ICYMI – The Marietta Daily Journal – Scott, Dollar both pick up challengers

I don’t know how, but I missed these announcements.

POLITICS: IT exec and former Marine / Desert Storm veteran Michael Owens of Mableton has announced plans to run in the May 20 Democratic Primary against longtime 13th District Congressman David Scott (D-Atlanta).

Owens is East Coast program manager of state and local government at the Higher Education Solutions Division of Cisco Systems. Prior to that he was a senior manager and member of the global leadership team for SITA, an international information technology company providing IT and security services to foreign and domestic government entities and the global air transport industry.

He told Around Town he wants to bring “a strong progressive voice” to Congress.

“The 13th is a progressive district, they’re smart and connected to their communities,” he said. “They want to support a strong public education system, protect Georgia’s rich environment for future generations and build an economy that works for the middle-class and everyone trying to join. We want to see someone in Congress who fights for the values and policies we believe in.”

Owens earned a B.S. at North Carolina A&T State University and his master’s from The Business School at Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds a doctorate in business administration from California InterContinental University and in 2011 was selected and took part in the first Emerging Leaders Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Owens is treasurer of the Young Democrats of Cobb County and serves on the Young Democrats of Georgia’s Finance Committee. He was named vice president of policy and government affairs for the National Black & Latino Council and is a longtime member of the Georgia Council of International Visitors.

—

INCUMBENT SCOTT has represented the 13th since 2002 and is expected to seek his seventh term next year. The 13th includes the portion of Cobb south of Macland and Milford Church roads and mostly west of South Cobb Drive. It then sweeps southward through Douglas, Fulton, Fayette, Henry and Clayton counties.

Scott was a dependable vote for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and is generally considered one of the most liberal members of Georgia’s congressional delegation.

“This race is not about any differences between myself and Congressman Scott,” Owens said. “It’s about the people of the 13th district and the community they want to live in. I’m going to fight for a cleaner, greener Georgia, I’m going to support our civil justice system to hold unscrupulous corporations accountable and I’m going to work to end tax cuts for millionaires that come at the expense of the middle-class. These issues will be my focus because they are what’s important to the people I want to represent.”

Added Owens, “The people of the 13th district deserve the right to be represented by a leader who understands and respects their wants, needs and opportunities within the district and who believes in an ethical, open and transparent government.”

COMMUNITY advocate Karen Hallacy has announced plans to run in the GOP Primary May 20 against longtime incumbent state Rep. Matt Dollar (R-east Cobb).

Dollar easily held off a pair of challengers in last year’s primary without a runoff by garnering 58 percent of votes.

Hallacy is a recent appointee to The Development Authority of Cobb County and chaired the Neighborhood Safety Commission but perhaps is best known for her volunteer work for Cobb schools, serving as state PTA legislative chair. She was named East Cobb Citizen of the Year last year and is a member of the Leadership Cobb Class of 2012.