Editor’s Note: This Q&A with the District 10 House race candidates was originally published on May 1, but is being republished this week to reflect that Democrat Lexy Doherty will take on Republican incumbent Mike Collins in the upcoming election.
In Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, which includes Oglethorpe County, Republican incumbent Mike Collins will face Democrat Lexy Doherty for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in the Nov. 5 election. The Oglethorpe Echo spoke with each candidate.
In Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, which includes Oglethorpe County, Republican incumbent Mike Collins and Democrat challenger Lexy Doherty are competing for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in the November election.
Comments have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What legislation passed in the last session that you agreed with or supported?
Collins: The first one was the TRANQ Research Act, which requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to support research and other activities related to identifying opioids and other psychoactive substances to combat the spread of these substances. That was my bill, and I was the first freshman to be able to get a bill signed into law. Beyond that, we just passed the Laken Riley act in the House, and it’s currently in the Senate. We have passed out of the House a number of good pieces of legislation, everything from energy independence, securing the border, the Parents’ Bill of Rights and just tons of good, conservative pieces of legislation.
Doherty: It’s been a pretty slow session, so I think that’s probably the most notable thing to me. I’m thrilled that we finally passed a budget, since the bar is so low. There was not any legislation that I was particularly excited about that I think is going to make any big meaningful changes in people’s lives, especially in this community.
Q: What legislation that you supported did not make it through this session — and would you want to try again with any of these bills if elected for the upcoming term?
Collins: We don’t have that hard of a job description in Congress. It’s basically two things — the first is to take care of your constituents, which we’ve got a great team of people at the district level and Washington. The second part is to pass 12 appropriation bills and get them to the Senate. We were able to pass seven of them this past year, which wasn’t enough. I actually had an amendment in one that was very important to charter fishing, commercial fishing and sport fishermen to keep rulemaking from absolutely crushing that industry. We’ve got to get that passed.
Doherty: Something that has been on a lot of people’s minds is immigration reform. I was hopeful that since there was bipartisan support in the Senate that we might actually get some movement on meaningful reform. The House has refused to take up a vote. While I don’t 100% support everything in that bill, I think it’s long past time for us to actually make some meaningful updates because the world is a different place than it was 30 years ago. We really need to reconsider the way our system works. Frankly, it’s just not functional for anyone. It’s not functional for people that are trying to move to this country, legally.
Q: What do you think are the key issues for constituents in Oglethorpe County?
Collins: Some of the same issues from across the 10th District, like the post office. We sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis Dejoy in early December and got a canned response in late January. We have requested a meeting with them, but haven’t been able to meet. Also anything with federal agencies. If you are having an issue with a federal agency, please let us know. We’ve processed 1,600 constituent cases since the start of my term. This is everything from passports and social security to Veterans Affairs. We are especially seeing slow responses on passports. If you’ve got a passport issue, let us know so we can get involved.
Doherty: It’s true in Oglethorpe County, and it’s true across the district that people’s top concerns are about making ends meet. We’ve had housing get insanely expensive recently. Healthcare has been expensive for too long. Education is expensive. We’re facing inflation with food and just what people need to survive. Wages haven’t kept up with those requirements. Something that’s really important to me is raising the minimum wage. There are still thousands of people in this district that make below $15 an hour. That is something that I would focus on at the very beginning. I also hear a lot about infrastructure needs in Oglethorpe County. People are concerned about their roads and having the basic infrastructure services to manage their community, like animal control. A lot of communities I think need representatives to focus on these things.
Q: What is something specific you would like the residents of Oglethorpe County to know about you?
Collins: That I am honored to be their congressman. It is an honor to serve up there. It’s tough, but I come with 30 years of experience in one of the toughest industries there are in this country. I enjoy it, and if there is anything that they need or think that we could help them with, please let us know.
Doherty: I’m committed to the community. I moved here to go to UGA for grad school, and it just felt like home pretty much immediately. My husband and I decided to stay and build our family here. So when I think about the needs of this community, it doesn’t seem exterior to me. It’s also about building a future for me and my family, and I’m really invested in just the long-term health and sustainability of our communities.
Q: What do you think the role of a House member for District 10 means as far as representing a fairly large, diverse area?
Collins: I think that I reflect the 10th District very well as a blue-collar person. I think that is the majority of the people in our district, just hardworking, God-fearing people. They get up everyday, go to work, feed their families, and they want to be left alone by the federal government and just go to church on Sundays. I think we give that reflection of our community here.
Doherty: We have a really interesting and important opportunity to solve a wide range of issues, because we have a really diverse community. We have about 50/50 rural and urban communities, so that gives us a really unique opportunity to take advantage of a wide range of issues by connecting people in the region in a way that is effective and sustainable. I really want to have great relationships with our local governments to make sure that nobody is forgotten. I think it’s a great opportunity to bring people together across geography and ideology.
Q: How do you plan to learn about your constituents' needs and views?
Collins: I’m an old-school businessman. I believe in going to see your customers. When we’re in the district, we’re in the district. You can sit in Washington, D.C. forever and you won’t really know what’s going on. But I just get out here and sit down and listen to people. My dad always told me, “Son, if you keep your mouth shut, you’ll learn everything you need to know to fix the problem.” That is what we enjoy doing.
Doherty: I plan to stay in the community. I really believe in meeting people where they are. You shouldn’t have to track me down to get a hold of me. I’ve been to most of the counties in the district so far, but I'm definitely planning to visit every single county to make sure that I’m accessible and asking what their needs are.