Perdue’s COO settles ethics complaint over disclosures
Jim Lientz, Gov. Sonny Perdue’s former chief operating officer, has apparently settled a 4-year-old ethics complaint alleging he had failed to fully disclose his personal financial interests. Details have not been released, but a consent order with Lientz is on the agenda for the State Ethics Commission’s meeting tomorrow. Consent orders typically involve payment of a fine.
Did partisan $$$ swing non-partisan mayor’s race?
Countless Atlantans volunteered for Kasim Reed last fall, helping a second-place candidate win the top job in city government. But, in a tight nonpartisan race, partisan campaigning may have been the critical ingredient that vaulted him past Mary Norwood. The Georgia Democratic Party spent at least $165,000 to attack her and contribute to an unprecedented 8 percent jump […]
Should ‘incumbent protection’ help Dems defeat other Dems?
Literature denouncing candidate Graham Balch greeted voters as they opened their mailboxes in recent weeks in Georgia’s 39th Senate District. Voters were told Balch is a Republican, that he called Atlanta’s Grady High a “ghetto” school and deserved an “F” for his positions on education. In the fine print: Re-elect Sen. Vincent Fort. Tactics like these are common, if not predictable, before a contested election. The difference: Balch ran as a Democrat, and a state Democratic organization paid for the attack ads. Continue reading my Ethics Watch column in the AJC…
