AJC: Rep. Woodall Not Seeking Re-Election
The AJC is reporting that Rep. Woodall (R, GA-7) will not be seeking re-election for a sixth term in 2020 due to political and personal issues, including the loss of his father.
Larry Sabato had listed GA-7 as a toss-up race, and the 2018 race came down to less than 500 votes. The Democratic Party is very interested in picking up this seat, especially after their victory in GA-6 last year. Woodall’s Democratic opponent, Carolyn Bourdeaux, has already announced her intentions to run again.
The AJC lists a few Republicans who may join the race: U.S. Attorney and former state legislator B.J. Pak; state Sen. Renee Unterman; ex-state Rep. Scott Hilton; former state Sen. David Shafer and ex-state Rep. Buzz Brockway. Don Balfour’s name has also been mentioned as a possible candidate from other sources.
Rep. Woodall:
“Doing what you love requires things of you, and having had that family transition made me start to think about those things that I have invested less in because I’ve been investing more here.”
“There are going to be a lot of cooks in the kitchen in here, and even as adamant as I am about the way I want to run the show, it would have been harder to keep control over a message as outside groups come in on both sides.”
Previously announced candidate Marqus Cole shared the following comment via a press release:
“Today’s announcement serves as an acknowledgement by the Republican Party and Representative Woodall of his ineffective representation of the 7th district. The need for a fresh voice for our community is clear. I am ready to effectively serve the people of the 7th district and be the representative they deserve. We need a representative ready to stand up to President Trump and support legislation that will protect voting rights, improve our healthcare system, and strengthen our economy for working and middle class families. I look forward to the continued opportunity to earn the support of my neighbors in Gwinnett and Forsyth County.”
About Author
lawtonsack
Lawton is a graduate of Georgia Southern University (the GSU) with a degree in Information Technology. He has held numerous positions within the Georgia Republican Party throughout the years.
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Let me translate: I know I can’t win in 2020. I need to get a six figure lobbying job lined up before I’m tagged as a loser and join the ranks of 20 more unemployed GOP congressmen.
I can feel it already: Kemp/Raffensperger are going to buy machines that print ballots with barcodes on them that voters can’t actually verify, from the company closely associated with his asst COF (or some such). The rollout won’t go so smoothly and there will be last minute software and firmware patches and updates.
But there won’t anything to be concerned about. The Dems will have access to all the source code and plenty of opportunity to audit and full involvement all along the way.
Or not.
From BJ Pak’s facebook page this morning:
Apparently, in an AJC article published yesterday, I was listed as a potential candidate to replace retiring Cong. Rob Woodall. Rob has served the 7th District well and with distinction, and I wish him well in his next endeavor. As for me, I want to thank my friends, former colleagues and numerous others who have reached out to encourage me to consider running to replace Cong. Woodall. But I am honored to serve the 6 million+ people in the Northern District of Georgia as U.S. Attorney, and to work with our everyday heroes — men and women of law enforcement — to fight violent crime, the opioid epidemic, fraud, and last, but not least, public corruption. And I plan on continuing to do so.
Don Balfour?
That’s almost as funny as Ed Rollins anecdote about the ’92 Ross Perot campaign thinking about William French Smith as a running mate, even though Smith had been dead a couple of years.