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Georgia Democrats are worried their front-runner will fumble a “once in a generation” chance to win the governor’s mansion this year. Keisha Lance Bottoms has what should be an enviable résumé: former judge, city council member, mayor of Atlanta and senior White House adviser. She’s dominating public polling in the primary, bolstered by high name recognition in the Atlanta metro area. But a third of the Democratic electorate remains undecided, and her most high-profile endorsement is from former President Joe Biden, who left office deeply unpopular among Americans. The wariness from Georgia Democrats stems from a simmering concern about Bottoms’ ability to win a general election, conversations with more than a half-dozen strategists and officials revealed. They warn that the crown jewel of Bottoms’ work experience — leading the state’s biggest city — will be a major drag to her campaign. Her tenure was marked by turmoil as Atlanta, like other major cities at the time, grappled with the onset of the pandemic, social unrest and spikes in crime. Now, they worry, Bottoms could upend their best opportunity to flip the governorship for the first time in two decades. “Keisha, because she’s so strongly identified with the city of Atlanta, obviously faces a very high hurdle,” said Howard Franklin, a Georgia-based Democratic strategist who is unaffiliated in the primary, but briefly worked for one of Bottoms’ competitors in 2013. “I don’t think there’s anybody who’s paying attention to this race who thinks that Republicans are anything less than prepared to criticize and to pile on to the criticism of the four years that she was in office.” The Democrats interviewed, some of whom were granted anonymity to speak openly about the primary, fear her record will be easily caricatured by Republicans in the general election, leaving her vulnerable to attacks on issues like public safety. “The Republicans will eat her for lunch. The Republicans are begging us to nominate her,” said one longtime Democratic strategist unaffiliated in the race. “If she’s at the top of the ticket, the whole ticket loses. If she’s not … we can sweep it. The stakes are that high.” TaNisha Cameron, a spokesperson for Bottoms’ campaign, dismissed the concerns as political hand-wringing and said the Democrat is focused on “standing up to Donald Trump’s candidate for governor.” “Political insiders have underestimated Keisha Lance Bottoms her entire career, and she has constantly proven them wrong by winning elections and beating their hand-picked candidates. Keisha is leading in the polls in both the primary and general election because voters like her vision for Georgia’s future and her record of delivering for the people of Atlanta,” Cameron said in a statement, going on to highlight how Bottoms attracted nine Fortune 500 companies to Atlanta while in office and left the city with a $180 million budget surplus. Central to Bottoms’ pitch to voters is a pledge to expand Medicaid in Georgia and guarantee universal pre-K statewide. In mid-May, just a few weeks after the Supreme Court significantly limited the power of the Voting Rights Act, Bottoms released a comprehensive plan to protect access to the ballot in Georgia. This could be the Democratic Party’s last shot in a generation to grasp all the levers of political power in Georgia. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is set to redraw the state’s congressional and state legislative districts ahead of 2028. And as President Donald Trump revives personal grievances about the 2020 election, the leading GOP gubernatorial candidates are vocal election deniers who continue to sow doubt about Georgia’s voting systems in a state that will be central to the 2028 presidential race. Each of Bottoms’ Democratic primary opponents is running in their own loosely defined lanes: former DeKalb County executive Michael Thurmond as the steady hand with experience in statewide office, former state Sen. Jason Esteves as the progressive next-generation leader, and Republican-turned-Democrat Geoff Duncan as a moderate trying to appeal to voters in the center. But those three contenders for runner-up have found themselves in a near statistical tie for second place for months. So far, they’re collectively holding Bottoms below the 50 percent threshold that she would need to win the race outright and advance to the general election. “It’s unfortunate right now, but in the state of Georgia versus what we saw in 2018 with Stacey Abrams, or what we saw with Warnock — we’re missing the light,” said Cobb County Democratic Chair Essence Johnson, who’s staying neutral in the primary. “We don’t have a true, strong light, because there’s so many differences. It’s great, because that shows what democracy is. But again, there’s a lot of candidates.” Some Democrats don’t see a major issue with Bottoms’ potential nomination — especially with the GOP in a tougher position, staring down Trump’s cratering approval ratings and struggling to message on voters’ cost of living concerns and an unpopular war in Iran. “The Republican Party is very underwater. I think the Republican Party is more underwater than Keisha Lance Bottoms is,” said John Jackson, the former DeKalb County Democratic Chair. “At the end of the day, she’s a competitive general election candidate.” One early general election poll shows Bottoms leading the three top Republicans running for governor, but all within the survey’s margin of error. A Bottoms win would be historic: She would be the first Black woman elected governor in the history of the country — and the first Black governor of the Peach State. The increased attention toward Bottoms’ performance with public safety did not happen in a vacuum, as several Black women — including former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and D.C.’s Muriel Bowser — faced extra scrutiny from critics as they guided major American cities through the depths of the pandemic and nationwide protests. Bottoms’ defenders are confident in her standing with voters. “I have seen the kind of hand-wringing, and it is predominantly coming from very, very, insider politico Atlanta circles,” said Kristen Kiefer, Democratic chair in Houston County, which is located in central Georgia. Because of her party role, she cannot endorse a candidate. “What we saw from here, far from Atlanta, was somebody that was willing to stand up to the governor over mask mandates,” she said. “What we saw during social unrest was the city of Atlanta was making space for peaceful protests, but then, too, we all remember the night that Keisha was on TV with Killer Mike and T.I. telling everyone to go home and being ready to shut it down when it got out of hand.” Still, others remain worried that Bottoms could hurt their chances, even in a midterm year that favors their party. “Most Democrats who are being honest are nervous about the campaign of Mayor Bottoms, who, to be clear, brings a lot of strengths to the race,” said Andrew Heaton, a Georgia-based Democratic strategist who is unaffiliated in the primary. “[Republicans] are going to have to find messages against the other candidates. They’ve already got the attack ads on Mayor Bottoms written.” Bottoms touts her wins in city hall on the campaign trail. In interviews, she has highlighted her administration’s success in building more affordable housing in Atlanta and authorizing pay raises for the city’s law enforcement. Still, her abrupt decision not to seek a second term in 2021, following a period of unrest in Atlanta, continues to haunt her. “She’s got to answer some questions. She’s got to be able to answer these questions well: Why didn’t you run for reelection as mayor of Atlanta? There’s a perception that she ran away from that job,” said Jackson, whose tenure as DeKalb County Democratic Chair overlapped with Bottoms’ time as mayor. (Atlanta extends from Fulton County into DeKalb.) At the time, Bottoms said in a press conference that it was “time to pass the baton on to someone else,” but did not detail her reasons for giving up the opportunity for another four years in office. Pressed about her decision in a recent interview with Atlanta News First, Bottoms emphasized that she completed her term and didn’t skip out early. “I served the entirety of my first term as mayor,” she said. “I was asked to go to the Biden White House three times, and decided not to do it because I wanted to complete the term that I had been elected to serve.” The decision had followed a pounding four years in office that was dominated by the pandemic, a sharp rise in violent crime and protests over the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta. Bottoms’ response to the city’s social unrest drew bipartisan praise — particularly her impassioned remarks at a press conference with law enforcement telling protesters to “go home.” But Democrats and Republicans alike have already seized on her perceived biggest vulnerabilities ahead of Election Day: that a reminder of her tenure in office will evoke flashbacks of burning buildings and unrest. Esteves, the former state senator, attacked Bottoms on the debate stage last month over the death of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, who was shot and killed while riding in a car near protests at the site where Atlanta police fatally shot Rayshard Brooks. “I did not allow gangs to take over blocks. We lived through 2020 together. It was the most trying time in recent history in our country,” Bottoms responded. “I made every decision that I thought was the best decision at that time. But you cannot have the death of a child — of any child — and not wonder what, if anything, you could have done differently.” Republicans, who have otherwise been mired in their own competitive and rancorous primary, have found time to preview their general election attacks against Bottoms. In an April ad, billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson said the former mayor “abandoned” her city in a crucial moment. “When the city needed her, she let Atlanta burn,” Jackson says over footage of protests in downtown Atlanta. That early Republican effort to attack Bottoms’ record is exactly what has some Democrats worried about her strength in a general election. “This is a strategic choice. Sometimes when we make these choices in voting, some of the choices can be emotional, some of them can be related to personal ties,” said state Rep. Michelle Au, who is backing Duncan in the gubernatorial primary. “But really the most important thing — or even the only important thing — is: Can this Democrat win? Because we can get a Democrat out of the primary, and that’s all fine, but if they can’t win in November, it does not achieve my goal.”Read more

Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here’s an offering of the best of this week’s crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.Read more

Reza Pahlavi on Trump, Iran and whether the regime will ever fall lead imageRead more

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 44 TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN: Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has made questioning the state’s commitment to green energy a key plank of his gubernatorial platform. Not so long ago, he had an entirely different focus. Back in 2017, the Republican served as a green energy company executive who was seeking a multibillion dollar federal contract to build a border wall comprised of solar panels. “The best thing about it is we could sell the energy to Mexico,” Blakeman said at the time during an appearance on Fox News. “So in fact, they would be paying for the wall. It’s a win, win, win.” Blakeman created Sustainable Technology LLC soon after President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration and quickly began promoting the idea of having the government pay a private company to build the promised wall along the Mexican border. His pitch? The months-old company would be the perfect vehicle to manage the massive construction project thanks to its unique steel mesh design: “You can see through it,” Blakeman said of his 30-foot tall wall. “There’s no graffiti that can be put on it.” The plan also involved the feds guaranteeing the bonds needed to fund Blakeman’s barrier building. The company, his thinking went, would then sell around $120 million of energy annually and that would cover “between a third and a half of the price.” Trump wound up briefly flirting with the idea of a solar wall. “The rumor is, he saw us on [Fox News] and he saw our design and he started talking about it as a viable idea. I don’t know that to be a fact, but that is the rumor,” Blakeman said on Fox Business. “Solar wall, panels, beautiful,” Trump said at a rally 10 days later. “Pretty good imagination, right? My idea,” he said while pointing to himself. These days, Blakeman is a much less aggressive proponent of solar power — at least in the state he’s hoping to govern. “Our carbon footprint is miniscule compared to the rest of the world, here in New York state,” he said in Albany last week. “When you look at the cost-benefit analysis, you don’t get the return from green energy.” Long Island environmentalists say it’s “bizarre” to hear Blakeman’s attacks on solar power after a tenure in town and county government when he was largely silent on the issue. “There are solar panels all across the county he serves,” Citizens Campaign for the Environment’s Adrienne Esposito said. “Thirty years ago, we were working with groups across Long Island to get 1,000 homes to have solar roofs. Today, it’s like one out of every 10 homes has solar panels. So its success is growing and it’s been widely embraced by members of the public and businesses.” In a visit to Schoharie County last month, Blakeman criticized state efforts to install solar panels in rural neighborhoods. “Here in New York, it doesn’t make any sense,” he said, pointing to the fact that the panels are occasionally covered in snow. “This is a scam.” Still, he doesn’t oppose it everywhere — and specifically pointed to a “beautiful state” on the border. “I’m a big proponent of solar energy. I think it’s great in Arizona,” Blakeman said in Schoharie. “When you have 350 days a year of sunshine and the mean average temperature’s about 80 degrees all year long, yeah, it makes sense there.” — Bill MahoneyFrom the CapitolTAXING TIMES: New York lawmakers are weighing a statewide tax on cash real estate purchases, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s office confirmed. It’s not clear how the tax would be structured or what dollar amount would trigger it. The discussion is being held as state officials are poised to grant a similar tax for New York City. The proposal was panned by the Real Estate Board of New York. “New Yorkers are already the most heavily taxed residents in the country, and the City’s budget issues will not be solved by more taxes,” said the group’s president, James Whelan. “On the back of $500 million in a new second-home tax, putting even more costs on home buyers and sellers will further discourage transactions and threaten existing revenue collected by the State, City, and MTA.” Read more from POLITICO Pro’s Nick Reisman STICKER SHOCK: Democratic socialist congressional candidate Chuck Park seems to be a fan of the work of someone else running for Congress: upstate GOP contender Anthony Constantino. Park, the lefty challenger for Rep. Grace Meng’s Queens seat, has spent $3,180 — across 15 disbursements — on campaign materials from Sticker Mule, the sprawling sticker and printing business owned by Constantino. The irreverent Republican is locked in his own primary battle with Assemblymember Robert Smullen for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s seat. Constantino is a rapper, former boxer and massive pro-Trump sign owner who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. When Playbook asked Park if he had a comment on his campaign’s Sticker Mule spending habits, he attacked his opponent and the support she receives from a pro-Israel PAC. “My opponent is taking hundreds of thousands in donations from AIPAC and weapons makers, but we can talk about where I buy stickers for volunteers,” Park said. “I’d be happy to compare my campaign’s finances with Rep. Meng’s at a debate.” Meng’s campaign declined to respond to Park’s attack. Financial records related to Park’s run for Congress — or lack thereof — also made headlines today for a different reason. City & State reported this morning that Park is four months late on filing his personal financial disclosure form. — Jason Beeferman PIED-A-RETURN: Democratic state lawmakers aren’t finished discussing an annual surcharge on luxury second homes outside of New York City. The statewide proposal, initially championed by Albany state Sen. Pat Fahy, was excised from state budget talks, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told reporters this week. But Assembly Democrats were told recently in a closed-door meeting that the matter may resurface next year after it’s reviewed by state tax officials, according to three people with direct knowledge of the conversation. Read more from POLITICO Pro’s Nick ReismanFROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAILSLEEPY SCHLOSSBERG: Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg spent the day defending himself after The New York Times published a deep dive into his campaign’s internal operations. The paper reported that Schlossberg’s campaign has experienced extremely high turnover — something we’ve covered at length in this newsletter — and that Schlossberg opted to take a nap or not show up during key campaign calls, the Times reported. Schlossberg also pulled out of a Working Families Party candidate interview in January and at least one candidate debate. In response to the piece, Schlossberg fired off posts on X in an apparent attempt to defend himself. In one, he posted a photo of himself where he appears to be sleeping. “Needed a quick nap !!” he said. Schlossberg went on CNN today too, telling the network’s host Dana Bash: “Once you’re declared the frontrunner, and early voting starts in less than a month, everyone’s got something to say,” he said. “People are trying to figure out how our campaign has been so successful. — Jason BeefermanIN OTHER NEWS— ‘BETTER WHEN DEAD’: Congressional candidate Alex Bores’ father wished death on Zionists and justified the bombing of a child in a screed of online posts. (Jewish Insider) — GUESSING GAME: Inconsistent market valuations for luxury New York City homes are muddying efforts to determine which properties will be targeted under Hochul’s proposed second-homes tax. (The New York Times) — BIG PRICETAG: Erie County is directing most of its $29 million surplus to a $21 million civil rights settlement, and the county attorney is waving off questions from lawmakers. (Buffalo News) Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.Read more