The Republican candidates to replace a long-term Sandy Springs legislator both agree the governor was right to veto two of the most controversial Republican-backed bills of the year.
Deborah Silcox and Graham McDonald, who are running to fill the House District 52 seat Joe Wilkinson is leaving after 16 years, both said they support Gov. Nathan Deal's campus carry and religious freedom vetoes.
Silcox, 52, said her son is a college student in Texas, where campus carry is the law. At his school, a dean resigned in part because of the law. Additionally, she said, she did not think the religious freedom law would withstand a judicial challenge.
McDonald, 36, said he was a strong supporter of both vetoes.
“The economic detriment to our state would have been immense” if the religious freedom law was signed, he said.
The pair also agree that tax reform is important.
McDonald favors lowering both the income tax and corporate tax rates in the state while increasing Fulton County’s homestead exemption is a priority. Tax changes would only happen, he said, if there was money in the reserves to cover the decrease in revenue.
Silcox champions the Fair Tax, a plan that would rely on taxing purchases and services.
And they agree on the need for transportation fixes in the district, which includes north Atlanta and Sandy Springs.
“I’m open to any and all ideas in terms of transportation,” Silcox said. “We need to recognize we’re all in this together. We’ve got to have a collective solution.”
Where they differ, though, is in their backing. Silcox is being supported be Wilkinson, who qualified for re-election, then dropped out after former backers threw their support to a different candidate.
Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, and Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul encouraged McDonald to jump into the race opposite Wilkinson, before he dropped out.
No Democrats qualified for the seat, so the winner will be the area’s next representative.
McDonald, a first-term city councilman, said he would have preferred to finish out that term, which was due to end next year. But after being recruited to the race, he said, he's running for office because he thinks the district needs a knowledgeable and dedicated advocate.
“I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think I had the ability and time to do it properly,” he said.
McDonald, an attorney, would work to update land use and zoning laws so cities had more ways to protect themselves from over-development, he said.
Paul said McDonald’s zoning expertise makes him a particularly appealing candidate. Developments have ramifications that go well beyond property lines, he said, and McDonald can help rewrite laws to make developers more liable for their impact. Sandy Springs is “having a heck of a time” dealing with the challenges of rapid growth.
“We need someone who has experience and knowledge,” Paul said. “We’re trying to get a partner, someone who can make changes in the Capitol.”
On the other hand, Wilkinson said, Silcox is “much better suited” to the job than McDonald.
Silcox said she is concerned about the quality of life in the area. She has long planned to “give back to this community,” she said, and decided to run once her kids were out of the house. A former lawyer, she has been an appointee to the Governor’s Commission for Service and Volunteerism and the Department of Human Resources Board, as well as the boards of other local organizations.
Her life experience, she said, makes her an ideal candidate.
Wilkinson agreed, saying she has the intellect and temperament to be successful.
“I just feel much more comfortable that she could be a very, very effective member of the House right away,” he said. “She will be a great success in the House.”
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