THOMASVILLE — Norman Bennett has a definite strategy in mind if he’s elected to the Georgia Senate in November.

“I like to roll up my sleeves and go to work,” the Hahira Republican said.

Bennett will challenge Democratic incumbent Tim Golden for the District 8 seat in the State Senate on Nov. 7. He talked about his campaign at the Thomas County Republican Party meeting Tuesday.

“I love my country. I love our communities and I love families,” Bennett said. “America is a great nation and we need to protect the freedoms that our forefathers brought to us.”

Bennett, who served on the Lowndes County Commission for 20 years, said improving education is a major part of his platform.

“I saw last week where Georgia had moved to 46th in the nation (in educational performance). But ladies and gentlemen, we rank number three in prison inmates,” he said. “I’d like to see something there flip-flop, where we rank closer to the top in education and less in prisons.”

He said the key to improving test scores and overall student performance is to build better educational teams at Georgia public schools. Everyone — from the bus driver to the janitor to the teacher — plays a role in educating children, Bennett said.

“Good education couples with a good, well-trained workforce and creates economic development. They go hand in hand,” he said. “If you have the workforce, the people will come.”

Bennett would like to see more economic development and job creation in all parts of the state, particularly the area he calls the “breadbasket” — the five-county area of Thomas, Lowndes, Brooks, Cook and Colquitt counties.

“All of these counties close to the Florida border have got some great opportunities. Growth is going to come,” Bennett said. “When Thomas County, Brooks or Cook County gets a big business, everybody in this area is going to profit from it.”

Illegal immigration is an issue Bennett said needs to be addressed in this state.

“My opponent says it’s a federal issue. I say we do something about it,” he said. “We’ve talked enough about it.”

Bennett believes strengthening the work visa program in this state and making sure migrant workers have the proper citizenship documentation will help curb illegal immigration.

Bennett said Golden is now more partisan since he became the senate’s Democratic caucus leader. The main difference between him and the 16-year incumbent is that “I want it more,” Bennett said.

“We’ve got the momentum going, and Golden is vulnerable. We can beat him. We’ve just got to work hard,” Bennett said. “But I’ve never backed away from a challenge.”



To contact reporter Brewer Turley, call (229) 226-2400, ext. 226.