Qualifying next week for Senate District 14

Qualifying for the November election to succeed former state Senator Barry Loudermilk will be held Monday 9 AM to 5 PM, Tuesday 8 AM to 5 PM and Wednesday 8 AM to noon at the Secretary of State’s office, Elections Division. From the Marietta Daily Journal:

Although only one week has passed since he announced his resignation, Loudermilk said he is aware of at least three residents who are preparing to throw their names in the hat to take the seat, which represents large parts of Cherokee and Bartow counties and a small portion of Cobb County.
Dwight Pullen, 53, of Canton, Matt Laughridge, 25, of Cartersville, and Bruce Thompson, 48, of White, who is also Loudermilk’s finance chairman, all indicated Thursday that they plan to run for the seat.

 

Personally, I support Bruce Thompson, whom I got to know well through Republican Leadership for Georgia. Here’s what the MDJ wrote about him:

Thompson, who is an insurance agent and native of Montana, also thought he would have to wait longer to make a formal run at Loudermilk’s state Senate seat. He has, however, been campaigning to take the seat for several months.

“We launched the campaign two and a half or three months ago,” Thompson said. “We were in full-swing campaigning. As I’ve told many people we were in a race. Now, we’re in a sprint.”

Thompson said he knows the needs and wants of the residents of the district, as he has owned businesses in Cherokee and Cobb in addition to his current business located in Cartersville.

“I’m pretty familiar with this northwest corridor,” he said.

Macon-Bibb early voting continues Saturday

Karen Handel first on the air in Senate race

Karen Handel yesterday released a radio ad that appears to be the first to air in the 2014 Senate race. Included in the release were a transcript of the ad and the audio.

KAREN HANDEL:

Only in Washington can Congressmen campaign against Obamacare – while receiving special treatment and thousands in taxpayer subsidies that the rest of us don’t get.

This is Karen Handel – and I’m running for United States Senate.

Under Obamacare, Members of Congress and their staffs are required to buy health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges or plans created under Obamacare – just like you and me.

But unlike you and me, Congress gets to keep up to $11,000 a year in taxpayer subsidies – all thanks to a special deal worked out with President Obama.

So Congress gets special treatment.

And what do Georgians get? More government in our health care. Higher health care costs. And higher premiums – up to 198% higher.

Click here to hear the ad.

Isakson: second thoughts on Syria?

Citing a federal defense budget already stretched thin by sequestration, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said Thursday in a tour of Fort Gordon that he has reservations about giving President Obama the authority to use U.S. military force in Syria.

Sen. Johnny Isakson chats with Maj. Gen. LaWarren V. Patterson, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Signal Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon, during an overview from the 10th-floor balcony of the Signal Center headquarters building.

“You cannot, on the one hand, as a congressional policy-maker talk about shutting down the government or not funding a continuing resolution, and on the same token talk about authorizing a strike that could cost $300 million in a matter of days,” Isakson said. “Our military has to have the capability of being funded to carry out the missions that they are given, and Congress cannot have it both ways.”

Rep. Westmoreland: Congressional approval required for Syria action

An op-ed by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland in the Thomaston Times makes the case that President Obama cannot commit to military action in Syria without Congressional approval.

Article II, Section 8 of the US Constitution clearly gives Congress, and not the president, the power to “provide for the common defense” and “to declare war.” Therefore, any use of military force in or against Syria must be authorized by Congress.

That is why I signed on to a letter with my colleagues in the House urging President Obama to “consult and receive authorization from Congress before ordering the use of US military force in Syria.”

We cannot allow this president to ignore the Constitution, once again, and get our country involved in what is clearly a religious-based civil war in an unstable region without authorization by Congress. It is our constitutional responsibility and I refuse to sit by and let President Obama trample all over our Constitution any more than he already has.