Heading into his first two-year term in Congress, Rep. Tom Graves should focus less on social issues such as abortion and more on limiting the size of government and other fiscal matters.
Or he should if he wants to satisfy constituents in North Georgia’s conservative 9th Congressional District, political observers say.
“The voters in that district want a fiscal conservative,” said Erick Erickson, a Macon, Ga, city councilman who edits redstate.com and peachpundit.com. “I don’t think they care about the social issues as much.”
Graves defeated former state Sen. Lee Hawkins Tuesday by more than 10 percentage points to win the primary runoff election. While Graves’ name will be on the Nov. 2 general election ballot, he does not have a Democratic opponent, though voters will have a write-in option, said Sarah Thompson, spokeswoman for the Georgia secretary of state.
Graves spokeswoman Stephanie Mayfield said the congressman plans to stick with a fiscally conservative agenda in Washington, D.C. He already has introduced a bill to strip funding from the health-care reform law.
“He wants to cut spending,” Mayfield said. “He does not like big government. He wants to create private-sector jobs.”
Graves won the seat in a June 8 special-election runoff to replace former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, who resigned in March to run for governor.
Vote totalsIn Tuesday’s GOP primary runoff election in the 9th Congressional District, Tom Graves received 41,869 votes, or 55.2 percent, while Lee Hawkins received 33,961 votes, or 44.8 percent.Source: Georgia Secretary of State Elections DivisionFundraisingThrough the July 21 reporting period, Tom Graves had raised $1.06 million in campaign contributions, including $40,303 from his own pocket. Lee Hawkins contributed $240,118 of his own money to the race, raising his campaign finance total to $884,993.Source: Federal Election Commission website
Deal defeated former Secretary of State Karen Handel on Tuesday to claim the GOP gubernatorial nomination and will face Democrat Roy Barnes in November.
Graves defeated Hawkins four times this year, including the May 11 special election, a primary election and two runoffs.
Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political science professor, said many younger Republicans in the district are “not as interested in social issues” such as abortion and same-sex marriage but want a representative who will help limit the size of government and fight tax increases.
“In the end, fiscal issues are going to be more important,” he said.
The 15-county 9th District, which includes Dade, Walker, Catoosa and Whitfield counties, is the most conservative congressional district in the Eastern Time Zone and the fourth most conservative in the country, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index.
Erickson said constituents there want someone to stick with conservative values rather than fall in line with party leaders.
“They want to see he’s an authentic conservative and is willing to fight the next ‘Bridge to Nowhere,'” Erickson said.
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