Georgia's Very Own Megathread!

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/MentallyDivine/status/1578442334223888385

*gasp* How dastardly of them!

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/MentallyDivine/status/1578442334223888385

*gasp* How dastardly of them!

Are you voting a straight Democratic ticket?

Yes.  Since I changed my identification from I to D in late 2018, I've had a policy of never voting for a Republican in a general election (I do occasionally vote in R primaries).

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/MentallyDivine/status/1578442334223888385

*gasp* How dastardly of them!

Are you voting a straight Democratic ticket?

Yes.  Since I changed my identification from I to D in late 2018, I've had a policy of never voting for a Republican in a general election (I do occasionally vote in R primaries).

So not even for Raffensperger, then? Georgia isn't a state known in recent times for extensive ticket-splitting in any case, so perhaps your sentiment is more widespread than it would seem. If that's the case, Kemp and Raffensperger might win more narrowly than some suspect.

As for me, I'm probably going to be voting a straight Democratic ticket in Colorado (and will definitely be voting for Polis, Bennet, and Griswold), although I am not entirely decided yet about Attorney General or Treasurer, and I do plan on voting for most of the local Republicans running in El Paso County. I did vote in the Republican primary this year to help stop Hanks, Lopez, and Peters from winning their respective races.

Nope.  I did vote in the R primary this year for Raffensperger, Kemp, and as many other non-Trumpy candidates as I could identify.  But I view the party in its current state as a grave danger to American democracy, and I won't enable it by voting for any of its candidates in a general election.  If the party ever purges itself of its dangerous tendencies (an outcome I think is unlikely, but we can always hope) then I would be open to voting for Republicans again.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/MentallyDivine/status/1578442334223888385

*gasp* How dastardly of them!

Are you voting a straight Democratic ticket?

Yes.  Since I changed my identification from I to D in late 2018, I've had a policy of never voting for a Republican in a general election (I do occasionally vote in R primaries).

So not even for Raffensperger, then? Georgia isn't a state known in recent times for extensive ticket-splitting in any case, so perhaps your sentiment is more widespread than it would seem. If that's the case, Kemp and Raffensperger might win more narrowly than some suspect.

As for me, I'm probably going to be voting a straight Democratic ticket in Colorado (and will definitely be voting for Polis, Bennet, and Griswold), although I am not entirely decided yet about Attorney General or Treasurer, and I do plan on voting for most of the local Republicans running in El Paso County. I did vote in the Republican primary this year to help stop Hanks, Lopez, and Peters from winning their respective races.

Nope.  I did vote in the R primary this year for Raffensperger, Kemp, and as many other non-Trumpy candidates as I could identify.  But I view the party in its current state as a grave danger to American democracy, and I won't enable it by voting for any of its candidates in a general election.  If the party ever purges itself of its dangerous tendencies (an outcome I think is unlikely, but we can always hope) then I would be open to voting for Republicans again.

I think it will be a long time before that happens. Trump, it appears to me, will have a lasting influence on the Republican Party and the direction it takes, and it is definitely becoming a more downscale, working-class, non-college-educated party than it was before. But who was the last Republican you voted for? Isakson in 2016?

Good guess.  I also voted for at least one Republican in a local race that year.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/MentallyDivine/status/1578442334223888385

*gasp* How dastardly of them!

Are you voting a straight Democratic ticket?

Yes.  Since I changed my identification from I to D in late 2018, I've had a policy of never voting for a Republican in a general election (I do occasionally vote in R primaries).

So not even for Raffensperger, then? Georgia isn't a state known in recent times for extensive ticket-splitting in any case, so perhaps your sentiment is more widespread than it would seem. If that's the case, Kemp and Raffensperger might win more narrowly than some suspect.

As for me, I'm probably going to be voting a straight Democratic ticket in Colorado (and will definitely be voting for Polis, Bennet, and Griswold), although I am not entirely decided yet about Attorney General or Treasurer, and I do plan on voting for most of the local Republicans running in El Paso County. I did vote in the Republican primary this year to help stop Hanks, Lopez, and Peters from winning their respective races.

Nope.  I did vote in the R primary this year for Raffensperger, Kemp, and as many other non-Trumpy candidates as I could identify.  But I view the party in its current state as a grave danger to American democracy, and I won't enable it by voting for any of its candidates in a general election.  If the party ever purges itself of its dangerous tendencies (an outcome I think is unlikely, but we can always hope) then I would be open to voting for Republicans again.

I mean this is a huge fallacy as if you arent even willing to vote for someone like Raffensperger than what incentive do Republicans have of nominating people like Raffensperger.

Also Abrams was an election denier as well so yah

It's voting for the least-bad outcome; I don't see why some of you think that's controversial.  I think it's arguably a more reasonable strategy than tactical voting for a worse candidate in the opposite primary in the hope that they'll make a weaker general election opponent.  My overall preference would be the Democrat, but if a Republican should win then I'd prefer to have Raffensperger in office than his Trump-backed primary opponent.  Since I could influence the latter choice with my vote (and the D primaries here were snoozers) I voted in the R primary for Raff, Kemp, etc. 

Also, I don't understand why this isn't an incentive for the Republicans to run people like Raff; he's almost certain to win in November.  The other crossover voters and I helped the Republicans nominate their best possible GE candidate!

[GeorgiaModerate]

Back to county redistricting: the majority-Dem Cobb County Commission will try to amend the commission district map passed by the General Assembly. The Commission cites the home rule provisions in the state constitution, allowing counties and municipalities to amend legislation pertaining to their specific jurisdiction (a "local bill").

Typically, redistricting for county and city governing bodies (commissions, school boards, etc.) is treated as local legislation and passed in coordination between local officials and the county's General Assembly delegation. However, for the most recent session the General Assembly opted to draw their own maps in a few (largely Dem-leaning) counties like Cobb and Gwinnett.

Under the new maps (and assuming Cobb is not successful in this maneuver) is that Cobb's Dem majority will be left untouched (3-2), but one Dem commissioner (Jerica Richardson) will be drawn out of her seat and another GOP district will be shored up. In Gwinnett, the Dem monopoly (5-0) will give way to a 4-1 majority for at least one or two terms, as one district was redrawn to be more Republican.

If Cobb is successful, the Commission will just pass the map originally proposed by the Dem-controlled General Assembly delegation, which was mostly a least-change map. I don't know if Gwinnett will try something similar, but given the time left before the midterm election, I don't think they will.

I believe the new maps (however they turn out) don't take effect until after this election.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/GabrielSterling/status/1579531367934672896

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution home page (https://www.ajc.com/) currently has a voter registration deadline countdown clock in the corner of the page (tomorrow is the deadline for this year's election).  Nice reminder.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Early in-person voting begins today.  The AJC has an early vote tracker up at https://www.ajc.com/politics/early-voting/.

EDIT: Be sure to scroll all the way down the page for demographic breakdowns.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Early in-person voting begins today.  The AJC has an early vote tracker up at https://www.ajc.com/politics/early-voting/.

Also, don't forget georgiavotes.com! First batch of early in-person (for today) should show up sometime after 9 PM ET this evening.

Thanks!  Are you going to provide periodic updates again this year of how things look compared to prior years?  (I hope so...)

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1582458670507442176

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/GabrielSterling/status/1582881910316945409

[GeorgiaModerate]

Adam, do you have the F/M breakdown from the last few cycles like your race breakdown chart above?

[GeorgiaModerate]

Non-representative tiny samples and all that, but when my wife, son, and I voted on Monday afternoon I noticed the crowd was predominantly female, I'd guess at least 2/3.  And among young people (only a half dozen or so) they were all women except for my son.

[GeorgiaModerate]

From a Georgia Public Broadcasting political reporter who's also a data geek:

https://twitter.com/stphnfwlr/status/1585709488119635968

[GeorgiaModerate]

How many of these registered Dems are demosaurs who never bothered to change their registration?

Zero.  Georgia does not have party registration.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/stphnfwlr/status/1587594329325031425

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/stphnfwlr/status/1588196979061956608

Good article, worth a read.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Okay, after doing NY gov I will now do GA Gov astrology.

If Kemp wins I will PUKE and VOMIT all over the FLOOR

OK, but you clean it up.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Trump is probably going to try and take credit for Kemp winning lolz.  What a hack, Kemp should just continue to ignore him.

Yeah, this is just another of Trump's last-minute endorsements of people who were going to win anyway, in order to pad his record and ego.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1593226531501113345

[GeorgiaModerate]

Very surprised but very pleased that Georgia could take up instant runoffs

From what I've heard, Georgia election officials are not fans of the current runoff system, to put it mildly.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1604194628500086791

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1609289136111865857

[GeorgiaModerate]

Review panel: state should NOT take over Fulton County elections

A performance review of Fulton County election operations recommended against a state takeover Friday, finding that the county has made “significant improvement” since the 2020 election year.

“Replacing the board would not be helpful and would in fact hinder the ongoing improvements to Fulton County elections,” states the 19-page report by a three-person panel appointed by the State Election Board.

The review of election operations in Fulton, the most populous county in the state, arose from a provision in Georgia’s 2021 voting law that allowed troubled local election boards to be replaced following an investigation.

Elections in Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of the city of Atlanta, have long been criticized by Republicans.