Early Polls Are Open

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024

Good morning! With early voting starting across Coastal Georgia today, we begin with some campaign news from Liberty County and Chatham County. We then look at the latest missed filing deadline by a Coastal Georgia official and an update on presidential campaigning in the region. Finally, we note an auspicious gathering of state and local Republican notables. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com

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NEWS: ELECTIONS

Polls are open

Early voting for the Nov. 5 General Election — just three weeks away — begins today in Coastal Georgia, with poll watchers fanning out across the region amid jitters over new guidelines that give greater legal freedom for monitoring voters and election operations.

Lawsuits challenging the recent rule changes by the State Election Board are pending but until they’re resolved, the guidelines will be in force. The Current’s Gillian Goodman lays out five things you need to know about the rule changes.

In her Coastal Navigator podcast, Goodman also has an intriguing look at last week’s voter registration challenge in Bryan County, which saw the voting status of 859 Georgians, mostly Republicans, challenged.  

As for the races themselves, crime is, not surprisingly, an issue in Liberty County’s sheriff’s race between Democratic incumbent Will Bowman and Republican Gary Eason. But determining whether crime is up or down isn’t as simple as it sounds, writes The Current’s Liberty County reporter, Robin Kemp. And it may not even be the biggest issue.

In the race for chair of the county commission, incumbent Donald Lovett, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Michael Navarro, describe why they deserve the votes of Liberty County residents, in response to The Current’s candidate questionnaire.

In Chatham County, The Current’s public safety reporter, Jake Shore, describes the strengths and weaknesses of the two candidates for sheriff.

Shore writes that Republican incumbent John Wilcher faces “multiple challenges,” including “juggling health concerns with the rigors of his office and an energetic Democratic opponent, Richard Coleman, who says it is time for fresh leadership at Georgia’s fifth-largest jail.”

Last but not least, as you prepare to vote, take a look at the three measures on Georgia’s ballot and what they mean. For more information on voting and the candidates, check with The Current’s voter guide.

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NEWS: ELECTIONS

Missed deadlines, filled war chest

In his latest campaign finance report, Chatham County district attorney candidate Andre Pretorius reported a whopping $256,000 in individual donations during the third quarter, The Current’s public safety reporter, Jake Shore, reports.

Contributors to Pretorius’ campaign included Paula Wallace, the president of the Savannah College of Art and Design; Tracy Young, the founder of TMX Finance and controversial title loan company TitleMax; and Greg Parker, the founder of Parker’s convenience stores and a philanthropist.

Campaign contributions to Pretorius’ opponent in the race, incumbent Shalena Cook Jones, a Democrat, aren’t known.

Cook Jones didn’t report her campaign contributions for the third quarter, as required by state law.

In a sign of how her candidacy has divided local Democrats, another Democrat, Wade Herring, who ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for the 1st District congressional seat held by Earl “Buddy” Carter, last week filed an official complaint with the state ethics commission about the violation. Cook Jones didn’t reply to a request for comment.

The county’s district attorney isn’t alone in failing to meet state reporting requirements for political candidates and elected officials. State Rep. Carl Gilliard (D-Savannah) agreed in June to pay a $17,000 fine following an investigation by the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission, The Current’s Craig Nelson has reported.

The commission found that Gilliard had failed to submit more than nine mandatory campaign and personal finance reports between 2020 and 2023 and used tens of thousands of campaign donations for personal use.

Gilliard’s Republican opponent in the District 162 House race, Keith Padgett, failed during his unsuccessful 2022 Chatham County school board race to file required paperwork and missed deadlines this year to file those reports for his current challenge to Gilliard, Nelson reported in July.

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NEWS: POLITICS

Trump and stumping

Donald Trump is due back in Coastal Georgia next Tuesday, as the presidential race enters its final days and the candidates make their final pitches for votes. The Republican presidential candidate is the featured speaker at a meeting of the National Rifle Association, which will be held at the Savannah Convention Center.  

With Trump’s second campaign appearance in Savannah in less than a month, we’re wondering if Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee, will do the same. We’re also wondering how much Georgia’s Democratic senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, along with Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, will stump for Harris in Coastal Georgia and elsewhere in the state in the campaign’s waning hours.

The Savannah-born-and-raised Warnock appeared alongside actor (and Georgia native) Julia Roberts for a Harris campaign event in Atlanta last week. A day after his reelection victory in last year, Johnson, at a gathering of Skidaway Island Democrats, delivered an ardent and eloquent defense of the Biden-Harris administration in one of his best speeches in memory.

But plans for Warnock and Johnson, along with Ossoff, to campaign for the Democratic nominee haven’t been disclosed.

One former Democrat made an appearance in Georgia over the weekend: Former president Bill Clinton campaigned for Harris in Albany and Fort Valley on Sunday and in Columbus yesterday. He’ll embark on a bus tour in North Carolina later this week. Can Barack Obama be far behind?

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NEWS: POLITICS

ICYMI

The state’s top Republican, Gov. Brian Kemp, attended a fundraiser for state Rep. Jesse Petrea at Savannah’s Forest City Gun Club last week. Joining them were U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (St. Simons), Speaker of the House Jon Burns (Newington), state Sen. Ben Watson (Savannah), state Rep. Ron Stephens (Savannah), state Rep. Bill Hitchens (Rincon), Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher, Chatham Commission member Pat Farrell (District 4), Chatham County District Attorney candidate Andre Pretorius, Chatham Commission chairman candidate Joel Boblasky, commission District 6 candidate Leonard Massey, Chatham County Republican Party chair Brittany Brown, and other GOP notables.

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