Gov. Kemp urges Georgians to get out and vote

ALPHARETTA, GA - MAY 17: Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at a campaign event on May 17, 2022 in Alpharetta, Georgia. Kemp touted a one-time tax refund included in the state budget he signed last week on a statewide bus tour to meet and talk with voters ahead of the May 24 primary. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at a campaign event on May 17, 2022 in Alpharetta, Georgia. Kemp touted a one-time tax refund included in the state budget he signed last week on a statewide bus tour to meet and talk with voters ahead of the May 24 primary. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:30 PM PT – Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Georgia’s Governor has urged his voters to cast their ballots for Herschel Walker in the Senate runoff race.

When he took to Twitter early on Tuesday, Governor Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) shared a video explaining that every vote will count in the election.

GO VOTE!! Let’s send someone to Washington D.C. who will fight for hardworking Georgians! @HerschelWalker pic.twitter.com/vdltqq9cAc

— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) December 6, 2022

In the video, he asked whether Georgians want to send Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock back to Washington for another six years, after he’s voted with Joe Biden nearly 100 percent of the time. Kemp suggested that instead, a vote for Walker is a vote for an end to 40-year high inflation, lower gas prices, a secure southern border and tax cuts.

Tuesday’s contest remains high stakes for Democrats who are looking to establish a 51-seat majority in the Senate.

Recent polling showed that voters who chose Kemp and Warnock in the November 8th election could switch their votes to Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff election. The two candidates appear to be neck and neck.

Scotus considers First Amendment case involving Christian artist

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 05: Lorie Smith, the owner of 303 Creative, a website design company in Colorado, speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Building on December 05, 2022 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments from cases including one involving Smith, who refuses to create websites for same-sex weddings despite a state anti-discrimination law. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Lorie Smith, the owner of 303 Creative, a website design company in Colorado, speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Building on December 05, 2022 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments from cases including one involving Smith, who refuses to create websites for same-sex weddings despite a state anti-discrimination law. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:40 AM PT – Tuesday, December 6, 2022

The Supreme Court is considering a case concerning religious freedom. The case is about a Christian web designer who is fighting for the right to publish work consistent with her religious beliefs.

Colorado graphic designer Lori Smith is at the center of a case now being considered by the Nation’s highest court. The owner of 303 Creative says that she cannot create a site that would celebrate views contrary to her Christian beliefs, including the view that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. Due to this, she decided to take the issue up with the federal court to ask for guidance.

Smith was told that under Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act, she isn’t allowed to deny services to same-sex couples despite her personal faith.

“I was really excited to step into the wedding industry and use my artistic talent,” she said. “Except there’s a Colorado law that prevents me from continuing my work and forces me to violate my beliefs and speak messages that I don’t agree with.”

The Supreme Court will decide whether a law like Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act violates an artist’s rights to free speech and freedom to exercise religion. Kristen Waggoner, the General Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, said that when Smith started her own business she did not surrender her first amendment rights.

“Lorie works with everyone, including those who identify as LGBT, and her faith influences all aspects of her life, including which messages she expresses as a graphic designer,” Waggoner stated. “She always decides which projects to design based on the message requested, and never based on the person requesting it.”

However, LGBTQ advocates believe that as a web designer, Smith decided to open her business to the public, thereby making goods and services available to any Colorado resident. They claim that it’s simply discrimination. However, Smith is hopeful the Supreme Court will side with her as it did in the 2018 case of the Colorado cake baker, Jack Phillips, who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple based on his religious beliefs.

In that 7-to-2 decision, the court ruled that the state commission showed hostility toward Phillips but did not rule on the broader issue of religious liberty.

Now, a fresh case has arrived before the Supreme Court, one that will test the intersection of Anti-Discrimination laws and constitutional rights.