Speaker Ralston stumps for Rep. Rick Williams in the final days of Campaign 2020
Rep. Rick Williams and Georgia House Speaker David Ralston Oct. 26, 2020.
(Milledgeville, Ga) — House Speaker David Ralston stopped at the Baldwin County Regional Airport on Monday in a closing day push for State Representative Rick Williams.
“We are eight days away from the most important election in the history of the state of Georgia,” Speaker Ralston told the crowd. “You need to really get out there and work hard for Rick. He is one of the hardest working representatives that we have at the capitol.”
Republicans currently hold a 16-seat majority in the Georgia House of Representatives, and Speaker Ralston will spend the next week crisscrossing the state to draw attention to critical races. On Monday, he held rallies in Warner Robbins, Milledgeville, and Savannah.
“I’m guardedly optimistic that not only are we going to bring everybody back, but we’re going to add two or three to our ranks,” Ralston said. “Georgia is a competitive state now, and some races are tighter than others.”
House District 145 encompasses all of Baldwin and southern Putnam Counties. Baldwin has leaned more Democratic in recent years. Hillary Clinton carried the county by 274 votes (1.7%) in 2016, and in 2018 Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams eeked out a win by 58 votes (<1%).
Representative Williams was first elected with 56% of the vote back in 2016, and he ran unopposed two years later. With high turnout and high voter enthusiasm, his Democratic challenger, Quentin T. Howell, hopes to take the seat.
“It’s important that people pay attention to these house races,” said Ralston. “The things we do in the Georgia House matter to Georgians in their everyday lives.”
If Republicans maintain their majority in the House, the speaker says his top legislative priority would be to ensure the state is well-prepared for the next global pandemic.