Steve Foster qualified Friday to run for Congress in Georgia's 14th Congressional District.
Foster, 61, of Dalton, is a former military physician, family practitioner and surgeon. He also has owned MedNow, an urgent care center in Dalton, for 28 years.
His legislative priorities include "common sense gun control," health care reform, veterans' affairs, STEM education and infrastructure. He wants to help fund high-speed rail systems connecting the Tennessee Valley, Atlanta and southern parts of Georgia, running near Florida. He also wants Congress to further emphasize technical vocational and STEM education.
Foster has not run for public office before.
He is also the founder of "Corazón a Corazón," a nonprofit he says provides clothes, toys, food, medical supplies and medical services to indigenous Miskito people in Honduras.
With no Democratic challenger, Foster will face incumbent Republican Tom Graves, of Ranger, Ga. Graves has been in office since his 2010 election.