Political Rewind: Abortion key issue; Potential runoff for Senate; Coffee County election equipment

Caption

Douglas City Commissioner Olivia Coley-Pearson (center) holds a voting rights demonstration in Coffee County, Ga. Coley-Pearson's efforts in aiding voters with low levels of literacy have landed her in potential trouble.

Credit: ProPublica

Panelists:

Edward Lindsey, @edlindsey14, former state representative (R) Atlanta

Kurt Young, @kurtbyoung, political science professor, Clark Atlanta University

Patricia Murphy, @MurphyAJC , political reporter and columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

State Sen. Sonya Halpern, @sonya4ga, (D) Atlanta

The breakdown: 

1. Democrats continue to push abortion as top issue for their platform. 

• Polling from the AJC shows that 52% of Georgia voters oppose the GOP-backed "heartbeat" law, with just 36% in favor of the measure.
• Stacey Abrams has come under fire for correctly calling out that the "heartbeat" law is a misnomer.
  • But many doctors suggest the heartbeat sound comes from ultrasound equipment around the six-week mark of pregnancy. 

2. Senate race could come to a runoff according to a recent poll. 

• An AJC poll shows the U.S. Senate race is deadlocked between Warnock, who had 44%, and Republican Herschel Walker, who was at 46%.
  • That’s within the poll’s margin of error. 
• Libertarian Chase Oliver carries about 3% of the vote, which could keep either candidate from getting the 50% majority needed to avoid a runoff. 

3. New election machinery is coming to Coffee County. 

• Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger maintains that the equipment is safe, despite data breach.

Tuesday on Political Rewind: State Sen. Mary Margaret Oliver joins us.