BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. – The Towns/Union County Presidents Team heard from two candidates in the upcoming May 22 primary at their Monday, April 9, meeting in Blairsville: Georgia gubernatorial candidate and current state Senator Michael Williams and local candidate for the Union County Board of Education District 4 seat William McQuillan.
Williams, a certified public accountant, owned a SportClips franchise in Georgia that encompassed 18 locations with 160 employees. According to Williams, the roll out of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, led him to sell his chains of stores in 2013 and seek a state senate seat the following year. “I didn’t see how, with the weight of Obamacare, how my small business could afford that,” Williams explained.
He handily won the Forsyth County state senate seat against an established incumbent 66 to 34 percent, Williams explained.
Georgia state Senator and gubernatorial candidate Michael Williams stopped in Blairsville Monday to speak with the Towns/Union County Presidents Team.
During Williams’ campaign stop at the Presidents Team meeting, the gubernatorial candidate made several comparisons of himself to President Trump to the non-profit organization designed to educate people of the current policies of the president’s administration.
Williams stated he admires Trump for taking a stand against corporate-controlled lobbyists in Washington D.C. and added that Georgia needs someone like Trump in the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta.
Like Trump, Williams said his campaign is self-funded and that if elected, he would represent the people of the state, not lobbyists.
As for the issues he hopes to address if elected governor, Williams stated he wants to cut spending while also eliminating the state income tax. To do this, he said he would focus on accountability through internal controls in an effort to curb wasteful spending. According to Williams, Georgia’s budget has increased 71 percent in the last eight years.
Williams also stated as governor he would support legislation that would limit the control of state school accreditation boards over local school boards, allowing local school boards more freedom to represent the people of its district.
As for the Union County Board of Education, candidate for the District 4 BOE seat William McQuillan was also on hand Monday to speak with the Presidents Team.
McQuillan stated he would like to see several improvements in the BOE if elected. One improvement McQuillan put forth is strict adherence the state’s open meetings law, which states only personnel, litigation and real estate can be discussed in closed, executive session. The candidate claimed most of the BOE’s business is conducted in executive session.
In the Republican primary, McQuillan will be opposed by John T. Strickland and incumbent Keith Potts for the District 4 seat on the BOE. No candidates are running on the Democratic ballot.
As for the Georgia gubernatorial race, Williams will be opposed by six other Republicans in the primary, including Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, restaurateur Eddie Hayes, state Senator Hunter Hill, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, tech businessman Clay Tippins, and author Marc Urbach. In the Democratic primary, state Representatives Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans are seeking the nomination for the November general election.
The primary begins April 30 with early voting and election day will be Tuesday, May 22.