Ferrell to take another shot at U.S. House seat

Mark Lastinger

THOMASVILLE — Bolstered by his showing in his political debut, Republican Lee R. Ferrell of Lee County has thrown his hat into the Second Congressional District ring again.

With little cash and no state or national party support, the Albany resident opposed Democrat Rep. Sanford Bishop in the 2008 general election. According to the Georgia Secretary of State Web site, he garnered 31.1 percent of the votes.

“I got cornered at a tea party in Leesburg in April and people asked me to run again,” Ferrell said. “I wasn’t going to run again, but I accidentally got 71,235 votes and people just said, ‘Please! Please! Please.’”

Ferrell believes his 2008 message was well received. He said he had a hard time getting it out, however, because of financial constraints.

“It was tough with no staff, no campaign manager and no money,” he said.

Ferrell said he spent a total of $10,800 on the race.

When asked why he got no financial support from the Republican Party, Ferrell said, “I don’t have a clue.”

Later, Ferrell said believes the party may have considered Bishop unbeatable in 2008 and saved its resources for other races.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t even ask voters for money the last time because of the price of gas,” he added. “I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Ferrell expressed no concern that others have expressed interest in joining the race. He said he is aware of five potential candidates, but did not name them.

Cordele’s Donald Cole, a state GOP official, and Georgia House District 173 Rep. Mike Keown of Coolidge told the Times-Enterprise last week that they are considering the race.

“If they’ve got the name recognition, go for it,” he said. “If they aren’t going to fight for the veterans and the folks on Social Security, though ...”

Ferrell’s message for the 2010 race echoes that of 2008.

“Nothing has changed except a lot of the stuff that I said we coming down has come down,” he said. “This isn’t about Republicans and Democrats anymore. It’s about tyranny and liberty.”

The medically retired staff sergeant from the U.S. Air Force focuses heavily on veterans issues. In addition to improving health care for veterans, he supports upping benefits for them and their survivors. He also advocates abolishing taxes for disabled veterans.

Ferrell, 57, was on active duty from 1972-76, graduating from the Air Force Police Academy at Lackland AFB, Texas, in 1973. He served in the Air Force Reserve as a security police supervisor from 1977-80 before returning for a four-year stint in active duty in the same job.

Ferrell is vigorously opposed to efforts to limit the right to bear arms and voiced support for Judeo-Christian values and citizen legislators. He noted that Bishop has served more than 16 years in the House of Representatives.

“The founding fathers never intended for their to be professional politicians,” he said. “They wanted new blood coming in with fresh ideas. There was supposed to be a rotation of people.”

Last year, Ferrell said he did not support Congress’ $700 billion bailout of ailing banks and Wall Street firms. He was also against rescuing home owners burdened with mortgages they can’t pay.

Since he is retired, Ferrell intends to devote most of his his time to his campaign. He welcomes the opportunity to speak to civic organizations.

“It’s fun, and I learned a lot in 2008,” he said. “I met a lot of nice people, too. I’m having a good time.”

Ferrell’s Web site address is leerferrell.com.



Managing editor Mark Lastinger can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 206.

Text Only