T-SPLOST falls in metro Atlanta; several incumbents unseated
UPDATE at 12:16 p.m.: My colleagues on the news side have now called the referendum as well, declaring T-SPLOST defeated in metro Atlanta. It’s on to Plan B. The one thing I can say with certainty: There will be a Plan B.
That’s it for tonight. More to come Wednesday.
UPDATE at 11:55 p.m.: At least four incumbent House members were defeated Tuesday by challengers:
- Charlice Byrd, R-Woodstock, lost 53-47 to Michael Caldwell;
- Steve Davis, R-McDonough, lost 65-35 to Dale Rutledge;
- Doug McKillip, an Athenian who went from being a member of the House Democratic leadership to a Republican who this year sponsored the so-called fetal pain anti-abortion bill, lost 50.4-49.6 to Regina Quick;
- Keith Heard, D-Athens, lost 55-45 to Spencer Frye.
In addition, there are two districts where House Democratic incumbents were paired against each other. Pat Gardner had a 63-37 lead over Rashad Taylor, while Simone Bell led Ralph Long 57-43.
And another six House incumbents were in real trouble: Judy Manning, R-Marietta; Yasmin Neal, D-Jonesboro; Glenn Baker, D-Jonesboro; Kip Smith, R-Columbus; and Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, all were trailing late Tuesday night, and Pam Dickerson, D-Conyers, was headed for a runoff against Sharon Sawyer.
UPDATE at 11:30 p.m.: My prediction of a single-digit loss for metro Atlanta’s T-SPLOST is looking shaky. With two-thirds of the region’s precincts reporting, the tax is trailing by a whopping 18 28 percentage points, 64-36 (sorry, late-night math — KW). We shall see what the final margin is, but I feel safe in saying the tax has been defeated.
In other news, it would appear state Sen. Jack Murphy survived a tough primary challenge. Other endangered Senate incumbents (see previous update) were still having to sweat it out. Sens. Miriam Paris and Bill Heath, and probably Gail Davenport as well, appeared headed for runoffs.
UPDATE at 10:10 p.m.: A few incumbent state senators appear to be in some trouble tonight. With the caveat that it’s still early, with important parts of these districts still to report, the nervous ones tonight are:
- Majority Whip Cecil Station, R-Macon, who trails challenger Spencer Price 51-49 at the moment;
- Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, who trails Burt Jones 53-47;
- Miriam Paris, D-Macon, who trails former state Rep. David Lucas 48-47 (with a third candidate taking a handful of votes);
- Jack Murphy, R-Cumming, who has drawn criticism for remaining chairman of the Senate Banking Committee while being sued by the FDIC, leads Steve Voshall 50.2-49.8;
- Bill Heath, R-Bremen, a.k.a. the man who put longtime Speaker Tom Murphy out of politics, leads Bill Carruth 45-42 in another three-man race;
- Gail Davenport, D-Jonesboro, is trailing former state Sen. Gail Buckner 48-37 in a three-person race;
UPDATE at 9:44 p.m.: In congressional races, we appear to be headed to runoffs in a couple of GOP primaries.
In the newly created 9th District centered on Hall and Forsyth counties, state Rep. Doug Collins has 42 percent of the vote and radio talk-show host Martha Zoller 41 percent. There still are a number of counties still to fully report in that large, Northeast Georgia district.
In the 12th, which Republicans redrew last year to be much more favorable to their party against incumbent Democrat John Barrow, state Rep. Lee Anderson has an early lead in a four-way race. But the Augusta area, home to two of the challengers, has yet to report most of its results.
We might also see a Republican runoff in the 2nd, although incumbent Democrat Sanford Bishop is much safer in his redrawn district than he was in 2010, when he barely held onto his office. Whoever emerges from the GOP side is unlikely to give him nearly as tough a run this year.
Neither Hank Johnson (D) nor Phil Gingrey (R) nor Lynn Westmoreland (R), the only incumbents to face more than one primary challenger, seems likely to end up in a runoff. (Note: I left Westmoreland off that list originally. — KW)
UPDATE at 9:30 p.m.: Two and a half hours after the polls closed, we still don’t have a ton of clarity about how T-SPLOST is faring in metro Atlanta. That’s because Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton counties are just beginning to report the bulk of their returns. When they do, the 66-34 lead for the “no” vote will narrow considerably. I still look for disapproval of the sales-tax hike by single digits.
That said, the nightmare scenario for state officials seems to be unfolding: Metro Atlanta, for whom the T-SPLOST was created, will vote it down while it passes in other regions, tying the hands of state lawmakers in coming up with Plan B. The tax is currently ahead in the regions surrounding Augusta and Columbus, along with the one in rural southeast-central (ish) Georgia stretching from Wrightsville to Jesup. I still think the only option will be for another vote within a couple of years.
ORIGINAL POST:
Tonight — or early Wednesday morning — we’ll learn the fate not only of the T-SPLOST in metro Atlanta and 11 other regions around the state. We’ll also find out the winners in a number of elections for Congress and the statehouse, whether other races are going to runoffs, and how the ballot measures fared in the Democratic and GOP primaries.
I’ll update this post as the evening wears on. You can get results here.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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456 comments Add your comment
stands for decibels
August 1st, 2012
8:23 am
OUTSIDE the perimeter, where the air is clean, you can leave your door open without fear of a home invasion
wow, denial much?
GT
August 1st, 2012
8:24 am
This was a statement to the character of local politicians, both city and state. The voters don’t trust you with their money. Not because you spend too much of it, but because at best they’re are poor managers and at worse they are crooks. Until this state elects some real leaders starting with honesty and working toward intelligent two years or one hundred years the results will be the same. We are looking for a divorce from the crooks that run this joint.
stands for decibels
August 1st, 2012
8:25 am
Remember when the TSPLOST vote was going to be close?
Nope.
(Unless you’re the type who believes polling that’s sponsored by a side with an ax to grind.)
harlow
August 1st, 2012
8:28 am
WHY IS IT THAT OTHER MAJOR CITIES HAVE RAPID RAIL LINES AND THIS MAJOR WANT TO BE REGION CANNOT SMELL THE COFFEE MARTA RAIL LINE IS YOUR ONLY ONLY ONLY ANSWER. WHAT ARE U PEOPLE SCARE OF. I HOPE IS NOT….
Jm
August 1st, 2012
8:32 am
“It’s on to Plan B”
Tsplost was plan B
Good luck folks. Enjoy the traffic
Gary
August 1st, 2012
8:32 am
I have a challenge for the supporters. Prove to me MARTA can improve. It is a simple challenge for such a small rail system. Run the trains on a schedule. A to the minute schedule. No delays no excuses. I want to know that when I get there at 10:06 the train will arrive at 10:07 if that is what time it is supposed to get there. Pretty simple. Seems to work everyday in Japan and Singapore. We are not India with power issues. A simple schedule. If the trains fail to meet it, FIRE someone at MARTA! It is not a jobs program for the city. It is a transit system. If the people there can’t run a schedule hire someone who can. You do this one small improvement and you may gain some trust. It is something you can sell.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 1st, 2012
8:32 am
If you have to shout to make your point, maybe that point wasn’t such a good one in the first place . . .
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 1st, 2012
8:32 am
They started widening my road last week. Hopefully South Hall County will see much more road love from Nathan!
stands for decibels
August 1st, 2012
8:33 am
It is worth it to them to spend three hours a day in their car so they don’t have to live in-town.
I suppose that’s true of some. But a lot of people are simply stuck with awful commutes (not necessarily OTP-ITP, of course) because they’ve needed to change jobs, but can’t financially justify selling their home and moving closer to their new gig.
I don’t see that situation changing any time soon either.
Thomas
August 1st, 2012
8:33 am
Breaking news-
Romney favored by 49 points in recent poll of white folks who eat at Chik fil A and drive an SUV.
Backup T Splost plan has the state in an offshore partnership named Sunnytoll Omega LLC- it may take years to find out the true owners- whereby Ga 400 can only be accessed by those who buy $20 of lottery tickets a week.
Sick of Progs
August 1st, 2012
8:34 am
Hmmm, state income tax, 7-8 percent sales tax, ad-valorum tax…When is enough? This is the taxpayers holding irresponible politicians feet to the fire. Spend our dollars wisely or get the f@#k out of our pockets.
Jm
August 1st, 2012
8:35 am
“What voters dismissed was a bottom-up list of $8 billion in road and rail projects created by local elected leaders
.
The Plan B that staggered out of the governor’s office will be its polar opposite: Dramatically smaller, paid for with shrinking funds, and highly centralized. Projects will be hand-picked by a governor who intends to squeeze every penny available.
And no matter what others might say today, don’t look for a sequel to the TSPLOST referendum. A second vote has no place in the governor’s Plan B.”
Translation: there is no plan b, or plan c
Have fun morons
harlow
August 1st, 2012
8:35 am
TSPOLST VERUS MARTA SOME THINGS MUCH CHANGE.ROADS VERUSES MARTA NOT EVEN CLOSE ANYMORE!
GT
August 1st, 2012
8:37 am
Atlanta is a fallen city. It being left out of the intro of NBC Olympics speaks volumes. We spent billions to be a showcase for the world and a decade later we are a backwater mess. And it is just not the city it is the state. Where are the Billy Paynes, Zell Millers, Robert Woodruffs, Ivan Allens…
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
August 1st, 2012
8:37 am
stands for decibels: wow, denial much?
——
Nope.
Leave the bubble, sfd. We’re not all surrounded by filth, sloth, and other detritus of the failed Obozo regime.
@@
August 1st, 2012
8:38 am
Amusing that the Clayton County Sheriff’s race will likely have a runoff including Victor Hill and his 37 indictments from his previous tenure in that post.
Not funny in the least!
What is wrong with these voters?
I can only speculate that they thrive on drama.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 1st, 2012
8:39 am
Boy, Jm is really upset he’s not going to get that large paving contract he hoped for this morning.
1961_Xer
August 1st, 2012
8:41 am
What I don’t get is how Hall/Forsyth (in NW) and Fulton/Dekalb could vote down a referendum that would have spent the lion’s share of dollars in those counties?
Gimme Gimme Gimme
August 1st, 2012
8:42 am
Tib – “Boy, Jm is really upset he’s not going to get that large paving contract he hoped for this morning.”
Your giving him to much credit, he is the guy who hold the Stop/Slow sign.
Thomas
August 1st, 2012
8:43 am
Have fun morons? Really?
Ok- when does summer end so the are forced back to school-
What is next- you suck? My dad can beat up your dad?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 1st, 2012
8:45 am
“What I don’t get is how Hall/Forsyth (in NW) and Fulton/Dekalb could vote down a referendum that would have spent the lion’s share of dollars in those counties?”
I think I can speak for Forsyth County, 1961. We’re SPLOST’ed out up here. Just had our SPLOST7 shoved down our throats in a special election earlier this year, and it really soured the populace on SPLOSTs in general. Only passed by a few votes as well, which REALLY ticked off some folks.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
August 1st, 2012
8:46 am
Too funny, Gimme!
JDW
August 1st, 2012
8:47 am
Alrighty then, Georgia voters have once again proved why we are at the bottom of the list in most everything. Plan B? Rule by Raw Deal…I especially like this part from the Governor’s office…
“metro Atlanta residents could also find themselves enduring pot holes and worse for the sake of better roads around the Port of Savannah”
http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/07/31/nathan-deals-plan-b-governor-intends-to-step-into-transportation-vacuum
BTW have you noticed that ole Raw Deal, that crafty devil, has been packing the Port Authority with cronies…the same Port Authority that has big sway over about 8% of Georgia’s GDP…financial problems what financial problems!
As for jobs…not so much welcome to a 5-10 year wet blanket, but that’s ok that pitter patter you hear is the sound of the young software engineers and other knowledge workers beating a trail for greener pastures. You do realize all that will extend to housing prices in a region where a 4% monthly gain doesn’t even get you off the bottom of the list.
All you Party of No proponents might want to look up this term…Pyrrhic Victory
tiredofIT
August 1st, 2012
8:48 am
” failed Obozo regime.”
Who was it that started two unfunded wars and tax cuts?
stands for decibels
August 1st, 2012
8:48 am
Pretty simple. Seems to work everyday in Japan and Singapore.
Yeah, why can’t we magically transform ourselves into either a tiny city-state or a totally different parliamentarian government?
(I’m sorry for the snark, people, but jeez.)
1961_Xer
August 1st, 2012
8:48 am
I suppose that’s true of some. But a lot of people are simply stuck with awful commutes (not necessarily OTP-ITP, of course) because they’ve needed to change jobs, but can’t financially justify selling their home and moving closer to their new gig.
THAT is me. At the start of the recession, I lived 20 minutes from where I worked, and I telecommunted 3 out of 5 days a week. I lost my job in Jan 2009. Nine months later, I took the only job I could find… 50 miles from my door. I cannot sell my house because it is underwater by about $20k.
The transit-bigots would blame my situation on me. I blame my situation on the economy/recession. I would move in an instant if I could sell my home. Since that is an impossibility, I have to make do with what I have to work with… a 50 mile each way drive. To hear the transit bigots talk about how selfish I am and hear them say , “tough sh**, you bought a house there now choke on the freeway” is not helpful. They pass judgment without fully realizing that I did everything right, and still got screwed.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 1st, 2012
8:48 am
wow, someone has been authorized to speak for an entire county of diverse people. Papers please!
Common Sense
August 1st, 2012
8:48 am
Another big tax waste voted down – common sense prevails!
Red Dawn
August 1st, 2012
8:50 am
Looks like the T-Party gave T-SPLAT the old heave-ho off the dock too. Someone nudge Obama to run on a platform of raising taxes with unaccounted for spending, please. That will essentially seal his fate…not that he’s looking great as we cross the less than 100 day mark to V-Day II for America again. Counter to what the descendant of America’s “first slave” (wasn’t that a laugh) has said on progress being made, quarterly GDP growth of sub-2% numbers is not cutting it with Americans…well those 50% of Americans that actually pay income taxes and know what’s really going on anyway (which certainly rules out anyone getting their “news” from the Obama water-carrying MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and the New York Times).
Anyway back to T-SPLAT: if Georgia can’t make it on state income taxes that Florida and many other states do NOT have that are doing just fine (looking at you, Texas), then raising sales tax sure as hell won’t do any good anyway. How about all those empty MARTA buses driving around in north Fulton? Anyone know where all that GA400 toll revenue went? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Deal? Obama?
Common Sense
August 1st, 2012
8:51 am
1st unfunded wars were way before you were born sonny – probably by a big spending taxer…. Vietnam.
kayaker 71
August 1st, 2012
8:53 am
“The Tea Party is dead”.
Debbie Wasserman Shultz
Chair, DNC
stands for decibels
August 1st, 2012
8:53 am
The transit-bigots would blame my situation on me.
I appreciate your story (not altogether different from mine, actually, except for the underwater home part–and you have LOTS of company there, obviously) but…I’m sorry, “transit-bigots?”
Could you explain who these people might be?
Red Dawn
August 1st, 2012
8:53 am
“Who was it that started two unfunded wars and tax cuts?”
1) Democrats voted for authority for both wars (and they were funded) in Congress.
2) Democrats voted for the Bush tax cuts – that’s how it’s supposed to work…going through Congress first (Obama doesn’t like going through Congress these days).
3) And just so you know brainiac, circling back to #1, the cost of Iraq TO DATE since its start in 2003 has been about the same as that failed $850 billion stimulus bill passed back in 2009 that was supposed to have prevented unemployment from going above 8% and create all those wonderful shovel ready jobs and green energy jobs
mary Jean
August 1st, 2012
8:53 am
Get out and support your neighborhood Chick – Fil – A today on Chick – Fil – A appreciation day.
No More Money
August 1st, 2012
8:54 am
Boom Boom out go the lights! People in Ga arent as dumb as they thought we were, huh?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 1st, 2012
8:55 am
“first slave”
What was that show with Art Linkletter? Kids say the darnedest things? 
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 1st, 2012
8:57 am
was supposed to have prevented unemployment from going above 8%
Repeating a lie will not make it true no matter how many times you repeat it.
Numbers-R-US
August 1st, 2012
9:00 am
Don’t worry folks. Caterpillar will still get its transportation infrastructure that it required in order to divert some of its business here.
stands for decibels
August 1st, 2012
9:01 am
“first slave”
Well, the first documented American slave, apparently.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/obama-descended-documented-african-slave-america-researchers-article-1.1125136
(It doesn’t make Red Dawn’s rationalization for why those terrible Democrats shoulda stopped the GOP before they invaded again any less cowardly, of course.)
Numbers-R-US
August 1st, 2012
9:02 am
Red Dawn needs to lay off the revisionist history.
independent thinker
August 1st, 2012
9:03 am
Glad to see the party of No is alive and well in Georgia with daily prayer sessions bowing of the sheep to Grover Norquist.. Let’s all celebrate their accomplishments particularly if they close down the postal system this week due to lack of funding.
kayaker 71
August 1st, 2012
9:03 am
Keep, 8:57,
Then why the hell was it funded if not to provide jobs? Over 8% unemployment for the last 42 STRAIGHT months, more like 12-13% if you count everyone. In the black community, it’s over 40% for black youth between 18 and 25 and nearly 14% or the rest. That’s what you call real progress, Keep, and it only cost us 850B dollars.
stands for decibels
August 1st, 2012
9:03 am
Red Dawn needs to lay off the revisionist history.
naw, I think we should take his postings in the spirit of that campy Reaganite movie he’s chosen as a screen handle.
St Simons - we're on Island time
August 1st, 2012
9:04 am
best decision we evah made. evah.
T-Splat means something totally different down heah.
Sea turtle causeway crossing season ends today. Traffic should
clear up. I hope the turtles got the memo, or can read the signs.
middle of the road
August 1st, 2012
9:04 am
The AJC headlines says the “TSPLOST defeat was a TEa-Party win”. I beg to differ. There were a LOT more than just Tea Partiers who voted against the bill, for alot of different reasons. Some voted against it because it didn’t have enough transit, some because it had too much. But a LOT of people (not just Tea-Partiers) voted against it because they would not trust govenment – mailnly because of the Ga 400 debacle.
captguitarman
August 1st, 2012
9:06 am
I didn’t vote for one incumbent – every challenger got my vote. If no challenger, no vote cast for that office. If we are ever going to get out of this mess, the people need to send a message to those who govern. This will be even more true in the fall. As bad a president as Obama has been, in way over his head from the start, both Houses of the United States Congress have been a complete and total disgrace. Yes, there is a leadership vacuum, and since nature abhors a vaccum, they are usually filled — but not by the leaders of this Congress. And now they will be gone for their “August” break which is actually 6 weeks, so it’s reallhy an Augusut-September break, but it’s not called that for obvious political reasons. A very small thing, but one that speaks volumes about the cynical, entrenched culture in Washington, where the people are no longer feared, and the economy is exploding with unprecedented government expansion. They don’t even know there is a recession in the rest of the nation.
And T-Splost? Now those good ol boys jes doin bidness under the Dome will have to shoulder their responsibilties as elected representatives of the people, and deal with this transportation mess that is killing the goose that laid the golden egg — and not hide behind a referendum like politicians whose only concern is keeping their seat, and enjoying all the perqs of office, of course. We will not grow out way out of this mess because companies will not relocate here any more just because its a nice place to live. No company wants its employees spending useless and wasted time sitting in traffic hours upon end week after week. But, don’t bet your ranch.
Thomas Heyward Jr.
August 1st, 2012
9:06 am
As a matter of principle………..all of the Corps and individual proponents of the Tspolst should “donate” their estimated tax increase.
.
Make check payable to Georgia DOT.
Every little bit will help to ensure that that Trolley car to the aquarium and other great mass transit ideas will come to fruition.
middle of the road
August 1st, 2012
9:08 am
Stands for Decibels – “wow, denial much?”
I will be glad to take air readings up here north of Canton and compare them to inside the perimeter – I am sure they will prove there is more pollution down there in Atlanta. also, I leave my door open all the time when I am home. Can you do that in SE Atlanta? Why do the condos at Atlantic station have codes to get into them? Security against the criminals. How many Ga. Tech students get robbed each month – AT GUNPOINT?!
stands for decibels
August 1st, 2012
9:10 am
And I know it’s asking a lot, but I’ll do it just once, here at Kyle’s joint, and be done with it.
Just stop with the “failed stimulus” nonsense.
Had McCain won in 2008, he would’ve been facing the same meltdown, and he would’ve almost certainly pushed for a similar economic stimulus (a mix of spending and tax cuts/credits to those who would spend that money), and it would’ve been uncontroversial, because that’s what sane leaders of prosperous nations do. They prevent their nation’s economies from going under. They plug in the holes the best they can by printing money.
If you don’t like it, invent a WAYBAC machine that can transport you back to some prehistoric hunter-gatherer society where you’d be happier.
middle of the road
August 1st, 2012
9:11 am
“We will not grow out way out of this mess because companies will not relocate here any more just because its a nice place to live. No company wants its employees spending useless and wasted time sitting in traffic hours upon end week after week.”
Nice place to live? Are you talking about Atlanta?
Companies should NOT relocate to Atlanta – it is too crowded, too much crime, schools suck.
Businesses should relocate to the suburbs – like Caterpillar is doing, like Toyo Tires did. Leave Atlanta in its own filth.