Happy Monday, everyone! Less than one month until the May 22 primary!
News by the Numbers
$456,000 contributions – Barilla, one of the world’s largest pasta companies, has a long history of funding research to prove pasta (and carbs) are good for your health. A recent study that showed pasta has many health benefits and no significant negative affects was conducted by three researchers who received $456,000 in contributions from 2004 and 2015. All of this is to say: follow the money.
15 year hiatus – Shania Twain, God’s greatest gift to Canada if you exclude maple syrup, said in an interview that she would have voted for Donald Trump if she could vote. Within hours she released a statement apologizing. She is promoting her first album in 15 years, and I think she’s gotten rusty.
3 ethics complaints – Gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams, Stacey Evans, and Casey Cagle had ethics complaints filed against them last week. I noticed some in the media dubbing this Georgia’s version of an October Surprise. Believe me — it’s not.
50 neo-Nazis – Newnan, Georgia was the unfortunate epicenter of a National Socialist Movement rally. 700 police officers kept protester and Nazis apart during the hour-long event.
10,000 rape kits – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab is making progress in a years-long effort to test thousands of backlogged rape kits. The 10,000 kit backlog was brought to light after 1,351 untested rape kits were found at Grady Memorial Hospital in 2015.
49.12 percent – Mitt Romney, long considered a shoe-in for the GOP nomination for Orin Hatch’s Utah Senate seat, failed to secure the nomination at the Utah GOP convention forcing a June primary election. He was beaten by Mike Kennedy, a relatively unknown State House member.