April 5, 2017

Here’s How Badly Republicans Are Freaking Out About That Georgia Special Election

Oof.


A new poll has Democrat Jon Ossoff at 43 percent—seven points below the threshold to win outright and avoid a runoff—in the special election for the House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. The district, which was once represented by Newt Gingrich, has been solidly Republican for decades but was nearly carried by Hillary Clinton in November (Price faced only token opposition). Ossoff, for his part, has raised $4 million thanks to a newly mobilized Democratic base. It is the kind of affluent suburban district that Democrats will need to win to take back the House in 2018, and although Republicans have publicly expressed confidence in their candidates, their actions betray their fears about a Democratic resurgence.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super-PAC affiliated with the House Republican leaders, announced last month that it was spending an extra $2.2 million against Ossoff. That was on top of an earlier $1.1 million investment attacking the Democrat for—seriously—dressing up as Han Solo in college. Their latest spot, apparently ripped from the front pages of the New York Post circa 2002, slams Ossoff for producing a documentary for the Qatari-own Al Jazeera:

Did Jon Ossoff do 9/11? It’s an open question.

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Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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