Brad Thomas and Gregg Kirkpatrick Meet Cherokee County Voters

CANTON — State Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs, and Republican challenger Gregg Kirkpatrick made their cases for election with voters April 16 in Canton.

Thomas and Kirkpatrick, both engineers who are running for Georgia House District 21, participated in a forum at the historic Cherokee County Courthouse in Canton. The event was hosted by the Cherokee County Republican Women, Cherokee County Republican Party and Cherokee County Republican Coalition.

Thomas, who chairs Cherokee County’s legislative delegation, told the audience he ran for office in 2020 on a platform of preserving conservative values, promoting responsible growth, protecting children and supporting senior citizens and veterans.

“I’m proud to say we’ve made great strides in fulfilling my promises and producing measurable results. I’ve received statewide awards and national recognition for my legislative efforts, and I’m not done yet,” he said.

Kirkpatrick said, “I’m running because I want to have a smaller government, less taxes. I’m campaigning on zero state tax within a two-year time frame. I want to reduce property taxes, so we take the burden off of our senior citizens…I also stand for protecting the rights of the unborn.”

Kirkpatrick said he believes the number-one issue for voters in the district is election integrity, and he favors eliminating electronic voting machines and returning to paper ballots.

Thomas said the district’s biggest issue is quality of life, including the education system, safe neighborhoods and a good economic environment. He said he’s worked to address these in his time in office and will continue that work if elected to another term.

On the state budget, Thomas said that since he was elected, Georgia has returned over $5 billion to taxpayers, accelerated the income tax cut, increased tax deductions for children and homestead exemption, and helped put the referendum on the ballot in Cherokee County for voters to decide whether to lift the cap on the senior school property tax exemption. If re-elected, he said he will continue efforts to reduce taxes.

Kirkpatrick said that if elected, he would send surplus funds back to taxpayers, about $1,800 each, and that he wants to reduce state government spending, cut fraud and waste, and give more power to citizens.

Asked if there should be a referendum asking Cherokee County voters whether to add a 1% Homestead Option Sales Tax, Kirkpatrick said he’s against any tax increases.

“The more taxes go up across the board, then we’re into a socialist, communist regime,” he said. “We need to reduce taxes, reduce government spending, reduce government waste, and not increase taxes.”

Thomas said that when county government representatives asked for the referendum earlier this year, it was late in the legislative session and there wasn’t much time to review the proposal, so they held it for a year. He said he also wants to make sure citizens are aware of what they’re being asked to vote on.

“There’s two counties that have a HOST — one is DeKalb County, the other’s Clayton County. And there’s no end to the HOST. It goes on forever,” he said. “I think people need to really understand what it is they’re signing up for.”

The candidates were also asked about the ‘deepfake’ bill authored by Thomas, House Bill 986, which would create the crime of fraudulent election interference. The bill, which passed in the House but did not receive a vote in the Senate, targeted false or misleading political ads using deepfake technology or artificial intelligence.

Thomas said he wrote and advocated for the bill to try to prevent fraud in elections.

Kirkpatrick said he would have voted against the bill, saying he believes the proposed penalties were too harsh, and that as written it would have violated constitutional rights.

The winner of the May 21 Republican primary will face Democratic candidate Mitchell Simmons in the November election.

According to organizers, there were 57 attendees at the event.

Cherokee County resident Gary Galyon said he has attended many candidate forums and finds them educational and useful.

“I like the format, and I always learn something,” he said.

Terry Gill of Sutallee said, “I think these events are very important for keeping voters informed.”

Georgia House District 21 includes portions of southeast and east Cherokee County, including parts of Holly Springs.

The last forum in this series is set for 6 p.m. April 23 at the historic courthouse in Canton, 100 North St. The forum will feature Republican candidates for Georgia House District 47: incumbent state Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton and Phoebe Eckhardt.