The AJC reports today on a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Michael Rothenberg, who ran unsuccessfully for DeKalb Superior Court in 2010.

The SEC complaint appears to originate with the same transaction that birthed a federal lawsuit against Rothenberg just before the December 2011 runoff election.

The SEC alleges that Rothenberg transferred $169,o00 of money from defrauded investors to his campaign account. In November, the Fulton Daily Report noted Rothenberg denying having transferred the funds in questions to his campaign.

But long before the November general election, there were other warning signs.

In 2008, Michael Rothenberg announced his candidacy for another seat on the DeKalb Superior Court. Erick Erickson, writing on Peach Pundit challenged Rothenberg’s eligibility. Rothenberg and his Campaign Manager/attorney responded in the comments with their version of his qualifications.

Two days later, Erick published a lengthy analysis and concluded that Rothenberg did not meet the statutory requirements to hold the office of Superior Court Judge at that time. This would not be the last time Rothenberg had no comment.

Rothenberg ultimately withdrew from that race over his qualifications. Erick wished him the best and said “[we] hope to see him run in two years.” Erick’s wish was fulfilled.

On November 18, 2010 the Daily Report ran a story that Rothenberg implied that his campaign was supported by Congressmen Hank Johnson and John Lewis and State Senator Jason Carter. All three of those elected officials denied having endorsed Rothenberg.

On November 29th, the AJC reported that State Representative Mike Jacobs withdrew his personal endorsement of Rothenberg based on concerns over the private lawsuit. That article also reported that DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer (R-Smokerise) denied having endorsed Rothenberg, despite her picture appearing on Rothenberg’s mailings under the heading “Endorsed By”.

Liz Carter, the Republican Candidate for the Fourth Congressional District, had the day earlier emailed  a number of DeKalb Republicans stating that she had not approved the printed endorsement that Rothenberg attributed to her and was asking people not to vote for Rothenberg in the runoff.

Both DeKalb Libertarians stood by their endorsement of Rothenberg.

After Courtney Johnson won the runoff election with 61% it wasn’t clear how much of her victory could be attributed to the last news cycles of the election.

But precinct-level returns shed some light.

Mike Jacobs’s district comprises eleven precincts in North DeKalb. During early runoff voting, Rothenberg ran the table here, carrying 66% of the vote and all but two of the eleven precincts. On election day, voters gave Courtney Johnson 56% of the vote, a twenty-three point gain over the weekend, and she carried nine of eleven precincts.

Courtney Johnson won the rest of the county handily, approaching 90% in a number of precincts. But it is instructive to view the sea-change in voter sentiment in reaction to a news story about candidate ethics.

Disclaimers: I was a consultant to Mike Jacobs during this drama. On November 1, 2010, I recevied a payment for robocalls from Michael Rothenberg’s campaign. That expenditure appears never to have been disclosed.

Today’s Column from the Courier Herald:

Once more this week, I’m going to go back to the Midwest to make a point about Georgia.

The Democratic party may as well go ahead and hold a convention in Illinois, because Democrats in Indiana have joined Democratic lawmakers from Wisconsin by seeking refuge across state lines to avoid allowing Republican majorities a quorum in their respective legislatures.  In both states, lawmakers who have sided with those who tried to brand Republicans as “the party of ‘No’” have turned themselves into “the party of no-show”.

Wisconsin and Indiana, like Georgia and most other states, are facing real, structural financial problems.  States are in danger of cutting essential services.   And beyond the angry signs and shouts at various protests, there is actually a sincere if not seemingly bizarre conversation going on about what services states can afford to provide, and how states will pay to offer them.

In Georgia, that conversation took the form of rebuilding the HOPE scholarship, which is facing increasing expenses due to tuition increases which are outpacing inflation.  Governor Deal laid out his plan this week, in which he proposes to cover only 90% of tuition for most students, with some exceptionally high achieving students to continue to receive 100% of tuition from newly named “Zell Miller Scholarships”.  Money for fees and books will also be stripped for HOPE recipients.

So, where were the Democrats when a new Republican Governor announced his plan to cut funding to perhaps the most popular education programs in Georgia, if not the nation?  Funny thing about that.  They weren’t hiding in Illinois, or even South Carolina.  No, they were represented at the press conference, standing next to the Governor to lend support for a comprehensive solution to fix an overburdened program that was overspending its revenue. 

House minority leader Stacey Abrams and Calvin Smyre, a senior Democrat who has served as Georgia Democratic Party Chairman joined with the Governor at the announcement because Democrats were included in the process of devising a solution at the beginning.  As such, what would have normally been a bloodletting in the press over changes to a beloved program became a more thoughtful, reasoned discussion of why the changes are necessary, and a focus on the fact that HOPE will still serve more college age students than any other program in the country.

 We’ve also seen Democratic Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed working closely with House Speaker David Ralston, trying to solve the Atlanta region’s transportation problems by finding common ground in the needs of the inner city and the outlying suburbs.   As we’ve discussed here before, Republicans are leaning heavily on Reed to bring Democrats on board with economic development issues as well.

The cooperation in Georgia is refreshing, but anecdotally seems to be increasingly rare.  We live in an age of political segregation.  Election cycles never end, and thus leaders are reluctant to cede any part of  an issue to the opposition, fearing it will be used against them next election, or may possibly give the other side an edge.

Meanwhile, voters can now choose news from sources that reaffirm what we already believe.  If you’re a good conservative, FoxNews will be happy to provide you with news that will not offend your sensibilities.  If you’re a liberal/progressive, MSNBC has all the outrage against conservatives you could desire.

And in this environment of the perpetual campaign, we do need to step up and give recognition on the rare occasion when we witness an actual attempt to govern.  In his first major proposal as Governor which had great potential for controversy, Deal managed to assemble a coalition as important as assembling workable details on saving the program. 

Let’s hope there’s a pattern like his plan for HOPE.

Yeah, yeah. In the crosshairs. It’s a metaphor, people. Culture of civility be damned! Ha!

Anyway, Andrew Breitbart has been on a tear of late against Georgia Democratic Congressman Sanford Bishop who loves to give taxpayer funded scholarships to his own family and seems to have other family members who love collecting as many public salaries as possible.

Breitbart continues to focus on Bishop’s alleged collusion in corruption related to the Pigford v. Glickman settlement. Sure, Old AJC Guy likes to minimize it as “pretty thin gruel” (because that’s what a biased AJC reporter does, you see). But now Breitbart has put together some TV ads for Bishop’s home district that he is collecting funds to air. Here’s the main ad:

Breitbart’s position: “I am committed to getting justice for the bona fide black farmers who faced government sponsored discrimination and land loss. These American heroes were betrayed by the so-called ‘black leadership’ like the Congressional Black Caucus, who sold them out at every opportunity. CBC member Sanford Bishop is a perfect example of the back stabbing that these men have faced.”

With conversations in D.C. about the initiation of investigations into Pigford, it remains to be seen if Sanford Bishop will ever actually address the (sorry Old AJC Guy) serious allegations being levied against him from actual victims of discrimination.

We here wish a speedy recovery to Savannah Alderman Clifton Jones who has been hospitalized after what initial diagnosis indicates was something called a “pin stroke.” Incredibly, his fellow Alderman recognized the symptoms and got him, thankfully, to the hospital in time for the appropriate medications to be administered to mitigate damage.

More here from the Savannah Morning News.

As Roy Barnes recently said, “The people of Georgia have a right to know about the person who is going to be the chief executive officer of this state.”

I couldn’t agree more, Roy.

Roy Barnes claimed federal and state income tax breaks in 2008 and 2009 for depreciation on a house he doesn’t own, his campaign acknowledged Thursday.

Cobb County property records show Barnes’ daughter and son-in-law have owned the house in Marietta since 2007 when Barnes gave it to them. Barnes owns several properties on the road.

More here. Using Barnes’ logic, then, does this mean we can’t trust him to manage the state coffers when he takes tax breaks on a home he doesn’t even own? Really, if he can’t figure out the difference between what he owns and what he doesn’t own, how can he effectively serve us from a perch on East Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta?

John Barrow (D-Bad Hair Day) has announced that he will keep approximately $24,000 in campaign donations from fellow Congressman Charles Rangel (D-Throat Lozenge) who stands accused of myriad ethical violations.

As the Savannah Morning News reports, “The spokeswoman, Jane Brodksy, justified Barrow’s refusal on the grounds he received it before the ethics case surfaced.”

Emphasis mine. What convenient logic from John Barrow. You see, he didn’t know the money he was receiving was dirty until after he received it. Thus, it evidently doesn’t matter he now knows about the questionable sources for the money. How quaint. What say his opponent, Ray McKinney?

“There’s right and wrong and there’s technical right and wrong,” he said. “Barrow is choosing to be technically right. He’s saying, ‘I didn’t know about it, but now that I know it, it’s still OK because I didn’t know it at the time.’

“There’s nothing wrong with him receiving the money, but now that he knows it’s dirty, he should give it to charity, as other candidates have.”

John Barrow ♥’s Charlie Rangel bunches and bunches and is happy to spend dollars generated by corruption.

As reported by Politico and Jim Galloway this morning, Rep. Sanford Bishop (D) has determined after exhaustive work and a sweeping search of his constituents that the most eligible people he found to receive three scholarships from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation happened to be…his stepdaughter and wife’s niece. Well played, my friend. Well played.

In 2003, Emmaundia Whitaker, the niece of Vivian Creighton Bishop, who is Bishop’s wife, was awarded an education scholarship. She was also given a similar award in 2005.

And in 2003, Aayesha Owens Reese, the congressman’s stepdaughter, was granted an education scholarship as well.

The congressman’s wife, is a longtime state employee in Georgia. She currently serves as clerk of the municipal court in Columbus, Georgia.

A Bishop spokesman insisted the Georgia Democrat did not violate CBC Foundation rules that were in place at that time by awarding scholarships to family members.

“It is our understanding that the CBC Foundation in 2008 revisited the guidelines and processes for its scholarship programs, and as such included language to clarify that CBC family members are not eligible to receive the scholarships,” said Ashton McRae, Bishop’s spokesman, in a statement released by the office. “These scholarships … were awarded prior to 2008.”

Well, that must make everything all right, then. See, it wasn’t barred earlier in the decade! The real question is what value system leads a sitting Congressman to think it’s acceptable to give CBC scholarships to his own family over those more needy in his district. Unless Congressman Bishop believes there is no one more deserving of help then his own family. Doesn’t he care about The Children™?

Interestingly, the scholarship applicants are required to live or attend school in the lawmakers’ districts, have at least a 2.5 grade point average, and “exhibit leadership ability and participate in community service activities,” among other restrictions. For the scholarships granted to Reese and Whitaker, the applicants must be planning to “pursue a degree in the fields of medicine, engineering, technology, nutrition, or other health related studies,” according to the CBC Foundation’s website.

And what did Reese end up doing with her life after planning to pursue a degree in “medicine, engineering, technology, nutrition, or other health related studies?” Why she took a job with the Fulton County District Attorney’s office! Of course! What a logical next step.

Information on what colleges Reese and Whitaker were attending at the time of the scholarship awards or what degrees they were pursuing was not available.

Maybe Congressman Bishop would care to release that information…today?

Much like with yesterday’s story about Bishop, don’t bother asking his aide Jamey Crozier what he thinks about this. He’ll probably just accuse you of racism and threaten to withhold any Federal assistance from his office.

Interesting happenings in the State Ethics Commissions investigations into John Oxendine’s PAC contributions.

You’ll recall over a year ago, the AJC reported that Oxendine’s campaign for Governor got $120,000 in $12,000 installment from 10 Alabama PACs connected to Oxendine’s friend, and hunting partner Delos “Dee” Yancey III.

Well, the State Ethics Commission opened an investigation, and subpoenaed the 10 PACs in Alabama. The PACs told the State Ethics Commission to get bent, the SEC’s jurisdiction doesn’t apply in Alabama. So the SEC subpoenaed Yancy’s firms in Georgia.

Those firms dragged their feet, then filed a lawsuit in Fulton Superior Court saying that the State Ethics Commission shouldn’t be allowed to do their job this close to an election, because some members might be politically motivated. Who ever heard of political appointees being politically motivated?

Anyway, Fulton Superior Court Judge Kimberly M. Esmond Adams ruled that all hearings into this matter be postponed till she holds a hearing on the matter. After all, why should GOP Primary voters be informed about the candidates they are voting on.

The State Ethics Commission held some debate on what constituted “this matter” – the subpoenas from the firms in question or the entire Oxendine investigation. They had initially determined that the court’s ruling applied to Yancey’s firms only, but today the AJC is reporting that the State Ethics Commission has decided to cancel a scheduled hearing into the entire investigation.

Clearly someone has something to hide.

At least not for the last two years. So says Atlanta Press Club award winner Jim Walls:

Gubernatorial candidate Eric Johnson neglected to report $289,000 in state payments to his architectural firm from 1999 to 2002, the Associated Press reports. But Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond can go him one better: He hasn’t disclosed anything whatsoever since 2007.

Thurmond, who’s running for the U.S. Senate, filed no financial disclosure forms with the State Ethics Commission in 2008 or 2009, a check of the commission’s online look-up shows. Elected officials in Georgia are required to report on basic details of their personal finances every year by July 1.

Since he’s leaving his state job, Thurmond is not required to file the form this year. A similar disclosure for the Senate campaign is due Tuesday.

H/T Jim Galloway

State Representative Mark Hatfield, who earlier this session sought to impeach Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker for failing to defend the state from the attack on Federalism that is ObamaCare, has (as the AJC’s Jim Galloway reports) this afternoon filed legislation that would have future candidates for President of the United States prove their citizenship before being granted permission to be placed on the ballot.

This legislation is similar to legislation pending in Arizona. In particular, as Galloway notes, the legislation reads:

Within 10 days after submitting its list of names of candidates, the state executive committee shall submit to the Secretary of State for each candidate an affidavit by the candidate stating the candidate’s citizenship and age and shall append to the affidavit documents that prove the candidate is a natural born citizen, prove the candidate’s age, and prove that the candidate meets the residency requirements for President of the United States as prescribed in Article II, Section ! of the United States Constitution.

Expect this bill to be refiled next year. That said, it seems rather pointless since the State of Hawaii has already issued official certification of the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate, which would count as the “affidavit documents that prove the candidate is a natural born citizen.”

So, it’s nearing the end of spring break/Easter week, and folks with some spare time on their hands are using it to go through disclosures. And, because my friends are generous people, some choose to share their findings with me. And because I’m a generous guy, I’ll share this tidbit with you.

Remember way back when - that time everyone was pretending an ethics report that had been delivered to Congressman Deal didn’t exist? Well, the now re-assigned spokesperson was referring folks who dared to ask of such reports existance to Deal’s attorney. And boy was that expensive.

According to Deal’s March 31 Disclosure, the Deal Campaign racked up over $17,000 in legal fees to the firm of McKenna Long and Aldridge. And I’m sure all those fees were strictly campaign related, because, well, that’s all you can spend campaign money on.

I’m sure it’s just strong coincidence that McKenna submitted the response and Deal’s “Summary Of Facts” to the OCE on January 25th, (starts p 93) and that legal bills from the campaing to McKenna were paid in the amount of $8,377.80 on January 5th, and $8,986.85 on February 1st. It just makes good sense to get $17K of campaing “legal work” done while the same firm is simultaneously working an ethics defense.

I’d call over to the Deal campaign to ask for more details and assurance that the campaign wasn’t spending campaign money on a Congressional Ethics Complaint defense, but I don’t have the heart to get another “No Comment”, nor do I wish to have a campaign that is still spending more money than it is taking in to have to pay an attorney out of campaign funds to answer my questions.

Updated: After checking the report from the previous period ending Dec 31, 2009, it appears that the total paid to McKenna is closer to $40K, with a significant increase in the October – December timeframe, when the ethics complaint was originally filed by CREW. And according to the first commenter, the AP wire has Deal’s spokesperson acknowledging that this is in fact for legal defense relating to his Congressional Ethics complaint. The logic appears to be that this is a “politically motivated witch hunt”, and therefore, using campaign funds to defend an action taken as a US Congressman prior to his announcement that he was running for Governor is kosher.

I’m thinking that strains logic. You guys fight it out. I’m sure someone will be along soon to explain GA code to us soon.

Updated Again: Shannon McAffrey of the AP had this well before I did, and Jim Galloway brings you her report here.

As Jason Pye broke last night, State Senator Don Balfour declared yesterday he was out of the race for the House of Representatives and was done with the Georgia Senate.

This afternoon, there is now some softening of his position as it relates to the Georgia Senate. Sorta. It seems that someone can’t make up his mind if he is truly done with elected office.

Balfour said he would decide by the upcoming qualifying period in the coming weeks if he would try to continue his 18-year tenure in the Georgia Senate, where he now heads the powerful Rules Committee.

The political fight over the past few weeks, since U.S. Rep. John Linder’s surprise announcement he would retire from office, has been brutal, and Balfour said the stress of trying to be a leader in the state’s grueling process to cut billions from the budget has been too much.

“It got very frustrating,” he said, pointing to a quick political response over higher education funding when he said budget cuts may drive a tuition increase. “In the past two weeks, I haven’t been sleeping well. … I’ve lost a lot of weight. … I just don’t have a peace about it.”

After so many years in public office, it’s certainly curious that only now is he finding himself unable to handle the rigors of his position. Curious.

Whatever his decision, it’s going to be quite a ride and I recommend that we all follow this recommenation*.

*Everyone except Ben Harbin, that is.

This week, disgraced Speaker of the Georgia House Glenn Richardson will earn $2,064.23 for doing nothing. He is still the State Representative from Paulding County and couldn’t even be bothered to attend the majority caucus meeting this last week. And no one currently in leadership seems to have a problem with that.

Majority Leader Jerry Keen is fine with it. Speaker Pro Tempore Mark Burkhalter, reporting in from his undisclosed and secure underground bunker, is fine with it. Ways and Means Chairman Larry ‘live and let live’ O’Neal is fine with it.

So how can an O’Neal / Keen leadership team be the cool, refreshing breeze of “new leadership” that people like Rep. Allen Peake seem to be frothing with anticipation to vote in if they can’t even speak up about the necessity for an immediate Richardson departure?

As increasing numbers realize, it can’t.

Thus, I again point to the Lunsford Stratagem as a simple and elegant solution to aid Republicans in their efforts to emerge from their morass.

The caucus should support his plan as it would permit a true “clean slate” approach with regard to Republican leadership. Because unless Bill Hembree or David Ralston succeed in their bids for Speaker, an O’Neal / Keen team (the latter, pictured right) shows no evidence of change beyond a simple switching out of nameplates at certain desks.

Furthermore, how is not forcing the Majority Leader seat to a vote smart? Keeping someone like Keen, a man who, a quick review of lobbyist contribution reports from the State Ethics Commission show has certainly been the recipient of many “gifts” over the last five years, is merely a maintenance of the status quo.

There is no “do over” with this situation and headlines like “Will Gold Dome turmoil cost the GOP?” in the AJC are not being pulled out of thin air and fabricated. A genuine electoral danger exists and majority caucus members should be prepared to reap the consequences unless they bring forth real change with a completely new leadership slate.

Brett Harrell, Republican candidate for House District 106, wants you to know something really, really important. Brett wants you to know what a fun time he had last night. Brett wants you to know he hung out with some elected officials and important businessmen at a swanky Lake Lanier lodge. Brett wants you to know that, between courses, Important Issues were also discussed for you little people.

Harrell (Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook) was, last night, having an “[e]njoyable evening with GA Chamber, business community, Lt Gov Cagle, Sen Shafer, and others at Virgil William’s Lake Lanier lodge.” And who is Virgil Williams? This guy.

An hour later we got an update from Harrell between after dinner drinks: “Great evening with the Georgia Chamber, business people, Sen. Shafer, Lt. Gov. Cagle and others focused on improving the lives of all Georgians.”

How wonderful that members of the General Assembly and Casey Cagle, who was no doubt standing tall and erect at this event, are able to get Republican candidates for office on the gravy train early.

And, why precisely did Harrell need to attend? Oh, yeah, to focus on “improving the lives of all Georgians.” Evidently he isn’t already aware of how that can be done and was just blowing smoke in this interview because he has to be spoon fed positions on issues. And, of course, if a filet mignon happens to appear in front of you during the conversation as you enjoy a nicely made beverage, what’s the harm!

With a public attitude decidedly against “business as usual” and with ethics reform proposals being thrown around the Gold Dome almost hourly, what lesson have these people learned? None. And this is the kind of behavior Republican members of the Georgia House can continue to expect to be tolerated under the leadership of Larry “judge-not and I-won’t-be-judged kind of guy, as long as the work gets done” O’Neal and Jerry “don’t look at lobbyist reports” Keen.

Unless real leaders make their case this week, that is, for why they should be given leadership positions within the caucus.

With the departure of Glenn Richardson, after he gobbles up several more thousand tax dollars to sit on his rear and do nothing through the end of the month, and now with Mark Burkhalter saying he is interested isn’t interested is interested in the GWCC Executive Director position, it seems that Majority Leader Jerry Keen is left with the potential to endure this crisis with little damage. But should he be so fortunate or must he show true leadership and allow a complete “clean sweep” with regard to Georgia House leadership?

A quick review of lobbyist contribution reports from the State Ethics Commission show he has certainly been the recipient of many “gifts” over the last five years he has been Majority Leader. And acceptance of these “gifts” is not in violation of current ethics rules. But the fact that the total sum of contributions is on par with Richardson and Burkhalter is indicative of the “culture” that he allowed to develop while he was a member of the leadership.

Buzz asks here if “Keen and Burkhalter stay put does that solve the GOP’s image problem?” No, it does not. The “command and control economy” method of leadership which has been exercised these last few years is one that is not fixed by simply changing one or two wheels in the proverbial machine. Indeed, the entire machine must be replaced. Assuming Burkhalter does get the 400K dollar gig with the GWCC, that will leave Keen as the last reminder of a failed period of leadership. For the good of the caucus, Keen needs to announce within the week that he, too, will resign as Majority Leader. If he wants to place his name into consideration for the position, again, that would be acceptable, but with so many changes developing daily, the caucus needs to be able to have the option and opportunity to make a total and complete break with recent dysfunction.

As Democrats in the General Assembly and on the campaign trail moan about the “culture of corruption” which they feel is coming to light in the majority caucus, they would be well served to recall that people in glass houses should not throw stones. Take, for example, State Representatives Roger Bruce (D-Atlanta), Bob Bryant (D-Garden City), Winfred Dukes (D-Albany), Carol Fullerton (D-Albany), Henry “Wayne” Howard (D-Augusta), Sheila Jones (D-Atlanta), David Lucas (D-Macon), William Quincy Murphy (D-Augusta), Jay Shaw (D-Lakeland) and Al Williams (D-Midway) as well as State Senators Valencia Seay (D-Riverdale) and Steve Thompson (D-Marietta).

Any guesses on what they have in common?

They represent all the members of the General Assembly as of December 1 who still haven’t filed financial disclosure statements for 2008 as required by state law, according to State Ethics Commission records!

Oh, but it gets even better:

Four of them haven’t filed disclosures for 2007 either, meaning the public has had no clue about their financial interests for nearly two and a half years. They are Reps. Roger Bruce of Atlanta, Winfred Dukes of Albany, Henry “Wayne” Howard of Augusta and David Lucas of Macon.

All 12 are Democrats.

Emphasis mine from the fine report over at Atlanta Unfiltered. But why are these reports required?

Georgia law requires elected officials once a year to file a public statement summarizing their financial interests and those of their spouses. What’s the point? The reports give constituents basic information to help them figure out whether an official’s public and private interests conflict.

Information. Sunlight. Disinfectant. All three help keep the stench of corruption and back room deals at bay…we hope. It admittedly sometimes does not always work, as is clearly evident in a situation regarding recent legislation in the State House concerning a certain gas pipeline. That, though, is a story that will get more coverage here and elsewhere in the coming weeks.

For now, Democrats should be mindful of their own shortcomings as the majority takes affirmative steps to clean up its own mess. The latter’s success is not a foregone conclusion, but if you see any of the people below calling out Republicans for the current ethical mess they find themselves in, be sure to point out their own hypocrisy for what it is.

Behold, the Georgia General Assembly’s Democratic Dirty Dozen:

Oh, please let it be so. While reading this review of what’s been up in House District 80 for the last few campaign cycles which was posted over at Aikido School of Savannah, I noted one commenter indicated that Keith Gross (D-Florida, Georgia, Maryland, His Mom’s House, Wherever) filed preliminary campaign registration documents with the State Ethics Commission on June 10. It now appears that the whole gang may be back including campaign manager Steve Acuna, who you’ll recall wouldn’t even release Gross’ resume the last time around because of ‘fears’ for the safety of the candidate. And there were Gross’ alleged handgun charges in another state. We could go on and on…and on…and on.

Evidently the public embarrassment of being so incompetent that he couldn’t establish a simple thing as residency during his first campaign for House District 80, coupled with how his convoluted story was unraveled in a scathing opinion from State Administrative Law Judge Michael A. Malihi, may not be enough to keep our intrepid candidate from perhaps throwing his hat again into the race (albeit this will be the first time he’s done so legally).

So what’s Gross been up to in the interim? According to this, he’s still the President/CEO of the mysterious and covert Opifer Group. In addition, he owns the Green Sprouts Cafe in the Emory Village shopping center in Atlanta where Classic Sprouts Burritos are going for $6.75.

Gross has made sure to keep some mystery around with this potential second run for office, though. In filings with the State Ethics Commission, he has listed his address as a “Sunglasses Hut” in Atlanta.

Should be another exciting race in House District 80.

[UPDATE] A comment with this post suggests that, point in fact, Gross is not living in a “Sunglasses Hut” but that his address does correlate to actual residential dwellings. If so, I congratulate him on achieving such a long sought after goal of actually living in Georgia.

That’s the word from our Lieutenant Governor. Apples and oranges. One office you can run for with crippling back pain, or while recovering from surgery, and the other you can’t. Being Lieutenant Governor is evidently so easy even a caveman can do it!

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle raised eyebrows when he said mounting back problems forced him to drop out of the 2010 governor’s race but that he still felt healthy enough to run for re-election to his current post.

The Republican says comparing the two contests is like comparing “apples and oranges.” The governor’s race is already under way and could take a $10 million war chest.

What an outstanding way to make his office look utterly unnecessary if someone who is wracked with pain and facing paralysis is still able to handle the responsibilities incumbent in holding the second highest office within Georgia.

Cagle says he decided to drop out of the race after roaming the grounds of Augusta National with his family last week. He says he suffers from growing numbness in his left arm and the possibility of paralysis.

He says the pain “never goes away. It only worsens. Even when I lay down.”

Okay, I’ll take him at his word. It’s the horrible pain. The horrible pain that no one has heard a whisper about for months. The horrible pain that isn’t on display in these recent videos. The horrible pain that his physician, who is on “double secret probation” and mysteriously can’t be identified in the first ever case of “reverse physician confidentiality,” says surgery is needed for. The horrible pain that, as a result of walking around The Masters tournament in Augusta and not 40 long days and nights during the recent session of the General Assembly, convinced him about the need for surgery.

But he can still run for re-election and remain an effective Lieutenant Governor. Really?

Oxendine has raised a total of $1,036,370.00 for the whole cycle.

He has cash on hand of $870,345.70.

As noted earlier, Cagle has $1,255,543.45 on hand.

Wow — Eric Johnson raised over $465,000.00 and Shafer only $85,000.00.

That’s a big difference.

Except it is not.

If you look at Eric Johnson’s Senate account, he had ~$450,000.00 in it, gave refunds to everyone, and they all reallocated to his Lt. Gov. account. Digging into it, it looks like he really only raised about $30,000.00 in new money.

Shafer also has about $450,000.00 in his Senate account and has not transferred any over. So it actually appears Shafer raised more new money that Johnson.

Were he to reallocated his Senate account to his Lt. Gov. account, he’d be ahead of the pack and have about $100,000.00 more cash on hand.

UPDATE: Having written this at midnight after the championship game, Icarus points out in the comments more precise numbers:

Doing the math, Johnson raised a mere $44K in “new” money while
racking up $17K in debts. When you add the $11K leftover in his
senate campaign fund, Johnson has net a balance of $470K as the year
ended..

Shafer’s net balance as of the same date was $551K — an $82K
advantage. Shafer also raised $85K in new money — twice what Johnson raised in half the time.