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State Rep. Alan Powell and challenger Dylan Purcell gave their platforms at a Republican forum Saturday in Franklin Springs.
By Shane Scoggins
Publisher
FRANKLIN SPRINGS – Candidates for the District 33 seat in the Georgia House of Representatives spoke Saturday at a forum at Franklin Springs City Hall.
Incumbent Alan Powell and challenger Dylan Purcell spoke at the forum sponsored by the Franklin County Republican Party.
Purcell, a resident of Hart County and former Franklin County Middle School teacher, served as a field representative for Donald Trump in 2020.
The candidate said “after the election was stolen,” he was fed up with Republican leadership in the state.
The party’s leaders have not stood up for citizens’ Constitutional rights, he said.
Taxes have been raised, Purcell said.
“We rent our home from the government one year at a time,” he said.
Citizens have the Constitutional right to life, liberty and property and can’t trust their elections.
Georgia citizens are taxed to death, Purcell said.
To attract industry, Georgia should be cutting taxes in half to help small businesses like his parents’ instead of giving money to foreign corporations like the SK Battery plant in Commerce and the planned Rivian plant in Morgan County, he said.
Purcell called Georgia House Speaker David Ralston an unethical leader.
Purcell said Republicans supported legislation that will take zoning powers away from county government.
Critical race theory is also coming to Georgia schools through lesson plans provided by the National Education Association, he said.
“The Republican Party has got to stand up for our children, our rights and our money,” he said.
The state has to have leaders who fight for us and our rights, Purcell said.
Powell has represented Hart, Franklin and parts of Madison counties for 32 years.
Powell said he stayed in the house to build seniority and is now the third-ranking Republican in seniority, which allows him to chair or be the senior member of committees.
Powell said he has never voted for a tax increase nor imposed his own views on local elected officials.
He said he has always stood with what is right for local people.
Franklin County is a great county that will get growth because it sits between Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., the biggest growth area in the country.
Powell said he’s a constitutionalist and party is not a big thing to him. He said he started as a conservative Democrat.
Georgia is in a good financial state, the representative said, with one of the few AAA bond ratings in the country.
People are always looking for something wrong because of changes in society, Powell said.
The state has found no K-12 school teaching critical race theory and the state passed legislation to keep biological males from competing against biological females in sports.
“It’s easy to be critical,” he said.
Too many people don’t talk, Powell said, and rely on Facebook. People should talk about the facts that go on.
The General Assembly passed major election reforms and planned more before Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan tabled the bill.
Georgia is proactive in trying to take care of the people’s business, he said.
It’s a privilege to serve the area, Powell said.
“I will be there for you when you call me,” he said.