Over the last few days Republican campaigning has ramped up in Forsyth County, as the party seeks to rally its base before the Nov. 4 midterm election.
On Tuesday two Republican campaign events were held in Forsyth County by State Schools Superintendent candidate Richard Woods and U.S. Senate candidate David Perdue. Each stressed that with such close races in the state, people need to get out and vote.
“In 2012, we didn’t get our vote out. Had we done that, we’d have President [Mitt] Romney right now, not President Obama,” Perdue said. “Now we have a choice, let’s learn from that in this race and get out.”
Perdue told the crowd at the Kinsey Family Farm that he was more willing to vote for their values than Democrat Michelle Nunn, and was joined by Rep. Doug Collins of the 9th District and Rep. Tom Graves of the 14th District.
“President Obama wants Michelle Nunn to go to the Senate and fight for him. I want to go to the Senate and fight for you,” Perdue said. “With your help and God’s will we will not give Harry Reid one more vote in the United States Senate.”
A few hours later at Woods held a meet and greet at the Forsyth County Republican Party Headquarters. At the event he told voters that students would be his first priority if elected.
“As your next State School Superintendent, my message and commitment remains unwavering, and that’s putting our kids first,” Woods said. “Over the past few years, I’ve began to hear a lot of things such as testing and data and all that, but I never heard the word child. I never heard the word student.”
Woods also reaffirmed his stance on the controversial Common Core standards for students, and said the standards weren’t the best and that the state could do better.
“I was against it in 2010 with Race to The Top,” he said. “My position has not changed with that, because I have simply said that our kids deserve the best.”
Like Perdue, Woods stressed that with so many close races it was crucial for people to get out and vote.
“WE still have a few days remaining,” Woods said. “Being an old coach we always play four quarters, and we play until we hear the final whistle blow.”
However, Perdue and Woods could both be going into overtime, as both are polling ahead, but to the 50 percent required to stop a runoff.
Forsyth County Republican Chairman Brad Wilkins said that he was impressed with the turnout at events this week, which also included a stop on Monday by Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, who are all up for re-election.
“I’ve been really impressed with the energy that people have had,” Wilkins said. “To come into the final stretch and see the polls turn in our favor, seeing good strong turnout numbers across the state, we’re feeling really good.”