ATLANTA – U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, scored a resounding Democratic primary victory Tuesday, despite a bid by the Republican-controlled General Assembly to run her out of office by redrawing her congressional district.
Running in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District after moving over from the 7th District, McBath piled up such a big lead over two challengers that the race was called less than an hour after the polls closed at 7 p.m.
McBath captured 84.7% of the vote to just 9.3% for Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson and 5.9% for state Rep. Mandisha Thomas.
McBath ran a campaign focused on her decision to run for Congress in 2018 to push for stricter gun control laws after her teenage son was shot to death.
“When I lost my son, I saw politicians talk about keeping us safe, but too many lacked the courage to take action,” McBath said in a statement released after Tuesday’s election was called in her favor. “I had no other choice but to stand up and run for office myself.
“Twice, extremist Georgia Republicans tried to bend the rules and draw me out of Congress. Twice, Georgians have stood with me and resoundingly voted to send me back to Congress. Our work to keep our families safe, expand access to health care, and protect Georgians is just getting started.”
In Congress, McBath helped steer the most comprehensive gun violence legislation in 30 years to passage, building national name recognition in the process. That and a huge fundraising advantage over the two challengers paved the way to her lopsided victory.
McBath next will face Republican Jeff Criswell in the general election in November. Criswell was unopposed Tuesday for the GOP nomination.
Port of Brunswick (Photo courtesy of Georgia Ports Authority)
ATLANTA – The Port of Brunswick handled a record 80,600 units of Roll-on/Roll-off cargo last month, an increase of more than 44% over April of last year, the Georgia Ports Authority reported Tuesday.
While diversions from the Port of Baltimore after a cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge drove some of the growth at Brunswick, several other factors were involved, said Griff Lynch, the authority’s president and CEO.
“Asian imports remain strong, but we are also seeing an uptick in vehicle exports, new customers have chosen Georgia Ports, and we have increased capacity for existing customers,” Lynch said. “Additionally, manufacturers are working to raise dealership stocks from the current 14-day inventories to 30 days’ worth of vehicles.”
About 9,000 import vehicles were diverted to Brunswick from Baltimore last month, as well as another 1,000 units of heavy equipment. Heavy machinery exports were up by 500 units compared to Brunswick’s monthly average of 246 units for this fiscal year.
“We are expecting the impact of diverted cargo to taper off in June, as the Port of Baltimore works to fully restore service,” Lynch said.
Meanwhile, the Port of Savannah moved 441,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo in April, an increase of 8%, or more than 32,000 TEUs compared to the same month last year. It was the ports authority’s third busiest April on record after 2021 and 2022.
Import loads reached 211,900 TEUs, up 8.3% compared to April of last year. Export loads accounted for 122,500 TEUs last month, an increase of 3.6%.
ATLANTA – President Joe Biden challenged more than 400 Morehouse College graduates Sunday to fight for freedom and democracy against the forces of divisiveness threatening America.
“You’re all future leaders,” Biden said during the 140th commencement ceremony at the historically Black college in Atlanta. “You’ll face complications and tough moments. … [But] we’re expecting a lot from you.”
Biden’s 27-minute keynote address to the Morehouse Class of 2024 marked the Democrat’s first public appearance on a college campus since an outbreak of student protests across the country criticizing his approach to Israel’s war in Gaza.
“I support peaceful non-violent protest,” he told the students. “Your voices should be heard and, I promise you, I hear them.”
At the same time, the president defended his administration’s policies toward the Middle Eastern war.
“It’s a humanitarian crisis,” he said. “That’s why I’ve called for an immediate ceasefire. … I’m working to make sure we get a two-state solution, the only solution.”
Biden praised members of the Class of 2024 for navigating successfully through the pandemic at the start of their college careers.
“The pandemic robbed you of so much,” he said. “Some of you lost loved ones. … You missed your high-school graduations.”
Even as those incoming Morehouse freshmen were being forced to cope with Zoom classes and meeting their fellow students for the first time while wearing masks, they also had to deal with what the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis meant for democracy in America, Biden said.
“What is democracy if Black men are being murdered in the street?” he said. “Democracy is still the way to call out poison and root out white supremacy.”
With Biden’s rematch with Republican former President Donald Trump looming just months away, the president listed a series of his administration’s accomplishments aimed at improving the lives of Black Americans, including cutting child poverty in half by expanding the federal child tax credit, removing lead from water systems, reducing prescription drug prices, and investing a record $16 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The president criticized Republicans for attacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), banning books, and erasing the important role Blacks have played in American history.
“They don’t see you in the future of America, but they’re wrong,” Biden told the students. “We know Black history is American history.”
Republicans responded to Biden’s appearance on the Morehouse campus by slamming the administration’s record with Black America.
“Biden is the one person restraining Black economic growth,” said U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who dropped out of the Republican presidential contest late last year and now is seeking to become Trump’s running mate.
“While Biden failed, President Donald Trump delivered. During Trump’s presidency, we had the strongest, most powerful, and most inclusive economy in my lifetime. More Black voters are moving to the Great Opportunity Party (GOP) because of Donald Trump and our success.”
The one sign of protest during Sunday’s ceremony was a lone graduate who stood at the back, with his back turned to the president and his right fist raised.
Biden received an honorary doctorate from Morehouse President David Thomas at the end of Sunday’s address.
ATLANTA – U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Friday outlined a series to steps the postal service is taking to improve service at a regional mail processing center in Palmetto.
In a letter to U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., DeJoy announced that more than 100 personnel from across the postal service have been sent to the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) “to work onsite to identify and rectify bottlenecks, conduct quality assurance, ensure Atlanta personnel are adhering to the new procedures, and ensure the timely processing and dispatch of mail and packages.”
The federal agency also will revise transportation schedules between the regional center and other local processing centers to increase local trips, add processing capacity at the local centers, and shift cross-country volume away from the Atlanta facility until service stabilizes, DeJoy wrote.
A postal service restructuring plan launched at Atlanta and Richmond, Va., earlier this year aimed at stopping the agency from bleeding red ink resulted in massive delays in mail processing. At a Senate committee hearing last month, Ossoff revealed that only 36% of inbound mail handled by the Palmetto center was being delivered on time as of the end of February.
“The postal service is in the middle of a major new investment in our Georgia operations,” DeJoy wrote Friday. “Unfortunately, the initiation of the Atlanta RPDC led to a significant drop in performance, which was unanticipated.
“To address this challenge in a purposeful and deliberative manner, we will continue to devote substantial time, resources, and attention until the facility and network improvements are performing to the intended specifications.”
DeJoy had announced earlier this week that the postal service would call a pause in implementing the restructuring plan at least until next year to allow time to get a handle on the problems. However, that raised questions as to whether that pause would affect the processing delays already being experienced in Georgia.
Ossoff released a statement earlier Friday criticizing DeJoy for failing to provide updates the senator had requested regarding on-time mail delivery for Georgia families and businesses.
“I will continue fighting for the Georgians suffering from the postmaster general’s failure,” Ossoff vowed in a statement he released after receiving the letter.
ATLANTA – In an election year without either of Georgia’s U.S. senators or Gov. Brian Kemp on the ballot, a rare contest for a state Supreme Court seat is garnering what little statewide attention is focused on primary season.
Former U.S. Rep. John Barrow is challenging incumbent Justice Andrew Pinson Tuesday in a nonpartisan primary race that’s been laser-focused on abortion.
Otherwise, Georgia voters will be choosing party nominees for Congress and the General Assembly in a landscape where – thanks to redistricting – competitive contests are few.
The Barrow-Pinson race is unusual in that Supreme Court justices typically run for reelection unopposed. In fact, three other justices – including Chief Justice Michael Boggs – are on the May 21 ballot without opposition.
“The pattern is you get to the Supreme Court because you’re appointed by the governor to fill a vacancy,” said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia. “Then, you run unopposed or with token opposition.”
In this case, Barrow – a Democrat who represented Georgia’s 12th Congressional District for a decade – is running an aggressive campaign vowing to protect abortion rights.
“Politicians should not be making your private medical decisions,” Barrow says in a campaign ad.
On the other side, Republicans and anti-abortion groups are criticizing Barrow for politicizing a race that’s supposed to be nonpartisan.
“We need judges who follow the law and uphold the Constitution, not more partisan politicians in the courtroom,” Kemp says in an ad backing Pinson, whom the governor appointed to the Supreme Court two years ago.
Congressional contests
Although all 14 of Georgia’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for grabs, Democrats are unlikely to dent Republicans’ 9-5 advantage in the Peach State’s congressional delegation. The new congressional map the General Assembly’s GOP majorities drew during last fall’s redistricting special session left all 14 districts skewing heavily Democratic or Republican.
“Redistricting has had an effect,” said Kerwin Swint, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University. “When you draw districts to make them lean one direction as much as possible, you get a lot of safe seats.”
The impacts of congressional redistricting make the primary races more interesting than what’s likely to take place later during the general election campaigns.
For example, while Republicans are heavily favored to retain the 3rd Congressional District seat in west-central Georgia being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-West Point, five Republicans are battling for the GOP nomination for Georgia’s only open House seat.
Former state Sens. Mike Dugan and Mike Crane, and former state Rep. Philip Singleton are touting their accomplishments in the legislature. Brian Jack, a former aide to former President Donald Trump, is highlighting the achievements of the Trump administration. Businessman Jim Bennett is emphasizing his business acumen.
Two Democrats – retired physician Val Almonord and retired Lt. Col. Maura Keller – will square off in the District 3 Democratic primary.
Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, has drawn two Democratic challengers in the 6th Congressional District: Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson and state Rep. Mandisha Thomas.
An advantage the challengers enjoy is that legislative Republicans targeted McBath during redistricting, reconfiguring her 7th Congressional District to favor the GOP by extending it north through Forsyth, Dawson, and Lumpkin counties. McBath responded by signing up to run for the Democratic-leaning 6th District seat instead. However, the switch is forcing McBath to run in a new district where she is less familiar to the voters.
But Bullock said McBath, who is seeking a fourth term, has built strong name recognition throughout metro Atlanta for leaving her career as a flight attendant to work for stricter gun control after her teenage son was shot to death.
“She has a compelling story that gave her a leg up the first time she ran,” Bullock said.
Republican Jeff Criswell, a businessman, will face the winner of the 6th District Democratic primary in November.
Another primary race that has drawn a crowded field is in the 13th Congressional District, where six Democrats are challenging one of their own: longtime Democratic Rep. David Scott of Atlanta. The list of challengers includes Marcus Flowers, the Democrat who proved to be a prolific fundraiser two years ago in an unsuccessful bid to unseat conservative lightning rod Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Rome.
As with McBath, redistricting is forcing Scott to run in a district with lots of new constituents.
“He’s having to represent a new area in DeKalb County going into Gwinnett,” Bullock said. “He’s a non-incumbent there.”
The winner of the 13th District Democratic primary will take on the Republican nominee in November, either Jonathan Chavez or Johsie Cruz Fletcher.
Legislative races
In the General Assembly, the primaries – and, for that matter, even the general election – are largely a fait accompli for the incumbents.
In the state House of Representatives, 42 Republicans and 30 Democrats are running unopposed. Thus, 72 of the 180 members of the House already have been reelected.
In the state Senate, only 23 of the 56 seats are being contested by both parties. Thirteen Senate Republicans and 10 Democrats already have clinched reelection.
However, a few competitive legislative primary races are being waged. In the Senate, three open seats held by Democrats have attracted crowded fields of Democratic primary candidates, including the District 55 seat being vacated by retiring Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler of Stone Mountain.
In Senate District 40, David Lubin, whose 21-year-old daughter Rose was killed last November while serving in the Israeli military, is challenging incumbent Sen. Sally Harrell, D-Atlanta. Harrell abstained from a vote on an antisemitism bill in January, citing widespread opposition among Muslim Georgians to Israel’s war in Gaza.
In Senate District 44, former Sen. Nadine Thomas of DeKalb County is challenging incumbent Sen. Elena Parent in the Democratic primary. The new Senate map Republicans drew last fall significantly shifted Parent’s district, leaving her with a lot of new constituents to seek to represent.
In the House, two Republicans – businesswoman Pamela Eckhardt and retired IT systems expert Michael Gordon – are mounting extremely uphill GOP primary challenges in Atlanta’s northern suburbs against Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones of Milton and veteran Rep. Chuck Martin of Alpharetta, respectively.
Three Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination in House District 56, a heavily Democratic area in Atlanta currently served by Rep. Mesha Mainor, a former Democrat who turned Republican last year.
And two Democratic House incumbents, Becky Evans and Saira Draper, are running against each other in Atlanta’s House District 90. Legislative Republicans drew them into the same districts during last fall’s redistricting session.
Two other Democrats – Rep. Teri Anulewicz of Smyrna and House Minority Whip Sam Park of Lawrenceville – avoided facing fellow incumbents in the primaries when their potential opponents decided to leave office rather than run against a fellow Democrat.
Republican state Rep. Beth Camp of Concord dodged that same fate when veteran GOP Rep. David Knight of Griffin retired from the House rather than oppose Camp in the same district.
