Posted on 01/26/2016 4:04:54 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
Party operatives suggested there would be a crowded primary field to replace Westmoreland and that there is no “heir apparent†who was tipped off to his departure ahead of time. Potential candidates include:
•State Sen. Mike Crane, who was elected in 2011 to represent Coweta and Heard counties.
•Former State Sen. Majority Leader Ronnie Chance, who declined to seek re-election in 2014.
•State Sen. Rick Jeffares, who represents portions of Henry, Newton and Rockdale Counties. GOPAC, which recruits and trains Republicans at the state level to run for higher office, made him an “Emerging Leader†in 2011.
•State Sen. Joshua McKoon of Columbus.
•State Rep. David Knight of Griffin, who represents parts of Spalding, Henry and Lamar counties.
•State Rep. Matt Ramsey of Peachtree City, who worked for former Rep. Mac Collins. Collins preceded Westmoreland in Congress, representing what used to be the 8th Congressional District.
•Retired Aflac General Counsel Joey Loudermilk, who was appointed as a juvenile court judge in the Columbus-based Chattahoochee Judicial Court in 2014. (Loudermilk is not related to Georgia’s 11th District Rep. Barry Loudermilk.)
•Georgia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Chris Clark, who lives in Peachtree City. •Westmoreland Chief of Staff Matt Brass, who commutes between Newnan, Ga., and Washington, DC.
This is two weeks old, but how is it going now? Since it’s a safe Republican district, I want the most conservative candidate to be the nominee.
Rest easy and don’t lose any sleep worrying about Georgia.
He’s running for Governor in a few years so says the local rumor mill.
Nonsense. That attitude yields Isakson.
Ever vigilant
who is running agin him?
The three declared GOP candidates (no Democrats have declared as yet) are State Sen. Mike Crane, businessman Chip Flanegan (who ran in 2014 against Westmoreland) and Hayden Marlowe (also a businessman and former candidate for local office in Coweta Co.).
Two ex-Congressmembers are having their names floated, Dr. Paul Broun (who lost the Senate race against Perdue) and Mac Collins, who preceded Westmoreland. The only downside for both is that they’re older. Collins will be 72 before the general election this year. Broun turns 70 in May.
Isakson’s primary opponents are:
Lee Benedict (R) - Teacher, Iraq War Veteran, GOP Activist & ‘07 State Sen. Candidate
Derrick Grayson (R) - Minister, Network Engineer, Navy Veteran & ‘14 Candidate
I endorsed Grayson when he ran in ‘14 against that slew of candidates. Black Conservative minister.
Broun is kinda Paulish, isn’t he?
I’d prefer fresh blood to him or Collins.
I rather liked Braun. He was kind of a bridge between the Religious and Libertarian wings of the conservative movement. Since it’s a safe district, we should seek the most conservative candidate we can find. No need to cut corners here.
I now remember what the main thing I didn’t like about Broun was, hardcore creationism.
Dumb stuff that hurt’s the party’s image is something I’m against.
The issue I have with the outspoken young earth creationist candidates is their views are in the minority but they act like nobody can be a "Christian" unless you agree with them. I love the irony of them accusing anyone who supports evolution of being a "socialist" when the ONLY openly creationist nominee for President (William Jennings Bryan) was a socialist (and he was running against hard-core capitalists and non-creationist candidates William McKinley & William Howard Taft, no less).
Liberals love to slam all conservatives as young earthers, and some leftists from overseas actually believe the entire USA is similar to fundamentalist protestants and loathe Charles Darwin. I told some loudmouth lefty from the UK that this would be news to every Catholic school I've ever seen in the Chicago area, since they teach the same evolutionary theory as the public schools and never bat an eyelash about it.
I actually ended up switching my vote in 2014 over this. I was going to vote Constitution Party for Governor until their Lt. Governor nominee told me that he believed Pope John Paul II was an "atheist and non-Christian" since JPII didn't drink the "earth is only 6000 years old" kool-aid. I can't in good conscience support someone like that for Lt. Governor.
Yes, it’s a weird combo and I for one don’t like it.
The Constitution Party appears full of nuts. Whatever disagreements I have with the Libertarians they’d have to be my third party of choice (in the extremely limit circumstance I’d not support the Republican) over them.
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