Georgia
Third party candidates still battling for spot on Georgia ballot as alternative to Trump, Harris • Georgia Recorder
Georgians casting ballots this November will have the option to choose from among at least three presidential candidates. Others say they have earned the right for a shot at the White House, but the Democratic Party of Georgia is trying to keep them out of the running.
Four third party presidential candidates say they are preparing to fight challenges from state Democrats to their ability to appear on the ballot this November.
Jacob Dallas-Main, a volunteer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said Georgia Democrats have been especially aggressive against the socialist candidate, Claudia De la Cruz,
“We know this is because Georgia is sort of a new purple state, a new swing state,” he said. “They want to fight it out here, but we say the people of the South should have options, and if the Democrats or the Republicans want to win in this state, they should win on the merits of their own programs, and they should actually deliver things to the people, not just try to force someone into the lesser of two evils.”
Speaking at a press conference near the state Capitol Thursday, Dallas-Main and other volunteers said they worked hard to collect nearly 16,000 signatures from Georgia voters ahead of a July deadline. State law requires 7,500 valid signatures to secure a spot on the ballot.
“We collected more than double the required amount of signatures because we know that for one reason or another a signature could be invalidated,” said campaign volunteer Estevan Hernandez. “This was a serious effort on behalf of all of our volunteers, many of whom clocked out of their nine to fives and immediately spent the rest of the afternoon and evening petitioning on both weekends and weekdays for three months.”
But in July, state Democrats launched a complaint with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office alleging the De la Cruz campaign, along with the campaigns of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, claiming flaws with their signatures and application processes. The Democrats are also challenging Green Party candidate Jill Stein, whose campaign took a different route toward appearing on the ballot. Rather than collecting signatures, the Stein campaign hopes to appear on the ballot via a new state law allowing candidates who have made the ballot in at least 20 other states to also appear on Georgia’s ballots.
“We take the nomination process very seriously and believe everyone should follow the rules. At this time, it appears that campaigns for RFK, Jr. Cornel West, Claudia De la Cruz, and the Georgia Green Party have not faithfully observed the state of Georgia’s election laws. They have missed numerous statutory deadlines, skipped filing fees, submitted the wrong names on the nomination petitions, and some failed to hold conventions. None of these candidates are qualified to be on the Georgia ballot,” said Democratic Party of Georgia Executive Director Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye.
Recent polls have put Vice President Kamala Harris in a better position to win swing states like Georgia than her boss, President Joe Biden, with pollsters and politicos shifting the state from leaning toward Republican Donald Trump to a toss-up.
Recent polls also suggest third parties, especially Kennedy, could be taking away more votes from Trump than Harris.
In a Zoom call with members of the media late last month, Kennedy campaign staff expressed confidence that they would win the case in Georgia, which includes allegations that they filled out petitions in the wrong form.
“It’s one of those sort of throwing spaghetti at the wall kind of things,” said senior ballot access council Paul Rossi. “The petitions are on the right forms. They’ve also made the allegation that the presidential electors didn’t pay a filing fee. Well, there is no filing fee in Georgia for presidential electors, so it’s one of those challenges which, because they can’t challenge the signatures, they’ve made allegations which are simply not correct at law.”
Cornel West spokesman Edwin De Jesus said the state party’s actions were undemocratic.
“The fact that the Democrats had a ballot access challenge pre-planned before our electors even filed their paperwork is a clear indication that there was an attempt to suppress competition rather than identify a nominee who truly speaks to the issues of working people. This undermines the democratic ideals they claim to uphold,” he said.
De Jesus said the campaign is engaging with legal experts ahead of a hearing of the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings scheduled for Aug. 22. The Stein campaign has confirmed it has a hearing scheduled on the same day, and De la Cruz’ volunteers said their hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19.
Dallas-Main said voters are increasingly calling for choices beyond the two major parties, and he predicted that will continue even if De la Cruz and vice presidential
candidate Karina Garcia don’t make their way onto Georgia ballots.
“Even if we were to be defeated – and to be clear, we do not expect to be defeated. We have a strong argument – But even if we were to be defeated, we’re going to go on organizing,” he said. “We’re going to go on talking about the need for organization outside the Democratic and Republican Party, and we’re going to go on spreading this message, organizing, hitting the streets, doing the work, wherever it needs to be done.”
NORTH GEORGIA – Ring in the New Year in style with an array of exciting celebrations across North Georgia! There’s something for everyone to enjoy. Whether you’re looking for a glamorous night out or a unique way to welcome 2025, these top picks will help you make the most of New Year’s Eve.
FAYETTE COUNTY
Trilith Guest House – Prologue Dining & Drinks
When: 5-10 p.m., Dec. 31
Where: 350 Trilith Parkway, Fayetteville
What: Savor a four-course dinner featuring dishes like seared scallops, cowboy ribeye, and decadent desserts. Afterward, toast to 2025 at Oliver’s Twist Bar & View on the rooftop.
How Much: $95 per adult, $55 per child 12 and under
Reservations
FORSYTH COUNTY
NYE Forsythia Ball Drop
When: Dec. 31, 8 p.m.–midnight
Where: Forsyth Courthouse Square
What: Family-friendly celebration with food trucks, music, games, and a Forsythia ball drop.
How Much: Free
More Info
All NYE Lists
If you would like to submit an item to be added to a list, please send an email to joyce.lupiani@fox.com.
AUSTIN — Yeah, yeah, sure. Georgia has beaten Texas twice already this year. The Bulldogs have done their best to ruin a perfectly good season on the Forty Acres. If not for Georgia, well, Texas wouldn’t even have had to go to work Saturday.
But hear us out: Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
After all, Texas got another Bevo Walk, one more time for an experienced senior class to soak in the atmosphere of 101,150 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. It gave the Longhorns one more opportunity to hear Matthew McConaughey get weird on the sound system. Most importantly, it gave the Longhorns another opportunity to get back to what they actually do really well: Run the damn ball.
In a 38-24 win over Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoff, Texas outmuscled and then outran the overmatched Tigers defense for a season-high 292 yards and four touchdowns. Texas will take its regrouped ground game back to Atlanta, site of the most recent loss to Georgia, to play Arizona State in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl on Jan. 1.
Texas split things up pretty evenly: Quintrevion Wisner and Jaydon Blue each got two. Wisner did most of the hard running early; Blue — who had touchdown runs of 38 and 77 yards, the latter coming after Clemson had closed within one score — did the speed work. End of the night: Blue had 146 yards, Wisner, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter to rest a knee he “banged” late in the first half, had 110.
It was, in a lot of ways, just like coach Steve Sarkisian drew it up after Georgia held the Longhorns to 31 yards 10 days ago in a 22-19 overtime loss in the SEC Championship.
“One of the first bullet points I put up in the room was ‘run to win,’” Sarkisian said of his workweek message to his team. “We needed to run to win this game. And we’re going to need to run the football to advance in these playoffs. That’s what playoff football is about. So, we really challenged them on the run game.”
They responded. Just as they did the first time Georgia beat them back in October and held the running game to 29 yards. Texas followed that up with three 200-plus-yard games on the ground in the five games ‘twixt Georgia meetings.
Against Clemson, it was important to demonstrate that the issue was just a Georgia thing. Clemson was the perfect opponent for Texas to reestablish the ground game. Clemson entered the playoff ranked 73rd in the country — last among the playoff teams — in run defense. There was a weakness to exploit and eventually a message to send to the rest of the remaining playoff field: Sarkisian may have been a quarterback once and may remain a quarterback at heart, but Texas will run to win. Arizona State, consider your Sun Devils warned.
“The run game is really important for us on a lot of levels,” Sarkisian said. “One, our offense is better when we can run it, because then the balance can really kick in for us. It opens up a lot that we do. When we can run it effectively, teams have to prepare for a lot when they’re getting ready to play us.”
On Saturday, this is how effective Texas’ running game was: It literally didn’t matter who was where on the offensive line. Texas got left tackle Kelvin Banks, who missed the SEC championship game, back Saturday, but lost center Jake Majors and right tackle Cameron Williams on successive plays late in the first half. Guard Hayden Conner moved over to center and Cole Hutson moved into the offensive line, which was jumbled to say the least. Worked good enough to spring Blue on a 77-yard TD run through the right side three plays after Clemson had cut a onetime 28-10 lead to 31-24. On both of Blue’s long touchdown runs, Ewers had checked off a pass play after reading the Clemson defensive set.
It was also good vindication for Blue, who dealt with issues holding on to the ball earlier this season, and had fallen into more of a secondary role to Wisner.
“The guys up front, those guys paved the way for me,” Blue said. “We made a big emphasis that we’re going to have to run the ball in order to win this game.”
For that, Texas can somehow thank Georgia for the reminder.
So far, so good: See photos from Texas’ first-round College Football Playoff win over Clemson in Austin
Find more Texas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Indiana’s Curt Cignetti on team’s first-round loss to Notre Dame
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti discusses the pride he has in his team’s season despite a first-round exit to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff.
Sports Pulse
The first round of the College Football Playoff lived up to expectations, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish claimed a quarterfinal spot after defeating the Indiana Hoosiers in snowy South Bend, Indiana. The Fighting Irish will face the No. 2 seeded Georgia Bulldogs in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish secured their first playoff victory in the new era of the College Football Playoff with a 27-17 win over Indiana. Quarterback Riley Leonard delivered a stellar performance against the Hoosiers, completing 71.9% of his passes for 201 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while also scoring a touchdown on the ground. On defense, safety Xavier Watts was the standout player, recording 10 tackles and an interception to help the Fighting Irish clinch the victory.
The Bulldogs, who received a bye, are gearing up for a run at the College Football Playoff without their starting quarterback, Carson Beck. He will likely be sidelined due to an elbow injury on his throwing arm, which he sustained during the final play of the first half in the SEC Championship game against Texas. This injury forced him to leave the game early. Sophomore Gunner Stockton stepped in and successfully led the Bulldogs to a 22-19 victory. Gunner has a completion rate of 78.1% and has thrown for 206 yards in the three games he played this season. He is expected to lead the offense moving forward.
Here is everything to know ahead of kickoff at the All-State Sugar Bowl.
Allstate Sugar Bowl odds, lines: Notre Dame vs. Georgia
The Georgia Bulldogs are favorites to defeat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, according to the BetMGM college football odds.
Odds as of afternoon on Saturday, Dec. 21.
- Spread: Georgia (-1.5)
- Moneylines: Georgia (-120); Notre Dame (+102)
- Over/under: 44.5
How to watch Notre Dame vs. Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl
- Date: Wednesday, Jan. 1
- Time: 8:45 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: Fubo
- Where: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans, LA)
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