The GOP-controlled General Assembly, during its redrawing of boundary lines, ensured that Georgia’s 6th U.S. Congressional District would end up with a Republican representative— one perhaps decided in the May 24 party primary or in a June 21 runoff. All the nine candidates proclaim they are conservative, but last week’s surprise endorsement by former President Donald Trump of Jake Evans is regarded by his camp as a positive “gamechanger.”
“President Trump delivered on his promise to Make America Great Again, and I vow to go to Congress to fight for the very same America First agenda that he put forward,” attorney Evans says. “Baylie and I cannot express the depths of our gratitude, not only for President Trump’s endorsement, but also for what he has already done, is doing, and will continue to do for our country. This announcement comes at the right time and creates unstoppable momentum as we work daily to earn the vote of every 6th District Republican.”
Opponent Rich McCormick responded with anger, reminding voters that he is also a Trump supporter who even made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to meet with the former president. He even attacked Evans’ father, former U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg Randy Evans, for supposedly engineering the endorsement.
Candidate Meagan Hanson, a former state representative, has also taken a shot at Evans for a law school class paper he wrote in 2012 that she says clearly calls for “defunding the police.” Evans counters that his paper said “the leading predictor for imprisonment is lack of education and that, by increasing educational opportunities, we can reduce the costs for imprisonment as the prison population shrinks. There is no suggestion or mention of defunding the police.”
Regarding another issue, each of the candidates was asked in a debate whether he or she believes Joe Biden was the winner of the 2020 presidential election. All except Hanson responded that the election was stolen from Trump and evidence of fraud was not properly investigated. Hanson did admit, though, she was concerned over mail-in ballot problems.
Aside from Evans, McCormick and Hanson, the other GOP candidates are Byron Gatewood, Blake Harbin, Paulette Smith, Mallory Stales, Suzi Voyles and Eugene Yu.
In the recent Ohio GOP primary, Trump-endorsed candidates received a big voter bump that saw them emerge victorious. In that context, Evans is hoping the Trump endorsement can either get him over the 50 percent margin needed to avoid a runoff, or at least get him in a runoff— perhaps with McCormick or Hanson.
