Fresh Loaf

We haven’t seen turnout figures yet for yesterday’s runoffs, but the results in most cases seemed to confirm predictions.

The Democratic Senate nominee, of course, is former Atlanta lawmaker Jim Martin, having trounced DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones 60% to 40%.

Some folks might look at this result as the triumph of funding, since Martin entered the race late, spent little time stumping across the state and instead focused his efforts on collecting enough money from PACs and other sources to wage a TV campaign. That’s all true, but Martin did have high name recognition and none of the negatives that Jones brought to the table.

Martin’s victory opens the door for an aggressive, high-dollar assault on GOP incumbent Saxby Chambliss this fall. It all but ensures that top Senate Democrats will attempt to turn Georgia into one of their key battleground states.

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Yes, we’re trying to get you pumped about voting tomorrow. It may seem a tall order to get titillated over runoffs for such down-ticket races as Fulton County Sheriff and Clerk of Fulton Superior Court (what, no dog catcher?), but you gotta try. That’s because, this year, doing nothing is tantamount to supporting incompetence and graft.

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Most skilled politicians have a way of artfully dodging direct questions or providing clever non-answers. Not Fulton Sheriff Myron Freeman. When asked an uncomfortable question (and for him, they’re all uncomfortable), he acts as if he didn’t understand you and proceeds to repeat his chosen talking points. Or perhaps it’s not acting.

During the Atlanta Press Club debate taped on Tuesday, Freeman kept coming back to two claims that were astonishing for the level of cynicism and shamelessness it took to make them.

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All nine Democratic candidates for Fulton County sheriff took part in a Thursday morning Atlanta Press Club debate that will air on GPB-TV Sunday night. But we’ll try to fill you in about these guys as best we can now. The sheriff’s race has been surprisingly below-the radar, but some details can be gleaned from the candidates’ appearances, websites and campaign literature.

Here are the candidates: (more…)

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If you still don’t know which of the nine(!) Democratic candidates for Fulton sheriff to vote for, you’re not alone. Few county residents could ID any of the challengers to incumbent Myron Freeman out of a police line-up.

Your opportunities for getting acquainted with any of these guys are limited, but it can be done if you’re willing to go out of your way. Your next chance is Tuesday evening at a debate in College Park. So far, seven candidates have confirmed they’ll be there, including Democrats Ronald Brandy, Frank Brown, Curtis Farmer, Theodore Jackson, Patrick Labat and Charles Rambo, as well as the lone Republican, Michael Rary. So far unconfirmed are Aubrey Osteen, Charles Shelton and, of course, Freeman himself, who has not taken part in any candidate gatherings.

Sponsored by an online media outlet called Exceptional Radio, the event begins at 7 p.m. at the city auditorium, 3631 Main Street. We’re guessing you’ll want to get there on the early side because it looks as if the sheriff debate will precede one for Fulton Clerk of Superior Court.

If you can’t make that event, your next chance is Thursday. The Atlanta Press Club is sponsoring an hour-long debate, from 10:30-11:30 a.m., in the Georgia Public Broadcasting studio at 260 14th St. The public is invited to sit in the audience, but all questions will be asked by an onstage panel of journalists. The debate won’t be televised until the evening of July 13, a mere two days before the primary.
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FULTON COUNTY CHIEF JAILER EDWARD MCNEIL: Jail to the chief

(photo and additional text by Joeff Davis)

On Thursday, Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman invited us to a party at the Fulton County Courthouse to welcome the county’s new Chief Jailer, Edward McNeil. It was the strangest and saddest party we’ve ever been to.

After 10 minutes of God-themed speeches, we pulled McNeil aside to ask him hard-hitting questions about being a jailer. But before we could ask him if he thinks it’s just a coincidence that jail rhymes with bail, a guest at the party had a heart attack and died. Kidding around was obviously out of the question after that, so we just wished McNeil luck and departed.

He’ll be a busy man.

A recent Pew Center study put the U.S. prison population at more than 2.3 million people. We have more people in prison than China – a rampant human rights abuser with four-times as many people as the U.S.

Georgia spent nearly $1 billion imprisoning people in 2007 and the state employs the second highest percentage of employees in corrections in the country, behind Texas.

According to Pew, one-in-nine black men in the U.S. between the ages of 20 and 34 are behind bars.

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