Oconee County Republican Party Chair Kathy Hurley invited five office seekers to her final "Cavalcade of Candidates" last week, as early voting was just getting underway, but only Kate Patterson was an unknown to the group.
Patterson, who is on the Party Primary Ballot as the nominee for Post 2 on the Oconee County Board of Education, is running unopposed in the May 19 election.
Patterson also has no opposition in November, as the Democratic Party has not put up any candidates for School Board or County Commission.
Patterson used only a little more than two minutes of her allotted time to tell the audience that she has been assisting in the classrooms, coaching on the fields, working concession stands, talking with principals, and serving Parent Teacher Organizations as preparation for joining the Board in January.
Also on the program last week were incumbent Post 2 County Commissioner Chuck Horton, unopposed on the Republican Party ballot for the May 19th primary and also without Democratic opposition in November.
The final local candidate was Mack “Dutch” Guest IV, unopposed in the Republican Party Primary but running against incumbent Democrat Eric Gisler in November for House District 121.
Filling out the "Calvacade" last week were Richard Woods, one of five candidates seeking the party’s nomination for state School Superintendent, and Blake Tillery, one of seven candidates who wants the party nomination for Lt. Governor.
Woods is an incumbent, and Tillery currently is serving in the Senate.
Calvalcade Continued With Patterson
Party Chair Hurley introduced Patterson and the rest of the program at the session on April 27 by saying “this is the last of the cavalcade of candidates.
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| Patterson 4/27/2026 |
Hurley said the party had been successful in bringing 49 of the party’s 53 candidates on the ballot either to party meetings or to its March 21 event, “The Oconee Stumping Ground: The Road To The GOP Nomination Runs Through Oconee County.”
“I think that we have have succeeded in our goal, which was to make sure that you had an up-close, in-person opportunity to see these folks,” she said.
Patterson said she was “really excited” to run to replace Amy Parrish, who has served on the Board since 2016 and decided to step down at the end of her term in December.
“I've got three kids that have been through Oconee County Schools. Two have graduated from Oconee County High School, she said, “and I have one remaining there now.”
She also has a niece and two nephews on the “red side,” meaning they are in that part of the district feeding into North Oconee High School.
For most of the last 10 years, she said, “I have been fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mom, and that has afforded me the opportunity to be in the schools, serving in the classrooms, serving as coaches on the field, working concession stands, serving principals, serving PTOs.”
“I’ve been up close and personal in all three--elementary, middle, and high schools,” she said.
“We've got a great school system,” she said. “We are very blessed here in Oconee County to be a master at academic excellence. We've mastered a lot of things.”
“That does not mean we're not without issues,” she said. “We have different issues than other counties. We always have room for improvement. So I'm learning. I'm excited to be able to serve this community. I feel strongly that strong public schools are the backbone of strong communities.”
Patterson said “we're living in a different world. The jobs that these kids work or will be seeking upon graduation don't even exist right now. We don't know what's coming.”
“The digital age has changed a lot of things,” she said. “So I think we need to be at the forefront of that. We need to have workforce-ready kids. Not all of our kids are cut out for four-year schools.”
Patterson solicited but didn’t receive any questions, and none of the current members of the Board was present to take other questions on the county’s schools.
Horton
Horton told the audience that he is in his 18th year on the Board of Commissioners, and that he came to the Commission after serving eight years on the Board of Education, the last four of those as Board Chair.
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| Horton 4/27/2026 |
The years on the Board of Education, he said, “were probably some of the best learning that I ever got.”
Horton said he “championed North Oconee High School. I knew we needed a second high school. We had, I think, 30, 35 trailers full of students when they opened North Oconee. So the superintendent and the Board really helped this county down the road. There were Boards and superintendents didn't have to deal with that.”
Of his time on the county Commission, Horton said, “One of my beliefs is trying to protect subdivisions and to not allow certain growth to just take them over. I think my voting record indicates that.”
Horton said he has been involved in cutting the millage rate from 8.48 when he first joined the Board to 4.18 this year.
“So my record on giving you back your money, I think it is very strong,” he said.
Horton said it was possible to cut the millage rate because “our sales tax revenue has really blossomed.”
“The bad thing about campaigning is that you have to brag about yourself,” he said. “And I really don't like to do that. But it's the way it is. It took us 14 years to get Costco where it is. They turned down $11 million by Clarke County to stay with us so we could work a deal.”
“I think that's one of the best things from the retail side I championed,” he said.
Guest
Guest, who followed Horton, began his comments by talking about his loss to Democrat Gisler in the special election on Dec. 9. With a final provisional ballot counted, he lost by 198 votes.
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| Guest 4/27/2026 |
“So look, when we talk about getting people to vote, we mean get out and vote,” he said. “I've met over 300 people already just from knocking on doors that didn't vote.”
“Losing hurts,” he said. “It hurts. I felt more bad for my family than anything. Because they put so much effort in and we were thrown into an arena that we had never been in before.”
“And so I got respect for every anybody, Democrat, Republican, Independent--hats off to you,” he said. “Because I tell you what. In this day and age, it ain't easy.”
Guest said the legislature this year did a good job in cutting the income tax, and “We're going to keep lowering the income tax.”
Guest said he owns LAD, a trucking logistics firm based in Watkinsville, with his father, and “insurance is the biggest check we write. When you look at health insurance, our rates went up 40 percent this year with our current provider. I have 25 employees. Our rates went up 40 percent with no excuse. They just said here, here Dutch, here's your renewal.”
Guest said it is the job of legislators “to take care of the people. If you're not making lives better for people, you're doing it wrong. We're here to represent people, and that's what I'm going to do in Atlanta.”
In response to a question about the inland port opening in Gainesville, Guest said he expected it will “lighten” the truck traffic on local roads, including in Watkinsville.
“But trust me, as a trucker,” he said, “we don't want to go through Watkinsville either because it's so bad. But it is mostly cars for sure” causing the congestion.
Woods
Woods, who is finishing his third term as State School Superintendent, told the Oconee County Republican gathering that “I have more experience than all the other opponents collectively together.”
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| Woods 4/27/2026 |
Woods said “Some of the things he has heard from his opponents really is a lot of misinformation.”
“One of the things I keep hearing is that only 30 percent of Georgia's third grade can read. That information's absolutely false. I keep asking my opponents, where are you getting that information from? Nobody can produce that.”
Woods said one of his accomplishments is “we've gotten rid of Common Core math. We've actually put back traditional math.” Common Core was a nationally mandated standard for math instruction.
“We have gotten rid of Common Core reading,” he said. “We've actually put phonics back into the classroom.”
In response to a question from the audience, Woods said he was opposed to the House Bill 1023, which mandated that every public school system install weapons detection systems at main entry points by July 2027.
In the session that ended last month, the House passed the bill, but it was tabled in the Senate.
“If the state's going to ask (for this), I think we have to make sure that we have the funding to go with it,” he said. It also “should be a local decision. You know your schools, you know your community, you know much better” than the state leaders, he said.
Tillery
Tillery, the final speaker of the evening, is from Vidalia and has been in the Senate since 2016.
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| Tillery 4/27/2026 |
“Our platform is incredibly simple,” he said. “We want to protect Georgia values, protect Georgia families, and protect Georgia pocketbooks.”
“You don't need boys in girls locker rooms,” he said. “Your state taxpayer dollars should not be paying for transgender service.”
“I'm a strong supporter of legal immigration and a strong opponent of illegal immigration,” he said.
“I lock my door because I love the people inside of my home,” he said. “It's the same thing with the nation. Locking the front door of the nation at the border is not because you hate the people outside. You just love and understand you have a responsibility to the people inside. That's what I mean about protecting Georgia families.”
“If we don't answer the question on affordability,” he said, “we will not be in a position to answer the question on anything else. They will literally vote for the person who tells them the trains are free.”
“My more liberal friends think we need a new government program,” he said. “That's not where I'm at. I think all we need to do is let you keep more of the more hard-earned money you've already earned.”
Tillery said he has a plan to eliminate the Georgia income tax to match what has been done in neighboring states.
Guest Response To Woods
House District 121 Rep. Gisler voted against House Bill 1023, which required that every public school install weapons detection systems at main entry points by July 2027. Gisler said that it was an unfunded mandate for local schools.
Following that vote, Guest issued a statement criticizing Gisler, saying “Keeping our kids safe should never be controversial. Our children deserve leaders who will stand up for them every single time.”
Hurley reposted Guest’s statement to the Oconee County Republican Facebook page.
In March, Oconee County Sheriff James Hale spoke to the Oconee County Republican Party and commented on HB 1023.
I was unable to attend that meeting, but Hale, in response to a request from me, wrote in an email message, said he would give me “the Cliff Notes version” of what he said.
“I disagree with the unfunded mandate that HB 1023 would put on the schools,” he wrote. “I think that it is a pie in the sky idea that would cause an unrealistic expectation of safety. Most of these machines are only as good as the person operating them and due to the lack of manpower it would be nearly impossible to have Law enforcement man all of the entry points in our schools.”
“I wouldn’t have a problem with it if I had a surplus of 120 deputies but obviously I don’t have that many,” he said. “In order for deputies to man these positions, I would have to double the number of personnel that I currently have.”
Guest didn’t respond to the criticism of HB 1023that Woods offered at the meeting on April 27, so I sent him a text message on April 30 saying “I wanted to give you a chance to respond” to Woods.
“As the parent of children in the school system after the horrible events of the Apalachee shooting,” Guest wrote, “I’m a firm believer in school safety. I spoke with Majority Leader (Chuck) Efstration (the author of the bill) and it contains multiple ways to protect school entrances including simple camera systems that can detect weapons, not just metal detectors.”
“Leader Efstration also said they have added an additional $50k+ per school for next year’s budget for school security,” his text message to continued. “I look forward to keep working with legislators and school systems to make sure we are doing what is best for kids”
Added Speaker
At the end of he meeting, Hurley invited Jeff Baker, an unscheduled speaker, to come to the podium and introduce himself to the audience.
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| Baker 4/27/2026 |
Jeff Baker, a candidate for the party nomination for U.S. Congressional District 10, said "I am a small businessman. I live in Wilkes County. I run a plumbing company with my sons. My passion has always been for the country."
"It's not so much passion for politics," he said. "I am very concerned about what's going on in our country, especially at the federal level. But I think it's really important that everybody here needs representation in Washington."
Oconee county falls entirely in the 10th Congressional District.
The county is split between state House District 121 and 120.
Early voting continues for the May 19 election at 8 a.m. on Monday at the Oconee County Administrative Building.
Voting on May 9 will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No voting will be held on May 10, May 16 or May 17.
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