Newspaper Page Text
6A
THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2004
GOP
From page 1A
Republican primary, and
will go on to face Macon
Democrat Ben Taylor in the
Nov. 2 general election.
Ga. Senate Dist. 20 candi
date Ross Tolleson of Perry
said he has been busy on the
campaign trail. Dist. 20 cov
ers eight counties. The
incumbent Republican, who
faces Democratic challenger
Dan King in November’s
general election, said the
Senate race will conserva
tively take about $250,000
to . win.
Tolleson was in King’s
hometown of Dublin
Tuesday. He planned to be
in Wrightsville Wednesday
and has a barbeque in
Eastman tonight.
Tuesday night at the GOP
Victory Party in Warner
Robins, Tolleson said he is
using the same campaign
strategy he used before.
“I walk the streets hard,”
he said. “Mine’s door-to
door. I walk every store in
every town.”
Also on hand at the
Victory Party was political
newcomer Willie Talton was
unopposed for the Ga.
House Dist. 145. He is the
first African-American
Republican to win a state
seat since Reconstruction.
“I have faced other chal
lenges in my life,” he said.
“As long as I go there and
still remember who I am and
who I am going to serve, I’m
going to be all right.”
Incumbent Rep. Larry
O’Neal, also unopposed for
his Ga. House Dist. 146, said
he was excited, enthusiastic
and honored that the
Houston County party nom
inated Talton.
“That’s the first time
that’s happened in my
entire lifetime,” O’Neal
said. “That tells me that this
county has come full circle
as it relates to progress. We
owe a great deal of gratitude
to Robins Air Force Base
and the diversity that brings
jto this area.”
?' O’Neal explained that
Talton’s nomination hap
pened quietly and was man
dated for every citizen in the
county.
Talton’s priorities will be
safety and supporting
Robins AFB. Employment
and teachers’ salaries are
other priorities.
“I’m a new kid on the
block and suddenly, I have to
get up there and see what’s
happening,” Talton said.
He promised that he
would go to Atlanta with an
open mind and be fair and
honest. He wants Dist. 145
residents to know that he is
“honored to serve and repre
sent them” and will do the
best he can.
“This county has been
extremely good to me,” he
said.
O’Neal said Talton has a
great political future ahead
for himself.
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“I predict to you today
that if the good Lord grants
him health, he will be one of
the most influential public
servants in the history of
the state of Georgia before
he’s through,” the Warner
Robins Republican said.
Earlier in the evening
Tuesday, Houston County
Board of Education Post 7
candidate Burl Jimmerson
said he was taking a cau
tious attitude before the
final results were in.
“I feel that I’ve done
everything that I can do at
this point,” he said, adding
he didn’t feel he missed any
people or areas campaign
ing. His strategy was getting
himself to every community.
He tried to get a person in
each community to take him
to the necessary places.
“That has made me feel
better this time than I did
two years ago,” he said,
referring to a previous bid
for office.
When the tallying was
done, however, Jimmerson
ultimately lost to his oppo
nent Charles M. “Toby”
Hill.
Ga. House Dist. 136 candi
date Carol Bird, R-Forsyth,
is looking for a site in
Centerville for her campaign
headquarters. Bird is chal
lenging incumbent Fort
Valley Democrat Robert Ray
in the fall.
She said Tuesday night
the majority of voters are
concerned about values and
morals and health care
issues.
“We need to get back to
the basic morals that we
have had for years,” Bird
said, adding that the
Democratic Party has taken
the couiitry to the left and
the country needs to get
back to the right.
Bird will launch a grass
roots campaign with face-to
face contact that establishes
relationships, according to
campaign manager Darlene
Vaughan.
“As thinly as we can
spread Carol, we want to get
her into the communities,”
Vaughan said. Volunteers in
the communities will go
door-to-door canvassing vot
ers and bringing issues and
concerns back to Bird.
Mark Kushinka, one of
three Republican candidates
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HH.J Charlotte Perkins
(From left) WNNG radio news director Joe Bishop, Houston County Commissioner Larry Thompson, poll worker Betty
Gocken, Commissioner Tom McMichael, and school board members Tom Walmer and Jim Boswell socialize at the
Board of Elections in Perry as they wait for the totals to come in.
to succeed retiring Houston
County Tax Commissioner
Juanita Mason, said taxpay
ers want more convenience
from the commissioner’s
office. He said he wants to
modernize the office, put tax
items online, have courteous
staff and cross-training for
employees in the office.
He’s talked to many
groups, especially in Warner
Robins, including service
clubs and retirees.
Kushinka got more votes
than rivals Judy Kluge and
Judy Golden, but not
enough to clinch the seat.
He and Kluge are facing a
run-off election Aug. 10.
Incumbent Gail Robinson
cruised to an easy victory
Tuesday, with no opposition
for her Houston County
LOCAL
Commission seat. She said
local voters are concerned
about managing the growth
of the county, not being
overrun by development,
and that infrastructure
keeps up with the growth.
“Even the people that are
pro-growth are concerned
that everything keeps up
equally,” she said. Water and
roads are prime examples,
CO CM
LOOK
according to Robinson.
Smaller issues for voters
include future special pur
pose local option sales taxes
(SPLOSTs).
“Usually, for a lot of the
bigger structures, we are
going to need SPLOST
funds to continue carrying
on and expanding our Capi
tol,” Robinson said.
Houston County GOP
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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
chairman Judy Godddrd
said the party is a reflection
of the county.
“The people of Houston
County are great Americans
who have strong conserva
tive values,” Goddard said.
“The Republican party best
reflects their values and
dreams for a strong, pros
perous America. Our success
reflects that reality.”