Blog Topic: Raging Election

In the Loop: A Grand Jury Is Investigating Paul Broun and Jody Hice

By Blake Aued | October 8, 2015 12:53pm

"Did you really think you'd get away with this?" the lion asked Paul Broun.

A federal grand jury in Macon is looking into whether former Rep. Paul Broun and his successor, Rep. Jody Hice, misused taxpayer funds by mixing official business with their campaigns.

Consultant Brett O’Donnell is facing five years in prison for lying to investigators. Broun’s congressional office paid O’Donnell $43,000 in taxpayer money to prepare Broun for debates when he ran for Senate last year. At the urging of Broun’s chief of staff, David Bowser, O’Donnell initially told investigators that he was a volunteer on Broun’s campaign, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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In the Loop: Jeb Bush, in Athens, Calls for a Kinder, Gentler GOP

By Blake Aued | September 19, 2015 5:14pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

For a guy Donald Trump famously derided as “low energy,” Jeb Bush proved he has stamina while campaigning in Athens today.

Bush—the former Florida governor and latest in a political dynasty to seek the presidency—walked from a fundraiser at the Classic Center to the UGA College Republicans’ tailgate at Herty Field, where hundreds of fans and gawkers mobbed him. He shook hands and posed for photos in 90 degree heat—“I really like taking selfies,” he joked, rolling his eyes—for half an hour before giving a brief stump speech.

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In the Loop: Jeb Bush Is Tailgating at Georgia-South Carolina

By Blake Aued | September 18, 2015 5:08pm

Photo Credit: Michael Vadon

Former First Brother and Florida governor and current Republican presidential candidate Jeb! Bush is paying a visit to Athens on Saturday.

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In the Loop: R.E.M. Doesn't Feel Fine About Donald Trump Using Its Song

By Blake Aued | September 9, 2015 8:42pm

Members of R.E.M. had the hugest, the classiest, the most luxurious putdowns Wednesday night for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

At a "Stop the Iran Deal" rally in Washington, DC, today, Trump took the stage to the Athens band's 1987 hit, "It's the End of the World as We Know It."

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In the Loop: Jeb Bush Is Coming to Athens

By Blake Aued | August 19, 2015 3:23pm

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

So far, Jeb Bush is the Isaiah Crowell of the Republican presidential field: highly rated but not producing as expected. Many polls show him trailing Donald Trump by double digits.

The former Florida governor, like the Gators last year, is hoping to turn his season around. And he’ll be campaigning in Athens on Sept. 19, when 100,000 or more registered voters will be gathered here for the UGA-South Carolina game.

Secretary of State Brian Kemp (an Athens resident) announced Bush’s visit on Facebook earlier today:

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In the Loop: Winterville Mayor Emily Eisenman Is Stepping Down

By Blake Aued | August 19, 2015 1:02pm

Winterville Mayor Emily Eisenman won't run for re-election this year, and at least three candidates are vying to replace her.

Eisenman, who is nearing the end of her first four-year term, is stepping down because her career won't allow her to spend as much time on her mayoral duties as she'd previously spent, she said.

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In the Loop: Athens Congressman Jody Hice Endorses Ted Cruz

By Blake Aued | August 6, 2015 3:58pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz talks to a Georgia GOP convention delegate at the Classic Center in May.

U.S. Rep. Jody Hice is among the Georgia politicians who’ve endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a tea party favorite, for president.

Hice, a Walton County Republican who represents Athens, is serving as Cruz’s Georgia campaign chairman along with Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, a Hull resident who used to represent Athens in the state Senate.

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In the Loop: Where to Watch the GOP Presidential Debate

By Blake Aued | August 6, 2015 1:35pm

Photo Credit: Mike Licht/Flickr

Election season is officially upon us: The first televised Republican presidential debate airs at 8:50 p.m. today on Fox News. It will be HUGE, the CLASSIEST debate ever.

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In the Loop: Bernie Sanders' Presidential Campaign Takes Shape in Athens

By Benjamin Tankersley | July 19, 2015 11:49am

Photo Credit: Peter Searcy/Flickr

Chants of “Bernie! Bernie!” rang loud as residents of Athens-Clarke County joined millions of people around the country by starting a grassroots committee in support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) for the upcoming 2016 Presidential Election.

The committee had their first meeting Saturday at the Blind Pig Tavern before splitting up into subcommittees to focus on campaigning for Sanders, who identifies as a socialist but caucuses with Democrats. He’s running against Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley for the nomination.

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In the Loop: Ted Cruz Wants to Repeal All the Things

By Blake Aued | May 15, 2015 8:49pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (left) after being introduced by Georgia Sen. David Perdue.

Capping off a day filled with red meat for the Republican base, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tossed the audience a few raw ribeyes during his Georgia GOP Convention speech at the Classic Center.

“We should adopt a simple flat tax,” Cruz said. “Let every American fill out his or her taxes on a postcard. And when we do that, we should abolish the IRS.

“Take all 90,000 of them and put them on the border… Imagine if you were swimming the Rio Grande, and the first thing you saw was 90,000 IRS agents. You’d turn around and go home.”

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