Archive for the ‘Ken Hodges’ Category

Two candidates for governor on Tuesday traded old newspaper clippings in a tiff over illegal immigration.

From his stronghold of north Georgia, Republican Nathan Deal – no doubt eager to tread familiar ground – began the discussion.

From the Dalton Daily Citizen:

“My opponent, Roy Barnes, has a proven track record of promoting services for illegal aliens, such as welfare programs, tuition assistance and even driver’s licenses,” Deal said. “Only now is Mr. Barnes changing his tune after reading the tea leaves.

As proof, noted Republican operative and Roy Barnes biographer Dan McLagan pointed reporters to a Sept. 21, 2001 article in the AJC:

Gov. Roy Barnes said Thursday the state should grant some form of driver’s license to illegal immigrants, something that has long been a top priority of advocates for Georgia’s booming Latino population.

Barnes said the state could create an international driver’s license for non-citizens or follow the lead of North Carolina and Tennessee …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Of illegal immigration and old newspaper clippings »

A month and change after the August runoff, the campaign of Republican nominee for governor Nathan Deal pushed out its first TV ad this morning.

The 30-second spot is mostly a soft introduction to the former congressman – those attacks on Democrat Roy Barnes you’ve seen have been the product of the Republican Governors Association.

The Deal ad ends with this effective kicker: “He’ll get it right the first time.” But it also avoids telling voters where the candidate has been since 1994 – in Washington, as a member of Congress.

See for yourself:

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There’s evidence that U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland may be experiencing a bit of prophet’s remorse.

The Republican congressman from Coweta County became the center of attention at a gathering of Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition on Friday when he spoke of a GOP majority in the House – and a government shutdown.

”If we hold the line, if we get those courageous men and women to be part of our majority. If we say look, the …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: A first Nathan Deal ad vows to ‘get it right the first time’ »

Candidates of the same party rarely run as a ticket in Georgia. But if they did, one would think that nominees for governor and lieutenant governor would be natural partners.

On the Democratic side, this isn’t necessarily so.

There are no signs of tension between Roy Barnes and Carol Porter, the nominee for lieutenant governor – whose husband DuBose was trounced by Barnes.

But in terms of tactics, message and geography, Barnes’ fortunes in November may be tied more closely to Ken Hodges, the Democratic nominee for attorney general.

Below is an account from the Albany Herald of Hodges’ “impassioned plea for support” to the local Rotary Club on Thursday:

“I am not running to be the Democratic attorney general of the state of Georgia,” Hodges said to the packed house. “I am running to be the attorney general of the state of Georgia.

Democratic nominee for attorney general Ken Hodges

“I need your support. I need your vote, and I also need for you to tell your friends all over the …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Are the fortunes of Democrats Roy Barnes and Ken Hodges tied together? »

Updated on Monday: Although a staffer said he didn’t plan to show, U.S. Rep. John Lewis was present for President Barack Obama’s visit to Atlanta, we’re told.

President Barack Obama’s second visit to Georgia this year may be one of those parties best remembered for the guests who failed to show.

The president will spend the better part of Monday in Atlanta — first speaking to a convention of disabled veterans. Then the president will be the featured guest at a Democratic National Committee luncheon and fundraiser.

President Barack Obama last week addressed the National Urban League. Associated Press

Many Democrats will flock to the downtown events. Michael Thurmond, the labor commissioner and U.S. Senate candidate, will be there. U.S. Rep. David Scott of Atlanta will greet Obama as he steps off Air Force One, as will Gov. Sonny Perdue — a Republican.

Mayor Kasim Reed will give the first African-American president an effusive introduction at the DNC fundraiser. A spokesman for …

Continue reading Guess who won’t be coming to lunch with Obama? »

Updated at 11:50 p.m.:Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for all of your attention this evening. I’ll check in with you tomorrow morning.

Updated at 11:15 p.m.: On the Republican side of the 8th District congressional contest, state Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton), who until this spring was a candidate for governor, has apparently won the nomination without a runoff.

With 89 percent of the vote in, Scott is at 53 percent. Which prompted this bruising welcome from Doug Moore, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Macon):

“Austin Scott’s been in the legislature his whole adult life, He’s a career politician looking for his next job. Ran for governor, found no takers. Ran for Lieutenant Governor, got run off, and was told to run for Congress.

“He’s voted against taxing illegal immigrants, but he’s voted for, even proposed, multiple new tax increases on every Georgian.

“Politics makes strange bedfellows, but with Jim’s record of protecting and helping the people of this district, …

Continue reading Austin Scott close to 8th District GOP win, and gets a bruising welcome from Jim Marshall »

The Democratic contest for attorney general is likely to come down to a pair of TV ads.

As of June 30, former Dougherty County prosecutor Ken Hodges reported that he had $252,133 left to finish out his Democratic primary campaign for attorney general.

Which means that Hodges can afford a modest broadcast of this attack ad, released on Monday:

His rival, state Rep. Rob Teilhet of Smyrna, reported $38,260 on hand. But his campaign reports today that Teilhet had already laid down $210,000 on a TV buy by June 30 – presumably to air the Kenneth Walker video he displayed last week.

On Monday, the Teilhet campaign alerted reporters that Emily Walker, mother of the black man slain by a sheriff’s deputy – in the ad, she condemns Hodges for not bringing charges against the white officer – would be interviewed this morning on WAOK (1380 AM), a radio station aimed at African-Americans.

But if you don’t own the time, you don’t call the shots.

The Teilhet campaign this morning sent a note …

Continue reading The Democratic race for AG down to a pair of attack ads »

You didn’t need a poll on Sunday night to see the terrain in both the Republican and Democratic debates for attorney general. You just had to watch.

Both contests received 30-minute airings on GPTV, courtesy of the Atlanta Press Club.

In the three-man Republican contest, the question is whether the late entry of state Sen. Preston Smith of Rome will push the race into a runoff.

By way of attacking him, both Smith and former federal prosecutor Max Wood of Macon conceded front-runner status to Sam Olens, the former Cobb County commission chairman.

Smith immediately showed off his endorsements by the National Rifle Association and Georgia Right to Life, asking Olens:

“Why aren’t you endorsed by those organizations?”

Said Olens:

“You were a legislator and that gave you an advantage in regard to getting their endorsements. But I candidly think there’s little if any difference on those issues, because frankly we agree on them.”

But Smith trumped Olens with a …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Rolling in the mud with candidates for attorney general »

On Thursday, the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club issued a list of primary endorsements that included Carol Porter in the Democratic race for lieutenant governor, plus eight Democratic and two GOP state lawmakers.

But the conservation group made no endorsement in the contest for governor – deadlocked between two Democrats, former Gov. Roy Barnes and House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin.

How do we know? Here are excerpts from a letter penned by Mark Woodall, vice chairman of the group’s executive committee, summing up the dilemma:

It’s unfortunate that the two best environmental office holders we have seen over the last 20 years in Georgia are both running in the Democratic primary for Governor. Here is some history on the record of Roy Barnes and DuBose Porter.

Roy Barnes as Governor gave us some good appointments to the DNR Board, although he didn’t fire EPD Director Harold Reheis.

As Governor, Roy was against the mining of the Okefenokee by DuPont which led to …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Behind the Sierra Club deadlock over Roy Barnes and DuBose Porter »

Chuck Williams at the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that state Rep. Rob Teilhet of Smyrna, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, on Friday will begin broadcasting what could be the most powerful – and perhaps incendiary – TV ad of the primary season.

Teilhet’s primary opponent is Ken Hodges, a former Dougherty County who served as special prosecutor in the 2003 shooting death of a Muscogee County black man, Kenneth Walker, by a white sheriff’s deputy, David Glisson.

Emily Walker, mother of the victim, is the sole voice in a 30-second video that can be seen here. Writes Williams:

Glisson shot Walker during a traffic stop related to a drug investigation. Walker was unarmed at the time of the shooting and no drugs were found in the vehicle.

Glisson is white and Walker was black, and the case caused a racial division in the community.

In the ad, Emily Walker [speaks] as the video of the SUV being pulled over plays.

“You are seeing the last minute of my son’s life,” …

Continue reading TV ad will show the moments before a Columbus killing »

The Democratic race for attorney general has kicked into gear, with both candidates donning their crime-fighting capes in a post-Fourth rush to the July 20 primary.

State Rep. Rob Teilhet was first on Monday with a 30-second TV spot trading on a quote that calls him the state’s “most forward-thinking crime fighter.” He emphasizes a proposal to expand the state’s DNA data base to include all those arrested on felony charges, and promised to established a unit aimed at prosecuting crimes against children.

See it here:

Former Dougherty County district attorney Ken Hodges continues to draw attention to his experience as a prosecutor – and Teilhet’s lack of same. Says his ad, which begins today: “You might want to choose the only Democratic candidate who’s ever prosecuted anyone. It’s a tough job, and it helps if you know how.”

See it here:

The Democratic TV ads could have repercussions on the Republican side with its three candidates – former Cobb County Commission chairman Sam …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: AG candidates don crime-fighting capes »