The good news is that the primary elections are over. The bad news is the primary elections are not over. We now have the runoffs. Then it will all be over. Except it won’t all be over. The general election is November 3.
The runoffs mean another month of self-serving ads promising us (inhale) lower taxes, reduced crime, shrinking the size of government, creating jobs, standing up to powerful special interests groups, fighting bureaucracy, securing our borders, taking care of our veterans, improving education and last, but not least, fixing Medicare (exhale.)
There have been more self-styled political pundits analyzing what happened in the primary than a yard dog has fleas. But since you pay me the big bucks, consider this clip-and-save stuff that you can trot out at your next church social or cocktail party. Or both.
No one else has access to the expertise of Junior E. Lee, general manager of the Yarbrough Worldwide Media and Pest Control Company, located in Greater Garfield, Georgia. Junior is a highly-respected political analyst and a certified pest control professional, as well. The man is one-of-a-kind. Can you imagine Tucker Carlson in your crawl space spraying for termites?
In the governor’s race, it will be a runoff between Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare executive Rick Jackson for the Republican nomination. Jones received 38% of the vote in the primary and Jackson, 33%. Junior says pigs down around Garfield have asked him about renting out their styes for the runoff so that both candidates have an ample supply of mud to sling.
Jones comes from a wealthy and politically powerful Georgia family and has contributed $19 million to his campaign thus far. Jackson has already put more than $83 million into the race. All for a job that pays $182,000.
Whoever wins the nomination will face Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Atlanta mayor who won her party’s nomination without a runoff. I stopped making predictions after publicly stating that an obscure Republican state senator from Bonaire would never beat a powerful incumbent Democratic governor. We all know how that turned out. But if the Republican nominee, whichever one it is, can’t beat Bottoms, it will be due to the party’s predilection for being unable to figure out who the enemy is. (The Cobb County GOP publicly censured Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, if that gives you a clue.)
Bottoms was a totally ineffective mayor and served only one term before getting bailed out by the Biden Administration to be director of nothing in particular in Washington. She couldn’t manage Atlanta and we are going to trust her with the whole state?
Speaking of Gov. Kemp, he has shown himself to be one of the few Republicans in the state who isn’t a complete and total Trump toady. He promoted Derek Dooley, son of legendary UGA football coach Vince Dooley, for the U.S. senate seat currently held by Jon Ossoff, and has gotten him into a runoff with Cong. Mike Collins, who professes unyielding fealty to Trump.
Gone from the political scene is Republican state Sen. Steve Gooch who was running for lieutenant governor. This is the guy who said legislation wasn’t needed to save our Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from drilling for toothpaste whitener. Let unelected bureaucrats handle that issue. Albert the Alligator says good riddance.
Also gone are two Democratic candidates for the state Supreme Court, attorney Miracle Rankin and former state Sen. Jen Jordan, who told us how they were going to vote, if elected. I thought judges were supposed to hear all the evidence before making a decision. Fortunately, the voters made the decision for them.
Two nuts dropped from the political tree. Kandiss Taylor got 12.8% of the vote for the GOP nomination in Georgia’s 1st Congressional District. She said she represented Jesus. Jesus said that was news to him. Colton Moore, who has all the class of a tree stump, debased the memory of the late Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston in front of Ralston’s family. He got less than 7% in the 14th District GOP primary. May they both find their way into everlasting political obscurity.
On a personal note, Lee Darragh won reelection as district attorney for Hall and Dawson County with 83% of the vote. He has been DA for over 20 years. He is also my nephew. Well, nephew-in-law, but in my family we don’t have in-laws. Once you are in, you are in to stay. Congratulations, Mr. DA.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139
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