The race for U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey’s northwest Atlanta seat is getting crowded.
State House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey announced Thursday that he was entering the race to succeed Gingrey, who has launched a U.S. Senate bid. Former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr is also running for the seat, which stretches from north Atlanta to Bartow and Cherokee counties, and other well-known Republicans could soon follow suit.
In an interview, Lindsey cast himself as a “conservative reformer” tempered by years of experience on the House leadership team. Lindsey, who took office in 2004, came to the House at an opportune time. The next year, Republicans took control of the chamber for the first time since Reconstruction, and Lindsey steadily worked his way up the ranks.
“Too many folks up in Washington seem to be hovering at 30,000 feet and looking at things in the distance rather than sitting down and getting to work at the problems,” he said. “Conservativism to me is not a static force. It needs to be a dynamic force for change, to offer solutions for problems.”
The competition will be stiff. Aside from Barr, businesswoman Tricia Pridemore is considering a bid, and she resigned this week as executive director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development. State Sen. Barry Loudermilk is also in the mix.
The race is likely to be expensive, as Barr’s campaign hopes to raise more than $3 million to plaster its candidate’s image all over the pricey Atlanta media market. Lindsey, who lives in Buckhead, also must introduce himself to voters across the rest of the district of 700,000 people. He said he’ll emphasize his record as the only elected Republican in the city of Atlanta.
“I know what it’s like to go up against Democrats,” he said. “I know what it’s like to work together, and I know what it’s like to draw the sword and fight. I’ve had good experience with both.”
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