A Call for Rep. Tom Taylor and His Opponent to Leave Race

We have received the following press release from Georgia Ethics Watchdog calling for the resignation of State Rep. Tom Taylor (R, District 79) from his seat and the withdrawal from his re-election campaign. Rep. Taylor was recently arrested for DUI while four juveniles were in his vehicle.

The group also has called on his Republican opponent, Tom Owens, to withdraw from the race. No Democratic candidate qualified for the race. Emails were sent to both candidates by the group on Tuesday, but they have not received a response from either.

The press release:

Georgia Ethics Watchdog’s William Perry is calling for Georgia State Representative Tom Taylor (R-Dunwoody) to resign his seat and officially withdraw from the House District 79 Republican Primary to be held on March 24th.

Perry is also asking Taylor’s primary challenger, Tom Owens to withdraw from the race as well, which would force a call for a special election, giving other candidates the opportunity to enter the race. No Democrats qualified for their primary, so Taylor is almost guaranteed re-election since his only opponent is vastly underfunded, making him an unknown candidate, while the liquor and gun lobby, and House leadership pour money into Taylor’s campaign after his arrest.

Earlier this month, Taylor was charged with driving under the influence and several other charges after allegedly driving 72 mph in a 45 mph zone with four juveniles in his SUV, a gun strapped to his hip and in possession of a water bottle containing liquor at 2:45 pm on a Thursday.

Taylor has said he will not resign and will remain a candidate for re-election and “will work to regain the trust of the people” of his district.

“This is not just a ‘serious mistake’ a Taylor describes it, this a a colossal abuse of the public’s trust, a total political train wreck,” said Perry.

Perry also said:

“I’m all for second chances, but Rep. Taylor should pursue his second chance in an honorable way. He claims he wants to earn back the trust of his constituents. He can do so by stepping out of the race and reentering it if he wishes. That would allow credible choices for the voters in his district. If he wins an open race, then people would have had the choice to give him a second chance, not forced to do so by default.

And while I respect Mr. Owens for the intestinal fortitude it takes to run against an entrenched incumbent, I don’t believe he has a realistic chance to win. He doesn’t even have a website that I can find, and his campaign Facebook page only has 23 likes. He clearly doesn’t have the appeal to represent the district.

The people of Dunwoody and surrounding areas need better list of candidates to choose from, beyond a train wreck and an unknown candidate.”

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Georgia Ethics Watchdogs is Georgia’s leading organization with the mission of holding local and state government entities and officials accountable to high ethical standards for the citizens of our state. We serve as a resource for the public and media to set and promote standards of ethical conduct for our political leaders and candidates. When necessary, we act as the party responsible for filing ethics complaints, open records requests, complaints of open meeting violations or other instruments of rules or law that are set for holding public officials and candidates accountable for wrong-doing.

In partnership with our affiliated “Georgia Ethics Watchdogs Education Fund,” we will train citizens to become effective government watchdogs at the level of government that they may be interested in holding accountable.