Republican Breakfast Rally
Thomasville, GA

Saxby Chambliss, Darrel and Gubenatorial Candidate Linda Sharenko

SAXBY HELPS DEMOCRATS SEE THE LIGHT AND SWITCH PARTIES

Last week, two candidates for Colquitt County Board of Commissioners publicly switched parties and qualified as Republicans. Current Commissioner Randy Bannister, District 3, a 58-year-old auction market operator in his eighth year on the board, and his challenger, former commission chair Joe Clark, 70, both switched publicly from the Democratic Party to qualify as Republicans. Both admit that Moultrian Rep. Saxby Chambliss' bid for the Senate had something to do with their decision.

"I think the Democratic Party has become a little more liberal than I am accustomed to," Bannister said. "The way they've become more tax-and-spend and the way they did these redistricting.

"Here on the county level, I don't think party is such a big issue," he said. "Saxby too - everybody here wants to support Saxby. The Republican Party seems to be more in line with my kind of politics than the Democratic Party at present."

Moultrie Observer, June 19, 2002