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Georgia Republicans won’t have a specific nominee for a couple more months, but the final two contenders are running slightly behind Democrat Michelle Nunn in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the U.S. Senate race in Georgia. A new statewide telephone survey of Likely Georgia Voters finds Nunn leading Congressman Jack Kingston 47% to 41%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, while nine percent (9%) are undecided. In a matchup with businessman David Perdue, Nunn earns 45% support to her GOP rival’s 42%. Seven percent (7%) favor another candidate in this contest, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

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A two-vehicle wreck involving a Varnell police officer Wednesday evening resulted in one man being airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga. The wreck happened in front of North Whitfield Middle School on Cleveland Highway and involved a Varnell patrol car driven by an officer identified by officials as Patrick Hayes and a Jeep Cherokee, according to the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) public information office. The driver of the Cherokee, David Gambrell, was not wearing his seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. No further information was available late Thursday. Varnell Police Chief Lyle Grant said both vehicles were...

In 1540, Hernando de Soto marched through Middle Georgia not far from where this column originates. Just down river from where I am in Macon, Georgia, de Soto performed the first baptism in North America on the banks of the Ocmulgee River. That river cuts a lazy path through Macon and Middle Georgia. The Ocmulgee Indian natives, over time, migrated out of the area under force from the new natives, the Americans. Those new natives lived a quiet existence where rarely, like de Soto marching through, the outside world pierced in. When Sherman marched through in the Civil War,...

Yes, you heard that right. The tea party is (still) winning, even during and after this year’s 2014 Republican primary season. The tea party is not a political party. It never has been. The tea party never set as its goal defeating every single incumbent Republican officeholder. The fact that the tea party has taken the scalps of about 50 House Democrats in the 2010 election and several giants in the Republican establishment during 2010 and 2012 is a bonus. That is far in excess of what the tea party movement ever expected to accomplish. The tea party movement was...

Two Democratic congressmen became the first members of their party to call for Veterans Affairs secretary Eric Shinseki’s resignation shortly after President Obama’s meeting with the embattled department head. While speaking on the House floor about a bill he co-sponsored to make it easier to fire VA officials, Representative David Scott of Georgia offered a passionate plea to address the problem and called for Shinseki’s ouster. SNIP Meanwhile, Scott’s fellow Georgian John Barrow also said Shinseki should no longer hold his position since he and the rest of the administration have “fallen short in providing the kind of care our...

I had hoped that Karen Handel would be able to get into the runoff for the U.S. Senate in Georgia. She is a dear friend and was a great candidate. Though underfunded, she tirelessly built momentum in the final few weeks of the campaign. But Phil Gingrey was able to get enough support out of the metro-Atlanta portion of his district that it, among other things, held Karen back. She and Steve are dear friends and I wish the very best for them. Into the runoff, I will support my friend Jack Kingston. Jack is with us a thousand percent...

Full listing of Georgia 2014 Primary Election results.

Republicans in Washington got the result they wanted in Georgia: Two candidates viewed as the strongest contenders to keep a Senate seat central to the fight for the majority. But the runoff between Rep. Jack Kingston and businessman David Perdue will be nasty, brutish – and long. As in the lengthiest in the state’s political history — a nine-week intra-party slugfest at a critical moment in the battle for control of the Senate. The “good part” of a longer contest is that it allows campaigns to restock their respective war chests for the runoff, said Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson, a...

It was suggested that one be started so I'll take the lead!

For years people such as Mark Krikorian, Senator Jeff Sessions, and the editors at National Review have argued that Republicans need to do more to reach out to working-class Americans. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) recently issued a new candidates’ pledge that advances that goal. The pledge binds candidates to oppose any legislation that would grant more work permits or expand the already large number of new immigrants and temporary workers into the U.S. In Georgia, all four top-tier GOP Senate candidates (Representative Paul Broun, Karen Handel, Representative Jack Kingston, and David Perdue) have signed the FAIR pledge.

Former Rep. Bob Barr is attempting to return to Congress after a 12-year hiatus with his bid Tuesday in the Republican primary for an open House seat in Georgia. Best known as one of the House managers in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton in 1998, Barr, 65, is considered likely to be one of the top two vote-getters in the primary for the seat of outgoing Rep. Phil Gingrey, who is stepping down to run for the Senate. Barr and one of the other three leading GOP contenders in suburban Atlanta's 11th Congressional District would then meet in a...

Most political eyes will be focused on Georgia’s Republican primary on Tuesday. With Mitch McConnell a sure thing for re-election at this point (though see if Bevin can break 40%, which I think he can), Georgia is where the great unknown is. In fact, there are only three things known about Georgia’s elections right now. One, the Democrats are not going to win the state in 2014. Look no further than DailyKos for the reason why. Two, David Perdue is going into the runoff. Three, turnout is going to be very low. The only part of the state showing significant...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, one of the Obama administration's staunchest allies in Congress, announced his opposition Thursday to Michael Boggs’ nomination to the federal bench, dealing a strong if not fatal blow to the former Georgia state lawmaker’s confirmation hopes. “Somebody should have looked a little more deeply into his record,” Reid said of Boggs, nominated to the U.S. District Court in Georgia. He faced sharp questioning at a recent confirmation hearing into his past support for state proposals to post information online about doctors who perform abortions and to keep the Confederate battle emblem on the Georgia flag....

THIS IS FOR THE SOUTH AND MIDWEST (NORTHEAST, WEST, AND CALIFORNIA are in separate threads and updates are coming, see links below) This is an update of previous threads. There are numerous important House Primary Races! And places where we can WIN! PLEASE contribute! And if you can't contribute money ... the least we can do is go to their pages and give them a "like" or a tweet. All of these candidates are involved in primaries that are close (or could be close) against generally more moderate or liberal Republicans. All of these districts are winnable in November. Georgia:...

The national media continue to tout Georgia's soon-to-be-open U.S. Senate seat as one of just a few "swing" states that could end up going Democrat in a year that otherwise seems to look great for the GOP nationally. And the current outlook for the May 20 Georgia contest might tell us a great deal not only about Georgia but about trends that are developing across the nation. In a crowded field, three candidates have emerged, but none of the three fits the "right wing extremist" category that Democrats were hoping to see win the Republican nomination. The Democrats' candidate,...

I told you people he’d go there. You didn’t believe me. But he is a CEO who lives in the private, gated community of a private gated island. They see the world differently. CEO’s make really crappy senators because they feel compelled to cut deals and transcend the rubes of party politics to prove their own statesman like qualities. And David Perdue finally went there — exactly as I told you he would.

In a field that already has six candidates — Lt. Colonel Stephen Simpson, businessman Mike Collins, pastor Jody Hice, state Rep. Donna Sheldon and Brian Slowinski —, attendees of the Monroe 10th Congressional debate on Tuesday were introduced to a seventh: former U.S. Marine Mitchell Swan, who only recently entered a race that the others have been in for months. There wasn’t even standing room left for those who arrived late. Jody Hice, who hails from the area, held a barbeque behind the event’s location for his supporters. Politics and barbeque are an undeniably popular pairing in the Peach State,...

As the leading trade organization representing the tourism industry comprised of thousands of employees and hundreds of businesses who call Savannah home, the safety of our visitors and our community is our highest priority. Allegations of an attack on an Atlanta area family visiting River Street were reported to us early Monday morning. Since then we have been in constant communication with the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police department as well as business and community leaders throughout the city. Through the review of evidence made available to us, including the police report, the dispatch log, and eye witness statements, many of the...

Tom Donohue, President of the Chamber of Commerce, made news yesterday when he said that if Republicans fail to pass amnesty they shouldn’t even bother fielding a presidential candidate. The media is reporting Donohue’s statement as an ultimatum to the GOP – pass amnesty or lose our support. However, there is one slight problem that has been overlooked by the media. The Chamber has been dumping large sums of money into candidates who would not be caught dead backing amnesty on the campaign trail. In fact, many of them are running against amnesty. Here is a breakdown of Chamber spending...