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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Monday, October 29, 2018 7A
STATESBORO
White male Dem. touts diversity in seeking votes
JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
Democratic candidate for Georgia Secretary of State John Barrow greets
people outside Sanford Stadium on the University of Georgia campus
before an NCAA college football game between Georgia and Middle
Tennessee in Athens, Ga., Sept. 15.
BY BILL BARROW
Associated Press
At the annual fundraising gala
for Bulloch County Democrats,
one orator after another roused
the crowd with criticism of Presi
dent Donald Trump and tributes to
the most diverse, liberal ticket the
Georgia Democratic Party has ever
assembled for a statewide election.
“We’re going to make history,”
proclaimed Janice Laws, a Jamai
can immigrant and black woman
whose candidacy for state insur
ance commissioner might draw
more notice if it weren’t overshad
owed by Stacey Abrams’ bid to
become the first black female gov
ernor in American history.
Former state NAACP leader
Francys Johnson, the local con
gressional candidate, demanded
“moral clarity” in opposition to
Trump’s treatment of “poor peo
ple and immigrants and people of
color.”
But John Barrow, the last Demo
crat to hold the House seat John
son seeks, struck a different tone
as he talked about why he entered
politics.
“I thought there was a need for a
little bipartisanship .. some need
for moderation,” recalled Barrow.
Now running for Georgia secre
tary of state, Barrow told his fellow
Democrats he values the “common-
sense politics of compromise” over
“the politics of confrontation.”
While Abrams runs as an
unabashed liberal and gains
national attention for her historic
potential, Barrow’s campaign is
notable for a different reason. He’s
the most prominent white man
running as a Democrat in Georgia
this year, navigating the politics
of a state undergoing rapid demo
graphic shifts and a party that is
putting a premium on gender and
racial diversity. The 62-year-old
Barrow’s electoral fortunes could
offer clues for how voters might
receive potential White House
hopefuls like former Vice President
Joe Biden, former New Orleans
Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Govs.
Jay Inslee of Washington and Steve
Bullock of Montana.
Barrow is an increasingly rare
figure in Deep South Democratic
politics, where many white men
of his generation became Repub
licans over the past two decades.
He’s one of two white male Demo
crats on Georgia’s statewide ticket
this year. Democrats in the state’s
congressional delegation are
African-American.
For his part, Barrow sees him
self as part of Democrats’ diversity,
arguing the party is refashion
ing itself as a big tent, including
philosophically.
“What I’m trying to remind folks
is there was a time when the parties
were more diverse, and that was
good for them,” Barrow said in an
interview. “The only hope for our
country is for both of these parties
to be healed from within.”
Abrams, meanwhile, welcomes
Barrow even if their politics and
path to victory don’t always overlap.
“Every candidate on the Demo
cratic ticket holds strong to their
core values and seeks to lift up
every Georgian,” she said.
Barrow is not openly critical of
his fellow Democrats, including
Abrams, noting she defined her ten
ure as minority leader in the state
legislature by striking big-ticket
compromises with Republicans.
“That’s a high mark in her favor,”
Barrow said, “but we all have to
earn our stripes every day on that
score, and I’ve done it more days,
year in and year out, than anybody
else on the statewide ticket on
either side.”
He eagerly applies his trade
mark approach to the hottest topic
in his otherwise low-profile race:
how the secretary of state manages
elections.
That issue has sharply defined
the closing weeks of the governor’s
race pitting Abrams against Repub
lican Brian Kemp, the current sec
retary of state. Democrats and civil
rights groups accuse Kemp’s office
of nefariously holding up tens of
thousands of new voter registra
tions. Kemp insists that he’s follow
ing the law and that any of those
would-be voters can cast ballots as
long as they produce valid identifi
cation like any other Georgian.
Barrow has largely kept to his
script.
He notes the broader contours of
the debate: Republicans arguing for
preventing voter fraud while Dem
ocrats accuse them of trying to sup
press votes. “There are legitimate
concerns on both sides,” he told The
Associated Press. “We ought to be
able to make it easier to vote with
out making it easier for someone to
cheat.”
At the south Georgia party gath
ering, Barrow emphasized ballot
access. “A part of election integrity
is protecting the right to vote,” he
said, taking a few implicit digs at
Kemp.
At a VFW hall a few days later
in the Republican-leaning suburbs
of Atlanta, Barrow underscored
his push for scanned paper ballots
statewide in lieu of touch-screen
machines that leave no paper trail.
At that venue, he made no men
tion of Kemp or of his own Repub
lican opponent, state Rep. Brad
Raffensperger.
The same kind of high-wire rou
tine defined Barrow’s 12 years
on Capitol Hill. It’s a tenure that
began in 2004, after a stint as a
local elected official in Athens.
Barrow defeated an incumbent
GOP Republican even as President
George W. Bush was re-elected, and
Barrow lasted five terms through
two moves — GOP lawmakers
redrew his district boundaries —
and multiple tough campaigns until
he finally succumbed to the GOP’s
midterm sweep in 2014.
Along the way, he was an early
endorser of Barack Obama’s presi
dential bid and backed Nancy
Pelosi for speaker. But he opposed
Obama’s health care overhaul in
2010 and from that year forward
cast a symbolic vote for his fellow
Georgian, civil rights icon John
Lewis, as speaker. He backed hate
crimes legislation and allowing gay
military service members to serve
openly, but he opposed Democrats’
cap-and-trade tax plans to combat
climate change.
He won endorsements from
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
and the National Rifle Associa
tion, featuring the latter group in
a memorable 2012 ad in which he
brandished firearms he said were
family heirlooms.
OBITUARIES
William “Billy” Mark Burnette
Died Oct. 25, 2018
William “Billy” Mark Burnette, age 88 of
Southside, Ala., passed away Thursday, Oct.
25,2018, at his residence.
He was born in Union
County, Ga., to the late
Monroe and Dessie Collins
Burnett. Billy worked as a
federal poultry inspector.
He was very creative and
enjoyed woodworking.
Billy was a musician.
In addition to his par
ents he was preceded in death by his wife,
Frankie Burnette; she passed away April
19, 2018. Billy and Frankie were married
63 years; two brothers, Durane Burnett and
Monroe Burnett, Jr.; and one sister, Cor-
rine Beaver. He is survived by his daugh
ter, Letricia McDaniel; two grandchildren,
Charles “Mike” Roland McDaniel III and
Jordan Elizabeth McDaniel.
Funeral service was held at 3 p.m., Sun
day, Oct. 28, 2018, at the Townson-Rose
Funeral Home Chapel in Murphy. Rev. Aud
Brown officiated. Special music provided
by Vivian Brown. Burial will be in the Ivy
Log Baptist Church Cemetery in Blairsville,
Ga. Pallbearers were Charles McDaniel III,
Robert Truett, Cody Truett, Jonah Truett,
Ronald Harris and Brady Harris.
The family received friends from 2-3
p.m., Sunday, Oct. 28,2018, at the Townson-
Rose Funeral Home.
You may send tributes to the Burnette
family at www.townson-rose.com
Townson-Rose Funeral Home, Murphy,
N.C.
Sign the online guest book at gainesville-
times.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Oct. 29, 2018
Clifford Bond Tyner
Sept. 21, 1941-Oct. 23, 2018
Clifford Bond Tyner, 77, of Gainesville
passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, at
his residence following an extended illness.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m.
on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, in the Chapel of
Memorial Park Funeral Home with the
Rev. Jason Mincey and the Rev. Jimmy
Wehunt officiating. The family will receive
friends at the funeral home on Monday,
Oct. 29,2018, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Born on Sept. 21, 1941,
in Madison County, Ga., he
was the son of the late C.J.
and Louise Bond Tyner.
He was retired from Lib
erty National where he
was an insurance agent.
Mr. Tyner was a veteran of
the United States Navy. He
was of the Methodist faith.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Tyner is
preceded in death by his brother, William
Tyner.
Mr. Tyner is survived by his wife, Judy
Elizabeth Tyner of Gainesville; son, Greg
ory Bond Tyner (Nikki) of Dacula; grand
son, Henry and granddaughter, Virginia;
daughter, Stacy Lynn Martin of Flowery
Branch; grandson, Maxwell Martin; daugh
ter, Christy Dawn Hulsey (Ben) of Oakwood;
granddaughter, Carleigh, and grandson,
Cade.
In lieu of flowers, those who wish may
make contributions to the Hall County
American Red Cross, 675 White Sulphur Rd
Suite 230, Gainesville, GA 30501 or to the
American Cancer Society 2565 Thompson
Bridge Rd # 114, Gainesville, GA 30501
Memorial Park Funeral Home,
Gainesville
Sign the online guest book at gainesville-
times.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Oct. 29, 2018
DEATH NOTICES
Kevin Reed Davidson
April 1, 1976-Oct. 27, 2018
Kevin Reed Davidson, 42, of Demorest
died Saturday. Memorial service, 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 31, funeral home chapel.
Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory,
Baldwin
Charlotte Gleeson Parrish
June 22, 1929-Oct. 27, 2018
Charlotte “Patsy” Gleeson Parrish, 89, of
Clarkesville died Saturday. Memorial ser
vice, 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, funeral home
chapel. Whitfield Funeral Home, Demorest.
INTRODUCING
Mi
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Saved You
2011-201?
Mr. Nibble
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“OK-SO,,
Little & Davenport
Funeral Home
To inquire about pricing packages available to
memorialize a pet in print, please contact Megan Lewis
at 770-535-6371 or mlewis@gainesvilletimes.com
Pets at Peace will appear in The Times
the last Sunday of each month.
Michael
Steven Reeves
Died Oct. 27, 2018
Michael Steven Reeves, 66, of Gaines
ville died Saturday. Barrett Funeral Home,
Cleveland.
Judy
Beatty Smith
Died Oct. 27, 2018
Judy Beatty Smith, 68, of Jefferson died
Saturday. Funeral service, 3 p.m. Tues
day, Oct. 30, funeral home chapel. Evans
Funeral Home, Jefferson.
Obituary information
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