Geoff Duncan says attacks show he’s shaking up governor’s race

Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan says the rising attacks from his Democratic rivals are a sign he’s shaking up the race.

At a campaign stop in Atlanta on Monday night, the party-switching ex-Republican brushed aside the criticism as sour grapes from opponents he says are losing traction to his campaign.

“I care more about the 11 million Georgians than I care about my opponents in this race,” he said. “Certainly, they’re upset Geoff Duncan has come in and rocked their world — taking their fundraising dollars, taking their endorsements, taking their supporters. I’m not doing this because I want to beat them. I’m doing this because I want to represent 11 million Georgians.”

Things to know

Good morning! Here are three things to know for today:

‘Bribe Burt’ vs. ‘Slick Rick’

Credit: Arvin Temkar, Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar, Miguel Martinez/AJC

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones quickly dubbed his top GOP rival “Slick Rick” after he entered the race. Now, Rick Jackson is firing back with his own moniker.

The billionaire is out with a new TV ad that accuses the Trump-backed candidate for governor of using his office to enrich his own family business. It’s paired with an alliterative microsite: bribeburt.com.

Both the ad and the website play off a “Jackpot” gambling theme that targets Jones’ support for a 2013 law that legalized and regulated coin-operated amusement machines often found in the back rooms of gas stations and convenience stores.

Jackson’s campaign argues the vote benefited Jones because his family’s firm, Jones Petroleum, owns about 13 gas stations that host the devices.

“He fixed the game. Bet big on corruption. And hit the jackpot,” the narrator says.

Jones spokesperson Kayla Lott dismissed the attack as “recycling false Democrat talking points.”

“Same playbook, different author. Desperation has a certain look to it,” she said.

Housing bleep

Georgia Democrats are blasting Trump after Punchbowl reported he privately told House Speaker Mike Johnson that “no one gives a [bleep] about housing” as Congress debates a major housing bill.

State Rep. Sam Park, the House Democratic whip, said the comment ignores a top concern for voters.

“I can tell you firsthand that Georgians all over the state care about lowering housing prices, building more affordable housing and keeping roofs over their heads,” he said.

State Rep. Bryce Berry, D-Atlanta, said housing costs dominate conversations with younger voters and is “so out of touch with where everyday Georgians are.”

And state Sen. Derek Mallow, D-Savannah, tied the issue to Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, accusing incumbent Jon Ossoff’s Republican rivals of not being “serious about helping Georgians with the high cost of housing.”

Gold standard

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

While having lunch at Chick-fil-A recently, State Sen. Marty Harbin surprised the cashier with an unexpected question: “Can I pay gold with this?”

Harbin wasn’t carrying around gold bars. Instead, he used his Mastercard to deduct money from his account at Glint Pay, a company that lets people use their physical gold to spend money.

Now, Harbin wants Georgia to become the latest state to recognize gold and silver as legal tender. His proposal, Senate Bill 424, has already passed the Senate and has a hearing Tuesday before the House Banks and Banking Committee.

The biggest impact could be on taxes. As gold increases in value, the state treats that growth as income and makes people pay taxes on it. Harbin says the state would stop doing that if gold was treated as legal tender.

“The state though would pick up sales tax as I spend it,” Harbin told his colleagues during a public hearing last month. “They would lose some capital gains.”

Fulton County update

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Fulton County has been trying to recover its 2020 ballots and other election materials seized by the FBI in January. And for a while it looked like the parties might negotiate a mutually agreeable solution.

Now it looks like they might be headed for a courtroom showdown.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee entered an order noting that mediation between Fulton County and the Justice Department has failed.

The judge now will consider the DOJ’s request to cancel a hearing on the matter and to quash the county’s subpoena for testimony by FBI special agent Hugh Raymond Evans, the agent who authored the affidavit used to obtain the warrant to seize the materials.

If Boulee rejects the DOJ’s requests, Fulton County’s motion to recover its election materials will be heard on March 27.

Freshman hazing

Credit: (Courtesy photo)

Credit: (Courtesy photo)

Poor Steven McNeel. The Macon Republican has been in the state Senate for three weeks after winning a special election. Now he has unwittingly joined the gun control lobby.

McNeel was trying to shepherd a House bill through the Senate on Monday when his colleagues decided to have some fun with him. They peppered him with nonsense questions, part of a long tradition of playfully teasing new members.

But it was state Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, who got the best laugh. The bill had multiple amendments filed, each one given a number. Hatchett asked him to clarify that he was against amendment No. 2.

“I am against the Second Amendment,” McNeel said in a comment that, without context, would seem to convey he opposed the right to bear arms.

“Just got a sound bite,” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones quipped.

It was a lighthearted moment in what has been an intense session at times. But we wouldn’t put it past some future political opponents of saving that clip for an ad.

Under the Gold Dome

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

The Legislature won’t meet Tuesday. But lawmakers will hold committee hearings on various bills. Some happenings:

Social Circle hardball

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Social Circle officials have been scrambling to understand how a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement “mega-center” planned inside the city limits will affect life for residents there once it opens later this year.

City Manager Eric Taylor told a packed citizen meeting in Walton County last week that he has locked the city’s water meter until the Department of Homeland Security can explain how the 10,000-bed facility can use the city’s nearly maxed-out infrastructure without compromising service for the 5,000 people who already live there.

Frustrated residents at the meeting cheered for Taylor’s announcement, according to the Walton Tribune.

Taylor confirmed to the AJC that the lock is still on the meter, which is where it’s been since DHS first tried to establish water service to the warehouse. Taylor said the lock will stay on until local officials understand “how water and sewer can be served without exceeding our limited infrastructure capacity.”

Listen Up

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Republican U.S. Senate candidate Derek Dooley joins the show to talk about his campaign.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Airliners lament

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta Air Lines, and Nando Cesarone, an executive vice president at UPS, were among the 10 signers on an open letter to members of Congress begging for the partial government shutdown to be brought to an end.

“Americans — who live in your districts and home states — are tired of long lines at airports, travel delays and flight cancellations caused by shutdown after shutdown,” the air and transportation executives wrote. “Yet, once again air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown.”

They urged Congress to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Transportation Security Administration and customs clearance officers who work in airports. But as lawmakers return to Washington on Tuesday, no deal is in sight.

Long lines and flight delays, caused by both the shutdown and severe weather, plagued Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Monday, as reported by the AJC’s Kelly Yamanouchi and Savannah Sicurella.

Today in Washington

Shoutouts

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to Frank Groome, the consul general of Ireland and a loyal reader of this newsletter.

Before you go

Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn announced last night that the Sam Nunn School for International Affairs at Georgia Tech will soon launch the new “Colleen O. Nunn Faculty in Global Strategic Intelligence Endowment Fund.” The effort is designed to train undergraduate and graduate students in strategic intelligence matters to prepare them for jobs in the public or private sectors.

The fund is named for Nunn’s wife, Colleen, who was working for the CIA at the American Embassy in Paris when she met Sam Nunn when he was young congressional staffer in the early 1960s. The rest is American history.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider information to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.