Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Good morning! We start today with election news, including a notable omission by a group of legal luminaries warning about partisanship in judicial elections. We then look at a potentially awkward differences among Republicans over electric vehicles. Finally, we note some things for your radar, including developments on trolleys and gun safety in Savannah, the end of a saga in Camden County, and worries about doctors leaving Georgia. Questions, comments, or story ideas? You can reach me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com
NEWS: ANALYSIS
‘A partisan judiciary’
It was an alarm sounded from the loftiest ranks of Georgia’s legal establishment.
In a joint letter, 17 former Supreme Court chief justices, past presidents of the state bar, and former directors of the state’s judicial watchdog last week scolded judicial candidates who make public statements about cases and issues they might encounter on the bench.
At stake was public confidence in the courts, as the May 21 primary elections approach. A “partisan judiciary,” the who’s who of the state’s legal community warned darkly, would mean the “end of the rule of law in Georgia.”
What they did not mention in their missive, however, are their own campaign contributions to the incumbent Supreme Court justice in a hotly contested race with a former U.S. congressman who has made abortion the centerpiece of his campaign, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
In other election-related news, The Current’s Jake Shore reports that despite their similar sounding names, the two candidates for Chatham County superior court judge — Chris Middleton and Frank Pennington — couldn’t offer voters a starker choice.
And The Current’s Liberty County reporter Robin Kemp says the race for the influential post of tax commissioner in Liberty pivots around how voters will judge the work experience of two longtime county employees, former county CFO Kim McGlothlin, and longtime Tag Office staff member James “Jamie” Sharp.
NEWS
Awkward spot?
Elected officials ranging from Gov. Brian Kemp and 1st District U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter to mayors and county commissioners across Coastal Georgia have praised the economic prosperity that the Hyundai Metaplant in Ellabell and the electric vehicles is expected to deliver to the region.
So, Republican officeholders, in particular, were put in a potentially awkward spot last week when the party’s presumptive nominee for president, Donald Trump, reportedly promised at a donor meeting at Mar-a-Lago that he would ditch the Biden administration’s “mandate” on electric vehicles, miscasting recently finalized rules by the administration that require automakers to reduce tailpipe emissions from cars.
It wasn’t the first time that Trump has criticized EVs. He has long warned that the push for EVs would lead to a “bloodbath” in the U.S. economy, “kill” the auto industry and trigger an “assassination” of jobs. Last month, he predicted that the administration’s EV incentives would be a boon for Chinese and Mexican auto manufacturers.
For his part, Carter praises EVs and says there will be a market for them. What’s paramount, he told Fox News in March, is market-driven consumer choice.
7 things for your radar
- Probably not the last word: In Savannah, the city council last week unanimously approved an ordinance aimed at reducing amplified sound from tour vehicles such as open-air trolleys. And, Mayor Van Johnson was served with court papers challenging the city’s newly enacted ordinance requiring that vehicles with firearms inside and the reporting within 24 hours of any loss or theft of firearm from an unoccupied vehicle.
- Golf spot – clear it or keep it: In a hastily announced special meeting for tonight, the Camden County Board of Commissioners will discuss possible actions on the former Pro 3 Mini Golf site. The meeting was announced and agenda posted late Monday for the 6 p.m. Special Called Meeting. The agenda lists time for public comment. Citizens have been working for months to rejuvenate the course as a memorial to Camden County Sheriff’s Deputy DJ Mills. The site had been dormant for several years as debate over its future ranged from a restored course to clearing it for a soccer complex. The land is owned by the county and maintained by the PSA.
- End of a saga, in headlines: “Kemp throws support to Camden spaceport,” Brunswick News, June 29, 2017 . . . . “Kemp signature ends spaceport authority,” Camden County’s Tribune & Georgian, May 9, 2024, after the governor signed legislation to that effect.
- At the wire: On the last day for vetoing or signing legislation passed by the legislature into law, Kemp puts his signature on SB 189, removing the secretary of state from the State Election Board and establishing new avenues for challenging votes. Most of the bill’s measures go into effect July 1.
- Fewer doctors: Georgia’s failure to expand Medicaid means fewer doctors will stay in state, warns Rebecca Hong, a fourth-year medical student in Georgia.
- Exit: As expected, the first vice chair of Georgia GOP, Brian Pritchard, was ousted from his post on Friday by the party’s state committee, after a judge ruled that he had voted llegally nine times while serving probation for a felony check forgery sentence. 1st District Republican Committee chair Kandiss Taylor disputed the claim by Pritchard, a conservative talk show host, he was shown the door by committee members who didn’t vote to endorse Donald Trump as the state party’s Republican presidential nominee.
- Whirlwind: President Joe Biden meets at the White House with plaintiffs in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case on Thursday, travels to Atlanta for a fundraiser on Saturday, delivers the commencement address at Atlanta’s Morehouse College on Sunday before attending the annual NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit later that day.
We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it.
Georgia’s legal leadership rips partisan politics, ignores their own donation histories
Judges’ letter did not mention their own campaign contributions in the hotly contested race.
Inside Chatham County’s pivotal judge race
Voters in Chatham County face stark choice in election for Superior Court judge between a longtime prosecutor and an experienced public defender.
Slideshow: Gaza protesters meet resistance in Savannah
Protesters were met with posters bearing photos of kidnapped Israeli children taped to benches in Johnson Square.
Video: Horseshoe crabs spawning at high tide
They spawn on quiet beaches during high tides brought by the new and full moons, leaving several clusters of 4,000 eggs buried in nests in the sand
A look at Liberty County’s tax commissioner candidates
Two candidates, former Liberty County Chief Financial Officer Kim McGlothlin, and longtime Tag Office employee James “Jamie” Sharp, are both running in the Democratic primary.
Georgia promised to fix how voter challenges are handled. New law could make problem worse.
When it takes effect in July, SB 189 will make it easier for Georgia residents to use questionable evidence when challenging fellow residents’ voter registrations. Voting rights activists also claim that the law could lead county officials to believe they can approve bulk challenges closer to election dates.
Report: Georgia drops 300,000 children from Medicaid
No way to track what happens to those pushed off rolls.
We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it.
Support independent, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.
You must be logged in to post a comment.