Blog for Democracy

Primary Night 2012 Wrapup [Open Thread]

The Good

  • Tyler Harper defeated birther lawyer and former State Representative Mark Hatfield in SD-7.  Normally this wouldn’t be in the “good” category, but any time that Hatfield loses, America wins.
  • Senator Johnny Grant (SD-25) fell to challenger Burt Jones.  I literally know nothing about this race, but a Republican lost, so I’m happy.
  • Sen. Bill Heath is headed to a runoff with Bill Carruth in SD-31.  In this “Battle of the Bills,” a gruff and grumpy Heath will face a disgraced former Paulding County Commissioner.  So that’s a thing.
  • Both Pat Gardner and Simone Bell won last night!
  • Doreen Williams is headed to a runoff with Tonya Anderson.  Less than 20 votes separated the two, and I expect the Williams campaign to really ramp it up in this runoff.
  • My good friend Dar’shun Kendrick sailed to re-election last night.  Yay!
  • Athens came through when they needed to, sending both Rep. McKillip and Rep. Heard back home.  In similar news (to the former, not the latter), Ashley Bell may have just left electoral politics for good.

The Bad

  • In SD-6, Hunter Hill defeated two challengers in a hotly-contested and expensive race without the need for a runoff.  He will face an endangered Doug Stoner this November.
  • We still have to deal with Chip “Slick Willie” Rogers.
  • Once again, State Rep. Paulette Braddock wins her primary, proving once again that the people of Paulding County could care less that they have a twice-arrested absentee Representative that is currently in contempt of court.  Good luck with that, folks.
  • We still have Matt Dollar to kick around.
  • Mike Glanton defeated Rep. Yasmin Neal.  I put this in the “bad” because Yasmin is a friend of mine, and I believe she represented her district, and Georgia, extremely well.  I don’t think this will be the last of her.  Similarly, Rep. Glenn Baker fell to challenger Demetrius Douglas.  I know Rep. Baker well, and he is a fantastic man, and a great Representative.  I sincerely hope that his involvement with politics will not wane, as he is an inspiration to me and many others.

The Ugly

  • The T-SPLOST.  I presume someone will write a more complete blog later today about this, but here’s the summary:

    If Republicans want to write a mediocre bill relating to a Democratic issue, and then expect Democrats to rally behind its mediocrity, they have another thing coming to them.  Blame here is placed squarely where it belongs- at the feet of those that wrote the bill, not those that pushed it.  Kasim Reed and the other Democratic folks behind it couldn’t have resurrected a question that had a majority of Republican opposition, and a massive split between progressive, liberal Democrats.

  • Michael Johnson’s political career.  To his credit, however, he was able to dig up 15,000 people to vote against John Lewis.  Too bad that didn’t even break 20% of the vote.

The Presented Without Comment

  • Senator Cecil “Beth Merkelson” Staton may have literally eked out a win against challenger Spencer Price by just over 200 votes, but nobody’s calling it yet.
  • Sen. Miriam Paris looks to be headed toward a runoff against former Rep. David Lucas down in Macon.  You may remember this line from one year ago, when it also happened.
  • Sen. Gail Davenport will be in a runoff with former Sen. Gail Buckner in SD-44.
  • Michael Caldwell defeated Rep. Charlice Byrd in HD-20.  Charles Gregory beat Rep. Judy Manning in HD-34.  Dale Rutledge beat Rep. Steve Davis in HD-109.  Rep. Kip Smith fell to John Pezold in HD-133.
  • Michael Smith and Diana Eckles are headed to a runoff in the ugliest Democratic primary of the year (HD-41).
  • “Able” Mable Thomas trounced Ken Britt in HD-56.
  • Ronnie Mabra and TJ Copeland are headed into a runoff in HD-63.  This race, too, has been hotly-contested, and I don’t expect that to really let up.

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14 responses to “Primary Night 2012 Wrapup [Open Thread]”

  1. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    Good advice – it will probably come down to normal levels or below.

  2. Juliana Avatar
    Juliana

    I had to wait about 30 mins to cast my ballot at 6:30 tuesday evening. The poll workers told me they’d been very busy.

    This was reported today:
    Cobb County’s voter turnout for the July 31 primary was the highest it’s been for a primary in nearly a decade.

    “Anecdotally I think it’s because of TSPLOST,” said Beth Kish, Cobb Elections Voting and Registration Manger. “A lot of people that we just came across were mentioning something about the TSPLOST.”

    She said voter turnout for the primary was 31.3 percent compared to 29 percent in 2004, 19.5 percent in 2006, 10.7 percent in 2008 and 22.5 percent in 2010.

    So folks in runoffs… I wouldn’t use this same scale in your planning since there won’t be TSPLOST

  3. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    Hopefully we also learned a good lesson about trying to one-up the Republicans on their idiocracy via the Vasectomy bill. Let’s stick to the issues – and when we do pull a stunt let’s make sure that it’s obvious enough so that even those who aren’t paying close attention will “get” it.

    If it was truly Rep. Neal’s idea to push it then she only has herself to blame, but if it wasn’t or she was egged on just remember that the cause suffered because people didn’t take the politics of it seriously.

  4. Auntie Vera Avatar
    Auntie Vera

    Got that DPjeez email today taking credit for McKillip’s loss. Hum what, pretty sure they were too busy with their sleezy friday night dance parties to have noticed how hard other groups were working on that race.

    Whatever, Mike will eventually take credit for water being wet and Eric will type out that press release.

    Oh and that new House caucus website is hideous.

  5. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    For the lulz:

    July 9th:
    http://www.georgiademocrat.org/2012/07/09/crazy-busy/

    “It is crucial that we vote in this election and pick a Democratic ballot. Why? Because Presidential Campaigns often use the Primary Election to determine their strength in a particular state, and showing support for our cause could mean more attention spent on Georgia’s issues.”

    August 1st:
    http://www.georgiademocrat.org/2012/08/01/democrats-victorious-in-primary-loss-for-mckillip/

    “Instead, we focused our efforts on increasing Democratic turnout in a Republican primary, an extremely difficult thing to do.” Ironically, the effort’s success came from many of the same Democratic incumbents that McKillip had once helped to lead. “The Democratic House Caucus’ political efforts were extremely effective this cycle,” said Berlon.

  6. griftdrift Avatar
    griftdrift

    No press release from the DPG on TSPLOST? What? Did they run out of quarters for the copy machine?

  7. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    He probably still thinks the old district in the new district (since he ran against Stoner two years ago).

  8. MelGX Avatar
    MelGX

    In other news, it looks like Haley Shank has a reasonable shot at making it to the gold dome. Amazing.

  9. Ladida Avatar
    Ladida

    I’m concerned about Doug Stoner, as we all should be. Hunter Hill signs are all over my neighborhood and I live nowhere near his district. Are people treating yard signs as something akin to facebook likes now? Is this a trend?

  10. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    After McKillip, my favorite beat down was of Ashley Bell.

  11. Auntie Vera Avatar
    Auntie Vera

    What no snark about Justin O’dell going down in a marietta mafia money ball of flames?

    After McKillip that was my favorite beat down of the evening.

  12. MelGX Avatar
    MelGX

    McKillip Memes is 404. Too bad. It died before its time. Whoever sent those mailers in support of Quick deserves a victory lap. That said, it’s a sad commentary that playing in GOP primaries might be our best line of defense for years to come.

    I’m still buzzing from Pat Gardner and Simone Bell’s wins. Awesome campaigners both, and two great legislators. On balance, best election night in recent memory. On to the runoff.

  13. kicked to the curb Avatar
    kicked to the curb

    Also BAD: Judy Manning lost to challenger Charles Gregory. Now, I have not been following this race very carefully, but my spidey sense tells me that this might have something to do with Rep. Manning’s stance on the fetal pain bill. If so, it’s sad to see someone go down for standing up to a grandstanding turncoat and fighting to protect women’s rights.

    Speaking of grandstanding turncoats, has anyone checked McKillip memes today?

  14. Steve Avatar
    Steve

    Also UGLY: Clayton County Sheriff. Now I know very little about Sheriff Kimbrough. But I do know this- his challenger, former Sheriff Hill, is not a good guy for that job. Why? He’s under indictment.

    Also GOOD: I can FINALLY get my Sunday booze in Cobb.

    Also BAD: Brookhaven is incorporated. Mayor Jacobs, your move.

    Also GOOD: Jane Morrison will be a State Court Judge from Fulton County. Jane is good people.

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