Early in-person voting for the runoff election has begun in all counties across Georgia today, although some counties started earlier. June 10 was the deadline to request an absentee ballot. The runoff election is on June 21. Don’t forget to check your registration status and your voting precinct at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov.
Today, we focus on campaigns for the runoff. Many of the candidates in the runoffs appeared for debates at the Atlanta Press Club (APC) on June 6 and we report highlights here. Candidates for District 1 and District 7 did not participate in the debates. You can still watch the debates on the Atlanta Press Club Facebook page or watch each debate on demand: https://bit.ly/3O6oP9W
We note campaign appearances coming up this week for a few of the candidates who provided information.
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To go directly to runoffs you care about:
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U.S. House of Representatives:
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U.S. House of Representatives
District 1: Earl (Buddy) Carter (R-Incumbent) Neither of the runoff candidates participated in the debate at the APC. The Current interviewed both candidates and we present a few excerpts here with links to each interview.
RUNOFF:
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Joyce Marie Griggs (D): Won 49%of the primary vote. Retired Army Lt. Colonel.
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Interview in the Current: Click here In the 2020 primary election runoff, questions were raised about your legal career. In 2001, you resigned from the federal bar, the same day that the Southern District of Georgia barred you, on grounds of professional misconduct, from practicing law in federal district court. Three years later, the Supreme Court of Georgia barred you, on the same grounds, from practicing law in the state. In 2009, after a favorable court ruling in another case, you applied for automatic reinstatement to the state bar but were denied. Yet in the 2020 runoff, you were quoted as saying in campaign speeches that the state Supreme Court had overruled your disbarment. Do you still stand by that statement?
- “My statement was taken out of context and misconstrued. I never denied that I was barred from practicing law in federal district court and in state court. As for the state action, the Supreme Court of Georgia in 2009, in the M. Francis Stubbs case (No. S09Y0476), did overrule my disbarment from practicing in state courts. In barring me from practicing law in Georgia, the State Bar and the Supreme Court violated my right to due process and equal protection, including the right to a jury trial. To me, it seemed like the good old boy network at work.”
- “Politics is a calling for me. I can help. I believe I can change the life of people, particularly the disenfranchised, the needy, the poor, the elderly, the children, because I still feel I have a lot to offer. As a soldier, I’ve never stopped serving. A soldier always serves. I have that in me. It’s part of my being. It’s the essence of who I am.”
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Wade Herring (D): Won 38% of the vote in the primary. Savannah attorney.
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To read the article in the Current: Click here Speaking to a gathering of voters on the Isle of Hope on a recent Sunday afternoon, Herring said November’s vote isn’t about whether you’re a Republican or Democrat (“a R or a D”). Rather, he said: “It’s about autocracy or democracy. It’s about common sense and common decency. It’s about treating other people the way that you would want to be treated instead of ostracizing them and making them the ‘other.’ “The challenge is plain, we’re stuck in a bad place, but we have a choice. We can move. We can do better than we’re doing.” A “Democrat for the First District”? Are you saying that you’re a moderate Democrat? A conservative Democrat? “I’m a son of Georgia. I’ve lived here most of my life. I’m not an AOC [Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez] Democrat. I’m not Nancy Pelosi Democrat. I’m a Democrat for my home district and for everyone in my district. I’m an American. I believe in the American system. I’m an advocate for the families and people of this district. I believe government is, “We the people . . .” I believe there’s a role for it in our lives. I believe that when the private enterprise system will not or cannot adequately look after and protect the public, it’s the job of government, as our Constitution says, to “provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of our nation.”
District 2: The 2nd District includes all or parts of 30 mostly rural counties in southwest Georgia. It still leans slightly Democratic under the new map and has a majority Black voters. This is thought to be the only congressional district that is competitive.
RUNOFF:
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Jeremy Hunt (R): Won 37% of the primary vote. Hunt is a political commentator who has been criticized for having few ties to the district he wants to represent. He recently moved to the district after announcing his candidacy. In the APC debate, he says he was raised in Georgia and left to attend West Point. His family has ties to south Georgia. He is currently attending Yale Law School. Nikki Haley campaigned in the district for him last week.
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Chris West (R): Won 30% of the primary vote. Real estate developer and Thomasville native has long-standing ties to the area. His family owns a 3rd generation agri-business in the district and Mr. West feels well qualified to address the needs of farmers.
RUNOFF: These candidates participated in the APC debate. They seemed to spend most of their time trying to out-conservative each other.
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Jake Evans (R): Won 23.0% of the primary vote. Pro-Life but supports exceptions to save the life of the mother. Opposes any new gun laws. Continues to emphasize Trump endorsement and promote the big lie. Claims to be for election integrity and is pushing for closed primaries, but did not explain how independents could vote in a closed primary. Claims to be the real conservative.
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Rich McCormick (R): Won 43.1% of votes in the primary. Physician. Pro Life with no exceptions for life of the mother. Opposes any new gun laws. Claims to be the more conservative choice.
District 7: Winner of the runoff will face Lucy McBath (D) on Nov. 8.
RUNOFF: Neither candidate participated in the APC debate.
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Michael Corbin (R): Won 41.2% of the primary vote. Below is excerpt from Gwinnett Forum Click here
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"What distinguishes your candidacy?" “I am not a carbon copy candidate. I am 41 years old and unlike many of my running mates, this is not a bucket list item for retirement. This is a serious endeavor, and I am taking the risk now. I know that we are more alike than different in this country. I am conservative but see the world differently. My wife is African American, my daughters, biracial. I see the people I love and the country I love, not color. As Republicans, we must see the big picture to win back voters and the election this November.” Served on Donald Trump’s media advisory board. Works in the communications industry.
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Mark Gonsalves (R): Won 27% of the primary vote. Below is excerpt from the Gwinnett Forum. Click here
- “The only way we’ll fix Congress is by changing the kind of people we send to Congress. I believe our federal government no longer protects the freedoms of its citizens, nor protects the wealth and sovereignty of our nation. I will work to ensure our uniquely American freedoms are preserved for our children and grandchildren; our economic freedom, medical freedom, freedom to assemble and our freedom of speech.”
District 10 was the most crowded race in the primary and will remain so with runoffs for both the Democratic and Republic nomination. There is no incumbent. Both Republican candidates participated in the APC debate.
Republican RUNOFF:
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Mike Collins (R): Won 26% of the primary vote. 18 Wheel, 18 County Tour will make eleven stops next week. Click here for locations. Most of the time was spent questioning his opponent’s Republican and conservative credentials. Questioned Jones vote as a GA House representative against the heartbeat abortion bill. Called Jones a “con man.”
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Vernon Jones (R): Won 22% of the primary vote. Appearing Jun 17, 5:00 PM. McDonough, 775 GA-42, McDonough, GA 30253, USA. Also spent the debate questioning opponent’s Republican and conservative credentials and criticized Collins because his father, a former Congressman, started his political career as a Democrat. Called Collins “the great pretender and a RINO.”
Democratic RUNOFF: The Democratic primary for District 10 is undergoing a recount. On Jun 10 89% of counties were counted and the same two candidates are in the lead. Neither participated in the APC debates.
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Jessica Fore (D): Experience as a realtor, a musician and an anti-abuse advocate. Wants to expand voting rights, promote living wages, and institute a minimum wage for high schoolers working at their first job. Is quoted in Morgan County Citizen Click here
- “I strongly suspect…that people are tired of the hateful rhetoric. People are tired of the crazy lies and delusional kinds of things that are coming out. The thoughtful intelligent conservatives — the kind of people I grew up with, who voted differently from me, but who would give you the shirts off their backs — they want to have a functioning party that still has some steam on the national stage of the world. They are tired of this Trumpism stuff. They are looking for an out.”
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Tabitha Johnson-Green (D): The Democratic nominee in 2020, a nurse, lost to Jody Hice by a wide margin. Has a long list of issues, starting with greater access to healthcare.
- ”I entered politics for the same reason that I became a nurse, so that I can help people on a larger scale.”
Lieutenant Governor
RUNOFF:
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Charlie Bailey (D): Won 18% of the primary vote. Appeared alone at the APC debate when opponent Kwanza Hall did not show up. He emphasized how he could use the powers of Lieutenant Governor to improve the lives of Georgians by facilitating the passage of Medicaid expansion, higher teacher pay and other issues. He criticized Hall on ethical issues related to taking a job with the City of Atlanta shortly after he left the city council, an ethical violation. In addition, he received payment as a senior advisor to the mayor while he was being paid by the City’s economic development agency. Click here
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Kwanza Hall (D): Won 30% of the primary vote. Long-time member of the Atlanta City Council and School Board. Hall served the last 33 days of the late Rep. John Lewis’ unexpired term. The AJC (click here) reports that “Hall never responded to the Atlanta Press Club’s invitation to debate last week, and refused to answer repeated questions from your AJC Insiders about why he was skipping the event. As far as we can tell, he has done just one public event since the May 24 primary – and he refused to answer our questions about his schedule, too. It’s odd for a candidate who, as one Democratic ally of Hall told us, typically appears at the “opening of an envelope.”
Secretary of State
Winner of the runoff will face Brad Raffensperger (R-Incumbent) on Nov. 8. During the APC debate, Nguyen and Dawkins-Haigler were in agreement regarding most policies including fair voting, gun control, business opportunities in GA. Both leaned into their legislative backgrounds as qualifications and were against many of SB 202 regulations citing voter suppression. They spent much of their time criticizing Brad Raffensperger, mentioning his name 29 times.
RUNOFF:
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Dee Dawkins-Haigler (D): Won 19% of the primary vote. Georgia Representative from 2009-2017; Ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2016, and for Secretary of State in 2018. Three of her former opponents endorsed her. Quote from APC debate ” One of the reasons why he defended the voting machines and the integrity of the vote is because he hired some of his friends to do that job, and so he didn't want to have egg on his face either in the position of the secretary of state bringing them on with the Dominion machines, as well as the people saying that those results were not accurate," she said. "And so that's one of the reasons why he stood up to Donald Trump and the rest of them regarding our elections."
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Bee Nguyen (D): Won 44% of the vote in primary. Native of Augusta and member of the GA House of Representatives since 2017. Quote from the APC debate: “The reason why a portion of Republican voters believe that the election was stolen in 2020 is because Republican leadership enabled this to happen. We currently have a secretary of state who upheld the law, but he’s running his campaign based on conspiracy theories, including the alleged idea that noncitizens are voting, which is not true, and the alleged idea that Georgians are ballot harvesting, which is not true.”
Labor Commissioner
Winner of the runoff will face Bruce Thompson (R) on Nov. 8. Both candidates participated in the APC debate.
RUNOFF:
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William Boddie (D): Won 28% of the primary vote. Representative of Georgia’s District 62 for 5 years and House Minority Whip from 2019 to 2021. Quote from debate “The department, which struggled to handle an avalanche of claims set off by the pandemic, has still not caught up, and a task force is needed to examine each of the thousands still outstanding. The people want accountability from the Department of Labor, they want trust. You have to regain that.”
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Nicole Horn (D): Won 25% of the primary vote. Business owner and co-founder of Indivisible-5th, a branch of the national voting rights organization. Quote from APC debate “The department’s workers need better pay but should also be given slicker, better technology that can more efficiently handle the claims for jobless benefits. It’s an Atari system,” she said of the department’s technology. “About 4% of people’s calls to the Department of Labor are answered. That is completely unacceptable.”
Insurance Commissioner
Winner of the runoff will face John King (R-Incumbent) on Nov. 8. King was appointed to finish the term of Jim Beck, the disgraced former Commissioner. Janice Laws Robinson appeared at the APC debate, but Raphael Baker did not.
RUNOFF:
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Raphael Baker (D): Won 33% of the primary vote. Owns an insurance agency.
- “I will use my industry expertise and relationships to advocate for reasonable insurance rates. I will use these relationships and will also work with our lawmakers to ensure that our Black brothers and sisters no longer experience redlining, and that they will pay rates aligned with their non-Black counterparts. Healthcare is a right, and every Georgian, regardless of if you’re in the city of Atlanta, or in the Blue Ridge mountains, deserves to be covered.”
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Janice Laws Robinson (D): Won 49% of the vote in primary. The Democratic nominee for Commissioner in 2018 lost by four percentage points to Jim Beck. An award-winning insurance agent. She appeared alone at APC debates where she pledged, if elected, to restore integrity to the scandal-plagued office of Georgia insurance and safety fire commissioner. If elected, she would tackle Georgia’s high auto insurance costs, create a new post in her office to oversee health issues and prioritize mental health. She says her opponent is not serious about the job. “He will not show up for this debate, and he will not show up for you.”
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Early voting for the runoff started on June 13
Runoff Election: June 21
Apply for an absentee ballot for the midterm: Aug. 22
Midterm election: Nov. 8
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Editor: Rebecca Rolfes, LWVCGA
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League of Women Voters of Georgia | Website
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