AJC Profiles District 42 Senate Race
Decatur Metro | May 9, 2010Two days before the special election, the AJC has an extensive profile on the District 42 Georgia Senate race in this morning’s paper.
In summation, Jason Carter has a lot of money (thanks to donors from both inside and outside the state of Georgia) and he’s got name recognition. Main challenger Tom Stubbs asserts that Carter has bigger political aspirations beyond District 42 and questions Carter’s long-term focus on his district. Both being Democrats, there seem to be few items of policy on which the two candidates disagree.
Only 8,000-9,000 folks are expected to turn out and vote in this Tuesday’s special election, which makes it unpredictable, even with Carter’s substantial monetary advantage.
P.S. Another article in the AJC a couple days back about this race made another interesting observation. The person elected to this post will never serve in the legislature during this current term, since it ends this year. So in accuality, District 42 candidates are running to have the word “incumbent” notated after their name on the November ballot. Interesting.
Disclosure: Both Stubbs and Carter are currently DM sponsors
Uh, what’s the point in filling the seat then? Will the person who wins the election have any official duties at all before his term expires? Offhand, this looks like a gigantic waste of time and money. Well, OK, maybe not gigantic, but still…
If there is a special session called due to budget, etc., our district would have a state senate rep. Part of the delay in this election was do to the crazy long time it took the US Senate to confirm Adelman to his ambassadorial appointment– not something we in GA could control (um, except maybe Chambliss and Isakson…).
I’m one of the in the district donors for Jason Carter, but I believe it will come down to who votes vs the money. Please encourage all your friends to remember to vote on Tuesday.
I hope that you consider voting for Jason Carter when you do cast that ballot. I’ve known Jason for about 9 years, and have been impressed with his energy, good works (Peace Corps, plus founding Democrats Work in 2004, which has become a national organization that helps Democrats get active in communities, in effect showing where are hearts are), his articulateness (a goal of his is to help his Senate caucus better communicate its policies, to fellow legislators and the public– critical to gain support), his smarts (he was one of the top grads in his UGA Law class), his both urban and rural (he is from Calhoun) background which can hopefully help him create some bridges in the legislature, and his genuine friendliness. His family background generates a lot of talk, but Jason seems to have the right mix of acknowledging he has had some incredible experiences due to family, joy at the ability to have those experiences and bashfulness at too much talk of his famous grandparents. Never have I seen Jason with a sense of entitlement- rather, he seems to have a sense of resposibility to do what he can to better the lives of those less fortunate, and the rest the people in our district.
I have been asking and asking around about the two candidates and have repeatedly gotten the feedback that both are worthy candidates and both have similar policy positions with an emphasis on education, transportation, and water/environment. Tom also lists ethics and public safety as his issues and Jason also lists jobs. In person, I’ve found both to be articulate and intelligent. The one difference that doesn’t come out so much in the brochures and websites is that Tom is perhaps more specific about issues that are relevant to Decatur–e.g. addressing the state educational funding rubric that negatively impacts Decatur because it penalizes smaller neighborhood elementary schools such as we have here, even though those schools may be more effective in improving student achievement.
Where do we vote this time? Is it our “local election spot”, e.g. School Board elections, or our “big election” spot, e.g. national elections?
All of the “big election” (I like that description!) polling locations are supposed to be open from 7 am to 7 pm. In Decatur, the seven precincts and their polling places are:
1. Clairemont East (which, remarkably, lies to the west of the Clairemont West precinct) at the First Baptist Church of Decatur on Clairemont,
2. Clairemont West at the Lutheran Church on Clairemont,
3. Glennwood at the Holy Trinity Parish on East Ponce,
4. Ponce de Leon (at the First Christian Church on West Ponce),
5. Oakhurst (at Oakhurst Baptist on East Lake),
6. Renfroe (at Renfroe Middle School on West College) and
7. Winnona Park (at Winnona Park on Avery).
Go vote (and drag a neighbor along)!
-Tom
Thanks Tom. That helps a lot. Had no clue where to go to vote.
In response to macarolina, of the many reasons a voter might find to support Jason Carter, “rural connections” is a stretch. As reported in Sunday’s AJC article on the State Senatorial election, Mr. Carter grew up in a wealthy suburb of Chicago, graduated from high school there, and then attended Duke University. Although this doesn’t exactly make him a carpetbagger, the likelihood of his being embraced in the Senate as a rural son of Calhoun, Georgia are remote, at best. The list of distinctly non-local contributors to Mr. Carter’s campaign is also an indication of a notable lack of “street cred” at the local Feed and Seed. Tom Stubbs, on the other hand, has for many years demonstrated a dedication to local issues, and makes a more credible choice for State office as a calling, rather than a stepping stone.
James M. Wiley
Decatur, Georgia
I just got a robo-call from David Montane in which he actually referred to “Jimmy Carter’s grandson and the other socialists in the race”. Really, David?
I got that call too and had to laugh. Luckily it is on our answering machine so my husband can enjoy it as well. It came minutes after the Jason Carter call.
I have not yet decided who I will vote for, but I have to say, the amount of mail I have received from Jason Carter’s campaign is really getting old. Looking forward to no more fancy fliers after tomorrow.
Any of them say “malaise forever?”
In the unlikely event Montane gets “elected”, be prepared for his imminent announcement that he’s switching to the Tea Party.
cubalibre has absolutely no basis for her comment. For starters, the Tea Party is an event, not a political party, and I have never even attended any of Tea Party events. For another, the Libertarian Party has been in existence since 1971 and is the largest of the “third” political parties. It’s not going away and is building steam this year due to both of the big parties having spent decades ratcheting up the warfare-welfare state. The party platform is logically consistent and many who read it realize that what they really wanted by joining the Republican or Democrat parties is provided better by the Libertarian philosophy and platform. See http://www.lpgeorgia.com and look for the platform.
Mr. Montane,
Are you just running for your own personal entertainment?
Leaving a voice mail on my machine (a super voter) and calling me and 80% of the people in your district who voted for Obama (and all the other candidates in the race) Socialists?
Opposing public education and transit?
Not sure if your goal is to get the votes of the other 20% of the people in District 2 or what, but I doubt you will. And even if you did, it will not be enough to win. Thank goodness, because your views are clearly out of sync with the District. No wonder no one takes the Libertarian Party seriously. Have you mentioned to anyone that you plan on caucusing with the Republicans?
Regardless of what I think about one of the other candidates in this race, any of the other 3 candidates would better represent the interests and views of this district better than you.
Well, it really wasn’t intended to be a serious statement…however, from your reaction, maybe the extremist analogy is more apt than not. I say this because most of the Libertarians I know don’t prate on about how everyone whose ideology isn’t the same as theirs is a *gasp* “socialist”. To do so is extremist in nature, and the Tea Partiers have fashioned themselves in an extremist mold (hence the little dig at your expense). Whatever you call yourself going forward, it should be obvious to anyone who reads your statements, or who’s lucky enough (joking!) to get one of your robo-calls, that you simply aren’t a good fit for this District. It’s also obvious that at some point, the Libertarians are going to have to decide whether they’re going to try to be a true voice of reason, or the voice of contrarianism for its own sake. If it’s the latter, they may as well reconcile themselves to remaining a distant third behind the big two– in any election– for the forseeable future.
Oh, not not the “stepping stone” argument again. I’m having deja vu. This is the most ludacris argument I have ever heard and its continued use in Decatur elections demeans the intelligence of Decatur voters.
I, for one, hope that a 34 year old young man wants to be more than a State Senator for the rest of his life. We have too many politicians who stay in the same office way too long. Did Senator Adelman use his office as a stepping stone to become Ambassador? Maybe. What’s wrong with that exactly? Was he not a good Senator who represented us well when he served us for what 8 years? How much longer should he have stayed? Do we really only want to elect people with no ambition, talents, or other prospects who’s only identity will be a State Senate seat that they will hold until they drop dead?
I also think it is cynical attempt to keep younger people from running for office. It’s easy to say that an intelligent, articulate, politically connected, and ambitious 34 year is using an election as a “stepping stone” when they are running against an older opponent with little prospects to move up. Let’s remember that over the years his 50-something oppoent has run for City Commission, School Board, Judge, State Senate …. what’s next?
It is also Tom Stubbs very activities regarding “local issues” that I find most repulsive about him. Do you ever wonder why so many people in Decatur hate his guts? Don’t you wonder why every elected Decatur city official (present and former) who have endorsed anyone in this race have endorsed Jason Carter and not Tom Stubbs, who has been involved in local politics for 20+ years?
“Hate his guts” ??? That’s a little strong.
David Adelman was respected by people on both sides of the aisle. He was capable of working and influencing Republicans. I think Jason Carter will have a very difficult time in building political cooperation. Stubbs and Carter hold similar positions, but I believe Stubbs will be more effective.