While The Atlanta Press Club continued its series of election debates today, none of the incumbents attended. The debates were for House Congressional seats in districts 3, 6, 7, and 13.
The race for House District 7 in suburban Atlanta features Doug Heckman (D) and incumbent John Linder (R). Linder declined the Press Club’s request for a debate. Heckman, a retired army colonel, used the opportunity to paint John Linder as right wing politician on the fringe of the GOP.
Bill Jones (D) stood next to an empty podium as well in the House District 6 debate. The incumbent Tom Price (R) said he had to attend congressional hearings in Washington, D.C. Jones directed a hypothetical question to Price, who is a doctor, about why he would take contributions from tobacco companies. GPB has confirmed that the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company donated a total of $2,000 to the Price campaign.
Incumbent Lynn Westmoreland (R) did not attend the debate, and his challenger attorney Stephen Camp (D) took the opportunity to paint him as an “incompetent congressman.” He stated that the four bills that Westmoreland introduced while in Congress were not enough for the constituents in District 3. One panelist made Camp recite the 10 Commandments. He did so with ease. It was a stab at Westmoreland who was unable to name them during an interview with Stephen Colbert this year. At one time Westmoreland had proposed posting the commandments in some public buildings.
The race for House District 7 in suburban Atlanta features Doug Heckman (D) and incumbent John Linder (R). Linder declined the Press Club’s request for a debate. Heckman, a retired army colonel, used the opportunity to paint John Linder as right wing politician on the fringe of the GOP.
Bill Jones (D) stood next to an empty podium as well in the House District 6 debate. The incumbent Tom Price (R) said he had to attend congressional hearings in Washington, D.C. Jones directed a hypothetical question to Price, who is a doctor, about why he would take contributions from tobacco companies. GPB has confirmed that the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company donated a total of $2,000 to the Price campaign.
Incumbent Lynn Westmoreland (R) did not attend the debate, and his challenger attorney Stephen Camp (D) took the opportunity to paint him as an “incompetent congressman.” He stated that the four bills that Westmoreland introduced while in Congress were not enough for the constituents in District 3. One panelist made Camp recite the 10 Commandments. He did so with ease. It was a stab at Westmoreland who was unable to name them during an interview with Stephen Colbert this year. At one time Westmoreland had proposed posting the commandments in some public buildings.
The race for District 13 puts physician Deborah Honeycutt (R) against incumbent David Scott (D). Scott also declined the Press Club's request for a debate. Honeycutt claimed that Scott was "divorced from the community" because he used none of his political connections to stop Clayton county from losing its SACS accrediation. When a panelist asked Honeycutt if she was going to put her race or politicial affiliation first on November 4, Honeycutt said that she would vote for the person whose ideals more closely matched hers - John McCain.
