About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2024)
4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, January 24,2024 Former U.S. Senate candidate speaks to local Republicans Julia Hansen Dawson County News During the Dawson County Republican Party’s Jan. 15 meeting, U.S. Air Force veteran and former Senate candidate Kelvin King speaks about he and his wife, Janelle’s approach to talking politics with minority and non-traditional conservative groups. By Julia Hansen juliahansen@dawsonnews.com A former candidate for the U.S. Senate recently talked with Republicans in Dawson County and offered tips on how they and others can grow the political party ahead of this year’s elections. U.S. Air Force veteran and former Senate can didate Kelvin King spoke at the Dawson County Republican Party’s Jan. 15 meeting alongside his wife, con servative commentator and former Deputy State Director of the Georgia GOP, Janelle King. The Kings co-operate an organization called Let’s Win for American Action to empower political messaging to non-traditional conser vative groups and minority communities. Previously, Kelvin King ran in the 2022 Republican primary election for U.S. Senate, where he lost to candi date Herschel Walker. King shared political lessons he’s learned before, during and after his campaign with local Republicans, who gath ered at the Dawson County Senior Center this past Monday, which was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Maintain focus With people’s collec tive concerns coming out of the first two years of the COVID-19 pan demic, King said the Republican party should’ve “brought the vote home” for elections such as the U.S. Senate race. An errant focus on emotional energy and discontent versus win ning outcomes played a part in the results, he told meeting attendees. “The game of politics never changes. How we feel about it may change, but we still have to follow processes,” King said, mentioning debates and other pri mary processes. “We still have to evaluate these candidates.” As voters may recall, there were multiple dis closures that hurt Republican candidate Herschel Walker’s cam paign when that elector al race should’ve been closer than it was, King said. The perception was that many people did not vote for the Republican candidate for the Senate seat “based on somebody that reflected every neg ative stereotype in the Black community,” King added. Weak talking points, combined with the his toric context behind picking then-Democrat- ic candidate and current U.S. Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock, also contributed to the elec tion’s outcome, King said. An important part of the Kings’ approach involves sticking to a consistent message, like Kelvin’s main talking points of capitalism, the Constitution and his religious faith. Now, going into 2024, the Kings said they want to help Georgia conser vatives focus on flipping more local and state elections as well as upcoming federal races. Find common ground When traveling throughout all 159 counties of Georgia, Kelvin King said he learned “quite a bit” about people’s motiva tions for voting. “What we learned is we all wanted the same thing, to get out of COVID.We wanted to get our economy work ing, so we can make a living. We wanted to make sure our kids were engaged with other chil dren, learning, and not falling behind. And we wanted to be safe,” King said. Janelle King pointed out that part of it boils down to the same kind of social media and online strategy as with other topics-like saying things to pique people’s interest and get them to watch a full video or click a button. The Kings also said the approach is also about compassion, let Locally-run website aims to help other businesses’ needs By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com When Abby Warnke started designing and working on websites, she started doing so as a way to help out her fam ily and friends. Little did she know that it would grow into her own small business, Nightfire Website Services, which she now officially owns and Erica Jones Dawson County News On Jan. 18, community members and members of the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce celebrated Nightfire Website Services with a ribbon-cutting cere mony. Kelvin King, right, listens as his wife, Janelle King, talks about conservatives’ main challenges engaging minority voters during their remarks to Dawson County Republicans. ting people know their votes matter and bridg ing the education gap, which is why they’ve spoken at high schools and colleges across the state. “A lot of the kids’ position was that the Constitution was outdat ed or doesn’t apply to modern times. When we left there, nobody was saying that anymore, because we explained to them how these are pro tections that allow you to have that position and that feeling and [be able to] walk out there and protest,” Kelvin said. Win over hearts Janelle King acknowl edged that conserva tives, particularly peo ple who aren’t minori ties, may feel some reluctance at engaging politically with others who look or act differ ently from them. “The messenger needs to at least understand the culture...more than anything else,” Janelle said. That could look like creating minority- friendly spaces within conservative gatherings or going to Democrat spaces to engage people, which she said would “go a long way.” She elaborated that this relational work also includes going to din ners with couples, including community leaders in conversations and making people, especially those in more vulnerable, lower- income areas, feel like they have a seat at the table. The Kings listed that some of people’s big gest qualms with voting Republican, like in the Senate race, are with hypocrisy and disingen uous, surface-level con versations. Janelle recommended to avoid condescending approaches and start encounters by “walking into the room with the mindset that ‘I may not be right.’” That way, people can lower their defenses, express their curiosity and be able to have more authentic conver sations, Janelle said. PUBLIC NOTICE Election Qualifying Fees Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 21-2-131 Dawson County Governing Authority shall fix and publish qualifying fees for county offices not later than February 1 of any year in which a general primary, nonpartisan election, or general election is to be held. Offices for the year 2024 elections shall be as follows: Office Qualifying Fee Sheriff 2,318.83 Judge of Magistrate Court 1,935.37 Judge of Probate Court 1,897.42 Tax Commissioner 1,897.42 Clerk of Superior Court 1,897.42 County Commissioner, Chair 360.00 County Commissioner, District 2 288.00 County Commissioner, District 4 288.00 County Surveyor 10.00 Coroner 108.00 Board of Education, District 1 216.00 Board of Education, District 2 216.00 Board of Education, District 4 216.00 The qualifying period will begin Monday, March 4, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. and will end on Friday, March 8, 2024, at noon @ the Board of Elections Office, 96 Academy Avenue Dawsonville, GA. operates. Warnke said that she loves to help all busi nesses, small or large, as well as other organi zations with their web site needs. “I do websites; I love working with small businesses and small organizations,” Warnke said. “I work with non profits, and I even worked with a home- school co-op recently to make a website with them.” She can also help businesses with e-com merce needs, and most recently she’s been working with the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame to set up their website and their online merchandise store. “I do a little bit of everything,” Warnke said. One of her goals in her business, she said, is to make her services both affordable and accessible to anyone who might need her help. “I love working with small organizations and businesses, so I make sure that my prices are affordable for them,” Warnke said. Most recently, Warnke joined the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce, and during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 18 Chamber President and CEO Mandy Power welcomed Warnke and Nightfire Website Services to the chamber and the com munity. “Nightfire Website Services is something that every business pret ty much has to have these days — if you’re not on the internet you’re missing a whole crowd of people,” Power said. For more information about Nightfire Website Services, go to https:// night fire websiteser- vices.com/. -9160 Dawson County Humane Society a no kill shelter Doggie Spotlight Rufus (12 years, 47.4 lbs), while he may be an older man, he still has plenty of life in him, he loves running around in the yard, and woofing at the birds and squirrels that pass by. Rufus is a very good dog, he knows basic obedience and will do anything for food. Rufus would love nothing more than to have a family of his own to love on and cuddle with. He’s a very spunky old man! “I love volunteer walks and have been told I am the Perfect Gentleman!” 706 Schedule a meet and greet with Rufus by calling or email us at: info@dawsoncountyhumanesociaty.org Rufus For more information contact the 706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Rd, Dawsonville Dawson County Humane Society Adjacent to the Rock creek sports complex Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE All proceeds benefits Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd. the Humane Societ v Bradley M. Maple Dawsonville ANH Collision CPA, PC (igj) Veterinary Specialists 706-216-2362 Hospital 706-216-0992 2390 Thompson Rd • Ste 100 Dawsonville 706-265-8381 103 Industrial Park Road, Dawsonville
