The 18 candidates for GA’s 6th Congressional District
Early voting has already begun and the big day is two weeks away but the plethora of candidates for Georgia’s sixth district to replace now-HHS Secretary Tom Price got together Wednesday in downtown Atlanta for another debate. The debate was two hours and one thing was readily apparent – two hours is not a lot of time for 18 people to discuss public policy much beyond campaign talking points. Minus the amount of time devoted to moderators asking questions, that leaves maybe five minutes average per candidate to lay out why they would be the best choice on April 18.
The fee to run for U.S. Congress in the state of Georgia is $5,220. Perhaps it is not enough. 18 candidates does sound like a lot of candidates but until you see them all arranged on little bar stools on a debate stage, it doesn’t quite sink in. To take a photograph of the field, and fit them all in, the camera needs to be nearly 20 feet away.
There is a lot of talent in this field. There are some…quirky ones, but there is no Vermin Supreme or Basil Marceaux in this race. Each candidate seems to bring something to the table; if only there were more tables (or perhaps in this case, smaller, local tables that may be in Atlanta rather than Washington D.C.).
First up in the debate is something on everyone’s mind, Atlanta traffic and, more specifically, MARTA and whether to extend it or some other form of expansion. For the most part, the answers came down along predictably partisan lines – with independents and Democrats in favor of expansion and Republicans opposed or at least hesitant. Bob Gray noted that the citizens in Johns Creek, where he was a city councilman, have tired of paying taxes and seeing no benefit. Karen Handel and Judson Hill both noted that it is not the job of the federal government to dictate local transportation policy. Amy Kremer seemed open to the idea but that the cost would have to be offset from somewhere. Bruce Levell reminded the audience of his role in the Trump campaign and how close he is to the White House and he would be able to get Georgia what it needs.
The candidates also touched on a variety of other topics – general infrastructure, healthcare, education and college, Washington D.C. and its relative swampiness, technology and, of course, President Donald Trump.
Handel defended her record from her time at the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Some accuse her of being wobbly on Obamacare but part of her role at Komen was to ensure that mammograms got covered under the legislation. Dan Moody, fresh off an endorsement from Senator David Perdue last week, relayed how his experience in Georgia taught him about reaching across the aisle when he did so to get the city of Sandy Springs bill passed.
Jon Ossoff, the looming Democrat in the race, was able to mostly respond with his well-rehearsed campaign talking points about his experience and reason for his running. In a debate so tight on time, stump soundbites are not necessarily a cop-out, they may be all you have time for.
Immediately following the debate, it was reported that the Ossoff campaign has thus far raised $8.3 million (a nice little nugget of confidence Ossoff was sitting on during the debate). That amount would appear to be a Georgia record. According to OpenSecrets.org, it would’ve placed Ossoff in the top 10 in the country in 2016 – just ahead of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who happens to be the Majority Leader in the House. And Ossoff still has two weeks left before the first vote.
See the full debate here:
