(The Center Square) – Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux and Republican Rich McCormick and are running for election in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District.
Incumbent Republican Rob Woodall, who was elected to the seat in 2010, did not run for re-election. The district is located northeast of Atlanta and includes parts of Forsyth and Gwinnett counties.
Bourdeaux, who challenged Woodall in 2018, started her career as an aide for U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon. Since then, she has taught public policy at Georgia State University and was the Georgia Senate’s Budget and Evaluation Office director for three years.
McCormick is an emergency room doctor who has served time in the U.S. Navy and was a pilot in the U.S. Marines. In the Navy, McCormick earned the commander’s rank and was the department head for the Emergency Medicine Department in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
On his campaign website, McCormick says his strong military background taught him to preserve the American Dream. He is an advocate for gun-ownership and liberty rights.
If elected, McCormick says he would double down on the policies behind the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, promote entrepreneurship and innovation and dismantle the “job-killing regulatory state.” McCormick says he always would rely on free-market principles to grow the economy, not government.
Bourdeaux opposes President Donald Trump’s tax cuts but said she would provide targeted tax relief to small businesses and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit.
On top of McCormick’s agenda is a plan to reform heath care to make it more affordable.
“It’s time to send a physician to D.C.,” McCormick’s campaign website reads.
McCormick says he would advocate to end surprise billing, push for more private insurance and protect Americans with pre-existing conditions. Bourdeaux says she plans to strengthen the Affordable Care Act.
“Carolyn believes strongly that affordable, quality health care is the right of all Georgians,” Bourdeaux’s campaign website reads. “The Affordable Care Act was a great step forward in guaranteeing that right, but the current pandemic has highlighted the fact that more needs to be done.”
Bourdeaux also supports her party’s views on climate change. On her campaign website, Bourdeaux says she would push for legislation for a green jobs economy to address the climate crisis, and a “Marshall Plan level of investments and regulatory efforts to ensure we move swiftly toward 100% clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy.”
