by Dave Williams | Oct 15, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Super Bowl LXII will be held in Atlanta in February 2028, the National Football League announced Tuesday.
The game will take place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which also hosted the Super Bowl in 2019.
Atlanta’s bid was led by the Atlanta Sports Council in partnership with the Atlanta Falcons, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, the city of Atlanta, and the state of Georgia.
“This decision underscores our position as an ideal host for large-scale attractions like this,” Gov. Brian Kemp said. “Fans from across the world who attend Super Bowl LXII will experience the world-class lodging, amenities, and commitment to safety that set us apart.”
The 2028 Super Bowl will be the fourth held in Atlanta. The Georgia Dome hosted the game in 1994 and 2000. The 2019 game, which saw the New England Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams, took place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Metro Atlanta has hosted many major global sporting events over the years. The list of upcoming events includes college football’s national championship game in January, Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game at Truist Park next July, soccer’s World Cup in 2026, and the NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament in 2031.
“No city is better positioned than Atlanta to host events of this magnitude,” said Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council. “Super Bowl LXII would not be possible without the incredible cooperation of leaders in the civic and business community who continue to come together to deliver for our city and state.”
by Dave Williams | Oct 15, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – State law requires local election boards to certify election results, a Fulton County Superior Court Judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge Robert McBurney rejected the assertions of Julie Adams, a member of the Fulton County elections board, who refused to certify primary results earlier this year and maintained she had the legal authority to do so.
“Some things an election superintendent must do either in a certain way or by a certain time, with no discretion to do otherwise,” McBurney wrote in an 11-page decision. “Certification is one of those things.”
Tuesday’s ruling was limited to the lawsuit Adams brought in Fulton County. Still pending is a legal challenge to a change in election rules the Republican-controlled State Election Board adopted in August allowing local election officials to delay certifying results in order to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” if they suspect voter fraud.
“While the superintendent must investigate concerns about miscounts and must report those concerns to a prosecutor if they persist after she investigates, the existence of those concerns, those doubts, or those worries is not cause to delay or decline certification,” the judge wrote. “This is simply not an option.”
The “reasonable inquiry” rule is among a series of election rules the State Election Board has approved along party lines in the last two months.
The list includes a rule that allows county election board members to delay certification of results while they examine “all election-related documentation created during the conduct of elections.” Another requires counties to hand-count the number of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day.
Supporters of the rules changes say they’re being done in the name of promoting election integrity after allegations of fraud were leveled in Georgia after Democrat Joe Biden carried the Peach State over then-incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in 2020. A series of court challenges found no widespread fraud occurred.
Opponents of the new rules say they’re part of a concerted effort by Republicans in Georgia to sow chaos and confusion in this year’s election, potentially delaying the results and helping Trump secure the state’s 16 electoral votes even if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the popular vote.
by Dave Williams | Oct 15, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Early voting is off to a record-breaking start in Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reported Tuesday.
As of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, about 234,000 Georgians had cast their ballots on the first day of the early voting period, far surpassing the 136,000 who voted on the first day of early voting ahead of the last presidential election four years ago and more than any day of early voting in 2022.
Raffensperger said his office shipped out absentee ballots last week as scheduled, despite disruptions in South Georgia and the Augusta region caused by Hurricane Helene. Just more than 250,000 Georgia voters have requested absentee ballots, he said.
Blake Evans, director of elections for the secretary of state’s office, said Georgia has 350 early voting locations statewide. Voters can click on MyVoterPage.com for information on early voting locations in their county.
Raffensperger said the average wait time for early voting on Tuesday morning was just 57 seconds, even faster than the average wait time of three minutes posted two years ago.
“It’s going to be free. It’s going to be fair, and it’s going to be fast,” he said.
Raffensperger said state law now requires voters to show a photo ID no matter whether they vote early, in person on Election Day, or by absentee ballot. About 99% of voters use a photo ID to prove their identity, he said.
The secretary said his office conducted a statewide audit more than 20 months ago to ensure only U.S. citizens are registered to vote in Georgia. The agency works in information-sharing partnerships with other states and the Georgia Department of Driver Services to identify voters who may have moved out of state, he said.
“We understand how many people move each year in America,” he said. “It’s a lot to keep track of.”
Raffensperger urged Georgians to make a plan for how they want to vote.
“It’s your choice, but please make a choice,” he said.
Early voting in Georgia continues through Nov. 1, four days before Election Day,
by Dave Williams | Oct 14, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s 2024 Teacher of the Year is joining the state Department of Education to boost the agency’s teacher recruitment and retention efforts.
Christy Todd, who spent 15 years teaching in Fayette County Public Schools, will lead projects aimed at growing the teacher pipeline.
“Christy Todd is an outstanding educator who is passionate about ensuring her fellow Georgians can also answer the call to teach,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said Monday. “I am thrilled she is joining us at the Georgia Department of Education as we work to recruit great teachers and make sure the classrooms of our state are places where they can build thriving careers.”
In her new role, Todd will work to build a statewide teacher recruitment website and a roadmap school districts can use to increase teacher retention.
“During my term as the 2024 Teacher of the Year, it became clear to me that if Georgia wants to remain the No.-1 state to do business, we must also become the No.-1 state for teachers to teach,” she said. “The economic futures of our state, communities, families, and students depend on Georgia’s public-school classrooms being led by highly qualified teachers.”
Todd spent most of her career in Fayette County at Rising Starr Middle School as a chorus director, music technology teacher, and founder of the district’s Community for Creativity initiative, which teaches students to create songs, podcasts, videos, and audiobooks.
Prior to teaching, she worked in nonprofit consulting and business development.
Todd holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Shorter College and a master’s degree in music education from Florida State University.
by Dave Williams | Oct 13, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Illegal immigration and abortion dominated a debate Sunday between the two candidates for Georgia’s open 3rd Congressional District seat.
Republican Brian Jack and Democrat Maura Keller each focused on the issue that has most galvanized their respective bases, immigration for Jack and abortion for Keller.
Jack, a former White House aide to then-GOP President Donald Trump, said the Trump administration secured the U.S. border with Mexico, only to see an influx of illegal immigrants after the Biden administration relaxed enforcement of immigration laws.
“Every district in the country is now a border district,” Jack said during a livestreamed candidate debate at the Atlanta studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Jack cited the murder of a 22-year-old nursing student killed while jogging on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, as an example of what can happen in an era of lax immigration enforcement.
“Laken Riley would still be a student at the University of Georgia if it were not for an illegal immigrant who took her life,” Jack said.
Keller cited the 2022 deaths of two Georgia women, Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, shortly after Georgia’s six-week abortion ban took effect as an example of what can happen to pregnant women following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.
Medical care for Thurman was delayed because her doctors were worried about violating Georgia’s abortion law, while Miller didn’t seek medical care due to the same concerns.
“[Whether to obtain an abortion] is the decision of the woman, her health-care provider, family, and spiritual adviser,” Keller said.
Keller, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, said the antiquated and understaffed Veterans Administration needs to be overhauled to provide better service to those who have served their country.
“Nobody should be on hold for 45 minutes only to be disconnected,” she said.
Jack said if he’s elected to Congress, he would push for moving some federal agencies outside of Washington, D.C.
“If you’re in Washington, D.C., you’ve got a 95% Democrat workforce,” he said. “If we move out of Washington, D.C., we can find better policy.”
But Keller said moving federal agencies away from the capital would be inefficient.
“We don’t need departments all over different time [zones],” she said. “When we need them, we need them now.”
Jack and Keller are vying for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-West Point. Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District in west-central Georgia stretches from Paulding and Polk counties south to Columbus.
by Dave Williams | Oct 13, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Republican congressional candidate Wayne Johnson criticized incumbent U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, Sunday for losing touch with Southwest Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District during 32 years in office and said it’s time for a change.
“When you’re running for Congress, you’ve got to get in tune with the people in the district. … “[Bishop] spends 85% of his time in Washington,” Johnson said during what had been planned as a livestreamed debate with Bishop at the Atlanta studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Bishop, however, declined to participate.
Johnson, who worked in the Trump administration as head of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Student Finance, easily defeated Chuck Hand last June to win the Republican nomination to challenge Bishop.
Johnson lives in Macon, which is outside the 2nd District. However, federal law does not require members of the U.S. House to live in the district they represent.
On Sunday, Johnson took a different position than most Republicans on the abortion issue. Having a daughter who suffered from an ectopic pregnancy in Louisiana and struggled to get proper medical care from doctors wary of that state’s strict restrictions on abortion, he said decisions on abortion should be left to women in consultation with their doctor and their conscience.
However, he added that the issue should be left to the states rather than Congress – the same position taken by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump – and opposed late-term abortions.
Johnson called for expanding the federal government’s role in education through school-choice vouchers that would supplement legislation the General Assembly passed this year providing vouchers worth up to $6,500 to parents of children enrolled in low-performing public schools who wish to send their kids to a private school.
He also said he would support a direct federal loan program that would help consumers afford down payments on houses and cars and would be willing to pilot that program in Southwest Georgia.
Johnson said he would combine his experience in Washington with 40 years in business.
“I know how Washington works,” he said. “[But] l bring common sense.”
