Politics & Government
Oconee Legislative Candidates See Different Needs In Districts
At a Chamber of Commerce Forum last week, the candidates responded to a question asking candidates to identify the three biggest needs.
Adam Hammond, moderator at the candidate forum last week sponsored by the Oconee Chamber of Commerce and the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, posed a common question to Oconee County’s statehouse candidates.
“What are the three biggest needs in your district?” the former network anchor asked.
Jonathan Wallace, Democratic candidate for the House District 119, responded first to the question and listed education generally, providing information to parents about educational choices during the pandemic, and healthcare.
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Incumbent Marcus Wiedower, the Republican Party nominee, followed and agreed that education is the number one issue, and the second is transportation. He didn’t list a third.
Mokah Jasmine Johnson, the Democratic Party nominee for the 117th House District, then listed affordable housing, healthcare, and rural broadband.
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Houston Gaines, the incumbent Republican in the 117th House race, listed healthcare, support for small businesses, and public safety.
When the question was presented to Bill Cowsert, the Republican incumbent in Senate District 46, later in the forum, he picked economic opportunities, affordable healthcare, and broadband access.
Zachary Perry, the Democratic Party nominee for the 46th Senate seat, following Cowsert, listed affordable housing, criminal justice reform, and the needs of workers and small business struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The forum directed only two questions to the House candidates and three to the Senate candidates, but Oconee County citizens will have another chance starting at 8 p.m. tomorrow night to direct questions to Wallace, Johnson and Perry, who are participating in a citizen-organized virtual forum. The Republicans have refused to participate, though the invitation is still open to them.
Registration is required and is available by clicking HERE.
As of the end of the day on Friday, 5,996 Oconee County voters had participated in in-person early voting at the Civic Center. The Board of Elections and Registration has received an additional 3,405 absentee ballots, meaning that 29.8 percent of the county’s 31,594 eligible voters already has cast a ballot.
For more on the story, with a video of the forum, please go to Oconee County Observations.