Airport crowd rallies for the GOP
The Republican Party’s top candidates sent surrogates in their place.
Floyd County Republicans were joined by party leaders from across the state Saturday to kick off the fall campaign. State GOP Chairman John Watson said he feels confident the GOP voter turnout will be strong in the fall.
“The reality is (Democrat) Stacey Abrams and her radical agenda, liberal agenda, is the beacon for Hollywood, the beacon for the Hamptons, is the beacon for all things not Georgia,” Watson said. “When those issues become transparent, I know what’s going to happen. Republicans are going to flood to the polls and vote for Brian Kemp (the GOP candidate for Governor).”
State Sen. Bruce Thompson, R-Cartersville, spoke on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp, as did Kemp’s wife Marty Kemp, who was at the rally along with their daughter Lucy. Several local GOP leaders spoke on behalf of other top of the ticket candidates.
Floyd County Republican Chairman Andy Garner said he was pleased with the turnout, between 400 and 500. He said the turnout at the polls in the fall will be critical.
“In particular turnout is important in Northwest Georgia because this is a Republican rich area and we need as many Republican votes in the 14th District as we can get to offset other parts of the state that are not as Republican as we are.”
Rep. Christian Coomer, R-Cartersville, said the key issues Georgians face in the fall election will be a decision as to who voters believe can make sure residents of the state, “continue to have low tax burdens, low regulation burdens, and that we can continue to see the kind of growth we’ve had. To be fiscally responsible is the be socially responsible.”
GOP Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, who is being challenged by Democrat Fred Swann in November, spent a lot of his energy Saturday talking about the impact of tariff wars on Georgia farmers.
“Our biggest exposure is with pecans because there is a 47 percent tariff (from China),” He explained the tariff had been seven percent for a long time, then China added a 15 percent duty, before adding another 25 percent tariff in the latest round of back and forth with the U.S.
“China has not corrected its behavior, robbing our intellectual property in agriculture, unfair trade practices, particularly with corn, rice and wheat,” Black said. “What they’ve done to us is clearly retaliatory and clearly illegal.”
The commissioner said he is working with leaders in Washington on a proposed $12 billion safety net program from Washington to cushion the impact of the retaliatory tariffs but made it clear, “the income needs to come from the market, from a fair market and a free market all across the globe.”