ATLANTA – Political action committees supporting U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Republican challenger Herschel Walker released ads Tuesday accusing each other of domestic violence.
Warnock’s ad, funded by the Democrat-aligned PAC Georgia Honor, features the words of Walker’s son, Christian, a Republican activist who lashed out at his father last week following a media report alleging Walker had paid for a former girlfriend’s abortion in 2011.
Walker showed up at his ex-wife’s home with a gun and refused to leave, the younger Walker said.
“[Herschel Walker] threatened to kill us and had us move six times in six months running from [his] violence,” the ad’s narrator went on, quoting charges Christian Walker leveled at his father Oct. 3 in a social media thread.
Walker’s PAC, 34N22, countered Tuesday with an ad showing recently uncovered Bodycam footage of Warnock’s ex-wife during a domestic violence altercation in March 2020.
Ouleye Nodoye is shown in tears accusing Warnock of running over her foot with his car.
“Warnock ran over his wife with his car, refused to pay child support, and neglected the terms of his divorce,” 34N22 spokesman Stephen Lawson said. “He continues to throw stones in a glass house, and his blatant hypocrisy will now be on full display for Georgia voters.”
The dueling ads come just days before Walker and Warnock are due to meet in what apparently will be the only debate of the campaign. The two will share the same stage Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in Savannah.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – A conservative public policy organization launched an ad campaign Monday praising Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and state Sen. Burt Jones, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, for backing legislation aimed at transgender athletes.
The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the “Save Girls Sports” measure this year as part of a larger bill that also prohibits the teaching of certain “divisive concepts” primarily about race in public schools.
The transgender component effectively bans transgender students born male from competing in most girls’ sports in Georgia.
Supporters, including the nonprofit group Frontline Policy Action, argued the new law keeps the playing field level in school sports by preventing biological males – typically stronger and faster than females – from competing with girls.
The group’s 30-second digital ad, “Fighting for Fairness,” is the result of a five-figure effort.
“Biological men should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. It’s science and it just makes sense,” the ad states. “This new law keeps competition fair for female athletes.”
Democrats opposed the bill during this year’s legislative session, arguing it stigmatizes transgender students, a particularly vulnerable group of young people who suffer from an alarmingly high suicide rate.
Frontline’s ad campaign will run statewide until Election Day, Nov. 8.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker raised more than $12 million during the last three months, the former University of Georgia football star’s campaign reported Wednesday.
That’s less than half of the more than $26 million incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., raised during the third quarter.
But the Walker campaign boasted his haul during July, August, and September was the largest quarterly total for any Republican Senate candidate during this election cycle.
“My team and I have traveled to every corner of Georgia, and everywhere we go, people have made it clear that Raphael Warnock has sided with [President] Joe Biden and left them behind,” Walker said in a statement released Wednesday.
“The people are so fired up for a new warrior in Washington that they have literally put their money where their mouths are.”
Walker’s campaign manager, Scott Paradise, criticized Warnock for running “a gutter campaign focused on lies and personal attacks.”
The Warnock campaign has bombed the airwaves with TV ads calling attention to Walker’s violent past, including holding a gun to the temple of his ex-wife Cindy Grossman.
Walker has responded that he was suffering from dissociative identity disorder at that time, a mental illness from which he said he has recovered.
Walker’s campaign reported Wednesday that the challenger had more than $7 million cash on hand as of the end of last month. A day earlier, the Warnock campaign reported $13.7 million cash on hand through Sept. 30.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp raised almost $29 million during the last three months toward his reelection effort, far surpassing the $6.8 million the incumbent Republican brought in during the second quarter.
The huge haul guarantees Kemp will have plenty of money for TV ads, mailings, signs, bumper sticks and whatever else he wants to do before the Nov. 8 gubernatorial election to publicize his bid for a second term.
Most of Kemp’s campaign fundraising during the third quarter – about $20 million – came from his Georgians First leadership committee.
The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed legislation last year authorizing the creation of leadership committees, which can raise unlimited contributions on behalf of top statewide and legislative candidates.
Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams, thanks in part to her national celebrity, was able to outraise Kemp through the end of June. Abrams raised more than $22 million during the second quarter, including $12.3 million brought in by her leadership committee, One Georgia.
The Abrams campaign has yet to report her third-quarter fundraising totals. The state-imposed deadline for candidates for state office to file third-quarter fundraising reports is Oct. 7.
Kemp also listed $19.6 million cash on hand as of Sept. 30, up significantly from the $7 million his campaign reported at the end of June.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia will need to invest $103.7 million in air cargo improvements to meet the industry’s future needs, not including investments at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a new study has concluded.
The vast majority of those improvements should occur at the airports serving Savannah and Albany, according to a report released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The study, conducted from July of last year through last month, was designed to identify current and forecasted air cargo activity in Georgia and determine what new facilities or improvements to existing facilities are needed.
“Transporting goods by air is typically associated with the movement of high value, light weight, and perishable products,” said Clement Solomon, the DOT’s director of intermodal programs. “Air cargo is critical to Georgia’s automotive industry, pharmaceutical companies, medical suppliers and more.”
Solomon said a significant increase in e-commerce sparked by the coronavirus pandemic is driving higher demand for air cargo services.
Seven airports in Georgia have scheduled air cargo service, while 58 have varying levels of air cargo activity.
About $30 billion in commodities arrive and depart the Peach State by air each year, primarily from overseas. Top commodities by value include electronics, motor vehicle parts, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and transport equipment.
Of the $103.7 million in needs the study identified, $70.8 million would go to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Of that, $50 million would be used to build a 220,000-square-foot air cargo building.
Another $30.3 million would go to Southwest Regional Airport in Albany. Most of those funds would be used to expand an airport apron and construct a new cargo building to coincide with the apron expansion.
Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport and East Georgia Regional Airport in Swainsboro would receive $1.3 million each for apron rehabilitation projects.
The various improvements the study contemplates would support 1,406 jobs with a cumulative salary of $53.7 million, according to the report. The projects would deliver a total economic impact of $202.6 million.
The study recommends forming an Air Cargo Working Group to, among other things, advocate for state funding of the various air cargo improvements identified in the report.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
