Blog Topic: Raging Election

In the Loop: Democratic Candidate for Governor Stacey Abrams Talks Saving HOPE, Voter Suppression at Athens Rally

By Blake Aued | July 15, 2017 4:26pm

Photo Credit: Richard Hamm

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams smiles during a speech at Pulaski Heights BBQ on Saturday.

In 2011, when Republicans voted to cut the HOPE Scholarship that, until then, had provided free college tuition to every Georgia high-school student with a B average, they had help from an unlikely place: Stacey Abrams, the highest-ranking Democrat in the state House.

Abrams made an agreement with Gov. Nathan Deal that, if he removed a provision tying HOPE to test scores and included low-interest loans for students who would no longer have their full tuition covered by HOPE, she’d back the bill. The move split her caucus, and could come back to bite her as she runs for governor. One of those who criticized her actions was state Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Smyrna), who’s now her opponent in the May 2018 primary.

“The argument that we should let the HOPE Scholarship die so we could use it as a political tool four years later is absurd, because students don’t have the luxury of a do-over, especially four-year-olds who’d lose access to pre-K,” said Abrams (D-Atlanta).

Read More...
In the Loop: Doug McKillip and Houston Gaines Are Running for State House

By Blake Aued | July 12, 2017 1:18pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Houston Gaines.

Two familiar faces in local politics will vie for an Athens seat in the state House of Representatives.

Houston Gaines—the grandson of the late Judge Joseph Gaines, Mayor Nancy Denson's campaign manager in 2014 and last year's UGA Student Government Association president—announced his candidacy this morning for the District 117 seat. Flagpole profiled him three years ago.

Gaines said in a news release that he is running as a "new, conservative voice."

Read More...
In the Loop: Athens Lawyer Announces Mayoral Candidacy

By Blake Aued | July 7, 2017 4:38pm

Samuel Thomas.

Another candidate has stepped forward to run for Athens-Clarke County mayor: Samuel Thomas, a lawyer and Athens native. Thomas is a political newcomer, although he comes from a political family—his grandfather ran for mayor in the 1970s, and his father ran for mayor of nearby Crawford.

Thomas grew up on the Eastside and in Oglethorpe County, left to attend law school at the University of Alabama, then returned to open a family law practice in 2012.

Read More...
In the Loop: Athens Protesters, Congressional Candidates Rail Against Republican Health Care Plan

By Blake Aued | June 27, 2017 4:35pm

Photo Credit: Austin Steele

A protest against Senate Republicans' health care bill drew more than 100 people to the Arch Monday evening, as well as two potential challengers to U.S. Rep. Jody Hice.

Read More...
In the Loop: Democrat Says She'll Run Against Rep. Jody Hice

By Lee Becker | June 25, 2017 3:26pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Chalis Montgomery speaks at the Oconee Democrats meeting June 20.

Chalis Montgomery, a musician and music educator from Barrow County, told the Oconee County Democratic Party Tuesday night that she intends to announce her candidacy for the 10th Congressional District seat and is seeking help in forming her campaign committee.

Montgomery said she was motivated to challenge incumbent Republican Jody Hice in part because of her 7-year-old daughter, who has rheumatoid arthritis.

She said she anticipated losses in her life, but “I never thought I’d look at losing the future for my child, or her friends, or my community.”

Read More...
In the Loop: Athens Democrat Will Run for State House

By Lee Becker | June 14, 2017 5:07pm

A screenshot from Deborah Gonzalez's website.

Deborah Gonzalez, an Athens attorney, has announced that she will seek the Democratic Party nomination for Georgia House District 117, which includes three Oconee County precincts.

Regina Quick, a Republican, currently represents the 117th in the Georgia House of Representatives. Quick, also an Athens attorney, has not said if she intends to seek re-election in 2018.

Gonzalez officially launched her campaign at Bishop Park in Athens on Saturday.

Read More...
In the Loop: GOP State Rep: Athens Democrats Are 'Fired Up'

By Lee Becker | June 12, 2017 11:03am

Rep. Chuck Williams (R-Watkinsville).

Athens native Brian Kemp, seeking the Republican Party nomination in the 2018 gubernatorial election, told a gathering of Oconee County Republicans late last month that his experience as a small business owner sets him apart in the campaign.

“I have been a conservative, small business owner for over 30 years,” Kemp, who currently is secretary of state, said. He said he is seeking the governor's office to “take that small-business owner’s mentality and be the next CEO of the state.”

Kemp said he wants to reform state government, strengthen rural Georgia, do tax and regulatory reform and provide health care for those in Georgia who are here legally.

Read More...
In the Loop: Clarke School Board Member Ovita Thornton Will Run for ACC Commission

By Blake Aued | May 30, 2017 2:27pm

Photo Credit: Federation of Neighborhoods

Clarke County Board of Education member Ovita Thornton will run for Athens-Clarke County Commission in District 9, she announced today.

Thornton is serving her fourth term on the BOE representing District 9, which does not exactly correspond to Commission District 9, but covers much of the same territory in northern Clarke County. She has lived on Fowler Drive for 34 years.

She is also executive director of the Georgia Clients Council, a nonprofit whose mission is "empowering low income people through education and training to create positive changes in their lives and in their communities."

Read More...
In the Loop: New Progressive Group Emerges in Oconee County

By Lee Becker | May 30, 2017 1:25pm

Andrea Wellnitz met hundreds of sympathetic people in Oconee County when she shared concerns about President Trump's election emboldening discrimination against her adopted children from China.

An empathetic response by the North Oconee Rotary Club to a member’s statement of concern about possible discrimination against her Chinese-born, adopted daughters after the November election has had an unexpected outcome.

A group calling itself Oconee Progressives and claiming nearly 300 members has emerged.

The group is political but not necessarily partisan, according to four women who have been instrumental in its formation.

The goal is community building, the women say, and they’ve organized luncheon meetings and picnics for their families so people can get together and share their concerns.

Also planned is a workshop to help children learn how to deal with bullying and another workshop to teach participants how to write more effectively letters to advocate for their causes.

The story of the formation of Oconee Progressives is a complex and surprising one that begins with Andrea Wellnitz, 47, an artist and social worker who works with veterans who are at risk for being homeless.

Wellnitz lives in the far west of the county near Statham.

Wellnitz first shared her concerns about the implications of the elections on her two daughters, adopted from China, with the Rotary.

Then she shared the positive response of the Rotary with her friends on Facebook.

That second sharing led to the emergence of Oconee Progressives.

Read More...
In the Loop: 'Progressive Conservative' Antwon Stephens Announces Mayoral Candidacy

By Blake Aued | April 13, 2017 2:22pm

Stephens' Facebook profile features a photo of himself with Tiffany Trump.

Earlier today, I received a press release announcing a new candidate for mayor. Just one thing was missing: a name.

Apparently he announced on Tim Bryant's radio show this morning, but I didn't catch it. After some online speculation—Batman? "The Man With No Name," Clint Eastwood? Should we get the Hardy Boys on the case?—campaign manager April Carson was kind enough to fill me in. The candidate is Antwon Stephens.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because Stephens—then going by Keyantwon—was involved in a controversy as the 17-year-old head of the Athens Tea Party Patriots back in 2013.

Read More...