Will Daniel Blackman get tossed from the PSC Democratic primary ballot — with early voting already underway?
Daniel Blackman, one of four challengers against Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson in the Democratic primary for the Public Service Commission District 3 race, may be forced out of the contest today.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has already disqualified Blackman from the Democratic primary over a challenge that he hasn’t lived in PSC District 3 for 12 months, following an administrative law judge’s ruling — but Blackman is appealing, so he’s still on the ballot.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville has set a hearing on Blackman’s appeal for 1 p.m. today, and I’ll be there to report on it. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about it.
Early voting for the PSC primaries started May 27 and will end June 13 for the June 17 primary election. As of June 9, there had already been 22,068 votes cast in the Democratic primary and 13,364 votes in the Republican primary, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. We spoke to one Democratic primary voter for District 3 in our voter profile below.
Money matters
Also in PSC election news, Monday marked the end of the grace period for candidates to file campaign finance disclosures, following the June 2 deadline. As of midday Monday, they weren’t all in, so expect a report from me soon.
Will LA protests against ICE raids reach Atlanta?
It’s a question people have been asking me all weekend, after federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents launched massive “shock and awe” immigration raids last Friday in Los Angeles — including at an elementary school graduation. That sparked massive protests, prompting LA’s Democratic Mayor Karen Bass to deploy the Los Angeles Police Department to back up the ICE agents. But both Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom are strongly opposing President Donald Trump’s decision to send in the National Guard.
A confrontation that pits Democratic city and state leaders against the president’s deployment of National Guard troops is exactly what White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said he wanted before Trump was elected, according to a February 2024 article in The Atlantic:
Miller, Trump’s top immigration adviser, has publicly declared that they would pursue such an enormous effort partly by creating a private red-state army under the president’s command. Miller says a reelected Trump intends to requisition National Guard troops from sympathetic Republican-controlled states and then deploy them into Democratic-run states whose governors refuse to cooperate with their deportation drive.
Such deployment of red-state forces into blue states, over the objections of their mayors and governors, would likely spark intense public protest and possibly even conflict with law-enforcement agencies under local control. And that conflict itself could become the justification for further insertion of federal forces into blue jurisdictions, notes Joseph Nunn, a counsel in the Liberty & National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School.
Newsom on Monday said he will sue the Trump administration over the National Guard’s deployment. Later that day, Trump deployed a batallion of 700 Marines to the city.
So, things may be going according to Miller’s plan in California — but what about Atlanta?
Unlike California, Georgia has a Republican governor, Brian Kemp, who has a friendly relationship with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, a Democrat. Dickens, for his part, has tried to keep a low profile with the Trump administration — something he re-iterated in remarks to the Atlanta Press Club in late March. “Am I going to stick the city’s neck out there first to try to fight every single issue? No,” he said.
And Atlanta hasn’t been subjected to the same “shock and awe” ICE operations — at least, not yet. That said, ICE has been conducting immigration raids here too. Last Friday, ICE raided the Luxx nail salon in Marietta, following a civilian tip.
That prompted outrage from Cobb County’s Democratic Party. “Despite the rhetoric from Republicans that immigrants in the United States are ‘lazy’ or ‘violent,’ the bulk of ICE raids — around 60% — happen at businesses, while people are at work,” said the Cobb Democrats’ chair, Essence Johnson, in a statement Monday.
Homeland Security Special Agent Steve Schrank on June 2 told WSB-TV that ICE actions “are happening seven days a week at a faster pace than I’ve ever seen before” in metro Atlanta.
So the dynamics may be different, but the public here is mobilizing. On Monday afternoon, a few dozen Atlantans gathered in front of the ICE field office downtown to protest ICE’s assault and arrest of SEIU California’s leader David Huerta last Friday. Huerta has been released from the hospital, but remained in federal custody until he was released on bond Monday evening.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation has also issued a call for a Tuesday evening protest against ICE on Buford Highway. The national No Kings protests planned for June 14 against Trump — the day of his birthday and a $45 million military parade in his honor in Washington, DC — could take on a fresh anti-ICE dimension.
PSC VOTER PROFILE
Megan McCool Myers
Age: 44
Neighborhood: Hapeville (Fulton)
Job: Pharmaceutical researcher
Political Affiliation: Liberal leaning
Who are you voting for in the PSC primaries and why?
After doing research, I’ll vote for Alicia Johnson [Democratic challenger for District 2] and Peter Hubbard [one of the Democratic challengers for District 3]. I read about the debate over Daniel Blackman’s eligibility. I like Peter’s enthusiasm for clean energy solutions, regardless.
What are your top issues for the PSC elections?
I want to prioritize local elections because — while, of course, it’s important to go to the national level – the local ones are really the ones that affect us on a day-to-day basis. As I understand this, legislation or the people who are being elected could influence our utility costs. And so that’s an important aspect in terms of economic impacts for my family and for other people.
Everyone’s very sensitive to [utility] costs right now, and so that’s something that I’m wanting to know more about — who the incumbents are, who’s up for election, and what sort of stance they have on both the economic side of things, but also on sustainability, in terms of utilities.
What do you want politicians to understand about your life?
The cost pressures that we’re experiencing more and more for a household. I would consider that my family is probably middle income, and we’re experiencing less pressure than someone who’s maybe lower income.
I think that the cost pressures would be an important aspect at this point, but again, I’m juggling that with sustainability. I know that those don’t always go hand in hand, because usually the cheaper options for energy are not the ones that are the most sustainable.
What do you think about Daniel Blackman, one of the Democratic challengers for District 3, potentially being taken off the ballot over the challenge to his residency status?
I am more concerned with the person’s ability to think critically and make decisions in citizens’ best interest, as opposed to their residency status.
Today’s Democracy Digest newsletter was written by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon and Katie Guenthner. It was edited by Meredith Hobbs. As always, thank you for reading. Have tips, corrections, or questions? Just reply to this email.
Your donation fuels local journalism. Together, we can continue delivering accurate news and insightful, solutions-oriented stories that matter to you