An East Cobb legislator who’s had little opposition in recent years is like his fellow incumbents in the area. Republican Matt Dollar, who has held the District 45 Georgia House seat since 2003, is facing a Democrat who’s a first-time candidate.
She’s Essence Johnson, a human resources and management professional. Dollar is a real estate broker who graduated from Pope High School. They were unopposed in the May primaries. District 45 is mostly in East Cobb and includes some of Sandy Springs.
Johnson has identified three priorities in her campaign: education, health care and economic development. She supports expanding the HOPE Scholarship program, full funding for Quality Basic Education and increased funding for pre-K and technical college programs.
Her health care objectives include an expansion of state Medicaid and greater insurance provider choice. Medicaid expansion, she says, would bring billions of federal funding to Georgia that would help those with lesser incomes: “Health care should not be wealth care.”
Johnson, whose husband is a small business owner, also has said she will push for access to capital, tax incentives, and technical support for entrepreneurs.
Candidate websites
Dollar also cites education in his platform, along with economic growth and tax issues.
He has supported full funding of QBE, which happened for the first time in the 2018 legislative session. He also has worked to increase funding for school safety initiatives.
On taxes, Dollar voted for cuts to the state personal and business tax rates this year, and says that “I have never, and will never, vote for a tax increase.”
Dollar has not had any Democratic opposition since 2010. He has high ratings from the National Rifle Association, the American Conservative Union and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Johnson was inspired to run for office after participating in the Women’s March in Atlanta in Jan. 2017. She has been endorsed by Georgia’s WIN List, which supports pro-choice Democratic women candidates.
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