October 4, 2022
Cautionary tale
As Hurricane Ian swept north through Florida last week and headed towards Coastal Georgia, politicians from the governor on down did their parts, issuing warnings, guidance, and reassurance. In the end, no one appeared to have dropped the ball.
Yet with a slight shift in the storm’s path, it easily could have been different, The Current’s Craig Nelson and Mary Landers write.
Going forward, the crucial question for state and local officials is what lessons can be learned from Hurricane Ian after the television cameras turn elsewhere and before a storm of similar scale occurs again, as it no doubt will — with possibly far more dire consequences for Coastal Georgia.
Certainly, Hurricane Ian served as yet another reminder of the big picture: Growth in Coastal Georgia and elsewhere in the southeastern U.S. is putting more people in harm’s way. It’s also a pointed example of the quandaries facing those government officials trying to address the costs of extreme weather while encouraging growth
Campaigning resumes
There were no deaths and little property damage reported in Coastal Georgia from Hurricane Ian, but the storm upended the political calendar. It forced Rep. Jesse Petrea to cancel his “Party in the Pines” fundraiser at Savannah’s Forest City Gun Club and washed out a debate between state Senate District 2 candidates Clinton Young, a Republican, and Derek Mallow, a Democrat.
But local politicking returned in force last evening in Richmond Hill, where candidates for Georgia Senate District 1 and House District 164 squared off in a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters for Coastal Georgia and moderated by WJCL’s Shannon Royster.
The incumbents, Republicans Sen. Ben Watson and Rep. Ron Stephens, flashed their titles, accomplishments in office, and mastery of the legislative process in Atlanta to argue that it would be unwise to replace them at a time when Coastal Georgia is booming. “Experience matters. Twenty-five years in the House of Representatives is something you can’t put a price on,” Stephens said.
Democrats Marcus Thompson, who is challenging Stephens, and James “Jay” Jones, who is running against Watson, disputed the incumbents’ portrait of a prosperous economy that all the region’s residents can avail themselves equally. In response to a summary of the region’s low ranking for some key health care indicators, Stephens and Watson said the legislature had expanded Medicaid every session. “If we’ve expanded Medicaid each year . . . something’s not being done right,” Thompson said. A video of the forum is available on WJCL’s website.
As for other notable campaign events this week, the Darien-McIntosh County Chamber of Commerce invited incumbent Rep. Buddy Carter and Wade Herring, candidates for Coastal Georgia’s seat in the House of Representatives, to debate tomorrow at Darien City Hall from 5-7 p.m. Herring will attend; Carter will not. County Commission, District 1, candidates Kate Pontello-Karwacki and George Deverge also will participate in the forum.
Hoping to harness anger over Carter’s support of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Herring also is set to attend a reproductive rights rally on Saturday, at 11 a.m. in Savannah’s Forsyth Park. The rally is sponsored by the Savannah Federation of Democratic Women.
No doubt warming up for his widely anticipated debate with Herschel Walker in Savannah on Oct. 14, Sen. Raphael Warnock is scheduled to hold a rally at Connor’s Temple Baptist Church in Savannah from 2:30-4 p.m. on Thursday.
Final assembly
Last week, Warnock introduced legislation that expands the number of electric vehicles eligible for a federal tax credit. It comes just a month after the Inflation Reduction Act limited the credit only to EVs with “final assembly” in North America.
Why the move is significant: Hyundai is planning a $5.5 billion electric vehicle plant near Savannah. But it won’t start producing cars for another few years. Meanwhile, new EVs made overseas by Hyundai and others won’t be eligible for the $7,500 tax credit. Warnock’s bill would delay the “made in North America” requirement until 2026.
Republicans have criticized the IRA’s “final assembly” provision, with Rep. Carter accusing the Biden administration last month of putting the Hyundai deal in jeopardy.
Speaking of auto companies: Nissan North America selected the Port of Brunswick as a new point of entry into the U.S., the Georgia Ports Authority announced last week. “This is going to mean new jobs in the Brunswick area,” said GPA Board Chairman Joel Wooten.
ICYMI
In the House: Gov. Kemp will be feted on Oct. 26 at a fundraiser at The Landings sponsored by the Skidaway Island Republican Club. “If Stacey Abrams wins, Georgia will start to become California,” the club’s invitation says. For information on attending, contact the club.
Poll: A Fox News poll released last week shows Republican Kemp holding a 7 percentage-point lead over Democrat Stacey Abrams at 50 percent to 43 percent. It also shows Warnock receiving 46 percent among Georgia voters to Herschel Walker’s 41 percent. The poll was conducted Sept. 22 to Sept. 26 among 1,011 Georgia voters by groups Beacon Research and Shaw & Company. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.
Abrams’ Fair Fight Action loses voting case: Fresh off the ruling by a federal district court judge that Georgia’s election law does not violate voters’ constitutional rights, Kemp accused his opponent in next month’s election, Stacey Abrams, of using the lawsuit, brought by Abrams’ Fair Fight Action, of using it to “line her pockets, sow distrust in the democratic process, and build her celebrity status.”
Replied Abrams in a tweet: “We can’t overlook the results from this case: the reinstatement of over 22k voters, substantive changes to voting laws, and a platform for voters of color to demand equity. I won’t stop fighting to ensure every vote can be cast, every ballot is counted, and every voice is heard.”
‘Failed to enroll’: For at least a decade, the University of Georgia has failed to enroll Black students at a rate proportionate to the number of Black high school graduates in the state. In 2020, just 6 percent of freshmen who enrolled at the university were Black, compared with 36 percent of the state’s public high school graduates, according to a study of Black and Latino enrollment in flagship universities by NBC News and The Hechinger Report.
Hurricane Ian spins a cautionary tale for coastal politicians
Together, Georgia’s officials — especially those on the ballot next month — took pains to be seen and heard as Ian neared. After it was over, no one appeared to have dropped the ball.
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