Jul 14 Close Encounters With Dirty Georgia Politics
I will preface this by saying this post is totally unsolicited and unsanctioned by any candidate in the race for Georgia's Public Service Commission, District 4.
My father, Jim Powell, is running for the Georgia Public Service Commission. The primary elections are Tuesday, July 15th. Anyone in Georgia can vote for this position, but you must vote in the Democratic primary. You can vote in the Democratic primary even if you are not registered to vote as a Democrat.
This is a tale of a candidate that almost wasn't.
Earlier this year, after Jim had announced his candidacy, his opponent in the primary, Bob Indech, challenged his residency. Mr. Indech claimed that Jim didn't live in the district he intended to represent. The case was referred to the Georgia Secretary of State, Karen Handel who took the case to an Administrative Law Judge. The ALJ opined that Jim does indeed live in the district he intended to represent despite having another house outside of the district in question. We thought that was the end of the story and proceeded to keep campaigning across the state, from east to west and north to south. Jim visited voters in Valdosta, made a visit to historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in the heart of Atlanta, and even ventured to Dalton in NW Georgia. The campaign went on thinking the residency issue was over and done with, until yesterday.
The last 24 hours have been intense to say the least. We found out yesterday that SecState Handel had decided to go against the opinion of the ALJ and disqualify Jim. She sent an email ordering all votes (including mine, since I had already voted in advance voting) for Jim would be declared void and signs should be posted at the polls stating he was disqualified from the election. Well, Jim could have just laid down and taken the decision, but he didn't. He decided to take the issue head on and took SecState Handel to court. At the 11th hour, a Fulton County Superior Court Judge issued a Stay, putting Jim back on the ballot in every district in every county in the State of Georgia. Jim Powell will be on the ballot July 15th and your vote will count.
After having had a few hours to digest this, I have a few thoughts of my own to offer up: Some people have likened SecState Handel's actions to that of Katherine Harris, the infamous former SecState of our neighbors in Florida. While I find this comparison amusing, I really doubt that Ms. Harris would have been able to come up with something like this. I do believe that Jim is the best qualified out of all the PSC candidates for the position. This latest move is just another example of dirty Georgia politics and backhanded tricks. The loyal opposition knows that their candidates are beatable and are doing their best to keep the one candidate that can soundly defeat them out of the election.
So what can you do? Get out the vote on July 15th. Go read blogs, watch the debates, and decide for your own damn self. Make your voice heard, vote for Jim Powell and let the SecState know that the citizens of Georgia won't stand for her dirty partisan tricks.
EDIT: Watch the debate here.
