections.
His attorneys will argue that his testimony isn’t necessary because he is already scheduled to testify before the U.S. House January 6 committee later this month. They’ll also argue that technicalities in the law surrounding states recognize subpoenas from other states should shield Gingrich from testifying.
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Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. While Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker were duking out over who will represent Georgia in the Senate for the next six years, former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn marked the 50th anniversary of his first election to the chamber on Monday.
Nunn, a Democrat, defeated 5th District GOP Congressman Fletcher Thompson 54% to 46% in the 1972 general election, while President Richard Nixon won Georgia 75% to 25% over U.S. Sen. George McGovern.
Nunn turned 84 this year, and remains active with the Nuclear Threat Initiative, proving for Walker and Warnock alike that there’s a way to serve your country, even if you’re not serving in the Senate.
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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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