Archive for the ‘Georgia Republican convention’ Category

In Phoenix, members of the Republican National Committee on Thursday rejected a proposal by Georgia GOP chairman Sue Everhart to streamline, for 2016, a long and tortuous primary process that some think have placed Republicans at a disadvantage this year.

From the New York Times:

[Everhart] suggested changes that would have allowed states to hold winner-take-all contests in 2016, potentially bringing the contest to a close more quickly.

But several members spoke in opposition to her proposal, saying the current process gives more voters an opportunity to participate in the nomination by creating a lengthier process.

“The thought has been for 20 years to try to create a process which keeps us from having a one-day primary in which you have the man on the white horse winning and then you wake up with buyer’s remorse,” said John Ryder, a committee member from Tennessee.

Everhart, curiously, was a major champion of ousted RNC chairman Michael Steele, who has cited the lengthy …

Continue reading Sue Everhart proposes, and the RNC rejects, a streamlined primary in 2016 »

A fundraising email circulating out of Georgia is already promising big donors to a Mitt Romney “victory fund” that they will have special access to a “Presidential Inaugural retreat” after the candidate’s election in November.

The presumptive email was obtained by Buzzfeed, which said it originated with a “top Georgia supporter.” (We confirmed the contents independently). Romney will be in Atlanta on June 11 for a pair of fundraisers.

From the solicitation:

The legal maximum that an individual can donate to Romney Victory is $75,800. The campaign is asking people who are able to make a $50,000 contribution to do so today and become a “Founding Member” of Romney Victory. These donors will be invited to a special retreat with Governor Romney in late June in California and will have preferred status at the first Presidential Inaugural retreat as well as yet to be determined access at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August.

As for our Georgia efforts, Governor …

Continue reading Mitt Romney promises big Georgia donors access to inaugural event »

Georgia Public Broadcasting quotes state Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, as saying that Gov. Nathan Deal today will sign into law his bill to require drug tests for welfare applicants.

A lawsuit to block enforcement – which recently happened in Florida – is likely.

Most, but not all, district meetings of the Georgia GOP came off smoothly on Saturday. GOP activist Vikki McReynolds posted this account of deliberations in the 13th congressional district (David Scott, D) on Facebook:

”I just got kicked out of the 13th District convention because I called for a point of order because they did not seat our delegates and were seating alternates instead. … Police tried to carry me out and I laid on the floor !”

The meetings chose the bulk of Georgia delegates who will attend the Republican National Convention in Tampa. We’ll try to assemble a complete list this afternoon.

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Speaking of the gentleman from the 13th: U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, on Saturday accused Republicans of …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Nathan Deal to sign bill to require drug tests for welfare recipients »

If President Barack Obama intends to put Georgia in play this fall, he’ll have to write the entire check for the effort.

According to the March 31 disclosure filed by the Democratic Party of Georgia, the organization is barely keeping its head above water. It raised $140,966 over the last three months, and spent $133,312.

It has $149,095 in cash on hand. But the bottom line would be much more bleak, were it not for nearly $40,000 from state House Democrats, mostly in $2,000 checks.

Among the party’s expenditures was $10,000 paid to Tasso Knight, a retired union lobbyist, who served as lobbyist for the state party at the Capitol this year. The payment became part of an argument over finances among ranking Democratic leaders this winter.

Democrats have their main fund-raiser for the year on April 28. It will feature the Rev. Joe Lowery and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

By comparison, the Republican Party of Georgia had its main fundraiser during the reporting …

Continue reading The strapped finances of Georgia’s Democratic party »

Monday is shaping up to be a day of protest at and around the state Capitol.

Students from Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and John Marshall Law School are putting together a Skittles-and-hoodies protest focused on the Florida killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and Florida’s “stand your ground” law.

Demonstrators will be targeting several gun bills still under consideration by the Legislature, which they term “a continuation” of Georgia’s 2006 law that expanded the circumstances under which a shooter could claim self-defense.

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The annual President’s Day fund-raiser for the Georgia Republican party on Monday – usually a sleepy event – is likely to get more attention this time around. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is facing a recall election after last year’s confrontation with public employee unions, will be the keynote speaker.

Union workers in Atlanta are already planning a welcome for Walker at the downtown Marriott …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: A Skittles-and-hoodies protest headed for the state Capitol »

We’d heard that several county GOP conventions earlier this month featured confrontations between establishment and libertarian-minded members.

But it looks like things really got out of hand in Athens. From the Banner-Herald newspaper:

Two local Republican Party leaders filed a police report on Tuesday, telling police that Ron Paul supporters left them harassing, potentially threatening messages after a contentious meeting on March 10, according to an Athens-Clarke police report.

Several rowdy Paul supporters attended the meeting, pushing video cameras into people’s faces and taping the confrontation, they said. The group posted the videos on YouTube with the local party leaders’ names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

The party members — a 28-year-old man and a 66-year-old man — turned over emails and Internet postings that included statements that the men should be shot, killed and have their houses burned down.

The GOP officials who made the complaint aren’t …

Continue reading Republicans in Athens allege threats from Ron Paul supporters »

We told you last night that GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum will make his first post-surge appearance in Georgia on Sunday. This morning, The Hill newspaper in D.C. reports that Santorum has included this state in a first round of TV ads – to match frontrunner Mitt Romney:

The campaign is making the purchases in Arizona, which votes Feb. 28., and in Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahhoma — all Super Tuesday states except for Arizona — according to Santorum senior campaign adviser John Brabender. The campaign did not disclose any more details about the ads, such as the cost or exact markets where they will air.

Another sign that Santorum will present a full-court press on Super Tuesday: The Times-Free Press today reports that the former Pennsylvania senator will be the headliner at a Chattanooga tea party gathering. A recent poll has Santorum leading in that state.

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Meanwhile, financially pinched Newt Gingrich – or at least, his affiliated super PAC — this morning …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Rick Santorum will join TV war in Georgia »

The Republican contest for president hones in on its most conservative activists today, with three of the four candidates making appearances before CPAC.

Callista Gingrich, wife of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, is framed by the crowd gathered to hear her husband spoke after touring the Jergens manufacturing facility in Cleveland during a campaign stop on Wednesday. AP/Amy Sancetta

Newt Gingrich will try something different. He’ll be introduced by his wife, Callista – a sign that she’s about to assume a more prominent role in the campaign. From Politico.com:

The speech she’s supposed to give is intended to be light-hearted and descriptive about the man she’s married to, the source [said]. Her decision to introduce her husband is intended as the first step in what will be a broader rollout of Callista going forward – introducing the candidate at rallies, meeting with women’s groups and granting press requests that the campaign had turned down for most of the …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Callista Gingrich steps out, front and center »

Georgia native and tea party favorite Herman Cain edged out libertarian Ron Paul at the GOP annual fish fry down in Perry on Saturday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finished a surprisingly distant fifth, behind Texas Gov. Rick Perry and another Georgia favorite, former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann also had a weak showing.

Results were just phoned in by B.J. VanGundy, the party’s second vice president. Over 1100 tickets were sold, he said, and 890 votes were cast.

The totals:

– Herman Cain, 232 or 26 percent;

– Ron Paul, 229 or 25.7 percent;

– Rick Perry, 179 or 20 percent;

– Newt Gingrich, 162 or 18 percent;

– Mitt Romney, 51 or 6 percent;

– Michele Bachman, 29 or 3 percent;

– Rick Santorum, 4 or .4 percent

– Jon Huntsman, 3 or .3 percent;

– Thad McCotter, 1 or .1 percent;

– Buddy Roemer, 0;

– Gary Johnson, 0;

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on …

Continue reading Herman Cain edges out Ron Paul in Georgia GOP straw poll »

The Georgia Republican party is reporting $1,073,053 in cash on hand as of June 30, according to a financial disclosure filed with the state ethics commission.

The party has raised $854,063 in the last six months, but spent $980,529. Kevin Harris, the party’s executive director, said the fund-raising lull was the result of the economy, and a slack period in the presidential political cycle.

(By comparison, the state Democratic party reports $178,705 in cash on hand.)

That said, given this year’s GOP chairmanship fight, between incumbent Sue Everhart and the governor-backed Tricia Pridemore, fund-raising figures remain something to keep watch on.

Here’s why:

On May 18, four days after Pridemore lost, two major supporters of Gov. Nathan Deal formed something called Real PAC, a political action committee based in Roswell. The chairman is Jim Walters, a major contributor to the Deal campaign and a Deal appointee to the North Georgia Mountains Authority.

The Real PAC treasurer is …

Continue reading Of the state GOP’s $1 million in cash, and something called Real PAC »