Kemp sets special election as Democrats battle for Scott’s open seat

Gov. Brian Kemp has set the date for a special election to fill the seat of former U.S. Rep. David Scott. Meanwhile, six Democrats debate for the open seat for the primary election.

Scott passed away on April 22 at the age of 80 after a life of public service. Now, there will be a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of Scott’s term. The special election will be held July 28, and the victor will serve in Scott’s seat until the winner of the general election in November is sworn into office.

However, the primary election for the 13th Congressional District is already underway with six Democrats now vying for the open seat. 

Scott’s name will remain on the primary ballot because there was no time to reprint the ballots, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. Any votes cast for Scott will not count.

The six candidates faced off in an Atlanta Press Club debate last Monday trying to distinguish themselves on issues, such as health care, public safety and affordability.

Everton Blair Jr., a former Gwinnett County School Board chairman, said during the debate that he wants to focus on housing affordability for young adults.

“When I talk to people in the community, especially young people in the community, we’re strapped,” Blair Jr said. “It is a problem that the median first-time homebuyer’s age in this country is 41 years old. I’m the only candidate on this stage that’s under that age.”

Although expanding health care was a unifying topic, Dr. Heavenly Kimes said she wanted to focus on healthcare access.

“As a health care provider, the things that I would do to actually prevent the gaps are, of course, make sure that we have Medicaid for all. But we also have telemedicine,” Kimes said. “I think that we should actually make sure that we have hospitals close enough that we can, we don’t have to drive hours.”

Rev. Jeff Fauntleroy Sr. emphasized mental health services specifically.

“We can’t look at mental health as something that’s bad. We can wait until something happens to address the problem,” Fauntleroy Sr. said. “ We have stigmatized it too much, and we have to make sure that it’s part of preventive care, because it is.”

Dr. Joe Lester said he wanted to focus on public safety, specifically involving shootings and gun violence.

“Gun violence is out of hand. All we do in Atlanta and all over the country is shoot, shoot, shoot,” he said. “I think the federal government has a role in making sure that we fund policies and folks. But for the most part, a lot of gun violence is tied directly to poverty. And you can’t really, really, really just police your way out of poverty. We need more jobs.”

State Sen. Emanuel Jones said he would support research by creating a study committee to address the issue.

“The federal government does play a role because the federal government can provide resources so that we can do just as Texas has done, which has a smaller percentage of gun violence in our state by creating a study committee that’s within one of our universities,” Jones said.

State Rep. Jasmine Clark also shared her views on education.

“I personally believe that the government doesn’t necessarily need to make money off of student loan debt. We could do 0% interest. Congress actually does have that authority. We have money for a lot of things. And I think investments in education are one of the things that help people have upward mobility and economic opportunities,” Clark said.

Jonathan Chavez is the only Republican running for the district primary and, therefore, did not have a debate.