Posted on 05/21/2003 11:50:29 AM PDT by JohnnyZ
SNELLVILLE — City Councilman Melvin Everson is seeking a state House of Representatives seat in 2004. If he wins, Everson will be the first black Republican in state government, a milestone former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma achieved in Congress in 1994.
Current mayor pro tem of Snellville, Everson, 45, announced his candidacy Monday for District 70, post 1. The seat is currently held by Charles Bannister, the former Lilburn mayor who is mulling over a race for Gwinnett Commission Chairman.
“I’m running for the Legislature because it’s time for a change at the state Capitol. Too many major decisions have been made by state government which negatively affected city and county governments across the state,” Everson said.
The Army veteran said he is excited to be a pioneer if he becomes the first black Republican, but is not running solely for the milestone. It’s about helping people, he said.
“I have a proven effective record as a city councilman. I also have a proven voting record as a fiscal conservative. I’m a lifelong Republican, and I am personally committed to making state government more responsive and less expensive,” he said.
Earlier this year, Snellville Mayor Brett Harrell unsuccessfully lobbied for the Georgia Municipal Association for a Municipal Options Sales Tax, a city version of the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Everson said MOST and other revenue streams for cities and counties would be his top issue.
Everson said he will continue his post in Snellville while raising funds for his campaign until he qualifies for the election next year.
Former Congressional candidate Clay Cox of Lilburn announced last week he will run for District 70, although he did not specify a post.
There are 3 "posts" in district 70, so they have three reps; not quite sure how that works.
"The Army veteran said he is excited to be a pioneer if he becomes the first black Republican,"
Who the hell wrote this article ? Everson will NOT be the first Black Republican in GA state government, there were many who served during the Reconstruction period. J.C. Watts was not the first Black Republican in the U.S. House, either. J.C. was the 25th to serve (excluding a few others who were disgracefully denied their seats during Reconstruction), and he joined Congressman Gary Franks, who preceeded J.C. by 4 years. GA elected one Black Republican in 1870 to Congress, Jefferson Franklin Long, but he served only about a year. They haven't elected any others since, though. A very sloppy article. Black 'Rats in the South, BTW, are a very recent occurance (after the early 1960s), they were almost uniformally Republican 30 years after their Northern brethren bolted the party.
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