In response to the first question at his Town Hall meeting last week, Republican House District 121 candidate Mack “Dutch” Guest IV said he is opposed to current plans for the truck bypass connecting SR 15 south of Watkinsville to U.S. 441.
Guest also said he was opposed to the state incentivizing data centers, wants the state to help address homelessness in Clarke County, was in favor of a cap on property taxes, and supported cuts to the state income tax. He also said the 4 percent state sales tax should be reviewed.
Guest said he opposed abortion, and he said there should not be any exceptions, though current law allows exceptions in the case of rape, incest, a medical emergency, and a medical judgement that the pregnancy is medically futile.
He also said that decisions on vaccinations should be left to the individual.
Guest responded to more than 30 questions in the 45-minute long session from an audience of 12. Several of those present were working with Guest on his campaign.
The majority of the questions came from the chair of the Clarke County Republican Party, the Chair of the Oconee County Democratic Party, and a former Oconee County High School Young Democrat.
The Town Hall was open to the public, and Guest didn’t give any sense of discomfort with any of the questioners or questions.
Guest asked all of those present to continue posing their questions until they had exhausted their lists, and, turning first to the two Oconee County Democrats and then to the whole audience, said warmly “Thank y'all for coming.”
Truck Bypass Of Watkinsville
The Town Hall meeting took place on Sept. 17 in the community room at Athens-Clarke County Fire Station Number 7 on Barnett Shoals Road.
Hudson Hale, a graduate of Oconee County High School who was active in the Young Democrats club while there, asked the first question.
“I just wanted to ask, your connection to LAD trucking company, does that at all affect your policy on the Save South Oconee movement?” Hale said, referring to the group that has opposed a proposed truck bypass linking SR 15 with U.S. 441 south of Watkinsville.
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| Guest 9/17/2026 |
Guest lives in Oconee County and is vice president of LAD Truck Lines, a logistics company with warehouses and operations space on Barnett Shoals Road in Watkinsville.
“So Save South Oconee, the Watkinsville truck bypass, has been a hot topic lately,” Guest responded.
“I did come out against the current proposed plan earlier this summer,” he said. “Being in the trucking business, only about 30 percent of our fleet are based here in Watkinsville. The rest are scattered throughout the Southeast.”
“Most of the traffic coming through Watkinsville is car traffic, and we see it every day. And I feel like there's some better options out there,” he said. “I feel like we need to study some intersections, and we really need to look at Bishop before we go dropping more traffic into Bishop.”
One of the four routes discussed at a recent GDOT meeting would follow Astondale Road to Bishop. The other three meet U.S. 441 north of Bishop.
Guest said he is looking “forward to working with GDOT and hopefully trying to get something figured out that would be beneficial without running through people's farmland,” he said.
Guest returned to that issue in response to the final question of the evening, also from Hale. Hale wanted to know what transportation projects Guest favored for Oconee County.
Guest said the continued improvements to SR 316 were a priority, and the county needed to continue spending on roundabouts at busy intersections.
“And again, before we address the Watkinsville bypass,” Guest said, “we need to look at Bishop, because I believe dumping traffic into Bishop, it's already a problem.”
“And I think we can do that smartly with adjusting intersections small changes here and there,” he said. “We don't need to be taking people's farmland–friends of mine.”
Incumbent Democrat Eric Gisler, Guest’s opponent in the Nov. 3 election and also from Oconee County, also has spoken in opposition to the current plan for the bypass.
Clarke And Oconee
Gordon Rhoden, Chair of the Clarke County Republican Party, followed Hale, saying “Dutch, I'd like to ask the correlation between Clarke County and Oconee County within the House. How do you see working on that together?”
“There's two clear different communities, in Clarke and Oconee,” Guest said. “And I feel like in the past, maybe both of them haven't been represented as well.”
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| Guest With Rhoden 9/17/2026 |
“And one of my things that I would love to do is represent Clarke, work on the homeless situation, work with the incoming mayor, Dexter (Fisher), to try to get things going here, as well as represent Oconee in the way they need to be represented,” Guest said.
“So I realize there's two different communities here, and they both need to be represented,” he said.
Hale asked Guest what he would do “to solve” homelessness in the Clarke County.
“One of the things we got to look at is people being dropped off here in Clarke County,” Guest said. “There was legislation passed a couple of years ago with no teeth in it,” he added.
“This has to be solved,” Guest said, “and we have to get these people help. And the state's building a new mental health hospital, I think it's in Dekalb County. But homelessness and mental health go hand-in-hand, and we have to address both of those and get these people the right help, and get them back to work, get them in treatment programs.”
“And I look forward from the state level, anything I can do to help the commissioners and Dexter address that,” he said.
The General Assembly has allocated funding for a 300-bed forensic state hospital, to be built in south DeKalb County.
“But at the end of the day, we got to realize these are people,” Guest said.
Property Taxes
Harold Thompson, chair of the Oconee County Democratic Party, turned the conversation to property taxes, asking “would you explain what your position is on property tax reform?”
The Democratic Party held a listening session on that topic in Bogart in August, at which the Democratic legislators present, including incumbent District 121 Rep. Gisler, said their opposition to legislation that would have eliminated the property tax for homeowners was based in part on their opposition to the resultant increase in sales taxes.
“I appreciate the question,” Guest told Thompson. “Property tax doesn't solely rest in the state legislature. We have to give the commissioners the ability to put things on the ballot and address things in their own way,” he added.
“But property tax needs to be capped,” he said. “We need to address that. And from a state level, I'm looking forward to any kind of creative solution we can come up with. We’re reducing income tax, looking at this property tax, but I think we also need to look at the state sales tax, which is 4 percent as well.”
Four of the eight cents Oconee County voters pay in sales tax goes to the state, with one percent going to the county for property tax relief (LOST), one percent going to the county for capital projects (SPLOST), one percent going to the county for transportation projects (TSPLOST), and one percent going to Oconee County Schools for capital projects (ESPLOST).
“But how do you feel about the extra sales tax to potentially offset property tax?” Thompson followed.
“I think every community's different,” Guest said. “I think I'd just have to see the numbers more, but all I'm in favor for, is giving you the ability to vote on a creative solution.”
Public Education
The next question came from Cameron Harrelson, founder of Defined Campaigns and host of Classic City Crime podcast. Harrelson had introduced Guest at the beginning of the Town Hall meeting.
The question was the first of many on public education. “What about public education?” Harrelson said. “I don't think we've ever talked about it, Dutch. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.”
“Public education, it needs to be looked at,” Guest said. “Our funding hadn't been looked at since 1985...It's an old formula that needs to be addressed, and we need to peel back that onion to make sure all those dollars are getting back to the kids.”
Later on in the session, when asked again about property taxes, Guest said “And for the record and for the video, I'm totally against taking money out of schools.”
“I got kids in schools,” Guest said in response to a question on school security devices. (He has two.) “Anything to protect kids, we have to do, whether that be smart cameras, weapon detection cameras. There are things out there other than metal detectors that we can use to have early detection.”
Guest said subsequently “we need to look at” schools. “Their budgets have gone up, and I think admin costs are up over 30 percent since 2019. I think we need to really look and make sure that those dollars get to the kiddos.”
In response to another question from Rhoden, Guest said he had met the new Clarke County School Superintendent Jennifer Scott and “I think things are starting to turn in the right direction and look forward to working with them.”
Sports Betting
Thompson also wanted Guest to state his position on sports betting.
“One bill that was in the legislature this year was online sports betting, and it was voted down,” Thompson said. “You have taken contributions from two companies that have advocated for online sports betting.”
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| Guest Responding To Thompson, Hale (In Picture Foreground) 9/17/2026 |
“So the question is, do you support legalized sports betting in the state?” Thompson asked.
“So here's where I'm at on sports betting,” Guest said. “And yes, we did take contributions in the special election. I think we took contributions from everybody.”
“And sports betting is going on illegally right now in the state,” he said. “There are 13, 14-year-old kids that can download an app and gamble, and I'm against that. And we need to figure out how to address that, and I'm looking forward to working on that.”
“Nobody wants to build casinos anywhere,” Guest said. “I'm against that, and we need to just address what's taking place right now in our state illegally and make sure that kids can't do that.”
A review of Guest’s filings for 2025 shows a contribution of $3,300 on Dec. 3 from Sports Betting Alliance, with a Texas address, and a contribution of $3,300 on Dec. 5 from Sports Betting Alliance PAC with a Virginia Address.
Guest raised $222,426 for the fall campaign and spent $100,760, leaving a cash balance at the end of the year of $121,665, according to the filings with the Georgia Ethics Commission.
Working With Others
“My question is,” Andrew Nixon said, “with all of these issues that you have, obviously you have to work across the aisle. And how do you plan on ensuring that you are able to work with people that may not see it the way you see it?”
“Are you going to try to compromise as much as possible, or are you going to try to work to get to a certain position and hardline that position?” he asked.
“So I think just like in business, in our trucking business, you have to bring people together,” Guest said. “You have to get people around the table to coalition and work to find what we all agree on.”
“And Democrat or Republican, this is state politics, this is local politics, this is about our backyard, this is about getting things done for Clarke County, getting things done for Oconee County, and it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're on,” he said.
“I believe there's too much divisiveness in the modern politics, and we have to put people over parties sometimes,” Guest said.
Comparison With Opponent
About half way through the session, Guests paused as fire trucks, sirens blasting, left the station on a call.
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| Guest 9/17/2026 |
Guest then looked back at Hale and said, with a smile: “All right, Hudson, you're on a roll, man. Let's go.”
“What sets you apart from your opponent, Eric Gisler?” Hale responded.
“So, my opponent's a good guy. I can see me and him being friends one day,” Guest said.
“But, I've been in this community for most of my life. I'm in touch with the community,” he said. “I know what it needs, and I want to represent it the way it should be represented, and not divide it.”
“And I want to bring people together, and I think that's what I'm going to focus on the most, and leave the national politics and the national narrative out of our backyard and bring people together.”
Redistricting
Hale asked Guest if he “would you vote for an independent (redistricting) commission if that was to come up?”
“I'd be open to looking at anything,” Guest said.
“I think redistricting is important,” Guest said. “We need to make sure Athens is well represented.”
At present, Clarke County is divided into four House districts, only one of which is wholly in Clarke County. The 121st House District is split between Oconee and Clarke counties, which Oconee dominating in terms of number of registered voters.
Clarke County also is divided into two separate state Senate Districts.
Of the six state legislators representing Clarke County, only two are Democrats, though Clarke County as a whole votes heavily Democratic. Gisler defeated Guest by only 198 votes in the special election in December, replacing Republican Marcus Wiedower, who stepped down unexpectedly.
“One thing that I know just from my work locally is that there is practically no relationship between the state delegation and our local Athens-Clarke County Commission,” Harrelson said.
“I'm curious if you know why that is and what you would do to repair that,” he said.
“So I think it's important as a state rep, you have to meet with your county commission in the counties you represent,” Guest said.
“I've already been working to build those relationships here, so in the future, we can meet at least once a year and at least be able to talk to one another civilly. Even if we disagree fundamentally on things, we can come together and discuss issues that need help.”
“In Clarke County, we will meet once a year,” he said. “In Oconee County, we will meet at least once a year.”
Flock Cameras
“A lot of controversy has been happening, Dutch, around flock cameras,” Harrelson said. “Quite a lot of controversy even here locally. What is your position on public safety technology and its use?”
“Flock cameras are a good thing,” Guest said, “but they cannot be misused. The access to that data needs to be restricted.”
“I know that there's more restrictions being put in place,” he said, “but from a legislative standpoint, maybe there's some legislation we can pass, put some teeth in.”
“So, they do serve a good purpose, but we have to be careful with who accesses it,” Guest said.
In response to a follow-up question from Harrelson, Guest said “we need to look at upgrading” the fine for misuse from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Affordability And Jobs
“We're still reeling from the effects of skyrocketing inflation for the past five years,” Guest said in response to a series of questions from Hale about the economy, “and that's where you get this new term, affordability that we all have to work on.”
“Do you think (President Donald )Trump has any effect on that currently with the gas prices, and would you say this is all (former President Joe) Biden's fault?” Hale asked.
“Look, you can point fingers at whoever you want for high gas prices,” Guest said. “But I look forward to hopefully getting our refineries online, and we can start getting that gas price down. In the trucking business, fuel affects us and therefore it trickles down and affects your cost of goods and provisions.”
On job unemployment, Guest said “one thing we need to do, especially here in Clarke County, we need to attract good jobs here. We need to attract good businesses that are going to give higher paying jobs.”
“We have to get people back to work and get them better paying jobs,” he said. “They should want to go to work, and we need to teach that work is a privilege to have.”
Guest said he “would definitely look at” increasing the Minimum Wage.
Abortion
“I believe that all life begins at conception, and if mothers then feel like they cannot raise their child, there's ways to get them help,” Guest said in response to a question on his stand on abortion from Thompson.
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| Guest Listening To Question 9/17/2026 |
“I am pro-life,” Guest said.
“Without exception?” Thompson asked?
“I believe that all life begins at conception,” Guest responded.
“Without exception, you mean?” Thompson asked.
“Correct,” Guest responded.
Georgia law at present states that:
“No abortion is authorized or shall be performed if an unborn child has been determined in accordance with Code Section 31-9B-2 to have a detectable human heartbeat except when:
“(1) A physician determines, in reasonable medical judgment, that a medical emergency exists;
“(2) The probable gestational age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or less and the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest in which an official police report has been filed alleging the offense of rape or incest. As used in this paragraph, the term “probable gestational age of the unborn child” has the meaning provided by Code Section 31-9B-1; or
“(3) A physician determines, in reasonable medical judgment, that the pregnancy is medically futile.”
Vaccinations
“Do you support the right to choose for vaccinations?” Hale said, following Thompson’s question on abortion.
“Look, I know that that's a touchy subject,” Guest responded. “Some people get COVID shots, some people don't. I think it's up to you.”
“Measles vaccination in children have dropped, and we have seen an increase of measles death in children,” Hale said. “Do you still support the fact that you want people to have the right to choose for vaccinations even though we've seen it skyrocket when people do not get them?”
“Is measles bad here in Clarke or Oconee County?” Guest asked.
“It is not bad,” Hale said.
“Okay. Then, I'm not familiar enough with measles,” Guest said.
“Come on, Harold, I see you thinking over there,” Guest said, looking at Thompson.
“All right. Let me try that question again,” Thompson said.
“Do you support mandated measles vaccination?” Thompson asked.
“Where would that mandate come from?” Guest responded. “Is that a federal policy?”
“State or federal, just kind of a general question,” Thompson said.
“I'd have to see the policy in front of me,” Guest said.
“Is there any vaccination you believe should be mandatory?” Hale asked.
“I think it's up to you,” Guest responded.
Data Centers
“Data centers are a local issue,” Guest said in response to another question from Hale.
“And from a state level, I don't think the state should be incentivizing data centers to come to certain places,” Guest said. “For example, just like we shouldn’t be incentivizing Hollywood.”
“I think we should use that money to look at these holes that we're creating by lowering income tax, by looking to potentially addressing property taxes, looking at the state sales tax.”
“But a data center's a local issue, and if a community wants it, that's up to the commission to vote on,” he said.
Free Mailing
It didn’t come up in the Town Hall meeting, but Guest last week got a free mailing when Neighbors Of Oconee sent out its September issue with Guest and his family on the cover and a four-page spread inside.
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| September Issue |
Laura Reidinger, publisher of the magazine, said in an email response to a question from me that Guest did not pay for the content.
“Thanks for reaching out to get clarity on our feature family selection process,” Reidinger wrote. “Our magazines are free and the opportunity to be on the cover is open at zero cost to all families in our distribution area.”
“We share a questionnaire with our feature families and then my content coordinator writes the feature story,” she said in the email.
“We have been crossing paths for years and have been asked to participate before,” Guest said, saying that he did not pay for the content.
Gisler said last week that he had not been asked to provide content to the magazine.
Video
The video below is of the entire Town Hall meeting held by Guest on Sept. 17.
The first question on the truck bypass of Watkinsville is at 1:39 in the video.
Homelessness is first discussed at 3:37.
Questions on taxation begin at 5:32 in the video.
The discussion of abortion begins at 27:22 in the video.
The question on vaccinations is at 28:01.
Data centers are first discussed at 34:43.
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