Qualifying week can occasionally cause a little commotion in the Georgia politics world. Candidacies may appear out of nowhere or alternatively, as with the case of Rep. Earl Ehrthart (R-36 Powder Springs) – the longest serving Republican in the House -candidacies may quietly slip into retirement.
In Ehrhart’s case, we actually got a little bit of both. As he announced his retirement, he also endorsed his potential replacement – someone who he’s very close to and has been a long-time ally – his wife. “She will work and fight for our district, our families, our businesses, and the values we hold so dear,” Ehrhart said.
In Roswell, in House district 48, another wife of a former politician but also an incumbent, Rep. Betty Price, will be defending her territory against former Roswell mayor Jere Wood. Wood has been critical of Price both for her seeming support of his removal as mayor of Roswell over a term limits dispute and for her recent appearance where she admitted on video to voting a certain way only to “cause trouble.” If his social media is any indicator, Wood doesn’t plan on holding back during the primary fight.
Over in Senate district 40, Democrat and former state house representative Sally Harrell has qualified in a bid to unseat powerful Senator Fran Millar (R-40 Atlanta). District 40 reaches down into Atlanta, up to Dunwoody and over to Chamblee – in a district that Hillary Clinton carried by a 54-41 margin in 2016. Millar still won his race over Democrat Tamara Johnson-Shealey – who has qualified again this year – but she performed relatively well with a 44% showing.
Possibly the biggest news is a handful of now open seats in Gwinnett County. Five Gwinnett Republicans are vacating their seats – two are aiming for higher seats and three are retiring – and Democrats are crossing their fingers that a few of these may flip. Sen. David Shafer (R-48 Duluth) is running for lieutenant governor. This move alone is big news for Gwinnett and Duluth. Shafer has been in the senate since 2002 and is a powerful voice in the chamber. Also, his seat is another that went for Clinton in 2016 – 51%-45%. Gwinnett overall voted for Clinton and most of these now-open seats are majority-minority populations. If there is a “Blue Wave,” these seats are potential pickups for Democrats.
There is a little bit of news in the governor race. No real surprises by any unexpected candidates, Clay Tippins notwithstanding, but Stacey Abrams – the former House Minority Leader in a potentially tough primary against former representative Stacey Evans – got a big boost from a San Francisco-based philanthropist looking to help her candidacy.
Abrams’ campaign has made some news for the rate at which it was burning through money and, as USA Today is reporting, the $2.5 million effort to prop up her coffers could be a big help. Whether the Evans campaign will make any hay with the “out-of-state” donation criticisms remains to be seen. Hunter Hill’s communications director, Cody Hall, made the connection though. “You really can’t make this stuff up. Abrams’ campaign is dead broke, so they call in millions of dollars from California liberals to prolong the death spiral,” said Hall on social media.