THOMASVILLE — The general primary is still 11 months away, but one of the leading Republican contenders for the governor’s seat is making his pitch to southwest Georgia voters.

Casey Cagle, who has been the state’s lieutenant governor since 2007, is running to replace Nathan Deal as the state’s chief executive and made a campaign stop Thursday in Thomasville. Deal, governor since 2011, cannot seek a third term.

“This region is very important to us,” said Cagle, who was in Thomas County last month to discuss rural broadband. 

Cagle, a Gainesville native, has been lieutenant governor under Sonny Perdue, now the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and Deal.  

“I know the challenges the state faces,” he said. “I know how to work through complex public policy issues and also sit down with CEOs to get them to locate their businesses here. We have the experience to lead. We want to send a very strong message of pro growth, pro jobs, along with making a workforce that is second to none.”

Cagle’s platform includes creating 500,000 jobs in his first four years in office. He also proposed raising graduation rates statewide from 70 percent to 98 percent and also improving third-grade reading levels, in an effort to boost school success.

He also is promoting workforce development and college and career academies.

“We want to have education more appropriately aligned with industry needs,” Cagle said. “That’s a message that is very important.”

Cagle, who also wants to cut taxes by $100 million in 100 days, also is espousing bolstering the state’s infrastructure.

“Not just rural broadband,” he said, “but also the road infrastructure we’re going to need as well.”

He also said he wants to cut out the bureaucracy and streamline the process to allow businesses to open and become operational.

Cagle said the use of broadband internet access in rural areas can help small businesses.

“We’re no longer bound by bricks and mortar,” he said. “We have the ability to promote their products all across the world. We were, for four years in a row, the No. 1 state to do business in. We’re looking to grow, in less than 15 years, by 4.5 million people. That’s an exciting thing. The rural parts of our state are going to benefit. 

“We have to be proactive and look at ways we want to shape and the type of growth we want and plan for that growth,” Cagle continued. “It is exciting. More people means more opportunities for small businesses.”

Karen Handel’s win in Tuesday’s special election runoff for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District was a boon for the state, according to Cagle. His campaign, he said, helped the ground effort, making calls on Handel’s behalf in a race that topped $50 million, making it the most expensive Congressional race ever. 

Handel, a Republican, beat Democrat Jon Ossoff by nearly 4 percentage points to take the seat vacated when Tom Price was named Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“We were very excited about the Karen Handel win,” he said. “We kind of pitched our campaign in to make calls. We are very, very proud of the win. It was a great win for Georgia and a great win for the district as well.”

The general primary is set for May 22, 2018, and three other Republicans — Secretary of State Brian Kemp and state Sens. Hunter Hill and Michael Williams — have announced they will run. Democrats who have announced are state Reps. Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans.