Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Maps OK’d: U.S. District Judge Steve Jones’ ruling that Georgia’s newly redrawn congressional and legislative maps passed muster means Republicans are likely to hold on to a 9-5 majority in the U.S. House delegation and a majority in the state Senate in the 2024 elections. They may lose a few spots in the state House of Representatives but should still retain control.
Last October Jones ruled that the old maps discriminated against Black voters and ordered the maps redrawn. In a special legislative session, Republican-led lawmakers came up with maps that create a majority-Black U.S. House district and seven majority-Black state legislative districts.
Republicans rejoiced in Jones’ decision that the new maps comply with his order, while Democrats expressed dismay about the effects on majority-minority districts, where there is no single ethnic group in the majority, claiming that such districts are protected under provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, who now represents Georgia’s 7th District, has said she will run for the 6th District seat. She was first elected in the 6th in 2018 but ran in the 7th in 2022, after the Georgia General Assembly changed the boundaries of her district for the first time. The new maps alter her district yet again.
Ferguson Retirement: U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson’s decision to retire from Congress has sparked speculation about his successor and even more about his own plans. The Republican has represented Georgia’s 3rd District since 2017. Some observers have wondered if he might make a run for statewide office in 2026.
Ferguson was among congressional Republicans who received death threats after he voted against Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan when Jordan was running (unsuccessfully) to succeed California’s Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. Ferguson called the Ohio congressman “a bully.”
New Chief of Staff for Kemp: Lauren Curry became Gov. Brian Kemp’s chief of staff in January, succeeding Trey Kilpatrick, who left to accept a position with Georgia Power. Curry, formerly deputy chief, has also served as chief operating officer for Kemp and was press assistant for former Gov. Sonny Perdue. She is the first woman to hold the chief of staff position on a regular basis. Brad Bohannon, formerly Kemp’s director of government affairs and policy, is the new deputy chief of staff.
New Brookhaven Mayor: Longtime City Council Member John Park defeated Lauren Kiefer in a nonpartisan December runoff to become mayor of Brookhaven. Park is the first Korean American elected mayor in Georgia. He succeeded Mayor John Ernst, who was term-limited.
“Insulin Deserts” White Paper: The bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate to pass a $35 universal insulin cost cap, led by Georgia’s Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy, got a boost with the release of the senators’ white paper. “Insulin Deserts: The Urgency of Lowering the Cost of Insulin for Everyone” makes the case for lowering the drug’s cost by analyzing counties across the country that have both high rates of uninsured individuals and high rates of diabetes. Exorbitant costs of insulin are particularly hard on the uninsured, the paper says.
Water Agreement: Georgia and Alabama have reached an agreement in the long-running and costly water wars over access to water flow in the middle and lower Chattahoochee River basin.
Kemp and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said their states reached an accord with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that is likely to bring an end to a 2017 lawsuit Alabama filed challenging the Corps’ operations, including the policy that allows Georgia to make water withdrawals near Atlanta. Under the agreement, the Corps will consider a proposal to operate its dams and reservoirs in a manner that will achieve guaranteed minimum water flow objectives at Columbus, Georgia and at Columbia, Alabama. The proposal also specifies that the Corps will continue to maintain a minimum elevation at Lake Seminole in Southwest Georgia.
WASHINGTON, DC – December 15, 2023: Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to the press after a jury awarded two former Atlanta poll workers $148 million for defamation, photo Philip Yabut.
Giuliani Owes Damages: A Washington, D.C. federal jury ruled that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani must pay $148 million in damages for defaming Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Giuliani, who was one of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers, had falsely claimed that they tampered with ballots being tallied after the 2020 election. The women subsequently received death threats.
The jury awarded the women $33.2 million in compensatory damages, $40 million for intentionally inflicting emotional distress on them and $75 million in punitive damages. Giuliani is seeking a new trial to challenge the damages.
