U.S. Rep. Tom Graves’ decision not to seek re-election has touched off a crowded scramble for the seat.
ATLANTA – A primarily self-funded candidate leads a crowded Republican field in the battle for campaign bucks in Northwest Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
Nine GOP hopefuls are vying to succeed U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, who is not running for re-election.
Businesswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had been running for the 6th Congressional District seat north of Atlanta until December, raised nearly $1.1 million through the first quarter of this year, most coming from a $700,000 loan she floated to her campaign.
Greene’s total far surpasses the $521,581 brought in by another political newcomer, physician John Cowan of Rome, the second-highest fundraiser in the race, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. The vast majority of Cowan’s money has come from individual contributors.
Air Force veteran and small business owner Ben Bullock raised $345,230 through the first quarter, also mostly in donations from individual contributors.
Business owner Matt Laughridge of Douglasville is next in the sweepstakes, having brought in $319,124 in January, February and March. Most of his funds came through a $250,000 personal loan.
Former state Rep. Bill Hembree of Dallas took in $253,425 during the first quarter, also getting the vast majority of his campaign war chest – $240,000 – through a loan he made to his treasury.
Clayton Fuller, a lawyer from Dalton, raised $218,378 during the first quarter, including a personal loan of $106,500.
Former State School Superintendent John Barge of Rome brought in $174,651 during January, February and March, most of which came through a personal loan of $150,000. Barge served one term as school superintendent from 2011 until the beginning of 2015 and unsuccessfully challenged then-Gov. Nathan Deal’s reelection bid in 2014.
Kevin Cooke of Bremen, an associate athletic director, raised $98,604 during the first quarter. Business owner Andy Gunther, also from Bremen, had brought in just $10,296 through the end of March, most from a personal loan.
Only one Democrat is running for the seat Graves is vacating is the heavily Republican 14th District. Kevin Van Ausdal of Rossville has struggled to raise money, bringing in only $7,401 by the end of March, including a $3,000 personal loan.
Georgia’s 14th Congressional District stretches from Paulding and Haralson counties north through Rome, Calhoun and Dalton to the Tennessee line.
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins’ decision to run for the U.S. Senate has prompted nine Republicans to seek his U.S. House seat. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – The top fundraiser in a crowded Republican field looking to succeed U.S. Rep. Doug Collins in Georgia’s 9th Congressional District has never held elective office even though three state lawmakers are also in the race.
Ethan Underwood, an attorney and GOP activist, raised $231,800 during the first quarter of this year, most in the form of a $160,000 loan he made to his campaign, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). That’s tops in the 9th District, a relatively low-cost place to run for Congress because it’s primarily outside of the Atlanta advertising market.
Also, candidates in the 9th District haven’t had as long to raise campaign contributions as those in other parts of the state. Collins, R-Gainesville, didn’t announce he was leaving the House to run for the U.S. Senate until late January.
Another factor dampening donations is the distraction to normal politicking wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
Collins’ impending departure convinced a large field of Republicans to jump into the contest for his seat in the heavily Republican district.
State Rep. Kevin Tanner of Dawsonville raised $222,710 during the first quarter. He wasn’t as reliant on his own pockets as Underwood, floating himself a smaller $50,000 loan.
State Rep. Matt Gurtler of Tiger was third in fundraising, bringing in $177,599 as of March 31, with only a $7,000 personal loan supplementing his campaign donations.
Andrew Clyde, a Navy veteran and firearms distributor, raised $120,235 during the first quarter, mainly through a $100,000 personal loan.
State Sen. John Wilkinson of Toccoa, the third Georgia legislator on the June 9 Republican primary ballot, raised $114,273 through March 31, mostly from individual contributors.
Two other Republican hopefuls have struggled to raise donations. Retiree Maria Strickland brought in just $32,758 during the first quarter, all from a personal loan, while gun store owner Kellie Weeks received just $5,525 in contributions.
The candidate with arguably the most name recognition in the contest, former U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, had not filed a report with the FEC as of Friday. Broun, a physician, represented Georgia’s 10th Congressional District from 2007 to 2015.
Michael Boggus, a crane operator, also had not filed a report to the FEC as of Friday.
Democrat Dan Wilson, a retire, had raised $20,127 through March 31. Another Democratic retiree, Devin Pandy, had not filed a report as of Friday.
The 9th Congressional District covers northeastern Georgia stretching from south of Gainesville and the northern end of Athens to the state borders with South Carolina and North Carolina.
ATLANTA – The candidates in two competitive U.S. House races in Atlanta’s northern suburbs have plenty of money to work with as the June 9 primary approaches.
Incumbent Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath of Roswell, who is seeking a second term representing the 6th Congressional District, raised more than $1 million during the first quarter of this year, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. However, McBath has brought in more than $4 million for the 2020 election counting contributions she received before January.
That leaves the incumbent well positioned financially to fend off the challenge of former Rep. Karen Handel, a Republican from Alpharetta, who lost to McBath two years ago.
But Handel will have more than enough resources to compete. After raising $283,155 during January, February and March, Handel’s campaign war chest stood at just less than $1 million as of March 31.
That’s well above Republican primary opponent Joe Profit, an author and businessman from Marietta. Profit has raised $378,302 during the 2020 election cycle, including $143,094 during the first quarter. However, $164,200 of his funds came in the form of a loan he made to his campaign.
Three other Republican hopefuls in the 6th District had not filed reports with the FEC as of Friday.
The 6th District covers East Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb counties.
The 7th Congressional District race is more crowded because Rep. Mark Woodall, R-Lawrenceville, is retiring. Three of the seven Republican candidates vying to succeed Woodall have raised nearly $1 million each.
State Sen. Renee Unterman of Buford leads the pack. She raised just $78,814 during the first quarter, with the General Assembly in session for most of that time. But Unterman has brought in $961,190 in total, including a loan of $602,841 she made to her campaign.
Dr. Richard McCormick, an emergency room physician from Suwanee, is keeping up with Unterman in the fundraising race. The $202,202 he received in January, February and March gave him $912,862 for the total election cycle, including personal loans of $247,000.
Businesswoman Lynne Homrich, a former executive with Home Depot, is the third Republican candidate in the 7th District with a campaign war chest north of $900,000. She raised $126,103 during the first quarter, bringing her total to $908,728. That includes personal loans to the campaign of $330,000.
Businessman Mark Gonsalves has raised $451,909 thus far in his campaign.
Three other GOP candidates have struggled to raise money. Retiree Eugene Yu has brought in $25,140 – all in the first quarter. Educator/author Lisa Noel Babbage has raised $7,660, and Zachary Kennemore, a hotel night auditor, reported only $120 in contributions
Carolyn Bourdeax, a familiar name in the 7th District, dominates the battle for bucks among Democrats. After narrowly losing a bid to unseat Woodall two years ago, the college professor from Suwanee has raised more than $1.7 million for another shot this year, including $326,131 in January, February and March.
State Sen. Zahra Karinshak of Duluth, limited during the General Assembly session, brought in $151,239 during the first quarter to give her a total of $667,231, second among Democrats on the 7th District Democratic primary ballot. That includes a loan of $150,000 she made to her campaign.
Nabilah Islam of Lawrenceville, self-described as a “full-time candidate,” has raised $544,615 thus far, including $144,490 during January, February and March.
State Rep. Brenda Lopez Romero of Norcross has raised $153,422, the vast majority coming in before January.
Entrepreneur Rashid Malik had not filed an FEC report as of Friday.
The 7th Congressional District takes in most of Gwinnett County and part of Forsyth County.
ATLANTA – A plan by a now-defunct energy consortium to build a coal-fired power plant near Sandersville has died a quiet death.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has rejected an application to give Power4Georgians another 18 months to begin construction on the $2.1 billion project.
The last permit the consortium received, back in 2014, set a deadline of April 2016 for work to begin, EPD Director Richard Dunn wrote in a letter last month to Dean Alford, the driving force behind the project. Dunn’s letter denied a request for an extension Power4Georgians sent the EPD just before that deadline.
“Upon review of your April 12, 2016, letter, and the relevant facts, your request for extension is denied and approval to construct the facility … is hereby deemed invalid,” Dunn’s letter stated.
Alford, a former member of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, was charged last fall with criminal attempt to commit theft by taking and racketeering in connection with a different energy project.
A civil suit filed in that case accuses him of defrauding 39 investors out of $6 million in a Ponzi scheme stemming from a project that was supposed to convert municipal solid waste into fuel pellets. Alford has denied the charges.
While utilities across the country – including Georgia Power Co. – were retiring coal plants during the last decade to reduce their reliance on coal, Power4Georgians was pushing against that tide with plans to build an 850-megawatt coal plant in Georgia.
As originally constituted, the consortium included several of the state’s electric membership corporations (EMCs). But as planning for the project lagged amid concerns that the Obama administration was about to crack down on carbon emissions from coal plants, the EMCs pulled out, leaving Power4Georgians scrambling for other financing sources.
ATLANTA – The coronavirus pandemic is taking a toll on the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project near Augusta.
Atlanta-based Southern Co. announced this week that the workforce at the $25 billion project is being cut by 20%.
As of Wednesday, 42 workers had tested positive for COVID-19, while 57 were awaiting test results, the Augusta Chronicle reported Thursday.
Southern officials cited “challenges with labor productivity” as the reason behind the layoffs.
“It is expected to provide operational efficiencies by increasing productivity of the remaining workforce and reducing workforce fatigue and absenteeism,” the company stated in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “It is also expected to allow for increased social distancing by the workforce and facilitate compliance with the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
More than 9,000 workers were on the construction site in Burke County as of late March, meaning the layoffs could affect 1,500 to 2,000 workers. Southern estimated the cost of the layoffs at $15 million to $30 million, assuming absenteeism stabilizes and the project realizes intended productivity efficiencies in the coming months.
However, Southern officials said they do not expect the workforce reduction to affect the total cost of the project or the current completion schedule.
The cost of constructing two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle has nearly doubled since the Georgia Public Service Commission approved the project in 2009. The schedule also has slipped substantially, in large part because of the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric Co., originally the prime contractor.
The two new units originally were due to be completed in 2016 and 2017, but the latest schedule calls for finishing the first of the two reactors late next year and the second a year later.
Georgia Power Co. is the major partner in the Plant Vogtle expansion, partnering with Oglethorpe Power Corp., the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), and Dalton Utilities.
Plant Vogtle is the only nuclear power plant construction currently underway in the country, as other projects have been abandoned due to rising costs. The nuclear expansion also is the largest ongoing construction project in Georgia.
