(CNN) — Most Iowa GOP caucusgoers refuse to accept President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory and say they would view former President Donald Trump, whom CNN projected will win the caucuses Monday night, as fit for office even if convicted of a crime, according to CNN’s entrance poll for the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.

Trump’s victory highlights his strength among key groups that form the bulk of the GOP electorate, according to the entrance poll. Roughly half of Iowa caucusgoers described themselves as “very conservative,” and nearly half identified as part of the MAGA movement, referring to the “Make America Great Again” slogan popularized by Trump in 2016. Broad majorities in both of those groups broke for Trump, as did the lion’s share of White evangelicals and those age 65 and older.

The results also highlight the stark educational divide that has become a defining feature of the GOP electorate. While Trump held a commanding lead among Iowa caucusgoers without college degrees, college graduates were more closely divided among Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.  

Entrance polls are a valuable tool to help understand caucusgoers’ demographic profile and political views. Like all surveys, however, entrance polls are estimates, not precise measurements of the electorate. That’s particularly true for the preliminary set of entrance poll numbers, which haven’t yet been weighted to match the final results of the caucus. But the results provide a glimpse of the type of voters turning out to participate in the first contest of the 2024 campaign.

The results of the entrance poll mark a shift in the Republican electoral landscape from the 2016 Iowa caucuses, when White evangelicals and very conservative votes broke in favor of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz over Trump. (Cruz went on to win the state that year but lost the nomination to Trump.)

Trump’s strength with the Iowa electorate is also evident in caucusgoers’ response to his previous election loss and the criminal charges he faces. About two-thirds said they do not believe that Biden’s victory over Trump more than three years ago was legitimate. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. More than 6 in 10 said that they would consider Trump fit for the presidency if he were to be convicted of a crime, with only about one-third saying they wouldn’t see him as fit in that circumstance.

Among the minority of caucusgoers who said Trump would be unfit for the presidency if convicted, about half backed Haley on Monday, with about one-third supporting DeSantis.

Trump’s support in Iowa has been locked in for some time, the entrance poll suggests, while his rivals have seen more recent gains. About 80% of Trump’s supporters said they made their decision to back him prior to this month. By contrast, a majority of Haley’s supporters said they made their decision sometime in January, as did roughly half of DeSantis’ backers.

Asked which of four personal qualities mattered most to them in a candidate, about 4 in 10 caucusgoers said they wanted to see a candidate who shared their values and about 3 in 10 that they wanted someone would fight for people like them, with fewer looking for a candidate who had the right temperament or could defeat Biden. While voters’ decision-making processes are too complicated to be described by a single question, the divide in responses highlights the very different appeals that Trump, DeSantis and Haley offer to their respective supporters. 

Roughly half of Trump supporters said they were looking for a candidate who would fight for people like them, with about one-third prioritizing a candidate who shared their values, and few attributing their decision to Trump’s temperament or perceived electability. A wide majority of DeSantis supporters, by contrast, said they most wanted to see a candidate who shared their values. And Haley supporters were more divided: about 37% said they prioritized temperament, 27% a candidate who shared their values, and 24% someone who could defeat Biden, with few looking for a fighter on their behalf.

About 38% of all GOP caucusgoers called the economy their top concern out of a list of four issues, with about one-third citing immigration, about one-eighth citing abortion, and roughly another one-eighth picking foreign policy. Most GOP caucusgoers – about 6 in 10 – said they’d favor a federal law banning most or all abortions nationwide, the entrance poll also finds. 

The entrance poll for Iowa’s Republican presidential caucus was conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the National Election Pool. It includes 1,628 interviews with Republican caucus participants across 45 different caucus locations. Results for the full sample have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points; it is larger for subgroups.  

The post Iowa entrance poll: Most GOP caucusgoers don’t accept Biden’s 2020 win, say a conviction wouldn’t make Trump unfit for office appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

Grammy-nominated rapper, Atlanta native, and business owner Killer Mike performed at halftime of this year’s Atlanta Hawks MLK Day game. This wasn’t Killer Mike’s (neé Michael Render) first time performing in front of large crowds at a sporting event – the attendance for Monday’s MLK Day game was 17,447 – and it wasn’t his first time performing on MLK Day. It was however a unique opportunity for him to speak to a large swath of Georgia voters on the eve of the Iowa Caucuses.

“On a hyper-local level it’s very important that people stay engaged because hyper-locally is where the change happens,” Killer Mike said.

During his performance, Killer Mike prefaced his hit single, “Run”, by saying “Y’all better run to the polls this year.” Afterwards he used the example of the $40 million of federal funding that went towards metro Atlanta trade schools and how important that was to educating thousands of people as a reason for focussing on local politics.

“When you look at the $40 million coming down the pipeline for trade schools a few years ago, Atlanta would have gotten skipped had it not been for Vincent Fort,” he said. “If Vincent Fort wouldn’t have raised hell about it we wouldn’t have had the trade schools blossoming on Metropolitan Avenue like we have now.”

The turnout for recent local elections has been low in Georgia, particularly during non-presidential years. For example, There were just over 97,000 reported votes for the 2021 mayoral election. The subsequent runoff between Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore, both well-known members of Atlanta City Council at that time, saw 78,643 voters cast ballots.

“For me, it’s important on a hyper-local level,” Killer Mike explained. “I know it’s sexy to be arguing about who is going to be president, but it’s sexier to know who you are voting for judge, who your prosecutors are going to be, who your mayor is going to be, and who they are going to anoint as police chief.”

There are more than seven million registered voters in Georgia, with more than 750,000 of them registered to vote within Fulton County. “Get to know your city councilperson,” said Killer Mike, who added that he recently spoke with Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis. “I want to see more young legislators, I want to see more young people in city council, and I want to see more progressive mayors like the one we currently have.”

Killer Mike, whose latest album “Michael” has been nominated for multiple Grammy awards, wanted to further reiterate his points on the importance of voting and voter education.

“Whoever is going to be president is going to be a bigger argument, but hyper-locally you should care about who is going to be your mayor, who are your state representatives and who your governor is more than anything,” he said.

The post Killer Mike to Georgia Voters: ‘Run to the Polls’ appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

The start of the week at the Georgia State Capitol brings many Georgians downtown for various reasons. On Monday, Dec. 4, a group of middle school students were on a tour while supporters of House Bill 161, which is also known as the “Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act”, handed out fact sheets while stationed near the ground floor security entrance. Upstairs on the fourth floor in room 450 there was a group of people gathered and information exchanged. 

Octavia Coleman and her five-year-old daughter Zora were also inside the Gold Dome Monday. They were there on a business trip, according to Coleman, who is running for a seat in District 13, which is currently represented by longtime United States Representative David Scott.

“She wouldn’t let me leave the house,” Coleman joked about her daughter and not going to school that morning. “She said she was coming with me today.” Zora’s presence would come in handy, however, as she filmed her mother talking to the committee with her cell phone.

Days earlier the Georgia General Assembly, which has a Republican majority, released a first draft of the Congressional map that has not been universally supported due to how some districts with majority Black voters are being represented. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones asked that there not be new majority Black districts be created at the expense of other majority Black districts. 

The Georgia Senate Redistricting Committee held a hearing in response to the backlash from both politicians and grassroots organizations. Following the hearing, there were public comments made and there were a number of people that stepped up to speak their minds while representing organizations, and in the case of Coleman, her home.

In an interview with The Atlanta Voice following the public comment phase of the hearing, Coleman expressed that District 13 is an agricultural district and shouldn’t be split up in any way. “It’s almost a slap in the face,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense, it feels like there’s a hidden agenda.” 

Coleman didn’t get into what that hidden agenda was but hardly had to explain herself. The committee voted minutes earlier and voted 7-4 to leave the map as is. Only State Senators Tonya Anderson, Gloria Butler, Harold Jones II, and Ed Harbison voted in favor of redrawing the map. All four representatives are Black. 

Rashidah Hassan, representing the League of Women Voters of Georgia said, “We have several concerns on the proposed Congressional maps,” during her opportunity to speak to the committee. Hassan, a member of the organization’s DeKalb County chapter, added, “Throughout the inception of this process we have consistently sought and continue to request; number one, changes to the map be limited to this required to address the remedy ordered by the court; number two, the committee should reject any and all attempts by members of either party to incorporate other changes for partisan and political purposes.” 

Some of the majority Black districts that were up for discussion that morning were districts 4, 5, 6, and 13. 

“When reviewing this map it is clear it does not comply with the judge’s order,” Hassan said. 

Stephanie Ali, Policy Director with the New Georgia Project, said it would be important for the committee to “think about if we don’t want to spend more taxpayer money in court,” or have the map redrawn by a Special Master, and that is what will happen if the Friday, Dec. 8 deadline isn’t met. “I think this map is not going to pass muster and I hope that our committee can and will do better. We still have time to make these adjustments.”

Common Cause Georgia Executive Director Aunna Dennis also made an appearance and said there can be a middle ground met in this process. “We definitely do believe we can come together as advocates, community, and electives, we can definitely get redistricting right and make it look a little different here in Georgia,” Dennis said. 

Dennis said there has been a disregard of what Judge Jones has asked the committee to do. Then added that splitting Gwinnett County in four ways would negatively impact voters of color. “We are really urging the committee to re-look at these maps and let’s try to get this right and then as we move forward in the future, let’s work on independent redistricting commissions all together.”  

Along with Ali, Coleman, Dennis, and Hassan, John Moyer, senior director of policy at the Urban League, Cindy Battles with Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, and Fair Districts Georgia Chairman of the Board Ken Lawler were also given the opportunity to speak to the committee.

“On the racial demographic test we believe this map fails the test,” Lawler said. He stated that Districts 5 and 6 were already majority Black districts and didn’t need to be redrawn. “By losing District 7 as a minority district, we believe it does not pass muster, it does not meet the requirements of the court order,” he said. 

The post Advocates urge Georgia Senate redistricting committee to rethink proposed map appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

With poll numbers hovering below 40% and surveys suggesting he has issues communicating with Black voters, many pundits proclaimed the downfall of President Joe Biden in the run-up to Tuesday’s elections. Yet, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was reelected, the constitutional amendment protecting choice passed in Ohio and the Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin lost both chambers in the state legislature. The ‘predicted’ demise of the current president shifted to the Republican Party commiserating over their defeats.

There are 362 days remaining until the 2024 Presidential Elections and on a call with the Biden-Harris team, they are moving ahead as they promote their agenda of inclusivity, abortion rights, a thriving economy while beating back extremism from the far right.

“You see days, weeks, months of breathless predictions, how terrible things are going to be for Joe Biden followed by an election day with historic victories followed by the same ramp up at the same unrelenting negative coverage,” said Michael Tyler, communications director with the Biden campaign. “So, you think that maybe after this same cycle keeps repeating itself, we might want to actually take a look at the most significant data that we have at our disposal: which is how people are actually voting.”

Messaging around Abortion Rights

It does not matter if the state is “red” or “blue”, abortion is a winning issue. It flew in the face of many in the legacy media and political consultants believing it was a wedge issue that would divide the center and the hard left among the Democratic Party. Despite the defeat, the Republican Party continued to hammer home their beliefs.

During Wednesday night’s debate in Miami, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Tim Scott each battled for television time as each candidate supported various versions of national abortion bans. There were suggestions of federal bans at fifteen weeks, However, it was Haley that had the most nuanced view on abortion.

Haley categorized abortion as a “personal issue for every woman and every man.”

“As much as I’m pro-life, I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice,” she said. 

“It’s going to take sixty Senate votes, a majority of the House and a president to sign it,” Haley said. “No Republican president can ban abortions anymore than a Democratic president can ban these state laws.”

Meanwhile, the other candidates advocated for a strict ban.

While Republicans focused on their quest to ban abortions, the Biden-Harris team cited data that says 70% of Hispanic voters, more than 80% of Black voters, and 82% of voters under the age of 30 voted to protect a woman’s right to choose in the state of Ohio. Democrats firmly believe this is an issue they can fundamentally run on and win in 2024.

In the post-Dobbs world, Virginia is the last Southern state that has abortion rights. With Virginia voters giving the State Senate and House of Delegates to Democrats, it scuttled the supposed presidential plans Governor Youngkin had, while affirming bodily autonomy for women. That is no small feat as every single race was close and the Biden-Harris campaign endorsed twenty-three state legislator candidates. 

Governor Beshear in Kentucky ran an ad which featured a teenager regarding abortion rights. She said, “This is to you, Daniel Cameron. To tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable.”

The Republicans’ messaging around abortion suggesting Democrats support infanticide (which is illegal), has largely fallen on deaf ears. It also shows messaging must be clear and succinct.

“And it just continues to prove our theory of the case when it comes to our eventual opponent that MAGA extremism is toxic at the ballot box and restricts Republicans’ path to 270,” said Biden-Harris campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez.

The post Biden-Harris campaign is buoyed by positive results in 2023 Elections appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

JONESBORO, Ga. — Dr. Donya L. Sartor was re-elected as City of Jonesboro’s mayor Tuesday night. As of 11 p.m. Sartor had gotten 233 total votes with Pat Sebo-Hand finishing second with 169 total votes and Arlene Charles finishing third with 81 votes. Sebo-Hand received the most votes on Election Day, 71, while Sartor received the most votes during the early voting period, 163. 

Moments after the votes were tallied Sartor told The Atlanta Voice about earning a full term. “Now I can settle in and get comfortable,” she said. “There’s work to be done and I’m excited about it.”

A new Jonesboro City Councilmember earned one of the three seats up for grabs this election, Asjah Miller finished third behind incumbents Alfred Dixon (279 votes) and Tracey Messick (245). This election was the first time Miller ran for public office, according to her. 

Earlier in the day Miller explained why she was running for a council seat. Jonesboro’s city council only has one Black member, Dixon, and now has a Black female member back on the council.

“I’m running because the City of Jonesboro needs adequate representation,” she said. “I’m concerned about whether the people running the city care about everybody.” 

Hitting the ground running

Mr. Willie got out of the car and made his way over to the polling station. He was picked up by a friend that had already voted and dropped off at the Jonesboro City Center around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning so he could make sure his vote was counted. Willie has a prosthetic right leg and doesn’t drive too often.

Upon leaving the polling station with his Georgia Voter sticker in hand he said, “Y’all are lucky, because I was fixin’ to go fishing.”

Every vote counts on an Election Day that proceeded a record number of early voters in one of Clayton County’s oldest cities, Jonesboro. Along with three city council seats, there is a run for the mayoral seat, which happens to be occupied at the moment by the city’s first Black mayor, Dr. Donya Lyn Sartor. The mayor stood shoulder to shoulder with campaign volunteers and Asjah Miller, a first-time candidate for city council and public school teacher in the county, across the street from city center Tuesday morning. Despite a record 308 early votes having been casted already, Sartor was outside since early that morning making sure voters knew there was plenty of time and opportunity to vote before the polls closed at 7 p.m.

There was a previous record 251 early votes casted last March (only 186 votes were casted on Election Day) during the emergency election for mayor that Sartor, who previously served on the city council, won. She knows an election can be swung with only a handful of votes in Jonesboro.

“We are not taking anything for granted,” Sartor said. She wore a neon green “Sartor for Mayor” t-shirt beneath her coat. “That was our plan, we wanted to get people to the polls early.”

There are three women running for mayor this time around and one of those candidates, Pat Sebo-Hand, a member of Jonesboro City Council for 13 years, was holding her own grassroots voter drive up the street from where Sartor stood. Sebo-Hand is also optimistic about the voter engagement this year.

“I think we’re going to have more voters this time, people seem to be much more engaged politically,” Sebo-Hand said. “Our municipal elections are usually less attended.”

Arlene Charles, the third candidate for mayor, drove by both women in a pickup truck with a large red, white and blue “Arlene Charles for Mayor” sign on the bed.

Former Mayor of Jonesboro Joy Day came from her home in Canton to show support for Tracey Messick, an incumbent and one of the five other people vying for the city council seats alongside Miller, Penny Fauscett, Charles L. Forsyth, Jr, Cameron Dixon, and another incumbent Alfred Dixon.

Day waved a sign and said hello to passersby. Messick remembers Day as one of the first people to recommend that she run for city council. “Having her support touches my heart,” said Messick, also an educator. “It means a lot to me and means a lot that she came down for this.”

Brookhaven mayoral candidate Hilerie Lind remained “optimistic” 

By Janelle Ward

BROOKHAVEN, Ga.- Brookhaven mayoral candidate Hilerie Lind hosted an election night watch party open to the public at the Continent Restaurant and Cigar Lounge in northeast Atlanta on Tuesday evening.

In a relaxed get-together surrounded by family and friends, Lind watched the municipal election results roll in in real time, though a winner in her race still waits to be confirmed.

“I’m still pretty optimistic,” Lind said, in reference to the mayor’s race, the ballots for which are still being counted, as of 9:45 p.m. on election night. “Especially given the fact that the amount of people that I’ve spoken to who have supported what I’m doing, I still feel pretty good about (the race).”

An accountant and mother of two with career ties to the U.S. Department of Labor and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lind 

launched her campaign for mayor of Brookhaven in August aiming to improve the allocation of resources to residents and increase transparency between city government and the public.

Lind is one of four candidates vying for the mayorship of the City of Brookhaven. Former Brookhaven councilman John Park led the race from the start of tabulations, picking up 1,120 votes from mail-in absentee ballots and votes cast during the state’s three-week-long early voting period, according to unofficial data from the DeKalb County government website.

The mayoral race may lead to a runoff, given no candidate is confirmed to have received at least 50% of the total votes cast.

Lind said that entering the race later than her challengers left her with less time to fundraise and spread word of her campaign across the community. 

“I got a late start,” Lind said. “People didn’t know me, so I didn’t have signs like everybody else. I’ve really run this campaign with me and my fiancé and a few of the people that we know here and there.”

Regardless, Lind said that the votes counted so far only represent a fraction of Brookhaven’s collective of registered voters, many of whom waited until today to cast their ballots. She said more than 30,000 residents voted before the polls closed at 7 p.m.

At 11 p.m. with just over 14% of the votes counted Lind was last amongst the four candidates.

“About 2,400 votes have been counted, and that’s from early voting,” Lind said. “Considering the population (of Brookhaven) is almost 70,000 and only 2,400 votes have been counted, I’m still pretty optimistic.”

Lind’s campaign also advocates for expanded affordable housing options for Brookhaven’s legacy residents.

The post Local elections matter: Black women win, lose and break new ground appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

JONESBORO, Ga. — Mr. Willie got out of the car and made his way over to the polling station. He was picked up by a friend that had already voted and dropped off at the Jonesboro City Center around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning so he could make sure his vote was counted. Willie has a prosthetic right leg and doesn’t drive too often.

Upon leaving the polling station with his Georgia Voter sticker in hand he said, “Ya’ll are lucky, because I was fixin’ to go fishing.”

Every votes counts on an Election Day that proceeded a record number of early voters in one of Clayton County’s oldest cities, Jonesboro. Along with three city council seats, there is a run for the mayoral seat, which happens to be occupied at the moment by the city’s first Black mayor, Dr. Donya Lyn Sartor. The mayor stood shoulder to shoulder with campaign volunteers and Asjah Miller, a first-time candidate for city council and public school teacher in the county, across the street from city center Tuesday morning. Despite a record 308 early votes having been casted already, Sartor was outside since early that morning making sure voters knew there was plenty of time and opportunity to vote before the polls closed at 7 p.m.

There was a previous record 251 early votes casted last March (only 186 votes were casted on Election Day) during the emergency election for mayor that Sartor, who previously served on the city council, won. She knows an election can be swung with only a handful of votes in Jonesboro.

“We are not taking anything for granted,” Sartor said. She wore a neon green “Sartor for Mayor” t-shirt beneath her coat. “That was our plan, we wanted to get people to the polls early.”

There are three women running for mayor this time around and one of those candidates, Pat Sebo-Hand, a member of Jonesboro City Council for 13 years, was holding her own grassroots voter drive up the street from where Sartor stood. Sebo-Hand is also optimistic about the voter engagement this year.

“I think we’re going to have more more voters this time, people seem to be much more engaged politically,” Sebo-Hand said. “Our municipal elections are usually less attended.”

Arlene Charles, the third candidate for mayor, drove by both women in a pickup truck with a large red, white and blue “Arlene Charles for Mayor” sign on the bed.

Former Mayor of Jonesboro Joy Day came from her home in Canton to show support for Tracey Messick, an incumbent and one of the five other people vying for the city council seats alongside Miller, Penny Fauscett, Charles L. Forsyth, Jr, Cameron Dixon, and another incumbent Alfred Dixon.

Day waved a sign and said hello to passersby. Messick remembers Day as one of the first people to recommend that she run for city council. “Having her support touches my heart,” said Messick, also an educator. “It means a lot to me and means a lot that she came down for this.”

The post ‘We are not taking anything for granted’: Jonesboro voters will elect a full-term mayor this election appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

Election Day is just a few days away on Tuesday, Nov. 7 and in metro Atlanta there are a number of counties, particularly Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton, where a number of key positions are up for grabs. From city council seats to mayoral races, Election Day 2023 will go a long way to shaping how the out boroughs of Georgia’s capital city is run.

To better prepare voters in those three counties, The Atlanta Voice will highlight some of the key races and offer links to each of the sample ballots for convenience. The links will be in blue and will be in the county headers.

Clayton County 

College Park and Morrow, respectively, have mayoral seats on the ballots. In the case of both cities there are incumbents, Mayor Motley Broom, running against four challengers Spiceda Jackson, Pamela Stoner-Gay, Demetris Taylor and James Walker in College Park and Morrow Mayor John Lampl is running against a single challenger Van Tran. 

The only city council seat on the College Park ballot is for Ward 3. Incumbent councilman Ken Allen is running against Tracie Arnold. 

In Morrow there are two city council seats on the ballot, but city council Post 2 is a one man race for Hue Nguyen. For Post 4 incumbent Khoa Vuong is up against Tracy Y. Talbert and Oscar Lanza Menjivar. 

DeKalb County

Board of Education seats for Districts 1, 3, 7 and 9 are on the ballot. Avondale Estates Mayor Jonathan Elmore’s position as the city’s top executive is on the ballot as well, but there isn’t anyone running against him. Brookhaven’s citizens will be looking to elect a new mayor this year. The candidates, Mark Douglas Frost, Lauren Kiefer, Hillerie Lind and H.J. “John”  Park is looking to fill that seat. 

Chamblee voters will elect city council members for Districts 2, 3 and 4.

Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake and Stonecrest will elect mayors on Election Day as well. 

In Tucker there are three city council seats on the ballot for District 1, Post 2, District 2, Post 2 and District 3, Post 2

Fulton County

The Largest county in the state, Fulton County voters will have a full ballot to look over on Election Day. 

There is the business of electing mayors in College Park, Hapeville, and Mountain Park, a city of 579 residents in the northwest corner of the county. 

City of Atlanta voters will elect five people to its Board of Education in Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 (at-large) and 8 (at-large). 

City council seats are up for grabs in a trio of cities in Fulton County. In East Point, Roswell and South Fulton city council seats in Wards A,B,C and D are the electoral ballot in East Point; seats in Posts 1, 2, 3 and 4 (special election to fill an unexpired term that ends in December 2025) are on the ballot in Roswell; Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 are on the ballot in South Fulton.

The post Election Central: There are all sorts of seats, including mayor for Grabs in metro Atlanta appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

On Sept. 18, Milton resident Debra Shigley announced her bid to run for the District 47 seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, a district north of Atlanta’s city limits comprising sections of Alpharetta, Mountain Park, Milton and Roswell. 

A former attorney with academic ties to Harvard University and Georgia State, Shigley aspires to take her experience in law to the Georgia State House, running on a platform advocating for common-sense gun reform, reproductive rights and supporting Atlanta’s public schools. She also enters the race with a background in journalism and entrepreneurship, having co-founded a hair care startup for women of color called Colour, and served as a news anchor and editor for various publications while based in the metro Atlanta area over the past decade.

Professional career aside, Shigley is also a wife and mother of five children attending Fulton County public schools, as well as an active member of her synagogue and her kids’ schools’ parent-teacher associations.

The Atlanta Voice spoke with Shigley about her reasons behind running for local office, her vision for District 47 and the impact she hopes to make on her constituents’ lives if elected.

Atlanta Voice: As an attorney, wife and mother of 5, you wear a lot of hats inside your household! What about a career in local political office intrigued you, and why is now the best time for you to run for a seat in the Georgia State House?

Debra Shigley: Ensuring a bright future for my kids is a big reason why I threw my hat in the ring, a big reason why I am running for State House District 47 to represent my neighbors. I am running for office as the daughter of two public school educators. My mom is a Jewish girl from Great Neck, New York; my Dad is a Jamaican American immigrant who came to this country when he was three. They worked hard to make sure I went to the best public schools. After graduating high school at 16 years old, I got myself into Harvard. Then I got myself through law school, while working full time by day as a reporter, and attending law school by night at Georgia State. I am the American Dream. There are not a lot of countries where my story can happen in the same way. When I think about all the opportunities given to me, the paths paved: it feels like it is my responsibility to do the same for others. I am running because I want to ensure that every person in our community, and every child in Georgia, feels a sense of their own potential, and truly has a path to unlimited opportunities. If not me, then who? And if not now, when?

AV: You studied law at Georgia State University and completed your undergraduate studies at Harvard, one of the most prestigious universities in the country. If elected, how do you hope to apply what you’ve learned from your experiences studying and working in law to the position of state legislator?

DS: I am so grateful for the education I got at Georgia State College of Law – Yes it was a blur, those four years of my life where I worked from 9-5 then raced over to school to be in class four nights a week until 9 or 10 pm. But that experience and the quality, public education I received changed my life—from kindergarten to law school. My lived experience is the reason I will work for Georgia to have the BEST public schools in the country. Can you imagine that?

Also, one of my strongest memories from law school is learning about the steady progression of individual rights secured in America. What alarms me is this rolling back of rights– Rolling back of our nation’s agreement that we are all entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If we start rolling back one right, who is to say they will not roll back the rest of them? In this climate, no rights, and no body is safe. We need someone in office who will speak up, who will be vigilant about protecting us and advocating for our families. In Georgia that’s about standing up to the career politicians who revoked a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. My law background gives me the experience and the willpower to do that.

AV: What are some of the policies you’re most passionate about and if elected, how will you work with the other members of the Georgia State House to see them implemented?

DS: It doesn’t matter where you sit on the political spectrum—Republican, Democrat or Independent. We all share the experience of going to the grocery store and watching essential costs go up and up. Raising five kids is not cheap—and in my district, the strain on our families’ pocketbooks is felt from Mountain Park to Bell Park.

Under the Gold Dome, I will do everything in my power to make it more affordable to raise a family in our district. I will work to drive down costs, ensure that our taxpayer dollars are going towards efforts that expand educational opportunities for the students here in our district, and work to keep more money in our families’ pockets.

I will work to restore and expand women’s reproductive rights. Like many women in Georgia—the day Roe v Wade was overturned, I was shaken to my core. At the end of the day, it is not just about a woman’s ability to make her own health care decisions. It is about privacy, dignity, and freedom. I am running to stand up for those values. I am running because I have seen such stunning consensus in my district about the urgent need to make our community safer for our kids. Like many Milton and Alpharetta residents, I am a gun owner who wholeheartedly supports common-sense gun reform.

Even with my professional background, until recently, I didn’t have a sense of how important local government is, how our rights as individuals are expanded—or constricted—according to our state’s lawmakers. I look forward to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help Georgians thrive. Only after working with my neighbors—on both sides of the aisle—to wrestle back a polling precinct for voters in Milton did I realize how our elected officials really affect our community. Until recently, I didn’t really have a sense of how important it is to have sensible, conscientious folks in the room who truly care. That revelation inspired me to run to ensure my neighbors’ voice is heard under the Gold Dome.

AV: You also co-founded Colour in 2015. What has operating this venture taught you about small business ownership, and how will you serve metro Atlanta’s small business owners if elected to represent House District 47?

DS: Running to represent our neighbors in the Capitol is a big job! But I am not sure I can think of a bigger job than women trusting you with their hair. I am a small business owner who knows how to generate jobs. Our service, called Colour, was kind of like Uber for hair, and geared toward women of color, though we had clients of all backgrounds. This startup was a dream realized, democratizing hair care in this way. And connecting local stylists to flexible employment opportunities. Our clients were attorneys, professors, and CEOs who didn’t have much time to spare. One of the most rewarding parts of starting the company was the feedback we would get from stylists in our network. Stylists would come to me and share that working for our company changed their life. Not only could they supplement their income for real life needs- school supplies, sports uniforms, and dance lessons. Also, we created an opportunity to be in spaces that helped further their life goals. The business leaders, the engines of our economy across the state understand this—getting ahead in life is all about getting your foot in the door. Under the Gold Dome, I’ll work to create jobs, and strengthen and invest in Georgia’s small businesses.

AV: You also have a background in journalism, having worked as a news reporter and magazine editor over the course of your professional career. Will having experience in media help you as you work to develop and spread word of your political campaign?

DS: As a reporter and editor, one of the greatest skills you learn is how to listen and uplift the stories of real people. Right now, we do not have a representative under the Gold Dome that is listening to the community, but rather has sat comfortably in a position of power, unchecked for decades. My experience in media has given me the skills to ask questions from neighbors on all sides of the political spectrum, to listen and learn, to speak truth to power, and to gain a pulse of what folks are really talking and caring about to inform policy decisions. These are the same skills I will use as a Representative under the Gold Dome.

AV: You also approach the position as a mother, raising children in the very same district you’re running to represent. Ideally, what sort of community do you want to see them grow up in, and what changes need to take place to make that vision a reality?

DS: The past few years showed me the POWER and importance of community involvement. It forced me to ask the question: what are the issues that are affecting the community—outside of the divided, partisan world we live in? And I found that a lot of my neighbors—regardless of political affiliation—were and are asking the same questions. The more I started to peel back the curtain on local government, removing the mystery around running for elected office, I thought, if not me, then who? I am running because for far too long, career politicians in our state’s Capitol have wasted our time with excuses and cynical political games. I have seen with my own two eyes what it looks like for my neighbors to come together and improve our community. I don’t believe we have to wait for that bright future—I want our district to be the best it can be right now. I want to ensure our community is safe for our kids. I want women to be able to make their own health care decisions with their doctors, not politicians. I want to make it EASIER, not harder, to raise a family in our district. I want our kids to go to the best schools in the nation. And I truly believe that together, we can make it happen.

The post Meet the candidate: Debra Shigley appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

The runoff election for Clayton County’s next sheriff is now over and interim sheriff Levon Allen is the winner. Allen was victorious over challenger Clarence Cox by just 266 votes. Allen garnered 51% of the votes after receiving less than 50% during the special election.

Allen kept a steady, if not small advantage over Cox throughout the night.

With only 10% of the precincts counted Allen was ahead by just 630 votes (4,414-3,784), according to an online Fox 5 election night counter. With just over 50% of the precincts counted at 9:30 p.m., two and a half hours after the polls closed Allen’s lead had shrunk to 405 votes (6,184-5,779).

Less than 10% voter turnout

During the special election in March there were a total of just over 15,000 total votes cast, or just over 5% voter turnout. There was a similar amount of votes cast this time around as well. By 10 p.m. 100% of the precincts were counted for a grand total of 15,166 votes counted. That is once again less than 10% voter turnout for the fifth largest county in the state.

Clayton County has over 200,000 registered voters, according to GeorgiaVites.com.

Allen received 47% of the vote during the Tuesday, March 21 special election for sheriff. His closest competitor Clarence Cox finished second with 29% of the vote, forcing a Tuesday, April 18 runoff election.

With a quarter of the vote counted Allen led Cox by more than 2,400 votes (5,605 to 3,183). With just over half the vote reported at 9 p.m. Allen’s advantage remained around 2,300 votes over Cox. Chris Storey was in third having garnered 16% of the vote for 2,129 total votes, according to an online Fox 5 election night counter.

The post Levon Allen wins Clayton County sheriff race, settled once and for all appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.

Snellville resident and Chief Assistant Solicitor General in Fulton County Andrea Alabi announced her candidacy for Gwinnett County District Attorney in a press conference earlier this week.

If elected, this would make Alabi the second Black district attorney to serve in Gwinnett County.

Alabi oversees one of the largest prosecutorial departments in the State of Georgia. She previously served as Assistant District Attorney in Gwinnett County and began her legal career as a defense attorney.

Alabi was introduced at the press conference by Keaundra Jackson, a Gwinnett County resident whose mother, Erica Powell, was murdered by her husband in 2017 after experiencing years of domestic violence. As a Gwinnett County ADA, Alabi prosecuted Powell’s murderer, receiving a successful homicide conviction.

“We all want the same things— for our children to come home safe every night, to feel protected in our communities, and to have confidence that our elected leaders are doing the right thing,” she said. “But too many people have lost faith in our criminal justice system and the individuals who are leading it. I’m running for District Attorney because we need new leadership in Gwinnett County to tackle gun violence, improve victim advocacy, and build stronger community partnerships to reduce crime.”

Alabi said she chose to run because “it’s time we had a District Attorney with the experience and vision to lead us forward”. She also said Gwinnett County is facing “serious issues” from the epidemic of gun violence to the school-to-prison pipeline.

Alabi is challenging first-term District Attorney Patsy Austin Gatson, whose office has received a barrage of criticism for her mishandling of several high-profile felony cases. WSB-TV recently reported that the conviction rate under Gatson’s tenure has dropped to only 57 percent.

In her career as a defense attorney and prosecutor, Alabi has handled over 1,000 cases and 75 jury trials. She has handled child sexual abuse cases, countless domestic violence cases, and she has never lost a single homicide case.

Alabi also has a 14-year-old son and is a proud graduate of Meadowcreek High School in Norcross and received her juris doctorate from Pennsylvania State University.

For more information on Alabi’s campaign, visit AlabiforDA.com.

The post Andrea Alabi announces candidacy for Gwinnett DA appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.