David Ralston intends to send George Soros a letter
News, Politics November 11, 2018
Blue Ridge, Ga. – In a media conference held on Friday Nov. 9, Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives David Ralston expressed his opinions on current politics as well as the recent General Election.
“We’ve had a lot of money spent in this state on the election and much of that money came from out of state,” Ralston said speaking of the General Election, “and a good bit of it came from some very, very well heeled individuals that I didn’t realize cared about Georgia. as much as they apparently do. I welcome their concern about the state.”
Ralston plans to send a letter to political activist and democratic supporter George Soros welcoming him to continue to support the state by pledging relief to those in Southwest Georgia who were devastated by Hurricane Michael.
Ralston expanded more on the letter and its intent, “I am dead serious about this. Let’s see if he would like to help out some farmers in Southwestern Georgia that are hurting.”
According to Ralston it “would be another way that he (Soros) could show his interest in Georgia.”
With the ongoing disputes of the gubernatorial election results, Ralston said that the business of the state is moving forward. He has already spoken with Governor Elect Brian Kemp about the upcoming legislative agenda.
In speaking with Kemp, Ralston also addressed the handling of the 2018 General Election: “He was much more kind than I would have been. I thought the election ended way before he called it. I thought he showed great class in delaying his claim of victory.”
As for Kemp’s opponent former minority leader in the Georgia State House of Representatives Stacey Abrams, Ralston shared his thoughts as well: “I really hope that Representative Abrams will do the right thing and acknowledge that this is mathematically over. I understand that if she concedes that probably the flow of money and publicity ends, but that’s kind of the way this thing works. I hope for the good of the state that she will reevaluate her thinking as it appears to be now. I don’t think that prolonging this with lawsuits and challenges and things of that sort is good for Georgia.”
“We can’t wait on lawsuits and we can’t wait on people to continue to seek out publicity,” Ralston said concluding his thoughts on the gubernatorial race. “We’ve got a state to run and we’ve got a part of the state that is hurting, that we are going to start helping next week.”
When asked about the clear division in voting patterns in the state of Georgia (urban versus rural) and whether or not he felt President Donald Trump’s administration was a reason for this division, Ralston replied that he did not see it that way.
According to Ralston some republican members that lost seats would possibly blame President Trump and some seats that were reclaimed by republicans would also be credited to the president for the victories.
Regardless of the state and local election outcome Ralston says that Trump’s administration is doing much more in terms of listening to a state’s needs. He is seeing this administration allow decisions to come from “the bottom up rather than the top down”.
“I very much applaud this administration for its emphasis on rural areas here in the country,” Ralston stated of his own experience with the Trump administration.
Ralston also took the time to express his view of the Republican Party in the state of Georgia: “Our party was here before him (Trump). It will be here after him and we need to learn to message our pro-job, pro-education reform, pro-public safety message in a more effective way.”
Having been pleased with the outcome of the most recent Georgia Legislative Session, Ralston stated about spreading the word of the accomplishments, “We have to do a better job of communicating that.”
Ralston listed some of the achievements in the last legislative session “Cut the income tax, full funding for QBE, appropriating funds for school safety, adoption reform. So many good things that we accomplished, in my view at least.”
Georgia State will hold a Special Legislative Session beginning next Tuesday Nov. 13. The main focus of this session will be to provide hurricane relief to areas affected in Southwest Georgia.
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Brian Kemp silent on allowing voters to decide on official English
Opinion October 16, 2018
Pro-English voters should ask questions
By: D.A. King
A December 2015 Rosetta Stone poll showed that a bipartisan 76% of Georgians support making English Georgia’s constitutional official language. The idea is English as official, not “English only” as goes the portrayal by dishonest opponents.
Policy differences for candidates in the race for Georgia governor may not extend to allowing Georgia voters to decide if the state constitution should be amended to make English the official language of government.
According to an AJC report last week, Democrat candidate Stacey Abrams promised to oppose constitutional official English in the General Assembly as governor and boasted of fighting against allowing voters to answer a ballot question when she was in the legislature.
We thought it surprising that the AJC did not include a quote or position from Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp on the voter-popular issue, so Wednesday, October 3, this writer sent a policy question and request for a quote to the Kemp campaign.

Brian Kemp – photo, Facebook
“Do you support allowing Georgia voters to decide on a ballot question that would amend the state constitution to make English the official language of Georgia government and which would end current practice of offering the written road rules portion of the DDS drivers license exam in (eleven) foreign languages?
If so, will you use the power of the governor’s office to promote that cause for the 2020 election?”
We have not received a response from candidate Kemp. Curious voters should ask him.
All concerned should be aware that Georgia has a 1996 statute in place that makes English the official language, but also says officials can ignore that directive:
“State agencies, counties, municipal corporations, and political subdivisions of this state are authorized to use or to print official documents and forms in languages other than the official language, at the discretion of their governing authorities.”
The concept of allowing voters to have a voice on the matter is quite popular in the Georgia senate. Introduced by state Senator Josh McKoon, in 2016 SR 675 passed the Georgia senate with every Republican member voting “YEA,” But it was not allowed a vote on the House floor.
McKoon’s Resolution created a ballot question voters would have considered that year which read:
“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide that English is the official language of the State of Georgia?”
All persons desiring to vote in favor of ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote “Yes.”
All persons desiring to vote against ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote “No.”
If such amendment shall be ratified as provided in said Paragraph of the Constitution, it shall become a part of the Constitution of this state.”
Most conservatives would like to have the chance to answer that question in November, 2020.
Readers who are not closely involved in Gold Dome politics are likely asking why they have not already been permitted to vote on making official English part of the state constitution. It helps to know that the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce are vehemently opposed to that idea.
It may also help to know that in metro-Atlanta’s DeKalb School District alone, administrators are dealing with students from 180 different countries who speak 140 different languages.
Without a constitutional mandate that English is the official language of government, readers can make their own predictions on how long it is before the angry marches in the streets begin with the demand that government in Georgia accommodate every imaginable language with the cry that “diversity is our strength.”
It seems like something a Republican candidate for Georgia governor would comment on. Comprende?
D.A. King of Marietta is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society.
Kemp defeats Cagle for Republican nomination
Election, Election 2018 July 24, 2018
Blue Ridge, Ga. – After a heated runoff race, the results are in and Georgia’s Secretary of State Brian Kemp has beat out opponent Lt. Governor Casey Cagle for the Republican nomination.
What was polled as a tight race between the two candidates ended up being what some would consider a landslide victory for Kemp. Kemp received 69.46 percent of the vote statewide with Cagle pulling in 30.54 percent.
Kemp will now face the Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams for the seat of Georgia Governor.
Abrams and Kemp are not strangers, as they have gone head to head over election issues while Kemp has served as Secretary of State.
“All of these liberal groups that are going to be in play in Georgia supporting her (Abrams), I’ve fought,” Kemp said about his past experiences with Abrams.
Citing that he has already faced George Soros, Eric Holder, Thomas Perez, Common Cause Georgia and New Georgia Project, Kemp is confident that he can beat them again.
Kemp explained where some of these groups came into conflict with the Secretary of State office, “They sued us and several counties saying that we weren’t registering voters, 10 different counts. Then they wanted us to settle. I wouldn’t do it. I made them go to court and we won all 10 cases.”
“I know what’s coming,” Kemp said about his preparation for proceeding in the gubernatorial race. “I know how to fight.”
Voting ends today for July runoff election
Election 2018 July 24, 2018
Blue Ridge, Ga. – Today is the day that Georgians will be able to see a finalized list of candidates that will face off for varying seats statewide.
Locally, Fannin County saw a remarkable turnout during the early voting period of the July run-off. Historically, run-off elections tend to see a much lower voter turnout than the May General Primary.
With only a 25 percent turnout for the general primary, both parties were left discouraged and it was expected that we would only see approximately 15 percent make it out to cast their ballots during the run-off.
So far this has not been the case. Fannin County reported that 1161 total votes were cast during early voting and 163 paper ballots were received for the runoff election. Compare these numbers to the May General Primary which saw 1259 total votes and 224 paper ballots and it appears that the run-off is on course to closely match the initial turnout in May.
Much of the interest in the runoff election can be attributed to the gubernatorial race for the Republican nomination. This race between Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp has become what many deem “nasty”. This race has, however, brought out big name endorsements including retired Lt. Colonel Oliver North and even the President of the United States Donald J. Trump.
While state offices are getting quite a bit of attention, Fannin County also has two positions on the Republican ballot.
The Republican nomination for Fannin County Post 2 Commissioner seat has garnered its own recognition as Incumbent Larry Joe Sosebee and Challenger Glenn Patterson continue to vie for a chance to face Democrat Dixie Carter in the Nov. General Election.
One seat with the Fannin County Board of Education will also be seen on the Republican ballot. Incumbent Steve Stanley and Challenger Mike Cole hope to receive the Republican nomination and move forward to face Democrat Susan DeMoura in Nov.
Polls will be open until 7 p.m. this evening. Follow FetchYourNews as we will bring you the latest updates regarding the July run-off election results.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that attracts more than 300,000 page views and 3.5 million impressions per month in Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYNTV attracts approximately 15,000 viewers per week and reaches between 15,000 to 60,000 per week on our Facebook page. For the most effective, least expensive local advertising, call 706-276-6397 or email us at advertise@FetchYourNews.com