You all remember Rep. Allen Freeman, right? I agree with Erick that he may well face his toughest challenge yet. I really think this is a seat democrats can pick up this year. Here's why:
1) HD140 covers parts of Bibb, Twiggs, Wilkinson and Jones counties. That area has trended more democratic since 2006, slightly. The DPI is now 51.6. That means that all things being equal, a Democrat has a good chance of winning-and remember, no matter what he tells you-Allen Freeman is a republican.
2) Freeman's opponent this cycle is James "Bubber" Epps, a Twiggs County businessman who has deep, deep roots in Twiggs, Jones and Wilkinson counties. (His wife is on the county commission.) All of those counties under-preformed in 2006. In this presidential year, with a hometown boy on the ticket, they are likely to over-preform.
3) Epps has the ability to reach across party lines and attract republican support. News reports along this line are confirmed by what I'm hearing from folks in the community.
4) The district includes two precincts in East Macon. In 2006, on election day, the rain poured and democrats were hardly united behind the top of the ticket. Neither Marshall nor Taylor were running organized, funded, GOTV in the area, and turnout was abysmal. With Obama at the top of the ticket, you can expect a healthy turnout in those precincts and an organized field operation-especially if Barr gets the Libertarian nod.
5) The republican brand is tarnished beyond recognition, and for good reason. This year, I suspect that the party in power will feel the brunt of the voter's discontent about the basics: fuel prices, transportation, jobs and the housing crisis.
One final comment of this race. This can definitely be a pick-up for democrats, but get your checkbook ready. I predict that between the two candidates, this is at least a half million dollar race. That's a lot of change down here in the midstate.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Speaking of Allen Freeman...
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5 comments:
Hey Amy, this is Angela Freeman..I am obviously Allen's #1 supporter. It has really been a priveledge for our family to serve District 140 over the last 4 years. In fact, I am constantly amazed how devoted Allen is to his commitment to serve Twiggs, Wilkinson, Jones and Bibb county residents!.. As well as working full-time and being a great dad to our 2 daughters and being my sweet husband for 15 years!
I mostly observe when it comes to politics, but there are some distressing facts about Allen's current opponent's tenure serving as the Chairman of the Twiggs County Commission. In 1986 when he was Chairman, the commission requested a SPLOST which was to fund courthouse improvements,library improvements and road work. The taxpayers voted in favor of the SPLOST and believed in what it was to accomplish.By 1989, the chairman (who happens to own a paving company ) and the rest of the board acknowleged that the courthouse improvements would not be possible because the money had all been used....with a large majority of it being spent on road work...(uuuhm...who owns a paving company?).In fact, this all came to light in 1989 when 3 Twiggs commissioners hired a lawyer to protect them from being responsible for any new debt the county incurred since the SPLOST had been "BLOWN". During the next election, Chairman Epps faded into the political sunset hoping all would be forgiven and forgotten. Person after person we talk to tells us that the voters have not forgotten, There are newspaper articles and legal documents that detail all of this as well as exact details of how the SPLOST was spent.In fact Travis Fain has been informed of all of this,too and we all know he is a great watchdog.Erick Erickson is also aware of the facts. I think Allen's opponent is probably a nice man....I have met his wife and she is very nice.It's just that once a person has shown questionable judgement with taxpayer money it shouldn't be ignored no matter what party they represent. As far a being a $500,000 race, it seems such a shame to waste any time and money on an opponent that does not have near the real, honest motivation to serve that Lauren had during our last race. I live day to day knowing the extreme committment Allen has to doing everything he can to improve his district and help the people he serves...Allen is devoted to people no matter what party they claim. So with that said , I can now just go back to being an observer. :)
Everbody has a past, don't they? I think that what voters are going to be much more concerned about is a legislature that is so ineffective even Cecil Staton is apologizing for it.
Dear Mrs. Morton,
Would you mind posting Bubber's political website as a link on your blog? The address is http://www.votebubber.org/ . We would be honored.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Whitten
The Committee to Elect Bubber Epps, Webmaster
This sounds pretty lame, Angela. When you as a wife have to put down the other candidate maybe your husband's plagiarized article to the Macon Telegraph is what we should be talking about. I am a republican and I will be voting for Bubber.
Kevin Sturgeon
Wilkinson Co.
Ivey, GA.
I usually vote Republican and I have supported Freeman in the past. However, his love affair with Glenn Richardson is too much for me. If Richardson says jump, Allen asks how high? I can't take it any more. I'm voting for Epps.
I also hear a lot of the Allentown money that has been behind Freeman in the past is also supporting Epps.
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