Poll Position: Should politicians who resign early help cover the cost of special elections?
Chip Rogers made news this week by announcing he was resigning his recently re-won Senate seat to take a job at Georgia Public Broadcasting. A special election for the seat will be held Jan. 8, just two months after Rogers’ replacement could have been elected in the general election had he stepped down earlier. Channel 2 Action News reports the special election will cost Cherokee and Fulton counties $500,000.
Should politicians who resign early help cover the cost of special elections?
- Yes (203 Votes)
- It depends on the circumstances of the resignation (166 Votes)
- No, they should give their campaign funds back to their donors (39 Votes)
- No, that's part of government and they should be able to use their campaign funds as they wish (27 Votes)
Total Voters: 435
Loading ...But that’s not all. Rep. Sean Jerguson, who like Rogers hails from Cherokee County, is resigning his House seat to run for the Senate post. So there will be a special election the same day to refill that seat. The two seats do not exactly overlap, so there will be some additional cost to Cherokee to hold a special election in the non-overlapping precincts.
And, for good measure, Sen. John Bulloch of Ochlocknee also announced this week he was stepping down before the 2013 legislative session starts, prompting a third special election that day in the eight southwest Georgia counties Bulloch served. (Well, it’s the third so far; it’s not out of the question that a House member could resign to run for that Senate seat and cause a fourth special election.)
Which raises a question: Should taxpayers get some help in covering the cost of special elections when politicians resign their offices early — from the politicians themselves? With the special election for Rogers’ seat alone costing $500,000, we surely are talking about millions of dollars in extra expenses for counties over the past two years.
By my count, these three special elections will bring the total since Jan. 1, 2011, to 17 (that figure is for state-level offices only; there may have been more if local races were included). One of those, the race for Senate District 30, was held on the same day as this year’s general election and thus didn’t represent an additional cost to the affected counties. But it, like eight of the other special elections, wasn’t settled without a runoff — representing even more costs to counties.
Two of the past 17 special elections were required because the elected official died in office; not much one can do about that. But eight of them were because the elected official took a job in state government; four elected officials resigned to run for another office; two moved out of their districts; and one (Bulloch) retired.
In some cases, the politicians resigned their offices left without no campaign funds left in their accounts or a negligible account. But a few of them had at least $10,000 in their accounts. Rogers ($231,033) and Bulloch ($105,967) had much more than that as of the latest report filed. To be fair, both of those reports were filed before the Nov. 6 election and may not reflect their final expenses; on the other hand, neither of them had general-election opponents, so it’s unlikely that they spent huge chunks of their war chests.
Should elected officials who resign their offices and prompt special elections be required to give their remaining campaign funds to counties to help cover the cost of those elections? That’s this week’s Poll Position question. Answer in the nearby poll and the comments thread below.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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243 comments Add your comment
JDW
December 7th, 2012
2:13 pm
@Tiberius…”No, it’s likely that he is one of but a handful of former Presidents who actually respects the office (as opposed to the current holder) and does what both beloved and reviled former Presidents do – retire from the public limelight and let their successor(s) have their time.”
SNORT…ROAR…spit my drink across the room…
I am pretty sure it has something to do with being judged one of the worst 5 Presidents in history, having lost all credibility whatsoever and being the kiss of death for any candidate.
Scooter
December 7th, 2012
2:15 pm
YES. They signed an employment contract (of sorts) with the public. There should be consequences for the privilege of voiding that contract. The people should be made whole at the voider’s expense.
suibne
December 7th, 2012
2:16 pm
shouldn’t failing news papers close down? shouldn’t the atlantic JC close down? Shouldn’t all socialists be in jail for fraud and theft of personal property? Yes. Yes and Yes.
suibne
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
December 7th, 2012
2:23 pm
atlantic JC
That a new paper?
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
December 7th, 2012
2:25 pm
Team Obama said in ’09 stimulus would have unemployment below 6% by 2012
B b b b b but, it’s Bushie’s fault.
@@
December 7th, 2012
2:37 pm
That’s an outright lie
Howz’bout rarely if ever anymore.
John Q:
Your mission, if you choose to accept it? Review weekend posts over the last 2…3…4 or more months. Come back with my overall total. If you choose not to accept the mission, we can assume you’re tossing out a steaming pile?
J/K! Wouldn’t want you to take your eye off your targets. Practice makes perfect, don’cha know.
But then there are those who, no matter how hard they try, fail in the end….that would be you.
I’m off to meet a man in the woods.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
2:44 pm
“Were it not for the most (unpatriotically) obstructionist minority party in history, we’d be there already.”
Another lie.
President Incompetent had a huge majority is first 2 years in office.
The GOP could obstruct almost nothing, and with Snowe from Maine helping out, got most of what he asked for.
Just because your stupidity is repeated ad nauseum, John Q, doesn’t make it the truth.
Georgia, The " New Mississippi "
December 7th, 2012
2:50 pm
Classic GOP Johnny Reb……….You have money for a football stadium for the Falcons but complain about paying for special elections to fill legislative vacancies .
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
2:58 pm
Let’s see . . . .
Stimulus I, Little Stimulus II, Cash for Clunkers, Obamacare, QE(fill n the appropriate numbers), Unemployment benefits extended twice, Bush tax rates extended once.
And yet, according to John Q, nothing improving the economy could get passed during President Incompetent’s term due to GOP obstructionism.
And what happens when he’s caught in the lie?
Another AmVet-like repetitive post.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
December 7th, 2012
3:01 pm
No word ( or spin ) from Kyle on Today’s job numbers
Shocking. Simply shocking.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
3:02 pm
So according to John Q’s cut and paste at 2:54, Britain’s FAILURE to enact austerity programs has caused their debt to remain high and their economy to tank.
And the point would be . . . . ?
(The point would be that John Q has an amazing inability to read and understand the English language)
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
3:03 pm
Your spin is enough, Cheesy.
Kyle Wingfield
December 7th, 2012
3:27 pm
New Mississippi @ 2:50: I don’t know if you were addressing me, but if you were, you look mighty silly given that I’ve written many times that we shouldn’t build a new stadium.
Kyle Wingfield
December 7th, 2012
3:31 pm
Cheesy @ 3:01: You mean the job numbers which showed there were twice as many people who left the work force as there were who got jobs — almost 3.5 years after the recession ended? Those job numbers?
No spin required. But if I haven’t commented on them before now, it’s because, sadly, there’s nothing new in them. The job market’s still stuck in neutral.
1961_Xer
December 7th, 2012
3:43 pm
I like how all the libs have neatly framed this in terms of Republican politicians.
Remember, Obama left HIS senate seat to run for office. So let’s see: catlady, Tiberius, Will, CC, JohnQ, Mangler all believe that Obama should reimburse the state of Illinois for quitting his seat early. Interesting.
JDW
December 7th, 2012
3:54 pm
“The job market’s still stuck in neutral.”
Which is a damn nice upgrade from reverse.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
December 7th, 2012
4:16 pm
– 42 percent of Georgia Republicans said they would be willing to secede from the United States because of President Barack Obama’s re-election. A like number say they wouldn’t. From PPP spokesman Tom Jensen: “I doubt that many Republicans would really secede if they had the choice- not that many people are signing the secession petitions- but their willingness to say they would is a measure of how unhappy they are over the president’s reelection.”
Racism is alive and well in the great state of Georgia.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
December 7th, 2012
4:19 pm
This just in: SCOTUS to hear 2 cases on gay marriage. Equal marriage rights soon to be extended to all across our land, including Regressives.
Yup. Its all over for the bigots.
Their day is over.
Forward.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
4:20 pm
“How do you feel about a guy with a disabled kid voting against something that would seek to achieve equal treatment on a global basis for other disabled people?”
More importantly, why are we even discussing a treaty ratification for something WE already do by law?
In case you missed it (and you always do, John Q), we’re the United States of AMERICA – not the world. We’ve already done our part, and it’s not up to us to ratify something we’ve already done – that would be a waste of the Senate’s time – it’s up to the countries that HAVEN’T implemented these laws to do something about it.
Not US.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
December 7th, 2012
4:21 pm
“The job market’s still stuck in neutral.”
Which is a damn nice upgrade from reverse.
They conveniently forget the 700,000 or so jobs the economy was losing when Obama took over from the Disaster Dubya.
Don Abernethy
December 7th, 2012
4:21 pm
Don’t have a special election just let the office be vacant. If enough to the do nothings will take early retirement and we don’t fill their seats eventually we will get rid of all of them and the country might just pull out of the economic nose dive we are in.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
4:23 pm
DOMA should be struck down as an unconstitutional abuse of Federal powers and the states should be allowed to decide for themselves.
Just as it should have been for Rowe v. Wade.
1961_Xer
December 7th, 2012
4:32 pm
John Q writes: Xer – you mean like Boy Wonder Ryan trying to leave his House seat to run for VPOTUS? You wouldn’t be carping as you are had Robme and the Boy Wonder won the Presidency.
I’m not carping on anything. I think things are fine (with special elections) just the way they are. I might prefer that Senators who leave early be appointed by their State’s governor (after all, the Senate IS supposed to represent the individual states), but I do NOT think public officials should be financially liable if an office holder leaves. How, again, is that “carping”?
JamVet
December 7th, 2012
4:38 pm
Which is a damn nice upgrade from reverse.
Nice burn, JDW…
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
4:44 pm
A monkey could throw trillions of dollars we don’t have and stop the bleeding.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
December 7th, 2012
4:47 pm
A monkey could throw trillions of dollars we don’t have and stop the bleeding.
Somebody had to.
It would be a lot worse if he hadn’t.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
4:51 pm
“It would be a lot worse if he hadn’t.”
Speculation, Cheesy, but not factual.
Kyle Wingfield
December 7th, 2012
4:51 pm
We could be stuck in neutral for the rest of Obama’s presidency, and JDW and Cheesy will still talk about what it was like in late 2008.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
December 7th, 2012
5:02 pm
We could be stuck in neutral for the rest of Obama’s presidency, and JDW and Cheesy will still talk about what it was like in late 2008.
Yes. Because the last time a Republican was in the White House it was a total disaster.
Your damn right we wont forget.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
December 7th, 2012
5:03 pm
Thankfully the majority of the country agreed with us in November.
Forward.
Dusty
December 7th, 2012
5:08 pm
Kyle,
How much longer do the few women that post here have to put up with JohnQ calling them liars, “what you get paid for…..in the woods”and other insulting remarks?
He is using this blog to spread the worst stuff a filthy mind can produce.
I like your blog but lately I wonder if it is worth my time to read so much trash. (Yes, I know I can skip it but I keep hoping for a little more “class” and much less from the “clueless”..).
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
5:15 pm
Too bad ridiculous slogans like “Hope and Change” and “Forward” only win elections but don’t accomplish anything else.
The most vapid, incompetent Presidency in the history of this nation continues unabated.
NoMoreRawDeal
December 7th, 2012
5:18 pm
I’m not in the least bit interested in giving Nathan Deal the power to ‘appoint’ state legislators, for any reason. No sir.
Streetracer
December 7th, 2012
5:21 pm
Dusty @ 5:08
I’d be willing to take some of them into the woods or an alley and teach them manners and respect for others, but I’d probably end up in jail for it.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
5:21 pm
Too bad the guy who posted “Toodles” at 5:04 doesn’t even know the meaning of that expression.
Just as he doesn’t know anything else.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
5:24 pm
I wonder how much John Q gets paid for repeating the same expressions over and over again.
‘Cause doing so and not getting paid for it is just plain stupid.
Or the standard operating procedure for a liberal. Both apply in this case.
They BOTH suck
December 7th, 2012
5:27 pm
Enter your comments here
Kyle Wingfield
December 7th, 2012
5:35 pm
John Q: I missed much of this afternoon’s commenting working on other things, but your 2:40 went way over the line. We’ll see you in 2013.
Maybe.
Johnny Boy says
December 7th, 2012
5:38 pm
How many unemployed proud democrats do we have blogging today anyway ? I just got home from work and am checking the blogwire…..
Georgia Voter
December 7th, 2012
5:45 pm
I think they should reimburse us, or at least be fined. Chip Rogers knew on November 2, which was 4 days before the election, that he had a job at GPB. He should have bowed out and let his opponent, Brandon Beach, take the election. That was just pure, slimy, disgusting Chip Rogers acting like the cad he is. For more info on Rogers, see:
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Will-the-Winner-aka-Senator-Chip-Rogers-Please-Step-Down/198651746858030?fref=ts
Streetracer
December 7th, 2012
5:50 pm
Kyle @ 5:35
I went back to look for what John Q said at 2:40; couldn’t find anything. What did he say that was so bad?
Black Label
December 7th, 2012
5:52 pm
Take care John Q……..
Your not the first, several others have been given the same fate. They will be out in blog purgatory to meet and greet you….
getalife
December 7th, 2012
6:05 pm
Nothing but whining and crying on this blog.
Hilarious
Hillbilly D
December 7th, 2012
6:08 pm
This sucks but probably not any worse than what used to be a common practice back in the day, especially with judgeships.
Run for re-election unopposed, knowing full well you are going to resign. After you get re-elected, you announce your resignation. The governor appoints somebody to take your place. Your first bid for re-election is 4 years down the road and usually they ran unopposed (this was before the non-partisan judicial elections, which are a good thing in my eyes). So basically what you had was that elected judges were most always appointed by the governor. On the rare occasion that a judge ever did lose an election, he would wait a few months and they’d sneak him back in as a judge emeritus, meaning he had all the duties and powers of a judge, without ever facing election. (See: Mitchell, Judge Oscar, DeKalb County, circa the 1970’s.
So yes, this sucks but no worse than the old way. Moral of the story, they’ll always find a way to screw the electorate.
Kyle Wingfield
December 7th, 2012
6:15 pm
Streetracer @ 5:50: I’m not going to repeat it, but it was not fit for a family-friendly blog and certainly had nothing to do with politics.
Kyle Wingfield
December 7th, 2012
6:16 pm
OK, then, John Q. Let’s make it permanent.
Kyle Wingfield
December 7th, 2012
6:17 pm
And no, the comment that got John Q booted permanently won’t appear here, either.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
7:03 pm
Hillbilly D, I’ve always been torn between the appointing of judges and the electing of judges.
Given my disdain for the intelligence of the electorate in general, I don’t think that electing people who can put you away for life (or worse) is such a great idea.
That being said, given the governors we elect (again, the problem with the electorate), their appointments have the possibility of being just as bad.
I suppose the best thing, as always, is to just avoid breaking the law.
Hillbilly D
December 7th, 2012
7:06 pm
I suppose the best thing, as always, is to just avoid breaking the law.
My background is a tad different than most folks who post here but I was always taught the object was to not get caught.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 7th, 2012
7:18 pm
Although my suggestion has a little more surety of outcome, yours also works pretty well.