Attack ads are flying in the final days of the Chatham district attorney, sheriff race

Correction, 31 October 2024 at 8:39 a.m.: An earlier version of this article misquoted Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones. She said her opponent was the “richer” candidate.

In the hectic weeks leading up to Tuesday’s general election, outside political action committees have spent roughly a quarter of a million dollars on two of Chatham County’s most closely watched races.

Safer Georgia spent $148,858 in October on fliers and video ads attacking incumbent Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones and fellow Democrat Richard Coleman, a first-time candidate running for sheriff, campaign finance records show. Contributors to the group include former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Gov. Brian Kemp’s own PAC, as well as Savannah business leaders William “Bill” Dickinson and Bert Brantley, who is Kemp’s former deputy chief of staff.

Cook Jones’ bid for a second, four-year term as district attorney is being challenged by Republican Andre Pretorius, while Coleman is seeking to unseat incumbent Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher.

The Democratic candidates also receive outside help. The PAC, affiliated with the progressive Working Families Party, spent $100,000 in October on text messages, digital ads and campaign mailings endorsing Cook Jones and Coleman and lambasting their opponents, records show.

The disclosure of that spending comes after 41% of Chatham County’s 238,000 registered voters cast early ballots in person or by absentee ballot Wednesday night, according to Georgia office of the Secretary of State. Georgia law requires political action committees to disclose expenses by Oct. 25, although it allows a grace period until Nov. 1. Early voting, meanwhile, started on October 15.

The spending reflects competing visions of law and order in Chatham County. Under state law, candidates are barred from coordinating their campaign activities with the outside PACs.

Most viewed race

Behind the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the state’s races for district attorney and sheriff have inspired the most vocal campaign and debate in Chatham County.

Cook Jones is seeking a second term to advance her “smart-on-crime” agenda, which calls for shifting resources from prosecuting non-violent crimes to trying violent ones. Pretorius, meanwhile, has highlighted many shortcomings of the incumbent during his tenure. She has been sanctioned by a judge and heavily criticized for significantly replacing veteran prosecutors. He is running on a traditional Republican agenda of getting tough on crime.

In the sheriff’s race, Coleman is seeking to unseat Wilcher by arguing the county needs new oversight of its jail, the fifth largest in the state. The 80-year-old Wilcher suffered a cardiac arrest in June and was hospitalized for several months, but insists his experience is what Chatham County needs.

In June 2023, Safer Georgia received $140,000 from Kemp’s two state PACs, Hardworking Georgians Action and Hardworking Georgians, Inc., in addition to $25,000 from Loeffler. The PAC first targeted a progressive district attorney in Athens-Clarke County this spring.

Fundraising and spending increased again in October when Safer Georgia received $50,000 from William “Bill” DickinsonCEO of slushie chain, Wet Willie’s. It also received $41,000 from the Savannah Area Business Committee, a PAC led by Savannah Chamber of Commerce CEO Bert Brantley. Another $10,000 came from William Grainger of Grainger Honda and $5,000 came from Samuel McCachern, CEO of Savannah engineering firm Thomas & Hutton.

Announce sling attack

One of Safer Georgia’s mailers against Coleman said he would be a “train wreck” for the county. The PAC’s video ad against Cook Jones says she “lets murderers go free.”

“Citizens are already tired of attack ads,” Cook told Jones The current in an interview. “My race is simple. I’m just a more qualified candidate and (Pretorius) is a richer candidate, but dollars don’t count. People do.”

Pretorius responded on Facebook to a text message saying he was “inexperienced and bought” by big business and Republicans.

“I have not earned a penny from the campaign for my salary. The lies never end. Sometimes good people run for office because the person in office has failed society,” he wrote.

Coleman said he appreciates the Working Families Party’s support for his candidacy and called the attack ads against him “desperate.”

“I’ve prided myself on running a clean campaign, being completely respectful of my opponent and his health conditions while sticking to the issues!” Coleman wrote in a text to The current.

From the Working Families Party, Coleman’s digital ads show pictures of Sheriff Wilcher with a narrator saying “after 48 years of failed leadership at the Chatham County Jail, it’s time for new leadership.”

“The Wilcher campaign is focused on communicating Sheriff Wilcher’s record of fairness and justice for all to the voters of Savannah-Chatham County — not engaging in last-minute political attacks,” according to a statement from Wilcher’s campaign.

The Georgia Campaign Finance Commission does not disclose on its website which candidates Safer Georgia supports or opposes with its spending. However, the commission’s website does for most other independent committees.

The commission and Safer Georgia could not be reached for comment. The current verified the PAC’s Chatham-based spending by reviewing emails, Facebook ads and YouTube videos.

The Working Families Party PAC in Georgia received close to $900,000 in 2024, mostly from a Democratic-aligned PAC called Movement Voter PAC. The Massachusetts-based group’s biggest donor includes Jay Schiede, who has also spent million to support Kamala Harris’s run for president and Democrats in elections across the country.

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Story Type: News

Based on facts, either observed and verified first-hand by the reporter, or reported and verified by knowledgeable sources.