Rematch but not a grudge match: Georgia House candidates stake out positions ahead of election

The 2020 election saw Democratic candidates gain seats up and down the ballot, from U.S. president to county-level offices.

The lone exception was the Georgia General Assembly.

Local Republicans held their posts in the Georgia House and Georgia Senate, and only one race was competitive: Georgia House District 164.

Rep. Ron Stephens defeated challenger Marcus Thompson with 52.5% of the vote in a district that straddles western Chatham County and southern Bryan County and includes parts of Pooler, Bloomingdale, Garden City and Richmond Hill. Stephens leveraged his standing as the longest-serving local lawmaker to hold off Thompson, a political newcomer from Richmond Hill.

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The two meet again in the 2022 general election, which opens Oct. 17 with early voting. Election Day is Nov. 8. The two candidates participated in a candidate forum on Oct. 3 at the Richmond Hill City Center.

The hour-plus event sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia was a cordial affair, with each candidate making his case for election. Here are excerpts from the forum. The responses are listed in the same order as they were given and have been edited for length and clarity.

A full recording of the forum is available here.

What makes you best qualified to represent such a diverse district?

Marcus Thompson: “First I have anchors in each of the cities in our district, and they are all very different. Each has its own culture and its own mindset. I live in Richmond Hill, but I work in Savannah and I have incredible ties in Pooler and I play softball in Bloomingdale. I love people, and I enjoy listening to what is most concerning, whether it is people I work with or people who I want to represent them, and I do not take them for granted.”

Ron Stephens: “Experience matters. Twenty-five years experience in the House of Representatives is something you can’t put a price on. I can remember for two-and-a half or three decades the city of Richmond Hill and Bryan County fighting to get the interchange at Belfast-Keller Road done. That happened almost overnight once they got the right people asking the right questions. The Stephens-Day exemption in Chatham County. They said that would never happen and now that tax exemption is used in 65 taxing districts across the state and it started right here. We’re all taking advantage of that.”

What is your position on Medicaid expansion?

Stephens: “I’ve been up there 25 years and every year we’ve expanded Medicaid. Every year it costs more and more. It is a problem. It is growing. Every bill that I have my fingerprints on are in the business of giving working-class people a better opportunity to have a job. So those who say we need to expand Medicaid, we’re doing that. The things that we can do as lawmakers is create jobs that create well-being people so that they don’t rely on Medicaid for their health care.”

Thompson: “If the Legislature has expanded Medicaid each year, then we’re missing something, because we’re still the second highest state in the United States in maternal mortality. That makes us the second most dangerous state in the nation to have a baby. Let that sink in. If we’ve been expanding Medicaid then we are doing something wrong because that rate has been steadily going up. We’re now third in the nation in the number of closed hospitals. The average Georgian has to drive 30 to 90 minutes for emergency care. Something’s not being done right. It’s time for a fresh look.”

What can legislators do, other than raising pay, to support public school teachers?

Thompson: “Raising pay is very important. Teachers are tasked with the futures of our children and are paid peanuts. More than pay we need to listen to teachers. Lawmakers are making decisions that greatly affect educators on a daily basis and educators are sitting there wondering, ‘I might have something to say about what we can do to make education better.’ My wife is an educator but I call her an awakener - she awakens the potential in students. That’s what teachers do. The other thing that we really need to look at is the funding formula, which hasn’t been updated since 1985.”

Stephens: “I’ve worked hard to get our teachers to be the best paid in the South. We’ve fully funded the funding formula two of the last three years. The formula is old but it is the formula. And I don’t know that I want to get in the way beyond that. The idea that I'm going to get in the way of a local school system that is driving jobs to this location is ridiculous. I’ll continue to work to support teachers in retirement and fund our schools., but I want to do everything I can to stay out of the way.”

Following the 2020 election, the Legislature passed voting reform known as SB 202. Do you believe Georgia elections have been fair and free?

Thompson: “I believe 2020 was the most secure election in Georgia history. SB 202 is extremism disguised as legislation. We said to Georgia voters who voted in record numbers in 2020, ‘Congratulations, let’s make it harder to vote. Congratulations, let’s make sure those people who bring you water while you standing in three-hour-long lines go to jail because of it.’ That’s what Georgia is about? That’s not what I think Georgia is about. SB 202 was misplaced and we need to take a very hard look at why that was put in place.”

Stephens: “Elections are more secure now than they’ve ever been. For 130 years, you had one day to vote. It didn't matter if you were sick or in the hospital. That was voter suppression. When GOP took over, we went to six weeks. Today we have a month and two weekends. And let’s not forget, you can vote by absentee ballot and you don’t have to provide an excuse. That’s the reason we have record turnout and that’s the reason why we can say in Georgia it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat.”

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Georgia passed a law that bans abortions in most cases after six weeks, HB 481 or the so-called ‘heartbeat bill’. Do you consider abortion health care?

Stephens: “I am pro-life, and the heartbeat bill took into consideration things like when the mother’s life is in danger as well as the viability of the fetus. That’s part of the health care issue. On the opposite end of the spectrum is California where they believe a birthday abortion is OK. To me, that is vile. Somebody has to speak for those who can’t and I’m glad we have.”

Thompson: “God gave the awesome responsibility of channel birth to a woman because men cannot handle it. The bottom line, is men are the ones who made this law. How can women not have a say in what they do? I believe HB 481, which only gives you six weeks by which time many women don’t even know they are pregnant, why can't we expand that timeframe so those women have the time to consider if they are pregnant and have time to talk to people who can help them make the best decision.”

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia House District 164 candidates Stephens Thompson election forum