Photo Credit: Savannah Cole/file

Republican challenger Houston Gaines went on the attack against incumbent District 117 Rep. Deborah Gonzalez (D-Athens) as soon as he first got his hands on the microphone at a candidate forum in Oconee County on Thursday.

He devoted much of his two-and-a-half minute introductory comments to criticism of Gonzalez, saying that “we deserve better” than what she has provided in her first 10 months as a legislator.

Gonzalez largely ignored Gaines, who stayed in attack mode throughout the evening, saying in his concluding comments that the choice is between “somebody who is going to go and yell resistance at every turn” and “somebody who is going to work to make a difference.”

More cordial was the exchange during the forum between Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) and Democrat Marisue Hilliard in the 46th Senate District contest and among the four candidates running for the Oconee County Board of Education.

Rep. Jonathan Wallace (D-Watkinsville), the incumbent from the 119th House District, and Republican challenger Marcus Wiedower did not attend the forum.

Gaines stood out among the four legislative candidates at the forum by not voicing opposition to a campus carry law passed by the General Assembly last year. He refused to take a stand for or against repeal of campus carry.

For more on the story, with a video of the forum, please go to Oconee 
County Observations.