Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives David Ralston

Blue Ridge, Ga. – In a media conference held on Friday Nov. 9, Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives David Ralston expressed his opinions on current politics as well as the recent General Election.

“We’ve had a lot of money spent in this state on the election and much of that money came from out of state,” Ralston said speaking of the General Election, “and a good bit of it came from some very, very well heeled individuals that I didn’t realize cared about Georgia. as much as they apparently do. I welcome their concern about the state.”

Ralston plans to send a letter to political activist and democratic supporter George Soros welcoming him to continue to support the state by pledging relief to those in Southwest Georgia who were devastated by Hurricane Michael.

Ralston expanded more on the letter and its intent, “I am dead serious about this. Let’s see if he would like to help out some farmers in Southwestern Georgia that are hurting.”

According to Ralston it “would be another way that he (Soros) could show his interest in Georgia.”

With the ongoing disputes of the gubernatorial election results, Ralston said that the business of the state is moving forward. He has already spoken with Governor Elect Brian Kemp about the upcoming legislative agenda.

In speaking with Kemp, Ralston also addressed the handling of the 2018 General Election: “He was much more kind than I would have been. I thought the election ended way before he called it. I thought he showed great class in delaying his claim of victory.”

As for Kemp’s opponent former minority leader in the Georgia State House of Representatives Stacey Abrams, Ralston shared his thoughts as well: “I really hope that Representative Abrams will do the right thing and acknowledge that this is mathematically over. I understand that if she concedes that probably the flow of money and publicity ends, but that’s kind of the way this thing works. I hope for the good of the state that she will reevaluate her thinking as it appears to be now. I don’t think that prolonging this with lawsuits and challenges and things of that sort is good for Georgia.”

Governor Elect Brian Kemp (right) and opponent Stacey Abrams (left)

“We can’t wait on lawsuits and we can’t wait on people to continue to seek out publicity,” Ralston said concluding his thoughts on the gubernatorial race. “We’ve got a state to run and we’ve got a part of the state that is hurting, that we are going to start helping next week.”

When asked about the clear division in voting patterns in the state of Georgia (urban versus rural) and whether or not he felt President Donald Trump’s administration was a reason for this division, Ralston replied that he did not see it that way.

According to Ralston some republican members that lost seats would possibly blame President Trump and some seats that were reclaimed by republicans would also be credited to the president for the victories.

Regardless of the state and local election outcome Ralston says that Trump’s administration is doing much more in terms of listening to a state’s needs. He is seeing this administration allow decisions to come from “the bottom up rather than the top down”.

“I very much applaud this administration for its emphasis on rural areas here in the country,” Ralston stated of his own experience with the Trump administration.

Ralston also took the time to express his view of the Republican Party in the state of Georgia: “Our party was here before him (Trump). It will be here after him and we need to learn to message our pro-job, pro-education reform, pro-public safety message in a more effective way.”

Having been pleased with the outcome of the most recent Georgia Legislative Session, Ralston stated about spreading the word of the accomplishments, “We have to do a better job of communicating that.”

Ralston listed some of the achievements in the last legislative session “Cut the income tax, full funding for QBE, appropriating funds for school safety, adoption reform. So many good things that we accomplished, in my view at least.”

Georgia State will hold a Special Legislative Session beginning next Tuesday Nov. 13. The main focus of this session will be to provide hurricane relief to areas affected in Southwest Georgia.

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