Hello, I'm donna lowery, host of lawmakers on georgia public broadcasting.

Welcome to the atlanta press club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series from the studios of georgia public broadcasting.

The 2026 debate series was made possible by a grant to the atlanta press club from the arthur m. Blanche family foundation.

This is the special election for congressional district 14.

District 14 is in the northwest corner of georgia going up to the tennessee state line.. Counties in the district include whitfield floyd paulding, and parts of west cobb.

The winner of this race will compete complete the term of marjorie taylor greene who resigned at the start of the year.

18 candidates are running to fill the open seat due to the number of qualifying candidates, the atlanta press club randomly divided candidates into two forums.

This is not a debate, but an opportunity for the candidates to introduce themselves to the voters and explain where they stand on issues important to the district.

We have two journalists who will be asking the questions.

Delaney tar is a reporter with supporter report and ross williams is a journalist with georgia recorder.

I'm going to kick off today's forum with the first question, asking each of the candidates to introduce themselves and tell viewers why they should be the next representative for district Four candidates will have 45 seconds to respond to the question.. We will go in alphabetical order, starting with star black.

I'm star black and the reason why I am running is because I am the only candidate in this race that has 28 years of federal service, I have worked with almost all the federal agencies and I know what the process is.

So I know how to get things done when you call our office.

I'm also focusing on enriching our trade schools and making sure that we do generational entrepreneurs in our counties.

And also for term limits, we should not have people in our office till they die and also banning stock trading.

So I have a lot of federal experience.

Thank you very much.

Reagan Box, you're next.

Thank you.

I'm running to be your next congresswoman because I see that the people of this district needs true representation.

It's not about me.

It's not about power, prestige or money.

There's people on both sides of the aisle hurting and I'm running on solutions to make people's lives better because I see how policy and the government fraud and everything else is impacting every person's life.

And you need someone that will stand up with a backbone and speak truth and make a difference in this country and in the district.

Jim Davis, please introduce yourself and tell viewers why you should be their next congressman yes my name is jim davis.

I appreciate you having us here today.

I'm running for congress because I think I can make a difference based on my 40 years of being in and around politics.

I have a set of ideas, ideas and proposals that I think will help the 14th district and help the country.

They include having a single payer health care system that's voluntary and indexing the minimum wage to the poverty level.

And to get to something like that, I'm willing to work with responsible and sincere republicans, offering them a federal balanced budget, term limits for both congress and the courts, and other things that we can work together on to make some differences.

Thank you, clay fuller, it is your turn.

Thank you.

My name is clay fuller and I'm running to be a warrior for northwest georgia and to have president trump's back on capitol hill each and every day.

If you want to see a prosecutor, an elected district attorney, if you want to see a military veteran on capitol hill, if you want to see somebody who stands for faith, duty and america first, my name is clay fuller and I'm asking for your vote.

I should be the next congress congressman for georgia 14 because president trump has chosen our campaign and endorsed us to carry on the maga agenda into the next decade.

Rob Ruszkowski well first I want to say I can't believe I'm actually on this stage because I've never been in politics before.

I'm just a regular citizen.

I decided back in april that I didn't like what this country was doing.

Both parties have neglected the people of this country for decades.

They try to give us solutions and they think they have the answers, but they're the reasons why we're where we're at right now.

The people, if you're in a business and you're not successful at something, you either get fired or you go bankrupt.

That's what would have happened with this government, but that's not how it works in government.

So it's our duty as citizens to step up.

And that's why I've stepped up for this race.

And unfortunate fact is I would never be on this podium if it wasn't for a special election.

Thank you very much.

Brian Stover.

You are next yeah I'm Brian Stover and running to be your next congressman.

And I started my campaign by telling everybody my past.

I can sit up here and make promises like all other politicians can ever do.

But I, for the last 30 years, when I was 19, I started my business, I got out of high school, come home from work on friday afternoons, and started picking up people's trash.

30 years later, I got over 100 employees.

And during the last 30 years I've learned a lot about how to stay in business, had to make a lot of choices, all the hard times that I went through as far as katrina in 05 when fuel went to $5 a gallon.

I buy five to 6,000 gallons of fuel a week.

So I've had a lot of challenges going through 82020 through covid.

Thank you very much, Meg strickland.

It is your turn hi I'm meg strickland and I'm from marietta georgia I joined this race because there was no one else like me on this campaign.

I'm a young mother of three and I have previous dc experience.

I also am a small business operator and I'm passionate about helping families in our district.

I believe that the main responsibility of someone elected to this office is to serve people responsibly and help this country function again, particularly economically.

The goal should be simple, lower costs, create good jobs, have safe communities, and a country that feels stable and normal again if you agree with me, I ask you to support my campaign.

Meg strickland.

Thank you, Jim Tully hi I'm jim tully.

I'm running for this representative seat because of my 2.5 decades of background of service in this very community that we're discussing tonight.

I have many years in the georgia republican party, culminating in the united states house of representatives, where I was a district senior district representative for the 14th district.

We have seen the loss of contact with children and families, blue collar workers and our elderly throughout this district.

It's my intention to bring them back to the forefront from a bottom up perspective that the citizens and families that live in this district know their importance and they are paid attention to.

Andrew underwood, you get the final introduction.

Thank you very much.

My name is andrew underwood.

I am running as the libertarian party candidate for georgia 14 I have watched as our federal government has gone out of control.

We have two bickering parties and we desperately need an adult in the room who will bring some common sense in every time congress is supposed to pass a budget, , they have pushed it away, passed continuing resolutions, and absolutely abdicated any responsibility.

Thank you very much.

And we'll now go to our journalist panel to ask questions.

Once again, candidates will have just 45 seconds to respond to each question.

And ross williams, please ask your first question.

Thanks everyone.

I'd like you each to tell me what's the biggest difference between you and the former previous representative from the 14th, marjorie taylor greene.

And is there anything from her time in office that you'd like to bring over to your time in office this time we'll start with reagan box and we will go in order again.

So the biggest difference between marjorie and I is I don't believe in theatrics and drama.

Too much of our politics has separated and divided us as a nation when really we are all fighting the same basic problems.. And I'm here to be a voice of common sense and reason and stand up and just be honest and truthful with people on both sides.

I will call out each party if need be, but it won't be theatrics and drama.

I'm here to work for you.

I'm here to be a voice of common sense and reason and just speak simple truths to make your life better because I'm tired of watching people suffer.

Thank you, Jim Davis.

Thank you yes I remember when marjorie taylor greene first ran for office and moved to rome georgia I was so dismayed I started a facebook page called anybody but marge retailer green.

And as the years go by, we see that she's changed some.

And I even hate to bring up the past like that, but today I think she's a much more thoughtful person and I'm glad for that.

Now we have moved past her era and I hope that the next congressperson, I hope I will be it will be focused on issues that concern the people in the district and the people of the country.

I wrote a book and it's basically about building a vibrant middle class and I think that's what we should really work on.

Thank you, clay fuller well I I think for previous representatives and for the candidates in this field, my bio really stands out against anyone.

So I'm a military veteran.

I've deployed to the middle east.

I've been an elected district attorney.

So my job has been putting the worst criminals in our community behind bars for the rest of their life.

And I was a trump appointee in the first trump administration, worked on national security issues, mainly with special operations oversight, and I'm a cancer survivor.

And so I'm in this race to continue to be a warrior for northwest georgia.

And if you're looking for those characteristics in your next representative, I'm asking for your vote.

Thank you, Rob Ruszkowski.

I thought about running two years ago and I talked to a good friend of mine and the reason I was going to run was because I was very angry with our representative marjorie taylor greene.

I'm fine with people having different opinions and having different solutions because we have to talk.

That's what our society is about, talking and coming to compromise.

I was told though that's not a reason to run, so I didn't run this time it's different.

Our country is at a tipping point and we have some real, real problems coming ahead and I plan on being able to talk to anyone and we're going to do these solutions together and we're going to be doing it for the people, not for corporations or special interests or foreign interests.

Thank you, Brian Stover.

One of the biggest difference between me and margie taylor green is I'm kind of a quiet kind of guy.

I'm a workhorse, not a show horse, and I like to get in there and get things done.

So what I'm gonna be fighting to bring as much back to the northwest district as I can for infrastructure, economic development.

We are way behind.

We got some of the highest growth, some of the most traffic in georgia.

So we need as much money brought back here to help along with you know, the water treatment plants.

We see what's going on with this pfas and we're going to need a lot of money to come back to help the american northwest people.

Thank you.

Thank you Meg strickland yes I think there will be a lot of differences between me and my predecessor, but I do want to say thank you for serving your country and for speaking out for the people of northwest georgia.

I don't like criticizing someone who's not here to defend themselves, but I'll say that I believe in self respect and respecting your country.

When you act with decency, , you will reap better results.

And that is what I believe I would do in dc.

Thank you, Jim Tully yes so I am solely concerned on the families of northwest georgia from infancy, from the unborn to education, to all the blue collar workers, the main street in our towns and our seniors.

The difference is I will focus on what we're doing right here in the district, taking those needs right back to washington dc and I mentioned before, in a bottom up capacity to make sure that the people of northwest georgia are taken care of.

We have lots of issues pfas, we have an immigration issue, we have health care, and we have education problems, and we'll address all of those.

Thank you, andrew underwood yes probably the biggest difference that I can point to between myself and my predecessor is that I am a third party candidate.

I am not beholden to either party's leadership.

That means that when they try to pass bills, I'm going to be a swing vote.

That means they have to come to me to make compromise.

I can then give northwest georgia even better representation.

We cannot, I can give you a greater degree of power over what happens in washington.

Thank you very much.

And star black, you get the final response.

The difference between marjorie and I is I will not use the press to become a celebrity.

I will use the press to actually show what I have done, the accomplishments.

So I believe that you criticize in private and then you praise in public.

So that is where we completely different.

I will give her credit for calling things out, but we need to have a plan on how to fix things, not just criticize it.

So that would be the main difference.

Thank you.

Delaney starr, please ask your first question candidates thank you for being here.

Now this race is likely to go to an april runoff election, leaving only a matter of months before the november general election.

Given that short time frame, what would be your top priority or goal you wish to accomplish before the next election cycle this round we will start with jim davis.

I'm not sure precisely what you're asking.

My goal is to make the runoff in the special election because that's the primary focus that we have right away.

If we go to the general election, it will depend, you know, if a republican wins in the special election, that kind of tells you what would happen in the general.

So I'm hoping that two democrats will win and with all respect to the republicans, I hope that two democrats will win in the special election to give us an opportunity to have a democratic representative for the first time since 1993.

Thank you, clay fuller well one of the things that I'm starting to say now is our district has been without representation.

It'll be about three months.

So with president trump endorsing the campaign, I think it's time for the republican party to unite behind our campaign and make sure that we have someone who can avoid the runoff and win the election on March 10 and then we can have representation on March 11 when I'm up in dc on March 11 as the as the representative for georgia 14, the number one job will be up there fighting for president trump's agenda.

Thank you, Rob Ruszkowski well this is the first time in politics, but when I get up into washington, first thing I'm going to do is, I'm going to get the best staff I can possibly get that are experts in the fields for these issues that are concerning our district the most.

And most of these issues, they apply to the whole country.

And I will be doing that.

Plus I will be talking to both people on both sides of the aisle up there making starting to make relationships and building, building bridges instead of tearing them down, which has already happened between both democrats, republicans and independents that are already up there.

Thank you, Brian Stover.

So one of the first things I want to do is make sure we get the constituent services back up and going.

Like I said, three months of not having a congresswoman in office, that's going to be my first step.

Next step is start looking at affordability.

What can we do?

What can we cut, and then also then get back out into the district, meet with all the county commissioners mayors sheriffs, and stuff like that, start addressing some of the issues that's foremost wanted and needed in the district.

Thank you, meg strickland yes if I win all the way through the runoff, I would be concerned with securing election integrity come november, we need to talk about whether we are going to require voter ids and really make sure that we're ready to have a strong national election.

We also need to talk about school safety and housing affordability because those are issues that cannot continue to wait until another election cycle while we have families standing by and teachers who greatly need our support as well.

So passing affordability legislation would be very high on my priority list as well.

Thank you, Jim Tully.

Thank you.

Of course, the president's initiatives and his executive orders need to be passed and codified into law.

They are very important in the future of this nation.

The budget is a huge point of my mind and the appropriations processes need to be continued.

We can't continue to just fund and fund and fund.

American taxpayer dollars need to go to america first issues and we need to have a line item budget that focuses our expenditures so the waste, fraud and abuse disappears, that american families get the full benefit of the federal government via their tax dollars.

Thank you.

Andrew underwood yes I am fully aware that this is a very short time to get something done.

I cannot promise things, but I can tell you my priorities are economic.

I want the budget under control.

I want affordability to be taken care of.

I want to do everything I can to make the economy better for the people of northwest georgia.

But one thing I can tell you right now that I can do without anyone's help is that I cannot, I can make sure that every bill that comes across my desk will be read in full and I will see to it that anything that I cannot.

Thank you very much.

Star Black.

Between now and november, I would instantly sign on as a co sponsor for term limits to get that pushed through immediately and also ban stock trading for members of congress, their families and their spouses.

The second thing that I would do is I would make sure that the constituent services, that folks know that I am their voice and I will use as God gave me my two ears first and listen to them and then be their voice.

Reagan Box, you have the final response.

So one of the first things I would do is I want to audit every single government program and agency for fraud.

We've seen with the minnesota daycare, somali daycare fraud that this is a huge problem plaguing our nation and costing taxpayers trillions of dollars secondly we don't have a gun crisis in our country.

We have a mental health care crisis.

So I would like to get federal grant money to build a mental health care institute.

It's adding to crime and public safety.

It's causing the rise of homelessness on the streets and we've got to do better as a nation and address these issues instead of trying to normalize it.

I also want to approach the national debt because it's devaluing our dollar to a point where people can't afford everyday goods and products.

Thank you very much, ross williams.

We go back to you to ask your next question.

So the doj has been rolling out the release of the epstein files after a big push from congress, from survivors.

And I'd like to ask how satisfied are you with the release of the epstein files and is there anything that you'll do if elected to help make sure that the survivors are able to see justice?

Clay fuller, it's your turn to go first.

I've had a great deal of experience as an elected district attorney in dealing with these specific matters and dealing with victims of a number of horrible crimes.

And so I think it's very important as a prosecutor for transparency.

Our trials are in open court for a reason.

So I want the american public to have full transparency on the eps files in any investigation that they want information on.

So I'll fully support the trump administration in getting that information out and getting that information out in a timely manner.

Thank you, Rob Ruszkowski.

You're next.

In regards to this issue, I I have to say I've been very disappointed with the administration and how everything has been slow rolled out and how we haven't gotten all of the information that they have.

And pam bondi and the department of justice announced that they're not going to be releasing any more documents when we know there's more documents out there.

The way that they've redacted information and some of our elected officials have been able to see that information, All of that information needs to be disclosed to the public.

This is one of the biggest scandals in our history and it all has to come out because it's affecting all the power structure throughout different industries, including the political system.

Thank you, Brian Stover yeah you know, I don't agree with anything.

You're no better up there than we are down here.

So we got to hold everyone accountable the same way.

I mean, I know we got to protect the victims of the epstein files, but I think everything needs to be released.

The public needs to know about it because like I said, if we did it down here, we would be held accountable and we need to hold the higher powers to be held accountable also Thank you, meg strickland yes I think this is going to be one issue that we all agree on.

It is a travesty of justice.

We all agree that accountability and transparency are vitally important for the continuation of our democracy however we also have to protect those who may be listed in it and not assume their immediate guilt.

We also need to be advocating for victim rights in other aspects of our judicial and legislative system.

So I would love to be an advocate to continue to speak for women and victims in the future.

Thank you, Jim Tully.

I believe that we are a nation of laws in washington, across the country, and right here at home.

And if we have, we have absolutely obviously have victims of sexual abuse and child abuse.

And if those perpetrators are known, I absolutely support the prosecution, arrest and prosecution of all of those that are involved.

The information needs to be public, it needs to be out.

We need to know the truth.

Thank you, andrew underwood, The epstein files have been released in part, but we know there's more and what has been released has been redacted in some of the worst possible ways.

We have revealed information that should have remained confidential for the sake of protecting the victims.

And we are redacting the names of the abusers.

This is unacceptable.

Everyone involved needs to be held accountable.

This needs to be prosecuted and we need everything fully transparent.

Thank you.

Star Black.

I would I do agree with everyone that it should be completely released, but I would personally meet with each of the victims to make sure that they are satisfied with the results.

And I do think that we need to begin arrest those folks that have violated the law of sex trafficking.

We need to start seeing those arrests happen based on them breaking the laws.

Thank you.

Reagan Box.

Pedophilia is something that should be abhorrent to everybody's hearts and souls.

This shouldn't be a republican or democrat issue.

This should be bipartisan on protecting our children.

We need openness and transparency.

Everybody that perpetrated this needs to be held accountable in the court of law and let them prove their innocence or guilt.

And I'm willing to go biblical on this.

The bible says anyone that will harm a child needs a millstone tied around their neck and thrown into the deepest depths of the ocean.

We should not in any way, shape or form accept this in our society.

Thank you, Jim Davis.

It is your turn.

Thank you.

Sometimes a special problem requires a special solution.

All the victims have very capable attorneys.

I'm not sure why they couldn't sit down, have the unredacted documents.

Let the victims decide what they want to have redacted, and then release everything else to the public.

Thank you delaney please ask your next question candidates do you support the current immigration policies of the united states?

What action, if any, would you take to make legal immigration easier or more difficult?

Rob, you get the first response I'm not I'm not happy at all with what's going on with ice and border protection.

I think they're violating the constitutional rights because in the constitution everyone within our borders has the protection for due process and that's not happening.

So we have to we have to take a real good look at that and we have to figure out how we're going to either abolish them or reform them.

But they cannot continue to do what they're doing around the country.

They're dividing communities.

There's fear.

I just spoke with somebody in dalton in the hispanic community.

They own a restaurant.

The number of people that are coming into their restaurant is way down because people do not want to leave their homes.

Thank you.

Brian Stover yeah I love what president trump's done with his immigration policy.

I agree with 100% of it.

Protecting the border is very important to me.

We've seen what's happened for the last four years that biden's left it open.

The safetyness of my own kids.

I worry about them with the drug dealers, the pedophiles, the killers is coming here.

And I love what ice is doing by pushing them out.

They do not deserve to be here.

They are illegal and they have got to go and we've got to do what we have to do to spend the money to protect us and the american people.

Thank you, meg strickland yes while I agree that closing the border is imperative, we also were told that we would only be deporting criminals.

That's not what we're seeing.

What I think is that congress started this problem and congress is the one that needs to finish it legislatively.

Deportation only is not a solution.

We need a long term strategy for whoever is whoever is president to create a legal pathway for residents here.

If someone has been here for ten years, has no criminal past, and is gainfully employed or in school, they should be able to stay and work legally.

Thank you, Jim Tully.

I think we should double the number of ice agents and border patrol agents.

I think this country has been overrun.

Some estimates have us at plus 20 million over the past four years or so.

These people came here illegally.

They crossed a river, they jumped a fence, they came across everywhere but a border crossing.

They are here illegally and they need to go back to where they came from.

That's for the safety primarily for the people of the united states.

I think that our immigration laws that were in place prior to this mass migration into the country were sufficient and we should enforce them to the nth degree of the law.

Thank you, andrew underwood yes my great grandmother came here through ellis island in 1929.

If we had the current laws regarding immigration at that time, she would have been turned away.

I believe that we desperately need to overhaul our immigration system, The people who are trying to come here now deserve the same opportunities that my great grandmother got.

I really truly believe that most of these people are good and decent people who want to better themselves and we need to give them the chance so that they don't have to come here illegally.

Thank you.

Star Black.

I am in total support of the borders being closed.

I think our president has done an amazing job.

What a lot of folks don't realize is ice is really a transporter.

So what you saw in minnesota, the governor and the mayor were not allowing the local officials to actually detain the folks and then ice, then they'll notify ice on whether they want to put a hold on it.

Then if they choose to, then ice would come in and actually transport and deport the folks.

So what you are seeing is not ice taking over, it is local law enforcement not doing it.

I also believe that we need to have a merit system and we need to make sure that those folks are out of here.

Thank you.

Reagan Box.

I'm in support of ice.

The illegals are draining our education and medal systems and other systems throughout the country.

So we've got to get this under control.

But the bigger issue is a lot of the immigration issue is through the cartel.

So I would like our military to work with the governments in central and south america to start getting rid of the cartel, which is the root of the problem.

Here in georgia, we're actually number two in the nation as far as human trafficking.

And this is because of the 75 corr in atlanta.

And our communities deserve to be safer and that's why I'm wanting to allocate more federal money to help cops in training against human trafficking.

Thank you, Jim Davis well what I saw on tv in minnesota were people being shot and killed.

And I think most of the country, civilized people reject that.

And because of that harsh activity, I believe that aspect of their campaign is over.

I certainly hope so.

I know that it's an emotional issue, but actually even at 20 million people, which is not right, that would be a six out of 100 of us would be illegal.

I don't think that would bring our country down.

They are reported as actually, with a few notable exceptions, less violent and more helpful and we can't actually get along with our economy without them.

Thank you mr fuller.

Two cases not mentioned in the premise of the question.

Lake and riley, an 11-year-old right here in georgia who was raped by an illegal.

And if I was the district attorney on that case, I would be pursuing the death penalty of that illegal immigrant.

What ice is doing is saving lives.

Bottom line fact.

It's the truth.

Second part, securing the border.

Fentanyl kills more americans, 18 to 40 than any other cause.

President trump's policies are literally saving lives, and that's been shown by a statistic that just came out that the murder rate in america dropped more than any other time in the past year in our country's history.

So I support president trump and his policies and we should be talking about the 300,000 kids, migrant kids, that the biden administration lost in our country.

Thank you, Ross williams.

You get the final question in this round.

Thank you.

If you are elected, you'll likely be tasked with voting to approve sending money or arms to israel.

I want to ask, have you seen anything in the course of the recent war that would make you think twice about whether you would vote yes to send money or weapons to israel.

Brian Stover, you get first response.

You repeat that question.

I'm sorry.

Have you seen anything in the recent war between in israel that would make you think twice about voting to approve money or weapons sent over there no I'm not.

I support president trump on this whole the war in israel.

I mean, president trump's done a great job.

He's put eight wars to bed and is working on others.

So I trust the president and I would support him in all ways that I could.

Meg strickland, Without being on capitol hill, it's very hard to know all the answers to questions like that.

We've argued about these things my entire life, so I'm not going to pretend like I know every detail there however I will say that it's a humanitarian crisis on both sides.

So we have to put those two issues together and say smartly, go line by line, any kind of agreement that we pass with israel, is it in our best interest and is it furthering the crisis that we hope to avert?

Thank you, Jim Tully, the oppressors of islamists and socialist communism across the world that's attacking allies has to be stopped.

I believe that we need to continue funding in the united nations, that those troops are first line, frontline defenders of america and our allies.

Let's face it, the world is a nasty place and they want to eradicate christian and judeo christian faith around the world.

And if we don't want american boots on the ground, we have to have people defending our interests around the world.

Thank you, andrew underwood.

The best way that we can help avert this kind of violence around the world is to act as the adult in the room.

We need to be a neutral arbitrator and we cannot act neutral.

We cannot pretend to be neutral in any way if we are funding one of the sides in a conflict therefore I would say that we need to retract our funding for the sake of being able to have the moral and reasonable stance that we can be that neutral arbitrator.

Thank you, star black.

I do support funding israel.

If you look strategically where israel is, we have to protect that democracy because if we allow it to be overrun, then democracy loses its foothold in that in that region.

So we need to definitely make sure that what we're funding is truly strategic and protects that democracy and the folks of israel.

Thank you.

Reagan Box.

Israel is our greatest ally in the middle east.

There's no doubt about it, and we've got to keep protecting it.

But just because we're allies with israel doesn't make us where we don't need to look at their misgivings and what's going on both sides of this war.

There are war crimes being committed.. There are women and children on both sides getting raped and murdered just to get the other side under control.

There are people being starved to death on both sides of this, all because of political alliances and entanglement.

So as I stand for israel because we need that stability and governance in the middle east, we can't turn a blind eye to what's truly going on in Gaza.

Jim Davis, I think the question was framed, would I see anything that has happened that would give me concern about funding israel militarily?

And my answer would be yes.

The death of 15,000 children under the biden administration, which continues on under the trump administration.

What we've done in the last, really for the last decades, we have not done things in our own interests.. We have done things in israel's interest.

If we had an even handed policy like the young man suggested, we would not have an enemy in the arabs of that part of the world.

Thank you, clay fuller jim those casualties happened because hamas uses those kids as human shields.

I was deployed to the middle east on October 1 of 2024.

I was on the air operations floor as iran sent a missile barrage at israel and the only casualty in israel was a palestinian killed by an iranian missile.

I stood with israel on October 1 of 2024 and I stand with israel now.

They are solving our counter terrorism problem in the middle east.

They are destroying hamas, they are destroying hezbollah, they are destroying iranian allied militia groups.

We will not have boots in the middle east because israel is solving our counter terrorism problem now.

And I fully support israel.

Thank you, Rob Ruszkowski.

I have a very heavy heart on this issue.

I don't agree with most of the people on this here.

I just don't.

The international community has plain out said that it's it's an atrocity.

It's an atrocity that's going on.

It's it's there's death everywhere in Gaza and it's just we have a law already and I believe it's called the hatch act.

I could be mistaken on the name of it, but it clearly states that if there's a genocide going on, we are not allowed to fund a genocide.

It's already on the books and war is not the answer.

It's just not.

We've had enough wars and we don't need to be funding israel so that they can just be killing more people.

Thank you to our viewers.

You are watching the congressional district 14 special election candidate forum.

Due to the number of qualified candidates, they have been randomly divided into two groups.

We will now move to our speed round where candidates will have up to 30 seconds to respond to questions until we run out of time.

Delaney tar, you get the first question.

Thank you.

How will you work to lower health care costs in the state of georgia meg strickland, well, we'll start with you yes we need to create health savings accounts that work like iras so that individuals can fund their own health expenses and keep them from year to year.

We also need interstate insurance competition,.

I believe that more competition with insurance companies would bring prices down and give people more satisfaction in the policy that they have lastly we need competitive drugs, drug pricing because Jim Tully well the democrat administration of barack obama caused this issue by putting the federal government in the insurance business.

And what we have is big insurance, big health care dictating who gets coverage.

As long as they get paid, maybe you will get covered.

The federal government needs to be out of the health care business.

It needs to come back to the consumer where we choose what we want as an individual and through our employer.

It is a consumer based system.

It worked before, It will work again.

Thank you, andrew underwood, The most regulated sectors of the economy are always the ones that become the most expensive.

This is true with healthcare.

It's true with college tuition.

We need to get the government out of it.

We need to allow competition across state lines.

We need.

These are the first simplest solutions and they're the things that we can do the fastest.

There's plenty more that can be done, but these are our first steps.

Thank you.

Star black.

I do think we need to get the federal government out of the insurance business.

Let's face it, the government is not in your car insurance business and we have competition and it drives rates down.

So we definitely need to get the federal government completely out of the insurance business.

Reagan Box.

So we've nationalized health care through obamacare and we need to stop that and bring it back to a basic local level like it used to be.

The one position created through obamacare, the pbms, increased pharmaceutical costs by at least a third.

Getting rid of that one position would greatly reduce cost.

Not only that, but we need to do it on a performance based on all of these hires, we can get rid of the bottom fourth of employees and greatly reduce costs.

Thank you, Jim Davis yes I'm not sure I agree with everything I've heard, but I will just tell you my plan, which is the plan that every other industrialized country in the world has, and that is some form of universal health care.

I've developed a plan that is 20% less expensive than what you're paying now, , covers everything with no co pays.

If you don't like it, you don't have to use it.

If you do want it, it's there for you.

Thank you, clay fuller.

A universal government run health care system is terrible.

How do I know that I was diagnosed with cancer while I was on active duty and my treatment while in a government run health care system was absolutely horrendous and terrible.

We need to get the federal government out of health care.

We need to privatize it, and we need to have an honest discussion that this problem was created by the barack obama administration.

Thank you, Rob Ruszkowski.

Health care is a human right period we're the only developed country that doesn't offer it for their citizens and we're the richest country in the world.

The other thing is we don't even have a health care system.

Most of it is a sick care system.

You go to a doctor, you tell him what's wrong, he gives you a pill, doesn't solve the problem.

You end up maybe getting side effects, but the underlying cause is still there.

I propose a wellness care system.

Over 70% of illnesses have been shown to be curable or not even happening.

Brian Stover.

So in business, when I saw obamacare pass, I knew he was going to have issues.

And through my years, I've seen the highest at 19 percentage increase, which bottom line affects my employees.

So I know that's going across the whole nation and we got to do something.

We got to get it out of the government's hands and put it back in the private sector where they can compete with one another and drive prices down.

Ross williams, please ask your question.

I want to ask about legal immigration in general.

Do you think it should be easier or harder to legally immigrate to the united states and what can you do to help make that happen?

Jim Tully, we'll start with you well legal immigration has been going on for 250 years or better, and there's a process in place in your country of origin to apply for immigration, , to apply for a visa to come here, You're brought here or allowed to come here based on your merits.

And we need to get back to that.

You just don't get to come to america and stay here because you want to.

We don't allow people that want to do us harm within our borders.

Thank you, andrew underwood well first of all, I very much believe in easing restrictions and making it easier to come here legally.

I think that we need to go back to the system we had with ellis island and angel island.

People come here and then we can give them a simple vetting process and then we can let them come in.

They come in as hot aliens.

They come out as american citizens.

Thank you so much.

Star Black.

I think we do need to change it to where the processing is faster, that it doesn't take multiple years for someone to become a citizen, but I also believe that it should be completely on a merit system so that we have the folks that we need here with their technical expertise and that we get those folks through the process quicker and so that we can welcome them as u s citizens.

Thank you.

Reagan Box.

We need to speed up the process for people wanting to come in here, but at the same time it should be a merit based system.

You should be an asset to our society.

I also though, believe we need to double down on the immigration and nationality act, where if they commit a misdemeanor or felony within five to ten years of their citizenship, then they get their citizenship revoked and they get deported.

We've got to quit having people that won't assimilate into the united states and be proud, hardworking americans thanks Jim Davis yes I have no problem with reasonable border security.

I think most americans would support that.

If we ever want to be honest with each other, we do have illegal people in this country.

If you want to resolve that problem, you're going to have to find a system of vetting them and letting them come out of hiding to see if they can be given citizenship in this country.

And that's going to be the only way to solve it.

Clay fuller, the fraud and the sme fraud in minnesota should shock the conscience of every american.

We need a merit based system and any immigration system should be with countries that share our values and allow people to assimilate.

And there's no greater economic lie over the last 30 to 40 years that americans don't want to do jobs.. When I talk about it being america first, any immigration system should never negatively impact americans ability to get jobs in their communities.

Thank you, Rob Ruszkowski.

We're all immigrants unless you're a native american indian, every one of us.

So if they're calling every one of these people that are immigrants illegal, we're all illegal yes we are.

We're on stolen land.

So in regards to this, I just, this is a this is a distraction issue.

They want to fight about this issue when citizens, when these are illegal immigrants are not violent.

The problem is they don't want you to be looking at the billionaires and the corporations that are controlling this country.

Brian Stover actually I believe we're colonists, you know, the ones that came here to form america, they was colonists and there is illegal, The illegal immigrants do come here after a country has been formed.

So do, I do believe we have to work on that because it is a fine line.

I think we just got to speed the process up and look more toward work visa because there is a lot of jobs in this country that if they was to go away right now, the country could fail with construction and stuff like that.

So I do believe we need to work.

Thank you, Meg strickland yes we do have a legal immigration problem because our congress has failed us in creating legislative reform right now.

Even if you're married to an american citizen, it can cost you $14,000.08 years to join your spouse in being a citizen.

That is unjust.

So I think we need three things.

We need to test a criminal background, make it merit based, and have a probationary period for good behavior in our country.

And then you become a legal resident.

Thank you.

Delaney tar.

Your next question.

Should members of congress have term limits?

If elected, would you commit to limiting the number of times you would run for reelection?

Andrew underwood, you're up absolutely I have already signed a pledge to support term limits however I will go further yes if elected, I will limit the number of terms that I run for.

I will be happy to do that.

I have no intention of serving for more than two terms.

Thank you.

Star Black well.

I think I'm pretty, I think it's pretty obvious that yes, I definitely support term limits.

I do not think that our founding fathers ever intended anyone to be in elected office for a lifetime.

I have already signed the pledge to do that and I think 12 years and either the senate or the house is plenty of time.

Reagan Box yes I will fight for term limits.

Thomas jefferson said when politics becomes a career, corruption is sure to follow.

And that's what we're seeing in our government today.

So I will do everything in my power to put term limits into play.

Jim Davis yes I worked with ross perot term limits.

I worked with pat buchanan in the 90s on term limits.

I'm working with them now.

I've written about them in my book, but you've got to remember we handle trillion dollar budgets and we're the most complicated government in the world.

One, the congress is not going to pass a six year term limit on themselves.

If you want it done, you're going to have to offer them ten years for the house of representatives, ten years for the senate.

And I wouldn't want to go to all this trouble without putting term limits on the supreme court of 12 years.

Thank you, clay fuller.

I signed the term limits pledge and I support term limits.

I also support banning stock trading for members of congress because I'm running to be a warrior for northwest georgia.

I'm not running to become a career politician.

I'm not running to get rich off of this position.

All I want to do is make a difference for the people of northwest georgia and make their lives better each and every day.

Rob Ruszkowski, I have also signed with the organization term limits com.

They have hundreds of signatures of people that are already in congress and the term limit guideline is three terms in the house and two terms in the senate.

I don't even I don't even want to figure about work being in congress or the senate for that long.

.

Thank you.

Brian Stover yeah I signed the pledge also.

And I I don't think six years is enough to get something done.

I send it as a county commission.

It takes eight years to get something done at the local level.

So I cannot imagine you're going to get anything done at the federal level in six years.

I think eight years for the house and 12 years for senate.

Meg strickland yes I do agree in term limits however they must be reasonable.

I would never support a term limit that's shorter than a presidential term because we do want to have stability in our lawmaking also I want to point out that one reason why we have people staying in office for so long is because they make a lot of money doing it.

If we would dry up the financial incentive in being in congress, they would stop leading lastly the supreme court is not a political institution and should never be held to term limits.

Jim Tully, we are all in this room because the congresswoman quit.

And now I think you're asking me if am going to quit.

I'm not going to quit.

My entire republican party background has been focused on voter engagement and voter turnout.

This is a right of the american citizen.

The most powerful tool the american citizen has is the vote.

It's a responsibility to vote.

If I'm not doing the job you sent me to do, vote me out.

Andrew underwood, I believe you answered that question.

So we're going to go now with megan.

I mean, I'm sorry delaney another question.

I believe it's ross's turn.

Is it ross's turn or ross sure.

You know, I've been thinking the constitution grants the power to declare war to congress over, you know, a number of years.

Presidents from both parties have kind of gotten past that, let's say, through declaring, you know, different types of military action.

Do you have any concerns about the split between congressional power and executive power?

Star Black, we'll start with you.

Do I have any concerns?

The role of congress is to be able to hold the president and the senate accountable.

We're that third branch, so we have the power to decide whether we go to war or not.

So I believe we need to uphold that and hold those accountable and be that sounding board.

Reagan Box yes I do have concerns about it.

People on both sides of the aisle for far too long have been taking power into their, into their own hands.

They've abused the emergency power act and that's why I want to put a four year sunset limit on emergency powers.

We are still under emergency powers that jimmy carter put into play.

So we've got to realize our strength is congress people and we can hold the judges and the president accountable for their actions And we need to get that power back.

Jim Davis yes if you're talking about the world, the war powers act, the problem we have now, I cannot remember a time since I was in college that we've had a congress that is less willing to assert their authority.

And that concerns me and it ought to concern everybody because the president right now could do pretty much as he wanted to and the congress would not say very much about it.

So we do need more balance.

Congress needs to take back their authority.

And that's why I'd like to go to congress to help with that.

Clay fuller.

Congress is a co equal branch and I know federalist 51 very well.

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.

But I also support president trump's article two powers that he used at midnight hammer to strike the nuclear program in iran, and also when he snatched up nicholas maduro, who was head of a narco terrorist regime and took him to the southern district of new york to be prosecuted.

So I understand the difference between article two powers and where congress needs to increase their influence in foreign affairs.

Rob Ruszkowski.

Over the years, we've seen the executive branch get more and more powerful.

We see we see the person that's in the office right now expanding this, even the size of the white house, making it bigger and bigger.

This is a danger.

We're not we left many countries to come to america to get away from a king.

And we have somebody in office right now that wants to be a king.

Brian Stover,, I believe in strong leadership and having a strong president to get the things done to protect the american people.

But on the other hand, we got to make sure that congress holds him responsible to not get us into any wars unless they seem thing so.

Meg strickland, yeah the reason why congress is not standing up to the president is because they refuse to work together.

We've got to change that and we've got to start not seeing cooperation as a bad word.

Our founders intended congress to be a check and balance against the presidential authority, and we desperately need that.

But I'll also point out that there's a difference between a war and a strike.

As we said, the venezuelan president was a strike and that is different from an ongoing war.

Jim Tully yes so the president has, it is a co equal branch of government., and the president has his own ability to strike as needed.

The congress, as diffused as they are, this comes straight back to the power of the american people and their involvement in congress.

When the american voter engages with congress, their entire focus changes and they become a more cohesive focused unit.

And andrew underwood, nearly every president we've ever had has expanded the power of their office in some manner or another, the possible exception being william henry harrison, who died before having the opportunity.

Congress has been abdicating its responsibility for far too long and we need to step up and do our jobs.

Thank you well that's all the time we have for questions.

Please make sure to check out both forms so you can hear from all the candidates.

Early voting has started and runs through March 6, and the special election will be held on tuesday, March 10.

We thank all of the candidates and our panel of journalists.

We'd also like to thank the atlanta press club and georgia public broadcasting for arranging today's program.

I'm donna lowery.

Thanks for joining us for the atlanta press club Loudermilk-Young young debate series