In 2023, The Atlanta Voice witnessed the former United States President Donald J. Trump get indicted on Rice Street, the inauguration of Brian P. Kemp as a two-term governor, and traveled to Washington, D.C. to watch Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock chair the 52nd Annual Legislative Conference put on by the Congressional Black Caucus. In between, we witnessed the Vice President of the United States, Kamala D. Harris, as she expressed her disdain with the United States Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Affirmative Action. The Vice President ended the year in Atlanta as she cheered on her Howard Bison at the Celebration Bowl.
With that in mind, 2024 will be a monumental year for Georgia in politics. This presidential year will provide many watershed moments for politicians statewide. Also, the effects will assuredly be felt nationwide.
Down Ballot races gain importance in Georgia
First and foremost, U.S. District Court Judge Steve C. Jones has ruled the Georgia Republicans have complied with his orders to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district, two additional Black-majority state Senate districts and five additional Black-majority state House districts.
Georgia Republicans claimed they spent a lot of time and effort putting forth a map that complies with Judge Jones’s order. However, the redrawn district displaces Rep. Lucy McBath from Georgia’s current Seventh Congressional District to a district tilted for current Republican U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick which includes the North Georgia mountains.
However, during the seven-day session, Georgia Republicans passed resolutions that affirm support for the following: the Atlanta Police and Fire Center, Israel’s efforts in their war against Hamas, and income tax cuts.
All these efforts were done to drum up support for what will be a competitive, divisive and toxic campaign season. Every single legislative seat will be up for grabs in 2024. But, this legislative session could be the prelude for 2026. More importantly, the GOP Primaries that could take place would be worthy of pay-per-view. The currently fractured Georgia GOP could cajole Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger into a battle for the Governor’s Mansion. Also, Governor Kemp, who is term-limited, could lay the groundwork for a possible challenge to Senator Jon Ossoff’s U.S. Senate seat. The senior Senator is up for re-election in 2026.
This time last year, Senator Warnock celebrated after beating Herschel Walker in a divisive runoff race. During the race, Warnock ran on Medicaid expansion, insulin being $35/month, and the fact Walker was Trump’s proxy candidate. More than one year later, the idea of Lt. Gov. Jones building hospitals and adding more recipients to the rolls is a more than a scant possibility (albeit with more restrictions) because the GOP-at-Large is tired of getting beat up in Georgia’s statewide races.
Donald J. Trump vs Fulton County, Georgia
“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith.” With that Truth Social post on Christmas Day at 2:38 p.m. Eastern Time, Donald Trump was in rare and toxic form during ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’ Yes, the former President took shots at his political opponents as he vowed retribution if he wins the 2024 Presidential Election. Currently, there is no Republican challenger within 50 points of Trump in the overall average of polls that have been conducted to this point.
With respect to Georgia, the state’s highest court blocked Republican legislators from effectively ‘impeaching’ Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis in November 2023. Gov. Kemp signed the bill into law in May. Since the signing, there was a small but vocal minority within the Georgia GOP that demanded Gov. Kemp remove Willis from her office, thereby stopping the investigation altogether.
Willis has proposed a trial date of August 5, 2024. Trump is charged with thirteen felonies, including one count of racketeering, related to his alleged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election in Georgia.
“I think that everyone in society is the same, and I don’t know why that’s such a difficult concept for people,” Willis said when asked if Trump could face prison time. “You can look at the charges, and based on those charges, we’ll be recommending appropriate sentences. No one gets a special break because of their status.”
President Biden’s Poll Numbers: major issue or blip on the radar?
Speaking of statewide efforts, the legacy media has long-since discussed the slumping poll numbers that President Biden has sustained throughout the year. According to a Monmouth University poll released on Monday, President Biden saw his approval rating hit a new low of 34 percent. Prior to that, a Wall Street Journal poll showed Biden at 37 percent approval rating. According to a New York Times/Siena poll, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by 46% to 44% among registered voters. Lastly, 50% of Black adults said they approve of Biden in a December poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs.
Let me be the first to tell you: polls do not matter more than three months out from an election. The current mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens, once notably told me; ‘the streets don’t answer polls,’ as he successfully ran for office in 2021. He alluded to the idea that turnout and engagement with voters are the keys to victory.
Here are economic numbers that are sliding toward Biden’s way: Currently, six-month core inflation eased to 1.87%, under the Fed’s 2% target. Consumer spending rose by 0.2% in November and overall personal income increased by 0.4%. Additionally, the businessman and leading investor on the television show Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary, told FOX News host Larry Kudlow, “We’ve got inflation slowing down, we’ve got the soft landing, stocks are rising. This is a fantastic holiday season. Rudolph the reindeer has arrived.”
The Biden Administration is wrestling control of the U.S. Economy, beating back fears of a long-predicted recession. Plus, the Biden economy has added over thirteen million jobs since taking office in 2020. Monthly nonfarm payrolls grew by 232,000 per month on average in 2023, 55,000 more jobs per month than the average pace in 2018 and 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“I love meeting with my friends who are small business owners who are building up the economy and hiring folks and just building wealth and good, healthy stomachs of good food,” Vice President Harris said on December 16th while speaking to reporters at Busy Bee Restaurant near the Atlanta University Center.
Bidenomics has largely delivered and its up to the Democratic brass to figure out ways to relay that message to voters.
Funding for HBCUs
While in office, the Biden Administration has set aside more than $25 billion in funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) through the Department of Education. While in Atlanta, Vice President Harris highlighted that accomplishment.
“President Biden and I’ve been able to put over $7 billion into our HBCUs,” Harris said. “We’ve been installing high speed internet that is affordable and accessible to all people, including folks who live in rural America and rural Georgia. So the first thing I wanted to say is thanks to the people of Georgia and of course, I love the state. I love coming back.”
By comparison, the Trump Administration was able to get the FUTURES Act passed in January 2020. The legislation made permanent $255 million in annual STEM funding for minority-serving colleges, including roughly $85 million specifically allocated to HBCUs.
Elections are all about turnout and voter enthusiasm, specifically African-American turnout. In 2022, Senator Warnock carried more than 90% of the African-American vote en route to victory. With no Gubernatorial or Senate race that could tilt the balance of power, observers around the nation are unsure if the enthusiasm in Georgia will prove to be the battleground state it has been during the last four years.
One thing is for sure and two things are certain: the volunteers, canvassers, donor class and battle lines will be drawn by the time the flowers bloom this spring.