AROUND TOWN: Carr on Abrams, Sheriff's shrimp boil, Roe vs. Wade

If you’ve turned on a television in the past few weeks, there’s a good chance you’ve seen an ad from Gov. Brian Kemp highlighting a recent gaffe from Stacey Abrams, his Democratic opponent.

“I am tired of hearing about being the best state in the country to do business when we are the worst state in the country to live,” Abrams said in a speech in Gwinnett County last month, which Kemp's campaign has since turned into an attack ad.

Abrams in the speech went on to point to Georgia’s poor rankings in mental health and maternal mortality, and its high incarceration rate. She later acknowledged the comment was “inelegant.”

But the damage was already done. You can bet your bottom dollar Republicans will remind Georgians of that comment for the rest of the election — such was the case on Friday.

“How in the world can you want to be a leader in this state, how in the world can you want to be the governor of this state, and you think it's the worst place to live?” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr Friday, speaking to the Cobb County Republican Women’s Club. “That is disgraceful, and it’s wrong. If this was the worst state in the nation to live, why in the world do we keep growing? Why in the world are we the top state for business? Why in the world do we keep attracting the best talent? Why in the world do folks want to stay here and raise a family and a business? I love this state.”

Chris Carr did have some nice things to say about one Democrat — Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady, who was in the audience.

Broady’s office prosecuted the three men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery, the man who was chased down and killed while jogging in Brunswick. Cobb was picked to prosecute the case after two South Georgia district attorneys bungled the initial investigation, and a third said his office didn’t have the resources to prosecute the killers. At the time, Republican Joyette Holmes was the Cobb DA, but Holmes lost in the November 2020 election to Broady.

“Flynn came in after the election, and I cannot thank he and Linda (Dunikoski, the lead prosecutor in the trial) and the office enough, to ensure that Ahmaud Arbery got maximum justice,” Carr said to applause. “I appreciate it, because Ahmaud, his family, the community, our state and nation deserve that, and I appreciate what y'all have done on that.”

The featured speakers at the Republican women's luncheon were former Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn and Col. Chris Wright, the head of the Georgia State Patrol.

Introducing the law enforcement heavyweights, Nancy Couch, the president of the club, said she hoped Wright would tell the crowd how far over the speed limit they have to drive to get a ticket.

After much serious discussion on policing in Georgia, Wright wrapped up his remarks by answering Couch.

“Depends,” he said. “Depending on the driver's attitude, 56 could be speeding, 54 could be impeding.”

SHRIMP BOIL: For years, former Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren’s annual Corn Boilin' was one of the marquee political events in Georgia. Governors, representatives, and would-be candidates flocked to the cookout to chow down on fatback and intrigue. The outdoor celebration began in 1990 as a political event when former Sheriff Bill Hutson decided to share his family tradition of boiling July-ripened corn to bring some "mountain traditions" to Cobb.

Sheriff Craig Owens is bringing the event back with a twist, updating the menu and billing the celebration as the annual Low Country Shrimp Boilin’. Crustaceans were never known to be a feature of Warren’s parties, but Owens said in a press release he’s “excited for the return of this Cobb County tradition.”

State Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Powder Springs, tells Around Town it's a blend of the past, present and future. For instance, state Sen. Lindsey Tippins, R-west Cobb, will still be cooking the corn as he's done for years. 

The boilin’ will be held July 11 at Jim Miller Park from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Warren, it should be recalled, got himself into a bit of trouble several years back when questions arose about where the proceeds from his annual boils ended up. Though some of the money went to charity, he also directed a not-insignificant portion of the funds to his reelection campaign, and was accused of using county resources to put on a political event.

Those allegations led to a Georgia Ethics Commission investigation ending with Warren acknowledging wrongdoing and paying a $10,000 fine.

A spokesperson for Owens’ office didn’t get back to us on who this year’s $30 a head tickets will benefit. But given the flier indicates its paid for by “Friends of Craig Owens” — the sheriff’s campaign organization — it appears safe to dub this a campaign event.

SPEAKER CIRCUIT: Bob Morgan, an Army veteran and co-vice chairman of the Cobb Veterans Memorial Foundation, is the keynote speaker at Monday's Metro Marietta Kiwanis Club. The club meets at noon at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta. For more information or make a reservation for the meeting, please email metromariettakiwanis1957@gmail.com.

ROE VS. WADE: The Journal's email box filled with press releases from interest groups and politicians across the nation in the wake of Friday's Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, who represents part of Cobb, issued the following statement:

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court confirms what has been true all along: there is no constitutional right to an abortion. This decision by the Supreme Court upholds the original intent of the Constitution, by limiting the federal government’s authority to only the powers enumerated in the Constitution. This decision effectively returns the power to decide abortion policy back to where it was intended to reside, with the American people and their state governments. As a result of this decision, voters will now have the ability to decide whether to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent children in their states, or to allow for abortion, and to what degree.

“While many see this as a massive move forward for the pro-life movement, it doesn’t actually outlaw abortions, it simply shifts the issue to where it belongs, as a state-by-state issue. For the pro-life community, our work is only beginning. The states will now need to enact laws to affirm the right to life for the pre-born at the state level. The Supreme Court corrected a decision that has been widely regarded as one of the most convoluted Supreme Court opinions in history, which held that the right to privacy, protected by the Constitution, gives us the right to kill an unborn child.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, who also represents Cobb, had a different take.

“This morning the Supreme Court issued a ruling that stripped essential human rights from hundreds of millions of Americans. I join my Democratic congressional colleagues in anger, grief, and horror. As a husband, a father, and a grandfather, I hope and pray for a future where women’s access to education, employment, healthcare, and privacy are not curtailed by extremist policies set by an unelected few,” Scott said. “Now, we must move to immediately codify a federal right to abortion," Scott said. 

And U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, who represents Cobb through the end of this year, was also displeased. 

“Today, every woman in America has been made less free. Today, extremists on the Supreme Court have stripped away a woman’s right to make choices about her own reproductive health care. Today, our nation’s highest court has rolled back the clock and stripped women of their liberty.

“Today, SCOTUS overturned a half century of precedent, and Dobbs will now join Plessy as one of the most regressive decisions in our nation’s history.

“I share the pain so many are feeling in America today. The freedom and autonomy that has been ripped from women today is sacred — far too personal for our government to dictate. I know the agony that women face when making difficult decisions about their reproductive health. I have faced the pain of labor without hope for a living child. And I mourn the loss that will result from this decision — restricting access to abortion care will endanger the lives of women, disproportionately Black women, in a nation with already alarmingly high rates of maternal mortality.

 “For all those who share my grief today, know this: you are strong and powerful beyond measure. Your worth is more than your ability to procreate. We will continue the fight to again reclaim our rights to bodily autonomy. We must take up this movement until America is again a nation of choice—a nation where every woman has that freedom to choose.”