State Rep. Sean Jerguson (R-Holly Springs) is seeking his third two-year term at the state Capitol in the Nov. 2 general election. He faces Democratic challenger Bill Brown of Sixes, who ran against Jerguson two years ago for the same seat. The district spans from Sixes south to Woodstock.
Brown, 40, who works in research and development for AT&T, said he's making another run at it because the "situation hasn't changed."
Jerguson, 38, the owner of Hi Caliber Firearms gun store and indoor range in Holly Springs, said he wants another term to help the state government through its current economic and budget crisis without raising taxes.
Brown said the state should stop cutting education funding, describing school systems as "clearly under attack."
"We need to make it a first-class expenditure," said Brown, who has been endorsed by the Georgia Association of Educators, adding the state needs to make good on its duty to provide children an adequate education.
Class sizes, Brown said, also need to return to smaller sizes.
"There is too much stress on the system," he said of the current state.
Jerguson said he wants to see a charter high school open in the county focused on technical education, which he said could be "very positive for a lot of kids."
He also wants to see changes to the state's formula for distributing funds to schools.
"It is an unfair and unbalanced system," Jerguson said.
As far as transportation, Jerguson said he's focused on moving the Bells Ferry Road project, which includes widening the bridge over Lake Allatoona, "further up the pipeline."
"That is a major priority. That bridge plays into so many areas of our daily life," he said.
Brown said he wants to see the 2012 referendum on creating a new 1-cent regional sales tax to pay for transportation projects moved up.
"Why wait?" Brown said. "The problem is only going to get worse by 2012."
Brown said bringing more jobs to Cherokee County only will be possible with transportation improvements.
He said companies won't move to places like the Bluffs at Technology Park in Canton because it's too difficult to get there.
"Until we have a way to move people to the jobs, they are not going to come," he said.
Jerguson said the best way the state can encourage job growth is by passing state laws that are conducive for businesses.
One example, he said, is improving the system by which individuals and businesses receive their state income tax returns.
Brown earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from State University of New York. He's the first vice chairman of the Cherokee County Democratic Party. He and his wife, Liza, have two children.
Jerguson earned a bachelor's degree in biology and master's degree in public administration from Kennesaw State University.
A former Holly Springs City Council member, Jerguson also is a past volunteer for the American Red Cross, MUST Ministries and The HOPE Center. He attends First Baptist Woodstock. He and his wife, Kate, have two children.
Want to understand why that endorsement should be a big warning sign for Cherokee voters? -- Go see the movie WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, which spells out just how teachers' unions are preventing reform and driving up costs in our public school systems.