Chamblee54

Amidst the Presidential circus, there are other elections going on in 2016. The local, county, state, and congressional elections will determine who actually does the dirty work of governance. Like the old song goes, we were blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche, in the runners of the night.
It wasn’t until he began to research this post that PG knew that Georgia was electing a US Senator this year. Incumbent Johnny Isakson survived being outed as a KKK member by anonymous, and is running for a third term in Washington. He faces nominal opposition in the Republican primary, and will face the winner of the Democratic primary. Unless some old bedsheet pictures are released, Mr. Isakson is almost certain to win in November. Whether or not there is a struggle, Mr. Isakson has a $5.6 million war chest. Being certain to win does not eliminate the need to accept gratuities.
PG is in the 6th Congressional district. (Metro Atlanta Congressional districts are a marvel of gerrymandering.) The incumbent is a Conservative Republican turkey named Tom Price. He won the last election with 66.6% of the vote. (actually 66.04%) To do this, Dr. Price took in $2.4 million in bribes campaign contributions. “Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee: Health Professionals ($441,898,) Insurance ($178,0500,) Securities & Investment ($107,400,) Retired ($106,300,) Pharmaceuticals/Health Products ($104,600,)”
Moving into the state legislature, the districts to watch here are State House District 81 and State Senate District 40. In the house race, Incumbent Scott Holcomb is unopposed in the Democrat primary. Scott is a fine man, and would serve the District well if he is re-elected.
The Republican primary has the most (only) interesting race this Tuesday. The players are Alexa Mendez, Jim Duffie, and Lane Flynn. Mr. Flynn is the most traditional candidate, with the pictures of his babies, and talk of “conservative, small government legislation.” Mr. Duffie, the eldest of the three, sends out oversized mailers talking up the fair tax.
Alexa Mendez is the youngest, prettiest, and most Latina of the candidates. She thinks the fair tax is a good idea. She also wants to do away with the hotel motel tax. While this sounds like a good idea on one level, the revenue generated by that tax is spoken for. A substantial percentage will go for construction of Mercedes Benz Stadium, the new home of the Atlanta Falcons. While many of us don’t like the idea of tax money going to pay for a football stadium, the state is committed to pay. If the hotel motel tax is taken away, the money will have to be found somewhere else.
In the District 40 State Senate race, incumbent Fran Millar faces Paul Maner in the primary, with Tamara Johnson-Shealey unopposed in the Democratic race. Mr. Millar is a Republican turkey, with mailers from Rosetta Stone Communications. Mr. Millar got some bad press by opposing early voting on Sunday. MSNBC says: GOPer opposes early voting because it will boost black turnout “I’m sitting here as a Republican who actually has an award from the NAACP, the Thurgood Marshall Award. Trying to place the race card on me is ludicrous.”
Dekalb County is electing a CEO, District Attorney, Tax Commissioner, and a few other offices. The County website does not cooperate, and most other information is behind the AJC paywall. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.