Top GOP lawmakers face rare campaign challenges in Georgia’s primary

The 10-year veteran of the House heads the budget-writing Appropriations Committee and has not had a primary opponent since being sworn into office in 2005. England is one of many top incumbent Republican lawmakers who face challengers in Tuesday’s primary. Others include the speaker of the House, the House and Senate majority leaders, the Senate Rules Committee chairman and the heads of several other top legislative committees.

While few appear to be in real danger of defeat, the mere fact that many are being made to defend their records indicates a mood of anti-incumbency among voters.

"I think people are maybe riding the wave of public unhappiness with incumbents, dissatisfaction with the status quo," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, who faces a Republican primary challenge Tuesday for the first time in years. "I think that frustration is largely aimed toward Washington."

In fact, a poll conducted last week for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that 42 percent of Georgia's registered voters disapprove of the job the Legislature is doing. And it isn't getting better: A similar poll conducted in January 2015 found the same percentage of voters frowning on lawmakers' performance.

One reason incumbents in leadership are likely to be re-elected? A massive advantage in fundraising. An AJC analysis of campaign finance records in these key matchups found incumbents raised more than $3.85 million through March 31, the most recent data available. Their opponents brought in just $242,000.

England, of the Barrow County town of Auburn, said that while he hasn’t had to campaign this hard in a while, it’s been “refreshing.”

“It’s been, actually, a lot of fun to go out and run a race and talk to folks,” he said. “We’ve never really stopped doing that, but it makes you concentrate a little bit more on it than you normally do.”

His opponent, financial manager Lucretia Hughes of Winder, said she’s having fun, too. But, she said, she’s running for serious reasons.

"I decided to run and take my eyes off the federal government when he raised that gas tax," Hughes said, referring to the 2015 law that increased motor fuel taxes to help raise $900 million annually for roads and bridges. "That was a slap in the face to every working person in the state of Georgia."

England said his support of the transportation tax does come up when he’s talking to voters.

“When you talk to them about it, tell them what we’ve done is $900 million to a billion,” he said. “We’re still falling short of where we need to be, but what we’ve done is really going to make improvements to places that have needed improvement for a long while.

“Once you explain it past a sound bite, people get it.”

In Blue Ridge, House Speaker David Ralston faces retired wrestling coach Sam Snider for the second election in a row. Ralston won handily in 2014. This year, however, Snider has tried to hang the transportation tax and Gov. Nathan Deal's veto of a "religious liberty" bill around Ralston's neck.

“We didn’t work too hard for that (religious liberty bill) in my personal opinion,” Snider said at a recent candidate forum.

Earlier in the campaign, Snider accused Ralston of colluding with Deal to pass the bill knowing the governor would veto it.

But Ralston said the bill the Legislature passed this year was solid.

“I thought (it) was fair, reasonable and hit the sweet spot that everyone could agree on,” he said. “We passed that bill this year, and I suspect we’ll have a bill next year, too.”

House Majority Leader Jon Burns, R-Newington, faces corrections officer and Marine Corps veteran Daniel Almond. Other House committee leaders facing opposition in this year's Republican primaries are Human Relations and Aging Chairman Tommy Benton, R-Jefferson; Information and Audits Chairman Mike Cheokas, R-Americus; Education Chairman Brooks Coleman, R-Duluth; Health and Human Services Chairwoman Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta; Regulated Industries Chairman Howard Maxwell, R-Dallas; Banks and Banking Chairman Greg Morris, R-Vidallia; State Planning and Community Affairs Chairman Jimmy Pruett, R-Eastman; Governmental Affairs Chairman Ed Rynders, R-Albany; and Defense and Veterans Affairs Chairman John Yates, R-Griffin.

In the state Senate, powerful Rules Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, has quipped that the only negative thing his opponent has said about the race is that Mullis has raised too much money.

But that opponent, teacher and former Trion Mayor Lanny Thomas, said there’s nothing wrong with a little competition. Local issues, such as whether Walker County should expand from a sole commissioner governance structure, have dominated the race.

The same is true in other districts, including Senate District 54 in Dalton. There, Senate Insurance and Labor Chairman Charlie Bethel — who voted for the transportation bill — has drawn a GOP primary challenger from community volunteer and first-time candidate Conda Goodson over the effect of taxes on a community still hurting from the recession.

In North Fulton and Cherokee counties, Economic Development and Tourism Chairman Brandon Beach is in a tough race against Milton investor Aaron Barlow. And the list goes on for Republicans facing primary challenges, including Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Chairman John Wilkinson, R-Toccoa; Higher Education Chairman Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody; Judiciary Non-Civil Chairman Jesse Stone, R-Waynesboro; and Natural Resources and the Environment Chairman Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville.

Up near Athens, home to the University of Georgia, retired university administrator Patricia Daugherty said she decided to take on Cowsert because the Republican activist thought the state senator was too focused on Atlanta and not present enough in Senate District 46 — which includes Oconee County and parts of Clarke and Walton counties.

Both candidates tout conservative credentials, including from anti-abortion groups as well as gun rights organizations.

“Everybody knows it’s hard to unseat an entrenched incumbent,” said Daugherty, who has focused on door-to-door and community events, and says she also hears a lot of frustration from small business owners over regulations, fees and taxes. “This is David vs. Goliath. But you know what, David ended up doing pretty well.”