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 Robert Charles Loudermilk Senior Foundation.

This is the debate for Republican 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're going to go in alphabetical order, starting with Jeff Baker.

Are you ready?

Yes.

Okay, great.

I'm Jeff Baker.

I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a father, a father of five children and grandfather of six children.

I have number seven coming on the way in July.

Uh, I am also a licensed master plumber.

I started my first real job when I was 14-years-old at Domino's Pizza.

I've gone from government housing, eating free lunch at schools to paying for it with my own money, from my job, a trailer park where I was introduced to the plumbing trade.

A teen father to earning an MBA in college and running a family business.

My sons.

I'm desperate to.

Technology inspired by Rush Limbaugh, I received cochlear implant surgery and had my hearing restored.

Thankfully, from the benefits I received from the UA.

Right now, the backbone of America is breaking my business as well as other small businesses.

Feels it.

And your family feels it too.

We've been sold tax breaks such as no taxes on overtime, no tax on tips.

We're actually swapping backdoor taxes like tariffs and soaring fuel costs that are embedded with taxes.

I'm here to represent the people of this party that actually punches the clock was out there giving their all to the American dream of entrepreneurship.

My plan is simple.

And thank you, Mr.

Baker.

Houston Gaines.

You're next.

Well good morning.

Thank you to the organizers for putting on this morning's debate.

I'm Houston Gaines and our family goes back eight generations in the tenth district.

I live in Athens with my wife, Gabby.

I've had the honor of serving in the state House, where I've delivered on conservative legislation.

When Laken Riley was brutally murdered by someone who should have never been in this country, I passed legislation to crack down on illegal immigration.

I passed legislation to hold rogue district attorneys that aren't doing their job accountable.

I stopped cashless bail, voted to keep boys out of girls sports, returned over $11 billion back to Georgia taxpayers.

That's why President Donald J. Trump and every Republican sheriff in our district has endorsed my campaign.

I look forward to today's debate and earning your vote.

Ryan Millsap your turn.

That is my friend, the career politician.

My name is Ryan Millsap.

I am a father to four children.

I am a husband to my wife Brittany.

I am a long standing businessman.

Had a lot of success in real estate development, but I'm also a citizen who has gotten tired of waiting around for career politicians to do anything about the heinous invasion of the left.

And so I'm running to crush the leftist Antifa communists in this country, and also to take back power from the rat bureaucrats.

For the full set of debate rules, please visit Atlanta Press club.org.

Our panel will now ask an individual candidate a question.

We'll start with Jennifer Bellamy asking a question for Houston Gaines.

Once again, you have 60s for a response.

Representative games.

You mentioned that you have been endorsed by President Donald Trump.

That mutual support aside, why should voters send you to Congress?

Well, I think voters can look at my record, look at what I've accomplished in the statehouse.

I've served in the house for the last eight years, and since I've been there, I've passed conservative legislation, authored many bills that have passed over 20 bills that Governor Kemp has signed into law, including legislation to hold district attorneys accountable to crack down on illegal immigration, stop cashless bail.

We have accomplished real results in the statehouse.

That's why President Trump has endorsed my campaign, as well as every Republican sheriff in the tenth district, because they know my record.

They know I stand up for law enforcement.

They know that's exactly what I'll do in Congress.

Beau Evans, please ask a question of Ryan Millsap.

Mr.

Milsap Georgia has become a hub for filming movies and television shows over the past decade.

Much of that success comes from billions of dollars that movie studios receive in tax incentives.

Tax credits if elected, what specific proposals would you support in Congress to balance incentivizing economic growth with making sure that companies pay their fair share of taxes?

Well, you know, I have a lot of history in the film industry.

I built a very large movie studio here in Atlanta, 850 0-0 0 square feet.

Uh, it was on 100 acres.

I leased that to Disney, Sony, Warner Brothers, HBO.

They made huge movies there like Jungle Cruise and Jumanji Tomorrow, War and Godzilla.

So I have a lot of background in this particular space.

And what I can tell you is that we are losing the game when it comes to movies, to overseas, to the UK, to Canada.

And if we want to maintain a movie industry in America, we're going to have to get really serious about how we keep those jobs in America.

And we can do that through some government incentive.

But I think what's more important is we need to work closely with the unions in order to come up with contracts that work for both the production companies and the unions.

Right now, the union contract doesn't work, and the production companies are taking that work overseas and giving it to the UK and Canada.

Thank you.

Jennifer, please ask a question to Jeff Baker.

Mr.

Baker, you have said that you are running to restore the America that we know and love.

What does that mean?

America?

I grew up in and love is based on self-sufficiency and supporting the working class of this country.

Um, I've seen the degradation of the nuclear family, the walk away from our common values, the built this country to be such a great nation, especially after World War Two.

Uh, it's those things that are very important.

We support the working class people of this country by giving them tax breaks and giving them the support and opportunities they deserve in this country, so that they can keep the money that they earn.

Thank you, Mr.

Baker.

Bow, it's your turn to ask a question to Houston Gaines.

Representative Gaines.

The 2020 presidential election continues to have significant ripple effects on Georgia's voting system, largely due to widespread voter distrust, distrust in election integrity.

Currently, the state faces a deadline of July first to make major changes to the type of ballots that voters will cast in the upcoming November midterms.

Do you believe that the 2020 election results in Georgia were accurate, and do you agree with state election officials that claims of voting fraud were largely unfounded?

Well, I think we saw a lot of issues in 2020 when you saw what the secretary of State did, where there were rules that were made overnight without legislation passed by the General Assembly.

You mentioned just this year that we have legislation by July 1 that QR codes have to be removed from our ballots, and that has not occurred.

So I do believe we saw issues in 2020.

That's why we passed the Election Integrity Act in 2021.

The MLB, if you'll recall, canceled their all star game.

The Democrats said it was Jim Crow 2.0, which is ridiculous because since then, we've saw even more people voting in Georgia.

We made it harder to cheat.

And that's why it's important that we advance election integrity legislation in Georgia.

We have done a lot in the last few years.

We still have more to do, and I look forward to continuing to support that work in Congress, because we've got to pass the Save America Act, which President Trump has endorsed.

We have to get that done, and that's something I'll support 100% in Congress.

Thank you, Mr.

Gaines.

Jennifer, your question to Ryan Millsap.

Mr.

Millsap, you have branded yourself as a political outsider.

What does that mean exactly?

And what qualifies you then to serve in the tenth serve the people of the tenth district?

And why should they consider you for their representation?

Well, we are in a war right now for the soul of America.

And that war is between the far leftists who want to make us a communist country, and the real Americans who love the Constitution and want to protect that.

Now, being an outsider is important because right now our career politicians like young Gaines here do not have the backbone or the strength, nor do they have the will to take on the left and destroy them in this country.

They are systematically whittling away our rights.

They want to take away our free speech.

They want to take away our guns.

They would gladly take away our lives like they did to Charlie Kirk.

And we need to band together and have strength.

And that strength is not the kind of strength that we are seeing from our career.

Politicians, they don't have what it takes.

That's why we need real businessmen, guys with history of success in regular, everyday life to come forward and lead this country into the Americanism that it deserves.

Thank you, Mr.

Millsap.

Mr.

Gaines, you can have 30s to respond if you'd like.

Well, I just wish if I'm going to get called young Gaines.

I'd like to be young and good looking.

Gaines.

Uh, so, uh, but, you know, listen, my record is clear of getting things done for our district.

That's what I have done over my time in the General Assembly.

That's what I'm going to do in Congress.

That's why President Trump supported me.

Every Republican sheriff supported me because I know my record.

They know I get things done, and I'm going to deliver in Congress when I'm elected later this year.

Thank you.

And, Bo, you have the last question for Jeff Baker.

Mr.

Baker, your professional background as a licensed plumber and contractor is significantly different from your primary opponents.

What is your strategy for winning undecided voters who may currently lean towards supporting a candidate with experience, either in running a large business, such as Mr.

Millsap, or with serving in elected office, such as Representative Gaines?

Well, I believe I support the majority of the people in this country.

I want to work with both sides, be bipartisan as possible.

I don't want to divide this country.

Uh, being a small businessman means I work with everybody.

Um, as far as that, it gives me an edge because I work with people every single day.

I don't work behind a desk, in an executive room or in a state legislator.

I'm out there every day seeing people just like me who struggle with bills, just like I do.

And I think that I'm a real asset for the American people so that they can have representation and people fight for them in their corner to make sure that they have the opportunities and support that they need.

Thank you so much.

That concludes our first round.

The candidates will now ask a question to an opponent of their choice.

You'll have 30s to ask the question, 60s to respond, and the person who asked the question will get a 32nd rebuttal.

Jeff Baker you get the first question to one of your opponents?

Well, Mr.

Gaines, I understand that you work with Mr.

Jim Jordan.

Uh, on a lot of issues.

He's back to you and he's campaigned for you as well.

How do you feel and respond to the government intrusion through the warrantless searches on FISA?

Well, you know, listen, I'm somebody who believes in personal liberty and personal responsibility.

Um, you know, the president, President Trump has worked to try to make sure that the FISA reauthorization is done appropriately.

And so that's something where, again, I trust the president on what he is, what he's working on with Congress.

I am honored to be endorsed by Congressman Jim Jordan.

He came down to Barrow County just a couple of weeks ago and did a great rally for our campaign.

We had great support.

I want to thank everybody who joined us for our rally with Congressman Jordan.

Certainly honored to have his endorsement and honored to have the endorsement of President Trump, as well as many others throughout our district and throughout the country.

And, Mr.

Baker, you have 30s to respond.

Well, my biggest issue with fives is we are invading American people's civil liberties.

When is it enough?

When is the government have the right to come in and poke into our business?

When are they going to start looking at our bank accounts, our emails or texts?

FISA is an excuse to invade the privacy of the American citizen.

It's used to survey using the guise of terrorist prevention, but it's invading our civil liberties.

Houston Gaines, please ask a question to one of your opponents, Ryan, I'd like to ask, why do you think President Trump endorsed my campaign?

Well, I don't think President Trump could actually identify you in a lineup.

So I don't have any belief that President Trump knows you, respects you, thinks you're going to provide any leadership.

I think that was a party deal.

And I understand, you know, President Trump's got a lot of stuff going on in his life.

He can't know everything.

He's relying on other people.

I have the utmost respect for President Trump and all his decision making.

I love what he's doing in this country.

I think he's an incredible leader.

I think what he's doing overseas, he's making hard, difficult decisions, but he's acting like a real man.

And that's what we need.

But I have no belief that President Trump has any idea who you are or could ever identify you on the street, or let alone pick you out of a lineup.

Mr.

Gaines 30s to respond.

Well, I'm deeply honored to have President Trump's endorsement.

And if you think President Trump can be told what to do, then you have no idea about our great president.

When he called me a couple of weeks ago, we had a great conversation.

He told me how important the state of Georgia is and how important this election is.

I told him, Mr.

President, we're going to win this election.

That's why I'm deeply honored to have his support.

And he's, uh, we are incredibly blessed to have President Trump in the White House.

And I'm deeply honored to have his support in this race.

And Ryan Millsap, you get the last question in this round.

So what I was originally going to ask is I was going to talk about your this was for Mr.

Gaines, your complicity in the Laken Riley death, your family's been in Athens for eight generations, and yet Athens has gone to crap, and it's because of you.

But I'm not going to ask that.

What I want to know is what have you done besides push paper as a politician, anything.. I've had a successful career in the private sector.

Ryan, I know you've donated to Democrats until as recently as 2022, so you may not realize that Republicans in the General Assembly, it's a part time legislature.

So I'm proud of my record in the private sector as well.

And to your question on Athens, that is absolutely ridiculous.

If you want to play that game, then you're from California.

So should we blame you for everything that California has done?

Because California is a disaster and we don't need California Hollywood values here in Georgia.

So I'm proud of my record.

I have fought Athens liberal policies every step of the way.

I have been somebody who's actually taken them on because we have to take on these liberals.

That's what I've done every single day in the General Assembly, and I'm proud of that record.

I look forward to doing the exact same thing in Congress.

Mr.

Milsap 30s to respond.

Well, I don't believe this man has the backbone to take on the left.

He grew up in Athens.

Athens has just gone down, down, down under.

Not only his leadership, but the leadership of his family before him.

So they have no excuse.

They are complicit in the death of Laken Riley.

They are complicit for the homelessness problem, for the drug use problem, for the lack of enforcing the laws in Athens.

This man is responsible for that.

Do not forget that.

Thank you to all the candidates.

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

We'll now go back to our panel, who will ask questions of the to the candidate of their choice until we run out of time.

Beau Evans, we're going to start with you.

Mr.

Milsap.

You have been criticized by your opponents for offering conflicting public stances on abortion.

Recently.

You have stated that you, quote, have always been 100% against abortion, but news reports have highlighted your concerns over the impact of Georgia's six week abortion ban on the state's attractiveness to businesses, with the outlet deadline quoting you as saying that the abortion ban could create, quote, a huge disadvantage if you live in a state that has laws on its books that are counter to the majority of society, how would you reconcile those two statements for voters confused about your position on abortion?

Well, I am a philosopher.

So what you have to understand is that if you're allowing death by abortion to 12 weeks, then death to abortion at six weeks is no different.

So there's only one person standing up here, and that's Houston Gaines who has voted for abortion.

He and voting for the heartbeat bill that allows abortion so to grandstand and act like you are some abortion champion by getting a heartbeat bill passed is completely disingenuous.

Now I am 100% pro-life.

I have never voted for abortion to be legal.

I've never voted for abortion to be funded by the federal government.

But this man that I'm next to has voted for both of those things.

Mr.

Gaines, you can have 30s to respond.

Well, the only person who on this stage is for abortion is Ryan Millsap.

His record is crystal clear.

In 2020, he said he was 100% pro-choice and 2024, just a year and a half ago, he said Americanness is a philosophy, demands that it's legal.

Go look at his record.

It is crystal clear.

I'll post it on my own social media later today so you can hear his own words.

I'm proud of my pro-life record.

We passed the heartbeat bill.

He may say it does nothing but say that to the 22,000 babies that have been saved because of the heartbeat bill that we passed here in Georgia.. And Jennifer Bellamy, question to a candidate of your choice.

Mr.

Baker, public assistance.

Accountability is a key platform in your campaign.

What does that mean?

What does it look like and how would you work to achieve something that you think would work toward that if elected to Congress?

Okay.

That's great.

I mean, sure, um, I'm expected to eat up and pass a drug test to get a job.

Why don't the people that collect public assistance have the same expectations if they're going to sit around and smoke weed all day, eat Cheetos and play Xbox or binge on Netflix?

I mean, there's an issue with that.

There's there's people out there like me out there busting our tails, trying to make ends meet, working long hours, pay for unaffordable housing and other bills, pay for our kids sports.

And we got people out there that just feel it's okay to just do whatever they want and have no accountability for it.

I think the federal government should be implementing drug testing for federal tax, federal benefit receivers.

Bow back to you for our next question.

Representative Gaines, as a state lawmaker, you have sponsored numerous bills during your time in office.

One of the more controversial pieces of legislation that you brought allows homeowners to sue their county or city government for not enforcing local rules on public camping, panhandling, and loitering.

What is your response to critics who view your bill as an attempt to punish homeless people?

Well, I'm proud of House Bill 295 that I got passed this year and look forward to the governor signing it very shortly.

House Bill 295 holds district holds.

Local governments that aren't doing their job accountable.

You have local jurisdictions across this state, liberal jurisdictions like Athens and other places throughout the state that have failed to do their job.

And so the way to hit them is hit them in their pocketbook and make sure that they enforce the laws on the books.

This will make sure that they are cleaning up illegal encampments that they're addressing loitering, panhandling.

It allows property owners in those jurisdictions to get a refund on their property taxes, up to the expenses incurred, or if they lost value on their property.

Because of that, local governments in action.

This is going to have a real impact.

It did in Arizona, another state that passed something similar.

I look forward to the impact it's going to have here in Georgia to help property owners and citizens all across this state.

Jennifer, your turn to ask a question.

Mr.

Millsap, you have said that you stand with President Trump to put Americans in the tenth district first, with rising oil prices and the trickle down effects that we're seeing with the conflict with Iran is many people feel that that may not be putting Americans first.

What is your position on that issue, and do you think Congress should have authority over war powers ?

Well, Congress does have authority over war powers, and the president has some authority as well.

But what we're seeing from an economic standpoint in this country is that we have a flywheel of fraud coming from the left, where they are bringing in illegal immigrants.

They are getting overrepresentation in the Congress.

They are voting in all sorts of programs for themselves that are welfare programs that they're abusing.

And we see it in Minnesota with the child care abuse.

We see it with the elderly, welfare abuse, we see them graft and corruption all across this country.

And all of that must be shut down now in order to increase the economy.

All we have to do is take back those billions and billions of dollars that the left is stealing from us as the American taxpayers.

If we do that, our economy will thrive in ways that we have never seen because there is so much waste, fraud, and abuse that is going unchecked.

And if we don't get people in Congress who actually will fight these people and shut down their pipes, we're never going to win.

Beau Evans, your turn to ask a question.

Mr.

Baker.

The city of Social Circle, which is located in the tenth in the tenth district, has been the site of a recent controversy over plans to open a large detention center by the U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Resistance from local residents grew so strong recently that the city shut off the water meter for the detention center.

As a member of Congress, what steps would you support to increase transparency on how Ice operates in order to avoid another conflict with local communities, like what happened in social Circle?

This social circle?

I have every right to be upset.

I mean, if they're going to be burdened with infrastructure costs to support a federal government facility, I don't think that's fair at all.

And that facility is going to be 2 miles down the street from a school.

Now.

I support Ice and the idea of deporting people who are the criminals.

As far as federal transparency, that's something that 435 members of Congress and 100 senators and the president really need to get together and work on together.

There's not one person who's going to be able to come up with just one single, simple answer.

Government is, is complex.

There's a lot of consequences for every action.

There's a reaction.

And all those things have to be carefully weighed.

There's just not really a one size fits all answer for this.. And for our final question, we'll go to Jennifer Bellamy.

Representative Gaines, you have spoken about your support for American and Georgia farmers.

But with the wildfires underway in South Georgia and the lingering impacts that many are seeing from Hurricane Helene, what would you do as congressman to address the serious issues that our farmers are facing?

Well, absolutely.

First off, I want to offer our prayers to those dealing with these horrific wildfires in South Georgia.

The images that we are seeing come out of South Georgia are just horrific.

And so, first off, I want to offer our prayers to all those families and the state legislature.

When Hurricane Helene devastated so many farm families across this state, we passed legislation and funding to make sure we are helping our farm families across the state.

Because AG powers the tenth district, it powers the state of Georgia.

It's our number one industry.

And so in Congress, I'll do the same thing.

I will always stand up for our ag industry, our farm families, and look forward to always backing those who put the food on our table every single day, keep our keep our country safe.

AG is national security, and we have to do all we can to support our farmers across this state.

That's all the time we have for questions.

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

Houston Gaines, let's start with you.

Thank you.

Well, thank you again to the moderators and organizers for today's debate.

At the end of the day, this election comes down to a simple question.

Who do you trust to deliver for our district?

That's exactly what I have done in the state legislature, passed legislation to crack down on illegal immigration, to hold rogue district attorneys accountable, to stop cashless bail, keep boys out of girls sports, and return billions of dollars back to Georgia taxpayers.

You've heard a lot this morning, but at the end of the day, it comes down to who do you trust?

And Congress.

I'll fight for our district, fight for our families and fight for our values.

I'd ask you to join President Donald J. Trump and every Republican sheriff in our district and supporting our campaign on May 19th.

I humbly ask for your vote.

Please get out and vote early this week.

Thank you so much.

Ryan Millsap your turn for a closing statement.

Well, if you trust the system, then maybe you should vote for Mr.

Gaines.

But if you don't trust the system, you don't trust the government.

You don't trust career politicians, and you don't trust the rat bureaucrats to look after you, then you should not vote for Mr.

Gaines.

That's, in fact, why I'm running, because I don't believe he has the backbone.

I don't believe he has the strength.

I don't believe he has the tenacity to take on the left and destroy them and drive them out of this country.

Drive them off the ledge, drive them out of power, and take it back for real.

Americanism.

That's what it's all about.

It's about a country that's free, a country that is not ruled by the government, a country that is not ruled by rat bureaucrats, a country that is ruled by by entrepreneurs and the inclination of the American to go out and make a life for themselves.

Jeff Baker, please give your closing statement.

Well, this country should not be ruled by corporations.

That's very important that the individual working class should be represented in all things in Washington.

This district is not for sale.

It's not for who has the most money, for the most ads and most signs and the most TV time.

I want you all to know that I'm not here to sling mud to anybody.

I'm here to make things happen for you, for the people that are out there that are working hard, doing the right thing, going to church, supporting the families to the best they can.

I understand your struggles.

I'm here for you.

And if you like me in office, I'm always going to listen to you.

I'm going to show up for town hall meetings.

I'm going to spend time with you and work and take care of the matters that matters to you and your community.

Thank you so much.

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

Election day is Tuesday, May 19.

We want to thank all of the candidates and of course, 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.