David Perdue has won the Republican runoff primary for Senate by edging past Rep. Jack Kingston with less than 51 percent of the vote.

Purdue, a businessman and nephew of the popular former Gov. Sonny Perdue, will face Democrat Michelle Nunn in the November general election to fill the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Neither Nunn nor Perdue has ever been elected to public office.

The ethics commission has agreed to settle three retaliation claims for over $1.8 million. The claims are each related to an investigation of Gov. Nathan Deal involving 2010 campaign and personal finance reports.

Under the terms, the commission’s former deputy, Sherry Streicker, will receive $1 million, former IT specialist John Hair will receive $410,000, and former staff attorney Elisabeth Murray-Obertein will receive $477,500. The settlements follow an April jury verdict awarding $700,000 plus fees to the commission’s former executive secretary, Stacey Kalberman, who argued her pay was slashed and her deputy’s position eliminated as they were preparing subpoenas in the Deal case.

Murray-Obertein, who arrived after the departures of Kalberman and Streicker, testified she was under pressure to get the Deal case resolved. Hair claimed LaBerge ordered him to alter, hide, and destroy documents related to the Deal investigation.

The commission has denied any wrongdoing and Deal has said he was not involved in any of the commission’s decisions or actions.

Veteran state Sen. Don Balfour lost re-election in the primary on Tuesday, May 20, 2014.

Balfour is the longest-serving Senate Republican and was acquitted last year of charges he improperly billed the state for travel expenses.

Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau and former Lawrenceville City Councilman P.K. Martin both finished ahead of Balfour, setting up a runoff between the two candidates on July 22, 2014.

A jury verdict has ordered the state to pay Stacey Kalberman $700,000 for unfairly forcing her from office. The jury found the former director of the ethics commission was unfairly forced from office as retribution for investigating Gov. Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign.

Kalberman sued her former employer, claiming the commission’s decisions to cut her salary by $35,000 and eliminate her top deputy’s position were in response to her desire to issue subpoenas for records in the investigation.

Attorneys for the commission argued the motivation for the cuts was concern for a budget crisis. Holly Laberge, who replaced Kalberman, testified she did not find a budget crisis when she took office.

The General Assembly adjourned sine die late Thursday, March 20, 2014.

Any bills not passed by the adjournment deadline cannot become law. A pay-to-play bill to require contribution disclosure by state contractors was among the unpassed bills.

Senate Bill 310 would have required contractors to disclose contributions exceeding $5,000 on the same schedule as other campaign finance reports.

Georgia lawmakers and lobbyists are adapting new gift limits to old reporting methods while the ethics commission attempts to draft rules. House Bill 142 established the first-ever limit on lobbyist spending by capping the value of a gift a lobbyist could give a lawmaker at $75.

The bill, effective January 1, 2014, has several exceptions including one to remove the $75 cap for any caucus approved by the House or Senate ethics committees.

Once approved as a caucus, the members can accept a gift greater than $75 without everyone in a caucus attending a dinner, so long as the entire group is invited. Even before committee approval, delegations and more traditional caucuses began accepting expensive meals from lobbyists, leaving lobbyists to figure out how to disclose the spending.

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission is still months away from unveiling rules governing the new ethics law.

Gov. Nathan Deal has signed into law a bill changing the assignment of the state’s ethics agency to the State Accounting Office from the Secretary of State for budgetary purposes.

In addition to moving the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, Senate Bill 297 modifies certain filing requirements for county and municipal candidates and candidate committees.

The bill became effective on January 31, 2014.

Gov. Nathan Deal has signed into law a bill moving the state primary to May 20, 2014. House Bill 310 was passed to comply with a federal court order requiring at least 45 days between primary and general elections and subsequent runoffs to give overseas military personnel time to cast absentee ballots for federal candidates.

Primary runoffs will be held on July 22, while the general election remains on November 4.

The new law, effective upon signature, also restores the requirement to file a March 31 campaign finance report, previously removed by House Bill 143.

Lawmakers passed a new 2014 election schedule, moving this year’s primaries from July 15 to May 20. The change will comply with a federal court order requiring at least 45 days between primary and general elections and subsequent runoffs to give overseas military personnel time to cast absentee ballots for federal candidates.

Under the legislation, any runoffs arising from the primaries will be held on July 22. The general election remains on Nov. 4. Any necessary state or local runoffs will be held on Dec. 2, while any runoffs to fill federal offices would take place Jan. 6, 2015.

The bill now goes to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature.

Effective January 1, 2014, new rules generally ban lobbyists from providing public officials with gifts valued at more than $75 or any tickets to games, concerts, and other recreational events. The ethics overhaul in House Bill 142 provides the state’s first legislative limitation on gifts to public officials.

Exceptions to the $75 limit include committee dinners, dinners for caucuses, and certain lobbyist-funded travel. The $75 cap is per occurrence and per lobbyist.

Although the bill was signed in May, 2013, lobbyists were permitted to provide unlimited gifts until the January 1 effective date.

Gov. Nathan Deal has issued writs of election to fill vacancies in House Districts 2 and 22.

The special elections will be held on January 7, 2014, without party primaries.

Runoff elections, if needed, will be held on Tuesday, February 4, 2014.

Following the November 13, 2013 meeting, the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission issued an order to deny lobbyist renewal for the calendar year of 2014 for each lobbyist with outstanding registration, supplemental registration, identification card, and/or badge fees.

The commission will also deny lobbyist renewal for each lobbyist with unpaid fines or unfiled disclosure reports.

The 2014 fees for the lobbyist identification badge ($20) and supplemental registration ($10) will remain unchanged from 2013 amounts.

Gov. Nathan Deal has issued writs of election to fill vacancies in House Districts 100, 104, 127, and Senate District 14.

The special elections will be held on November 5, 2013. House Districts 100, 104, and Senate District 14 became vacant due to resignations.

House District 127 became vacant due to the passing of Representative Quincy Murphy.

Governor Nathan Deal signed two pieces of ethics legislation aimed at increasing public confidence in state government on May 6, 2013. House Bill 142 restores rulemaking powers to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, clarifies and modifies classification as a lobbyist, and sets a gift limit of $75 per lobbyist gift.

House Bill 143 requires more campaign transparency for local races and allows for public notice of any campaign contributions given to members of the General Assembly leading up to the start of the legislative session. The bills become effective January 1, 2014.