From the Blogroll: AJC Endorses Martin and Corporations vs. Hunstein

I haven't had time to look at a paper this morning. But I made sure to make a few stops on the blogroll concerning election news. A couple of things caught my eye:

Mel from Blog for Democracy proudly posted the AJC's endorsement of Jim Martin for Lt. Governor. Newspaper endorsements don't always translate into votes from its readers. But I always say it's better to have it than not have it. In this case, the AJC's endorsement of Jim was well deserved.

From the AJC:

"Martin's 18-year legislative record reflects an unflinching dedication to public service, particularly on behalf of children and families. For example, he has authored many bills strengthening laws on child abuse and domestic violence. He advocates a regional transit system, and favors forming insurance pools to encourage more private employers to provide health insurance for their workers. He also backs an expansion of PeachCare, the state's health insurance for children of working Georgians who make too little money to afford insurance on their own.

Martin's commitment to children led him to give up his legislative career as well as a lucrative law practice and accept one of the most thankless jobs in state government, commissioner of the troubled Department of Human Resources. Appointed to the post by then-Gov. Roy Barnes, Martin was asked to remain in the post for a year under Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue. To his credit, Martin insisted on transparency in DHR, even when it meant exposing the fact that tragic mistakes by county-level caseworkers led to the deaths of two toddlers in families that had been investigated for abuse."

On the Georgia Supreme Court front, both Mel and DecaturGuy from Atlanta Public Affairs had something to say about corporate involvement in the Hunstein vs. Wiggins race. Interestingly enough, a national group called American Justice Partnership donated $1.3 million to the much mentioned Safety and Prosperity Coalition to produce and air attack ads against Justice Hunstein. As Mel points out, this makes a "mockery" of Georgia's campaign finance laws. You have to wonder why $1.3 million in mostly out-of-state and anonymous donations are being pumped into a Georgia court race.

Add this bit of news to the fact that the Republican Party is also spending money on behalf of Mike Wiggins in this nonpartisan race. Since the RPG won't say, we'll have to wait until the end of the year disclosure reports to find out just how much they are giving. It will be interesting to see.