Kirkland.

Hello, I'm Pamela Kirkland, host of Morning Edition at 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 grants to the Atlanta Press Club from the Arthur M Blank Family Foundation and the Charles Robert Loudermilk Senior Foundation.

This is the debate for Democratic candidates running for Congressional District ten.

District ten is in the eastern side of the state.

Cities include Athens, Winder, Monroe and McDonough.

We have two journalists who will question.

The candidates.

Jennifer Bellamy is an anchor at 11 Alive in Atlanta, and Beau Evans is a state House reporter for state Affairs.

Georgia.

I'm going to kick off today's debate, asking each of the candidates to introduce themselves and tell viewers why they should be the next congressperson representing district ten.

Candidates will have 60s to introduce themselves.

We will go in alphabetical order, starting with Pam Delancey.

Good morning.

My name is Pam Delancey.

I am a retired colonel.

I'm a cancer survivor.

I'm a mother, and I have lived in McDonough, Georgia for 23 years.

I retired from the military in 2019 and came back to call McDonough, Georgia, my home.

So I am also very active in my community.

I have volunteered.

I'm an appointed member of Georgia Public Board of Health for district four.

I also go volunteer at the food bank.

And so why I should be why would I want to be here?

To represent district ten.

Everything I have done has been about service.

I believe in serving others in the military for over 39 years.

I believe, in the words of Constitution.

I've taken the oath to defend this country, and I would have to tell you, my platform is very simple.

We the people.

Thank you.

Lexy Doherty is next.

Hey, y'all.

I'm Lexy Doherty, and I would love to be your next representative for Georgia's tenth Congressional District.

I'm so excited to be here with the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting.

I'm very pleased that we still have public broadcasting that's independent.

I'm running because I think most of our representatives in Washington are wildly out of touch with what it's like to be the average person trying to get by.

For too long, members of both parties have been bought by corporations, billionaires, and special interests.

And I would like to see more representatives who are going to fight for the average family.

And so that's what I'm running to do.

I'm running to take on corruption in Washington, to raise wages and fight for affordability for families in this district.

And I would love to have your support.

Thank you so much.

And, John Dougherty, it's your turn.

Thank you to the Atlanta Press Club for arranging this.

And also thank you to you, viewers for giving a and tuning in.

My name is John Dougherty, not spelled D o r I t y. Not to be confused with the other Dougherty up here.

I've been a resident of the tenth district for over 20 years, living in rural Madison and Oglethorpe counties.

My early work history involved many blue collar and manual labor jobs, so I'm no stranger to having a tight budget, although I hold no degree.

I have been involved in high tech industries for over the last 30 years.

I retired about two years ago from the from the position of Senior Director of Innovation and New Technology from a molecular diagnostics company, large molecular Diagnostics Company.

I've also been politically active since hitting the pavement canvasing for the local political politician during my high school years and chair of the Madison County Democrats during Obama's first presidential election.

Um, what I want to do is make sure that I restore the justice system.

Uh, and I also want to make sure that I hold both Democrats and Republicans accountable.

That's why I'm running.

Thank you so much for the full set of debate rules, please visit Atlanta Press club.org.

Our panel will now ask a question to an individual candidate.

We'll start with Bob Evans.

Asking a question for Lexy Doherty.

Once again, you have 60s for a response.

Miss Dougherty.

Georgia is facing a critical deadline of July first to make significant changes to the state's voting system, in particular by removing electronic barcodes from the ballots.

Many local election officials say that change is too difficult to make in such a short time period.

Given your experience as a poll worker, what specific changes to Georgia's voting system do you think would help increase election integrity and restore trust?

For many voters in the tenth district, who have become disillusioned with ballots that contain barcodes?

Yeah, so am I on sorry?

Uh, yes.

I think the biggest issue that most people have with our election system is not understanding it.

I have so much more faith in our election security since being a poll worker.

Um, you know, I think there's been so much misinformation about our election system and our software and our hardware.

And, you know, I think I'm comfortable with the results of our elections, but if it would make people more comfortable to move to hand-marked paper ballots, remove those QR codes, I think that's best for us.

Um, the one problem I have is the short deadline that if we can't get this done by the election, it's just going to cause chaos.

So I would like to see at least the QR code removal pushed past the midterms.

Jennifer, your question to John Dougherty.

Mr.

Dougherty, much of this district or communities that make it up have been represented in Congress by Republicans for the last few decades.

If you win the primary, how would you work to flip the district to ensure that Democrats win in the in the general election?

Well, first of all, I don't think I have to do all that much or can do all that much.

I think what's happening right now are the Republicans are peeling away from the center, basically, basically Maga.

I see that happening a lot.

There's a lot of, uh, ups, a lot of Republicans that are upset with the current administration, with the, with the war, gas prices going up and everything else like that.

So basically what I'll do is try to work with Republicans to try to solve those problems, try to bring the Republicans over to our side and, and hopefully have Republicans understand that we need a change in the Trump administration.

Beau, your turn to ask a question to Pamela DeLancy.

Miss De Lancey.

18 hospitals in rural parts of Georgia have closed since 2012, some of which were located in the tenth district.

As a member of Congress, what specific proposals would you support to protect funding for local hospitals to avoid more closures?

And if your answer involves fully expanding Medicaid, please provide a specific proposal that would not involve Medicaid expansion.

In the event that Georgia declines to do so.

That's a great question.

From our perspective and looking at what has been given to Georgia recently, Georgia just received $1.8 billion through the Great Rural Health Reform Act.

And so what they have exactly is five years to roll out that plan.

I propose getting in office and actually strong, uh, strongly using my position to encourage Georgia to roll out that plan in less than five years instead of a five year rollout plan.

Why not make this a 24 month, a less plan?

We are able to do that because they have the funding.

Actually, we can also expand through telehealth and telemedicine, because that is the quickest way that we're going to be able to get individuals health care.

That is much needed in rural communities.

And also we need to look at the hospitals that have closed.

How do we use those facilities and re-energize that to.

We can also provide more health care for individuals in rural Georgia.

Jennifer Bellamy, your question for Lexy Doherty.

Miss Dougherty, you list protecting natural resources while mentioning climate change as one of your top priorities.

How will you address this as congresswoman, and how would you work to draw on voters who may not agree?

Yeah, absolutely.

So I think this is one of the most important things we can take on right now, um, especially with the war in Iran, we're seeing natural resources, in particular.

Oil is incredibly limited getting to the country.

And I think we need to make sure that if we are building a energy infrastructure based on limited resources, that it's going to be diversified.

And one of the things that I've noticed when talking to people out on the trail is there are a lot of overlaps between conservative voters and liberal voters on natural resources.

You know, our our rural hunters and fishers want clean water and clean soil.

And, you know, I think there are a lot of places that we can find overlap in common ground to both protect natural resources and fight climate change.

Bo Evans, your question to John Dougherty, please.

Mr.

Dougherty and your qualifying statement to run for the tenth district.

You listed yourself as a retired engineer.

However, there is little other public information about your background and what your positions on key issues may be, such as health care, the economy and international affairs.

At this stage in the race, what is your strategy for breaking through to inform voters of who you are and what you stand for as a candidate for Congress?

Well, that's a big question.

There are so many issues right now.

It's hard for a candidate, basically to cover the most important issues.

There's about 200 of them.

I think for me, though, really, I have right here accountability, accountability, accountability.

So restoring adherence to the US Constitution, reestablishing the separation of powers, restoring the rule of law, ensuring accountability, limiting bribery and the undue influence of money in government, reversing corruption and holding those accountable for the rampant corruption that has now reached an apex in our government.

So that's where I'm going with things, and I'm going to try to get all that word out.

And I've been doing it for 30 years already, trying to get the word out recently through media.

And I think I'm going to concentrate on the public media a little bit more.

And Jennifer, your question to Pamela DeLancy.

Miss Delancy, we have seen many changes to our nation's military under the Trump administration.

If elected as a veteran and member of Congress, what would you do to work for our servicemen and women and our veterans?

Thank you.

That is a wonderful question.

And as a veteran myself of 39 years in the military, I totally respect the military.

And I do not like the path in which the military is currently on.

The military has always been a bipartisan type of organization, and we're headed toward an organization that is no longer adherent and and respecting the different cultures of the individuals that come into the military.

I would like to restore that law and order into our principles, our culture has worked very well for us in the past, and I don't know why anyone thinks it shouldn't work now.

What we are doing is eliminating alienating individuals from different cultures and not respecting those individuals and what they bring to the military.

I totally believe that it can be done, and I will stand up for all veterans, not just for their benefits, but for their right to serve unopposed, a right to serve and and their religion and work for the government.

I mean, there's no reason why you cannot serve and be bipartisan.

So much for that answer.

That concludes our first round.

The candidates will now ask a question to their opponent.

You'll have 30s to ask the question, 60s to respond.

And the person who asked the question will get a 32nd rebuttal.

John Doherty, you get the first question to one of your opponents.

Uh, well, first of all, I don't think of these as my opponents.

We're all on the same team here, I think.

And I think the most important thing is that a Democrat wins, regardless of who it is.

Um, I would like to ask, I know that technology is coming down the pipeline right now and is getting involved in everybody's, everybody's is having to deal with that in their day to day life.

AI is a big question.

Um, I think to and is this have to be directed to one person or another?

Yes.

If you could choose a candidate.

I'll go with Lexi.

And then I would like to ask you what you think has to be done about the AI train coming down the rails right now.

Yeah.

I mean, first and foremost, we need regulation.

I think the fact that we have these models released into society with no oversight, no guardrails, frankly terrifies me.

Um, so the first thing I think we should do is not release any more advanced models than are currently on the market without having some really strict guardrails.

I'm also really concerned about data security and privacy.

That's going to get infinitely more delicate with AI and technology.

So I would like to work directly with our technology partners to make sure that we have models and data security that are helping the community.

I think technology is an incredible advancement.

It's going to change the way our economy and society works.

But if we don't take a stand right now, we are going to absolutely lose the ability to rein in this technology.

And then, Mr.

Doherty, you get 30s to respond.

Well, I will tell you, I agree with everything you just said.

So it's not much of a rebuttal here.

Um, I do know myself.

I have been working in the high tech industry for quite a while, and I've been working for startups and I have, I am very familiar with AI and, and I think that my expertise is necessary and your knowledge basically that there needs to be something done is something that needs to be brought to the, to the Senate or to the, excuse me, to the House.

Lexy Doherty it's your turn to choose an opponent, to ask a question, to.

Thank you.

Trust in government is at, you know, if not the lowest ever, one of the lowest in my lifetime.

And I think we have a responsibility as representatives to build trust in the partnership of governance and make sure that, you know, we are speaking and living our values.

So I would like to ask Mrs.

Delancey, are you willing to not trade stocks while you are representative?

I want to work really closely with our Senator to pass a bill to ban congressional stock trading.

And I think if we are going to talk about fighting corruption, it's very important that, like I said, we live those values.

So are you willing to sell your stocks if you get elected?

Well, that is a great question because I have very few stocks to talk about, and I am totally against insider trading.

I can tell you, I have built my career on a profession built on integrity as a military officer and a retired colonel, and also as a nurse.

What people's lives are dependent on my decisions, my honesty and integrity.

So trading stocks with individuals, I totally against it.

I can't in instill character into anyone, but I'm also opposed to insider trading.

I think that we should hold our congressmen accountable for anything that they do, particularly if they're getting enriching their lives without enriching the lives of our constituents.. And Lexy Doherty you get 30s to respond.

I'm not sure I actually heard the answer in there.

Was that a no, you will not sell your personal stocks?

Absolutely.

No, I would not sell.

I would not sell my personal stocks because I don't really have any personal stocks.

Unless you have a secret that I don't know about, because the only stocks I can think that I have, maybe worth a couple of thousand dollars or so, I don't know.

I don't know what stocks you would think I would have other than thrift savings plan.

And that is governed by the military.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um, I don't have that much either.

Probably about the same.

The couple thousand dollars area.

But I do think it's important to, like I said, sell our stocks if we are going to be representatives.

Congress members are all the time in closed door meetings, getting private information that is not available to the average person.

And, um, yeah, so I think it's incredibly important to sell individual stocks.

That's something I am committed to.

And Pamela DeLancy you get the final question in this round.

My question is to Lexy Doherty you ran on the Democratic representative last time, uh, the race, you actually lost the Democratic race by over 100,000 votes.

I would like to know, what have you done differently from the last election that is going to allow individuals who want to vote for you this time, and how will you make up that 100,000 deficit?

Yeah.

It's tough.

Let's not mince words.

This is a gerrymandered district, and it's going to take a lot of work to overcome that deficit.

I take that very seriously.

It's one of the reasons I jumped into this race in May of last year, because I knew that we had a lot of work to make up.

We were able to move the district three points towards the Democrats last year in a really tough year.

And if this race swings like we've seen some of the other races in this community swinging and across the country, we will flip this seat.

So I'm very confident that when I jump into this race again, I had a lot of built in support.

I think that's shown in my grassroots fundraising numbers.

There are a lot of people that are behind me, and a lot of people that are excited to support me again and help us expand that base this time around.

Pamela DeLancy you get 30s for a response.

Okay, so I guess I didn't ask the question appropriately.

I wanted to know exactly what have you done, such as work, volunteer in the community?

What have you done for district ten that they would have the faith and trust that you're going to represent their interests in Congress, other than the individuals that are already supporting you, how will you reach out to the constituents of district ten?

What have you done for them?

AM I allowed to answer again?

Go ahead.

Okay.

30s.

Yeah.

So, I mean, I've spent the last two and some change years reaching out to people across this district, listening to their needs.

My background for work is in education.

I helped high schoolers apply to college plan their lives after high school, and I saw very intimately the struggles that young people are going out into the world in.

And I think, you know, my knowledge of the economy, of education, of work is really going to help me help the people of this district.

Thank you all so much.

That concludes that portion of the debate.

You're watching the Democratic primary debate for Congressional District ten.

We'll now go back to the panel, who will ask questions to the candidate of their choice.

Until we run out of time.

Jennifer Bellamy, we'll start with you.

Mr.

Dougherty.

We have spoken in this morning about technology issues.

Do you believe we have an issue when it comes to social media, especially when it comes to our young people?

And if so, what concerns you and how would you work to address it as a member of Congress?

Yeah, I have a huge.

Problem about what's going on with the media, with social media.

Um, you know, the algorithms that are generated and the way that they're using children and young people basically for their advertising.

And I think pretty much brainwashing is a real, real problem.

Yes, much, much stronger.

Just like around AI legislation has to be written to rein in a lot of the social media, um, especially for the youngest of the people that we have out there watching it.

Um, and I think that it is, I think that's a bipartisan issue.

I think that's agreed to on both sides.

And I don't think that's a very hard one, uh, to sell the Republicans on.

So, uh, yes, I do agree that that's a problem.

I'm sorry, did I miss the last part of that?

Okay.

Bo Evans, next question.

Mr.

Lancey, the war in Iran has led to a steep rise in gas prices, while Georgia's temporarily, temporarily suspended its taxes on gasoline, people across the state are still seeing costs go up at the gas pump.

As a member of Congress, what specific proposals would you support to bring relief for Georgians struggling to pay for gas, and maybe more specifically, as a military veteran, do you support the military actions happening right now in Iran?

I absolutely do not support the current action that's going on in Iran right now.

The Constitution is there for a reason.

The Constitution was violated and overlooked and disrespected.

We do not start.

The president has no authority to start war without the input of the American people.

That's why we have the Constitution.

As a member of Congress and the rising cost of gas, which is impacting the lives of all working Americans.

Georgia did their part by trying to reduce the taxes, but it isn't enough to reduce the tax.

The gas tax on the American citizen.

Just in Georgia.

We need that tax across the board, and we need to also, as American citizen, require it, because we did not initiate a war and we did not support this war.

So why are we suffering?

Because of the results of someone that violated the Constitution of the United States of America.

Jennifer, we go back to you.

Miss Dougherty.

You have mentioned supporting rural economies.

How is that something you would do from the nation's capital?

And what would you do specifically to help Georgians who are a part of rural economies?

Thank you.

So our rural communities have been losing population for a long time.

Young people are moving towards cities to find good jobs.

And I think, you know, I've loved growing up in a rural community.

And I think anything we can do to support them benefits everyone.

So there's a couple of things.

The first one is supporting infrastructure.

We have a lot of communities that don't have access to high speed internet.

Um, this is something that I think the Biden administration dropped the ball on.

They did pass great legislation to expand that broadband, but it did not get where it needed to go fast enough.

And the other part is, I think we need to make sure that we are supporting our small farmers, corporate consolidation is an issue across industries in this country, but one of the areas that it's causing the most damage is with our farmers.

So making sure that we are enacting the antitrust laws we have already on the books and investing in new and small farmers to make sure that we are keeping people in the industry and supporting new people coming to the industry to keep our food system secure.

Bo Evans, your turn.

Mr.

Dougherty public and private universities have come under fire under President Trump's administration over issues related to campus free speech, funding for research and policies, or classes that involve considerations of diversity, equity and inclusion.

As a candidate running to represent the University of Georgia in Congress, what role do you believe the federal government should play in influencing the activities and operations of local universities?

Uh, I think that they should provide.

Funding.

Absolutely.

For the for education broadly and to the universities and colleges.

I don't think they should have a lot of say in what the colleges and universities do.

Um, it's very important that the colleges and, and they don't have the ability or the knowledge to basically dictate what the universities and colleges do.

Uh, they're the technology and, and the new advancements and the things that are important to our society that the universities and colleges generate are way beyond their knowledge.

And it should be left to those colleges and universities to run their programs.

The government should be providing grants so that they can, uh, continue with that research and, and they should get out of the business of telling them what they should and shouldn't do.

Um, so yeah, I think that when I get into, if I get into the house, I will be pushing the education button an awful lot.

And especially for the university and colleges, like.

Thank you.

That's all the time we have for questions.

The candidates will now have 60s for a closing statement.

Lexy Doherty, let's start with you.

Thank you.

I think this is the time where we flip this seat.

It is the most important election of my lifetime.

I hate saying that because it seems like we say it every election, but I think the most important thing we can do in this country right now is make sure that we take back the House, and we need to have a house that will hold this administration accountable, and we need to make sure that we are building something in the future that is not going to be able to be torn down in the way that this administration has disrupted the rule of law, disrupted the powers of the Congress and budgeting.

Um, there's so much we can do to right this ship and build something better for the future.

That's why I'm running.

I think we need candidates who are ready to take on the next generation of issues.

I think we need young people in office that know what it's like to grow up in this economy.

And I think I'm the person for the job, so I hope I can have your support and thank you all so much for your time.

I really appreciate it.

Pamela DeLancy your turn.

Um, I believe that leadership in Congress does not need anyone just with technical skills or aspirations or potential.

We're at a crossroads in this country.

We actually need individuals that have proven leadership, individuals that know what the working family, because I've been a part of the working family, I know what the working family needs.

I have also been caring for the sick.

I am a registered nurse.

I know what it is not to have health care.

I've been an emergency room nurse where the emergency room is used as a primary care clinic, as opposed to for trauma.

So when you send someone to Washington, I'm hoping you're going to send me Pamela DeLancy.

Someone has proven over her life in 39 years of serving this country, not only as a military retired colonel officer, but also as a registered nurse and a volunteer.

And my community and I support this community, and I love this country.

And so send someone that's working for America.

And John Dougherty, you have the final closing statement.

I have a broad background in high technology, and high technology is becoming a part of everybody's life.

More and more.

I think there's a real lack of understanding of technology in the House.

And I think that I'd bring a lot of understanding and the ability to really write good legislation or good doc, good law, uh, to help us through both the AI circumstance we have right now and other technical issues.

Um, I think bringing, uh, technical knowledge to the House of Representatives is especially important.

I think it's imperative.

Um, accountability.

We're at a breaking point in this country.

Uh, we need to hold both Democrats and Republicans accountable and those that are destroying this country accountable.

Uh, the Democrats have to hold the Republicans accountable.

So I'll read it again.

Restoring adherence to the US Constitution, reestablishing the separation of powers, restoring the rule of law, ensuring accountability and the elimination of bribery and the undue influence of money in government, reversing corruption, holding those accountable for the rampant corruption that has now reached an apex in our government.. That concludes our closing statements.

Early voting starts Tuesday, April 27th and runs through May 15.

Election day is Tuesday, May 19.

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 debate.

I'm Pamela Kirkland, thanks for joining us for the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk Young debate series.