Turn it Red: Dougherty County Republican Party hosts candidate platform, presidential debate watch party

ALBANY – Four Republican candidates who will be on Dougherty County ballots in November got a chance to speak with Republican constituents at an event hosted by the Dougherty County Republican Party Tuesday.

Wayne Johnson, who is running for U.S. Congress in Georgia’s 2nd District; Brenda Battle, who is running for Georgia House District 153; David Maschke, who is running for Dougherty County School Board District 1, and Ed Newsome, who is seeking re-election for his County Commission District 1 seat, each took several minutes to share their views and pieces of their platform to the crowd.

About 60 to 70 people showed up for the event, hosted at the Doublegate Country Club. They donned bright red, sparkly “Trump Girl” shirts and “Make America Great Again” hats as they listened to candidates and watched the presidential debate live. They prayed for former President Trump and joined in shouts of “Turn it red!”

Michael Nixon, who was on the ballot in May for Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, introduced Johnson to the crowd. After losing to Johnson in the primaries, Nixon joined his campaign as a field manager. Nixon said the Congressional candidate has a passion for making his constituents’ lives better.

“His compassion, his empathy and his willingness to fight for the betterment of this district are what we need,” Nixon said.

Johnson kicked off his speech with the prediction that “President Trump will win” and “carry the 2nd District.”

“If he does that, of course, it helps me a lot; so I’m helping him, and he’s helping me,” Johnson said.

Johnson formerly served as the senior student-loan official in the Trump administration from 2017 until 2019 when he resigned and called for mass student loan forgiveness.

Johnson spoke on the importance of the black vote in District 2.

“The black votes … are extraordinarily important to me,” he said. “I’m spending a lot of time focused on Albany and Columbus. I’m taking the fight straight into Sanford’s backyard.”

Johnson is running against Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., a 31-year Democrat incumbent. If Johnson wins, he’ll turn a historically blue district red. His campaign slogan is “Stop the stupid in Washington.”

“There’s a lot of stupid going on,” he said.

Johnson said farmers are a priority within his campaign. He said he recently attended a farm expo meeting in Perry and got the chance to network with 400 farmers who pressed the urgent need for the completion of the Farm Bill.

The Farm Bill is supposed to be completed every five years. The most recent farm bill expired in 2023 and is extended until the new one is completed. Johnson said farmers at the gathering let out a collective groan when his opponent, Bishop, said the Farm Bill hadn’t been passed.

Johnson critiqued Bishop’s campaign, saying he’s asking for re-election but not giving constituents reasons to trust him with their vote.

“If you were a baseball player and you were batting .100, you sure as heck wouldn’t get a contract for another two years,” Johnson said.

He told The Albany Herald he’s running with passage of the Farm Bill, finding affordable housing solutions and tackling issues like high gas and energy costs at the forefront of his campaign.

Battle, who has served in the U.S. Army Reserves, works as a catastrophic claims adjuster and is a member of the Albany Utilities Board.

The House District 153 candidate said she is running for office because she believes in “present representation,” something she said is lacking with current Rep. David Sampson, D-Albany.

“In this fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel disconnected from those who represent you,” she said. “Too often, we see politicians come and go and come out during election season, making promises, and when we really need them, they’re nowhere to be found – like my opponent.”

Battle said she’s taken the time to engage with the community’s needs and is committed to being a voice for her constituents within government halls as well as District 153 neighborhoods.

“When we collaborate, we advocate for better schools, safer streets, more job opportunities,” she said. “We’re at a pivotal time in history. We have the opportunity to reshape our future, and we can only do that together. We can create a community that works for everyone, one where representation is real, relationships are strong and resources are accessible.”

Maschke isn’t new to the Dougherty County School Board. He served as District 1’s representative for 12 years until calling it quits in 2012. Despite no longer being a board member, Maschke has attended nearly every school board meeting – often as the only public attendee — and with an attendance record better than some of the current board members, he said.

“After observing over these past 12 years what’s been going on with DCSS and the board in particular, I just could not continue to stand by and watch,” he said.

Maschke said the school system has an impact on the entire community.

“Over the last 20 years, it’s been in a decline and in a world of hurt,” he said. “We need to get people on these boards – the city, the county and the school system – to help turn things around.

Maschke said transparency is a critical issue with DCSS and the school board. Another critical issue, he said, is that DCSS ranked 155 out of 193 Georgia school systems at the end of the 2023-24 school year. He said two of DCSS’ three high schools rank in the bottom 20% for performance.

Maschke said there’s a discrepancy with DCSS’ 88% graduation rate and its graduates’ capabilities entering the work force.

“Being an architect, I’ve talked to a lot of contractors, and they tell me over and over again that they’re unable to hire from … DCSS …because they can’t use a tape measure. They can’t read drawings. They can’t read the English on the drawings,” Maschke said.

He said he wants to get back on the board to try to elevate education in Dougherty County.

Newsome, an Albany native, was the final speaker. He’s been serving on the County Commission since 2021 and received an award for his achievement in continuing education for elected officials from the Association County Commissioners of Georgia in December 2023.

“Dougherty County has been good to me; so I feel a lot of loyalty and a lot of payback … that’s the reason I ran for Dougherty County Commission,” he said. “But it is a tough job in Dougherty County right now. The only reason is because people don’t see things in the right direction.”

Newsome said he is a “commonsense guy” who grew up in a conservative family. He said his parents taught him to be “proud of what you’ve got and work for what you’ve got.”

“So I’m here, and I’m working,” he said. “We are fighting a very big battle in Dougherty County right now, and we need all the help that we can get. We’ve gotta get conservative people to stand up and fight for your home is because it’ll get taken away from you.”

Staff Photo: Lucille LanniganStaff Photo: Lucille Lannigan

Staff Photo: Lucille Lannigan

Staff Photo: Lucille Lannigan