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DEL.ICIO.USHill fails in political comeback
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wayne Hill’s bid for a political comeback failed Tuesday as state Rep. Bobby Reese (R-Sugar Hill) handily defeated the former Gwinnett commission chairman in the race for the 98th Georgia House district.
“I’m relieved,” Reese said. “I’m glad it’s over.
Hill said, “We ran a clean hard campaign and kept it on the up and up, and I’m proud of that.
Hill, who once harbored ambitions for the governorship, added, “I probably will not run for office again, but still be involved in other people’s races.”
It was good night for incumbent legislators from Gwinnett. They easily swatted down their primary election challengers.
Victories by state Reps. Clay Cox (R-Lilburn), John Heard (R-Lawrenceville) and Pedro Marin (D-Duluth), as well as Reese, means all four incumbents are virtual shoo-ins for re-election this fall. None faces opposition from candidates from other political parties or independents.
In many respects the Hill-Reese race was a referendum on Hill’s 12 years as the head of Gwinnett County government as well as his tenure as appointed chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission.
Hill entered the race with a pledge not to run attack ads or mail fliers against his opponent. In a odd reversal of campaign roles, Hill, the challenger, seemed to run as though he were the incumbent. On the stump, Hill rarely mentioned his opponent. Instead, both in public and in his direct mail fliers, Hill focused on his accomplishments as the leader of Gwinnett government and the expertise he gained as a major voice in the ongoing debates about metro Atlanta’s transportation and water supply problems.
It wasn’t enough. In running a resume campaign, Hill failed to convince voters that Reese needed to be replaced.
Meanwhile, Reese didn’t shy away from knocking his opponent. The incumbent also benefited from the support of longtime anti-Hill community activities and a statewide environmental group that actively campaigned against the former Gwinnett Commission chairman.
The group, the Georgia Conservation Voters Fund sent district voters mailers and ran cable television ads blaming Hill for metro Atlanta’s traffic problems. The group also accused Hill of allowing uncontrolled development to ruin Gwinnett’s quality of life.
Hill was hobbled by significant health problems. In early June, he underwent open heart surgery, which, though successful, kept him off the campaign trail for several weeks and prevented him from campaigning more aggressively, even after his doctor cleared him to resume his campaign.
Reese faced a significant personal distraction of his own. In recent weeks, the incumbent spent much of his time in southern Alabama visiting his ailing father.
Reese’s election will send him to the state Capitol for his fourth term. Reese was first elected to the House in 1998. He lost a bid for state Senate in 2002 and reclaimed the seat two years later.
Hill’s political career began in 1988 when the lifelong Gwinnett resident first ran as a Democrat for a north Gwinnett county commission seat. Hill lost. Four years later, Hill, who switched to the GOP, ousted incumbent Gwinnett commission Chairman Lillian Webb.
He was re-elected twice, in 1996 and 2000. Hill was denied a fourth term in 2004 by Charles Bannister, who defeated the incumbent in a GOP runoff election in August that year.
During his tenure, Hill presided over a growth boom that transformed Gwinnett from a bedroom suburb into a highly urbanized county with a population that continues to grow more ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.
Hill takes credit for preparing the county for growth and for the economic development successes that came with it.
He presided over hundreds of millions of dollars of public works projects including 47 new roads and the construction of a sewage treatment plant that bears his name and is considered to be among the best in the world. Other successes include a new four-year college, an arena, an expanded park system, scheduled public bus service and the giant Mall of Georgia near Buford.
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