Richmond Hill resident Lisa Ring has officially announced that she is seeking the Democratic nomination for the First Congressional District of Georgia.
Ring, chairwoman of the Bryan County Democratic Party, said she decided to run for public office about four months ago.
“I had to decide if I wanted to run for the state Legislature or for Congress,” she said. “It was agonizing, but I wanted to run for the seat that I thought could make the biggest impact.”
Ring said she did not want incumbent Rep. Buddy Carter to run unopposed in 2018 the way he did in 2016. Carter has yet to announce if he will seek re-election, but his campaign website — www.buddycarterforcongress.com — remains active.
“It’s time for the people’s representative to represent them, not special interests,” she said.
Ring in early May filed an ethics complaint against Carter with the Federal Election Commission regarding a state senate campaign account that he kept active after he announced he was running for the U.S. House of Representatives. You can read more about that at: http://www.bryancountynews.com/archives/48957/.
“This is going to be a campaign of hard work versus one of money,” Ring said, adding that she doubts she would be able to match Carter’s fundraising.
“I plan on being a different kind of candidate,” she said. “I’m not going to be holding high-priced fund raisers or attending fancy party events.”
In fact, Ring said she hopes to put partisan politics aside in the race and focus on the issues.
“The issues affect everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike,” she said. “I plan to reach out to the entire First District, both urban and rural and the people who often don’t get any consideration.”
Ring, vice chair of the Georgia Democratic Party Rural Council, said some of the major issues she’ll focus on during her campaign are health care, the economy, education and veterans.
“We have 76,000 veterans and four military bases in the district,” she said. “I’m a military spouse and a military mom, so those are important to me.”
She also said the current push by Republicans to rescind Obamacare would negatively impact more than 300,000 residents in the district who are dealing with pre-existing conditions.
“I also have concerns about the environment and how it relates to economics,” she said. “I think we can have sustainable energy that is affordable and that creates jobs.”
Ring said she has been active in politics for more than 30 years, starting during her time as a student at Temple University in Philadelphia. She also was a Bernie Sanders delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
“I’ve been involved for many years, primarily as an organizer,” she said. “My focus will be on getting out and meeting the people in the district, making sure they are registered to vote and talking about the issues.”