It has come to my attention that two mail pieces have been circulated in my district containing baseless, false, and misleading statements about me. My constituents have let me know they are not happy with this, and I personally am extremely disappointed that anyone should feel the need to mislead voters in the district I am proud to represent.
One mailer contains a disclaimer that it is “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee,” and yet it is made to appear as a mailer from my opponent’s campaign. So I am calling on my opponent to officially denounce it and the tactics it represents as I am doing here.
As an entrepreneur myself and a consultant to other businesses, I understand how critical small businesses and large industry are to our economy. Obviously, I would never have received an endorsement and an A+ rating from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce if these baseless claims were true that I am somehow plotting to harm small business with over-regulation. This is an empty talking-point which is utterly contrary to the facts on the ground.
This mailer claims that I voted against tax incentives, when in fact I voted in favor of a successful tax reduction for working families in Georgia. It claims that my vote against House Bill 664 was a vote against education, when it was actually a vote against increasing tax deductions for trust funds which can be used for private education, creating an additional taxpayer subsidy of private schools. The reality is, I voted to fully fund our public schools for the first time in 16 years. I support public education, not siphoning tax dollars off to private institutions, as I have said repeatedly throughout my tenure as state representative and throughout my campaign.
Spreading falsehoods is not the way to earn the public trust. And in order to avoid any appearance of violating that trust with false claims, I again urge my opponent to publicly denounce this misinformation distributed with his face and name on it. If he will not, then sadly, voters will be left to wonder if the disclaimer was also not entirely honest.
I wish I did not have to release this statement, but I am obligated to do so in the interest of the voters having full and accurate information as they go to the ballot. Any voter with further questions about my record and my platform may contact me directly at 404-272-1873.