Democratic candidate Marisue Hilliard to take on Bill Cowsert in State Senate District 46 in Oconee, Athens-Clarke
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Contact:
Media Relations
Phone: 706-308-5522
E-mail: info@hilliard46.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Democratic candidate Marisue Hilliard Qualifies to Run for Georgia Senate District 46
Campaign Seeks to Represent the People of Georgia, not Corporate Lobbyists
Watkinsville, Ga., March 7, 2018 – Marisue Hilliard, former U.S. National Forest Supervisor and newcomer to politics who is the local leader of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, today qualified to run for Georgia Senate District 46.
Hilliard’s candidacy means Republican Georgia State Senator and GOP Senate Leader Bill Cowsert will face opposition at the ballot box for the first time in nearly a decade in a district that was gerrymandered to retain Republican control.
Marisue Hilliard (pronounced “Mary Sue HILL-yerd”) brings to the campaign a distinguished career as a forestry and agriculture professional for 32 years with the U.S. Forest Service. Throughout her career, she was tasked with bringing together people with very different viewpoints on how best to manage their public lands. She retired as Forest Supervisor in Asheville where she oversaw the management of 1.2 million acres of national forests in North Carolina, supervising a workforce of 200 employees with an annual budget of $20 million.
Since April 2017, Hilliard has been the leader of the Athens Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a non-partisan grassroots organization demanding common sense solutions to address gun violence. Her group actively worked against passage of the dangerous bill that legalized guns on campus throughout Georgia.
“I’m running because the Republican majority that Sen. Cowsert leads in Atlanta has time and again worked on behalf of corporations, their lobbyists, and the wealthy, while ignoring what’s best for most Georgians,” said Hilliard. “And it has worked just as intended. The few on top are doing better than ever, while for most of us, expenses are rising and our incomes are not. I will work hard to make sure that this state works for all its people. That means raising wages and increasing benefits, ensuring access to healthcare, making sure our schools have the resources they need, and fixing our broken criminal justice system.”
“Given my activism for Moms Demand Action, some people have asked if the GOP’s do-nothing approach to common sense gun laws is what motivated me to run. But it was really only the last straw,” said Hilliard. “It’s one of so many issues where Bill Cowsert has put his lobbyists and donors above his constituents. Whether it’s siphoning money away from public schools, refusing tighter background checks on gun purchases, or turning down millions of federal dollars that could provide healthcare to Georgians who don’t have it, Cowsert consistently votes against the values and best interests of his constituents. It’s time to send someone to the Capitol who will represent the people of District 46.”
“We see a metro Atlanta that is rapidly growing, but we don’t always see Bishop, or Bogart, or Monroe sharing in that prosperity,” said Hilliard. “Our district needs a Senator who remembers who she works for.”
Senate District 46 was gerrymandered as a “red district” but recent Democratic victories in House Districts 117 and 119 – which cover large swaths of Cowsert’s Senate District 46 – indicate voters are ready to reject stale, one-party rule in Georgia.
“Incumbents in supposedly safe seats are dropping like flies all over the country,” Hilliard said.
“People who haven’t been listened to for a long time are fired up and fed up this year. No incumbent is safe.”
Hilliard is a graduate of the University of Georgia whose family roots go back seven generations in Georgia. She has been married to Bill Cheatum for 40 years. They have three grown children and five grandchildren. They live on their farm in Oconee County and are members of the Oconee Presbyterian Church.
To schedule an interview with Marisue Hilliard or for more information, please contact media relations at 706-308-5522 or info@hilliard46.com.
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