Blog Topic: Raging Election

In the Loop: Forum Sheds Light on Athens Judicial Candidates

By Lee Becker | May 3, 2018 10:58am

Law professor Kent Barnett asked six questions of each of the four candidates seeking to be elected as a Superior Court judge for the Western Judicial Circuit at a candidate forum held at the University of Georgia Law Library late last month.

The first two of the questions seemed like they could have been taken from a law school quiz, and the remaining four dealt with administrative issues the two winners of the May 22 nonpartisan general election are likely to deal with on the bench.

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In the Loop: Richie Knight Releases 21-Point Plan, Loses Another Campaign Manager

By Blake Aued | May 2, 2018 1:49pm

If you liked Kelly Girtz's five-point plans on affordable housing, economic development and the environment, you're gonna love this, comrade: Fellow mayoral candidate Richie Knight has released a plan with, as LeBron James might say, not five, not six, not seven, but 21 points. You can read it here.

In other Knight news, another of his campaign managers, Cameron Jay Harrelson, has resigned. He follows on the heels of Monika Ammerman, who left last summer, and Loran Posey, who was hired to replace Ammerman, then left last fall and went to work for the Girtz campaign. (In a rather extraordinary move, Knight sued Posey for a libel over a Facebook post that was critical of Knight, a lawsuit that Knight recently dropped.)

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In the Loop: Kelly Girtz Releases Environmental Plan

By Blake Aued | April 30, 2018 3:39pm

Commissioner Kelly Girtz is the kind of guy who has a five-point plan for brushing his teeth in the morning, so of course he has one for the environment, too.

Scheduled for release on Earth Day, it just went out a few days ago, and we are just now getting around to posting it. Oh, well. Here it is:

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In the Loop: Harry Sims (Finally) Responds to A4E Questionnaire

By Blake Aued | April 30, 2018 2:34pm

Mayoral candidate and former commissioner Harry Sims has been feuding with Athens for Everyone over the D- grade it gave him, based in part on his failure to fill out the group’s questionnaire. Well, Sims finally filled it out last week.

In it, he gets in a couple of digs at his favorite foil—activists who speak out—as well as opponent Kelly Girtz, and explains his concerns about various policies A4E favors, such as fare-free transit and Complete Streets.

Here are his answers:

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In the Loop: Athens Democrats Announce Endorsements

By Blake Aued | April 30, 2018 1:27pm

Commission District 7 candidate Russell Edwards is among the chosen ones.

In our local nonpartisan elections, voters often want to know, who’s the real Democrat? The Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee is here to help.

The committee released a list of endorsements Saturday, includin Patrick Davenport in the Commission District 1 race, former county party chairman Russell Edwards in Commission District 7 (over another former chairman, Bill Overend), LaKeisha Gantt in the school board’s 7th District and Lisa Lott for Superior Court judge.

In addition, it declared the following candidates “qualified Democrats” in other local races:

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In the Loop: Today Is the Last Day to Register to Vote May 22

By Blake Aued | April 24, 2018 2:06pm

Today (Tuesday, Apr. 24) is the last day to register to vote in the May 22 partisan primaries and nonpartisan local elections.

Local races will be decided May 22 or in a July runoff and will not be on the ballot in November. They include Athens-Clarke County mayor, commission districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9, school board districts 5 and 7 and two seats on the Superior Court bench.

In addition, Democratic and Republican primaries for governor and other statewide offices, as well as Congress, are on the ballot locally.

To check your voter registration status, click here. To register to vote, click here.

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In the Loop: Brian Kemp Blasts Athens Sheriff for ICE Reversal

By Blake Aued | April 16, 2018 4:46pm

Brian Kemp.

This morning, the AJC's Political Insider picked up on Flagpole's Friday report that Clarke County Sheriff's Office will no longer detain undocumented inmates past their release points to give Immigrations and Customs Enforcement time to deport them.

The news came as a relief to many in Athens, but the Insiders wondered when Secretary of State Brian Kemp would weigh in.

Sure enough, this tweet came soon after:

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In the Loop: Someone Sprayed Harry Sims' House With Paintballs

By Blake Aued | April 12, 2018 3:58pm

We now take you live to the Athens-Clarke County mayoral forum:

via GIPHY

Former commissioner and current mayoral candidate Harry Sims was the victim of a drive-by paintball attack on Wednesday.

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In the Loop: AADM Co-Founder Knowa Johnson Joins Sims Campaign

By Blake Aued | April 6, 2018 1:21pm

Knowa Johnson.

Knowa Johnson, co-founder of the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, has joined former Athens-Clarke County commissioner Harry Sims' mayoral campaign.

This comes as a bit of a surprise, given that Sims has been skeptical of the civil rights committee AADM has proposed creating, while fellow candidates Kelly Girtz and Richie Knight have been vocal supporters. ButJohnson could help Sims shore up his support among young people, which appears to be his weakest demographic.

From the Sims campaign's announcement today:

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In the Loop: Watch the Flagpole/DT Productions Mayoral Forum

By Blake Aued | April 3, 2018 6:44pm

Insert your own thought bubbles.

Last Thursday, Flagpole teamed with local video producers DT Productions and the Red & Black to live-stream a forum featuring mayoral candidates Kelly Girtz, Richie Knight and Harry Sims.

The candidates faced questions from me and fellow moderatoes Lisee Pullara, the R&B's editor in chief, and DT President Andrew Levy on topics ranging from affordable housing to sexual assault to the Athens airport.

About 6,000 people watched the forum live on Facebook and Twitter, but in case you missed it—or it was just so entertaining, you feel compelled to watch it again and again—here it is!

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