EARLY ON, 14TH DISTRICT RACE SPARKS INTEREST
With just a month in office, Greene already drawing contenders
The national pushback from 14th District Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s inflammatory and conspiracy-laden social media activity appears to have energized potential candidates to begin campaigning for her seat.
Only just over a month in office, several potential candidates have said they’ll seek her post in Congress next year.
In contrast, former Northwest Georgia GOP Rep. Tom Graves didn’t field any strong opposition during his de
cade in office. It wasn’t until Graves announced he would retire that a bevy of Republicans signed on as candidates, including some from outside the district, like Greene.
At that point, there wasn’t much push from the Democratic side to field a candidate. One showed up, and then later dropped out due to family-related issues. That left the Democratic Party without a candidate just past the cutoff date.
So far, this time around, there already have been at least two Democrats, and potentially more, seeking to run.
Brittany Trambauer-smith from Dallas, Ga., has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission. Another Democrat, Marcus Flowers from Bremen, Ga., told 11 Alive News that he also has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to explore a campaign for the seat.
There also have been rumblings from the Republican side. Her former runoff opponent, Rome neurosurgeon Dr. John Cowan, has been active politically and in the media.
He’s given a number of interviews to national and international media organizations regarding the district recently, but would only say he was “undecided” when
asked on Monday, Feb. 8, if he would run again.
Greene was removed from her posts on the Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee on Feb. 4 for spreading inflammatory and conspiracy-laden social media posts. She remained defiant during a Friday, Feb. 5, press conference and has continued to be vocal on her social media accounts.
“The Media Mob, the Silicon Valley Cartel, the Dangerous Democrats, & the RINO Never Trumpers are ALL pushing the Republican Party to move on and away from President Trump,” she said in a tweet posted Monday, Feb. 8. “Mark my words. We will NEVER leave him. All elected Republicans that are against him seal their own fate.”
A big factor concerning the seat is up in the air —
what the 14th District will look like after redistricting takes place later this year.
The U.S. Census Bureau is set to release state figures soon and they’re estimating the population in Georgia has grown by around a million people since the 2010 Census. Once released, the Republican-dominated state legislature will then draw up the district maps for the next decade.
Georgia currently has 14 of the House’s 435 seats and may not get more, despite population growth. That means district borders will be shifted to divvy up the population equally among the existing districts.
Up and down ballot challenges galore
The buildup to what’s expected to be a political freefor-all in 2022 isn’t limited
to the 14th District. Top Republicans in the state are likely to face challenges from within their party as well as from the outside — and let’s not forget there will be a U.S. Senate seat in contention again.
Former president Donald Trump has continued to target fellow Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. He encouraged former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins to take on Kemp and repeatedly bashed the governor on Twitter, prior to being banned from the social media platform.
Kemp’s challenge could potentially come from “state Sen. Burt Jones, a wealthy Republican aligned with Trump,” the Atlanta Journal-constitution reported.
That’s not to speak for others in Georgia’s GOP who are likely to face challenges from inside their own party — like Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger.
Raffensperger and his staff adamantly defended the results of the presidential election in Georgia, which Trump lost by a slim margin, as well as the integrity of the state’s voting system.
Trump repeatedly aired false claims that there was widespread voter fraud and was recorded in a phone call, which Raffensperger released to the Washington Post, telling the elections chief to find votes to overturn the election.
Regardless, the main event appears to be a rematch between Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams, who Kemp very narrowly defeated in 2018.
Abrams, who organized voter turnout campaigns that benefited the Democratic Party in the November election and January Senate runoff, has not yet
announced an intention to run for governor.
However, if she does, she’ll be running alongside newly elected Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Warnock, a Democrat from Atlanta, beat out Kemp’s GOP appointee Kelly Loeffler for the post.
But he’s serving the balance of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term, which expires in January 2023.
While U.S. senators have six-year terms, every two years the members of one class, about one-third of the Senate, face election or reelection.
Warnock’s most likely opponent at this point is Collins, who has said he is considering another run for the seat. Collins ran for the seat in the free-for-all primary, vying against both Loeffler and Warnock and then conceding defeat.
If the Lafayette Ramblers have learned just one thing over the past five successful seasons, it’s that when February rolls around, you’re going to get everyone’s best shot.
And that’s exactly what the Ramblers got from Adairsville last Tuesday night.
Trailing by double digits in the second quarter, Lafayette was able to get back in the ball game, grab the lead and hang on at the end to finally put away the pesky Tigers, 78-75, in a thrilling Region 6-AAA game at Dan Priest Gymnasium.
The combination of Adairsville’s outside shooting and the athleticism of swingman T.J. Printup, Jr. gave Lafayette problems in the first half as the Tigers built a 23-14 lead after one quarter and increased their advantage to 11 early in the second.
However, the Ramblers didn’t panic. Six straight points by Jaylon Ramsey cut into the Tigers’ lead and the Ramblers would go into halftime down by just three, 39-36.
Aidan Hadaway scored six straight points for Lafayette early in the third quarter before the Ramblers took the lead, 48-47, on a short jump hook in the lane by Porter with 3:54 to play in the period. The senior would show off his perimeter game with three 3-pointers over the rest of the quarter to give his team a 61-53 advantage going into the final eight minutes of play.
The lead would swell to 10 points in the opening minute of the final quarter when Adairsville came storming back. A couple of tough 3-pointers from Tucker Deams would highlight the rally as LaFayette’s lead was sliced down to 73-71 with 2:07 to play.
Ramsey answered with a basket off an offensive rebound and Porter drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws, but Printup responded with a drive to the basket and the Tigers caught a break when Lafayette turned it over shortly after inbounding the ball.
However, a missed shot would force Adairsville to put Junior Barber on the line with 28 seconds to go. The junior hit 1 of 2 at the line to get the lead back to five and Porter would come up with a defensive rebound after the Tigers missed a rushed 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.
Lafayette missed three consecutive free throws in the closing seconds, but one final full-court heave by the Tigers at the buzzer was well off the mark as Lafayette picked up the hard-earned victory.
Hadaway scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half and led Lafayette
with 17 rebounds, while Porter scored 24 points and pulled down 14 boards. Thirteen points from Barber, 11 from Ramsey and two by Zach Barrett rounded out the night for the Ramblers.
Lafayette girls 74, Adairsville 25
There would be no such drama in Tuesday’s opener as the Orange-and-black dropped the hammer early, taking a 31-8 lead after the first quarter and rolling to the victory.
Lafayette’s two seniors, Latyah Barber and Savanna Hall, were key contributors in the win. Hall scored four points, pulled down five rebounds and had a pair of steals, while Barber flirted with a quadruple-double.
She scored 19 points and added seven boards, nine steals and five assists.
Mykeria Johnson had a teamhigh 26 points to go with three rebounds and five steals. Heather Tucker had 11 points, two rebounds and four steals. Fanny Barber added nine points, six rebounds and two steals, while Haven Yancy finished with five points, seven boards and two steals.
Lafayette boys 63, Coahulla Creek 38
In a make-up game in Varnell on Thursday, the Ramblers led 39-13 at the break and coasted to the win.
Barber dialed long distance six times and finished with 20 points, followed by Hadaway with 18. Ramsey dropped in eight points. Porter picked up seven, while the scoring was rounded out by five points from Barrett, three from Gray Payton and two from Kendall Culbreth.
Lafayette boys 63, North Murray 44
The visiting Ramblers (18-1, 15-1) got out to a 28-13 lead at intermission on Friday before pouring it on in the second half and locking up the No. 1 seed for the region tournament.
Barber poured in 27 points in the victory. Hadaway scored 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, while the scoring was rounded out by seven points from Porter, five from Ramsey and four by Jordan Kennerly.
Lafayette girls 58, North Murray 39
In Friday’s opener, Johnson erupted for 28 points as the Lady Ramblers coasted to the win. Johnson also had four steals to go with two rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Latyah Barber also had a solid night with 17 points, six rebounds and six steals.
Hall had four points, six rebounds and three steals. Michaela Baker matched her with four points, while also pulling down seven boards. Tucker had three points, two assists and a team-high seven steals, while Fanny Barber finished with three points and three steals for Lafayette (11-8, 8-8).
The Lady Ramblers opened the region tournament against North Murray. Due to newspaper deadlines, results were not available as of press time.