Republican state House candidate Carter Kessler took a sharp turn left during a forum with Democrat Spencer Frye Monday night, leading some voters to question who’s running on which ticket.
Kessler, who brought a number of young white and black supporters with him to the African-American East Friendship Baptist Church, called the state’s leadership “crooked” and said he would fight against corporate interests. He tried to convince the audience to elect him so he can work for change within the ruling GOP. “Nationally is different,” he said. “Locally is different. But at the General Assembly level, the fight is within the GOP.”
Frye suggested that Kessler was acting like a Democrat as a campaign tactic to confuse people in the left-leaning district. “I think it’s important for Democrats to stand up for what they believe in, and that’s what I’m doing,” Frye said.
The candidates didn’t disagree on a single issue during the debate, except raising taxes on cigarettes (Frye is for it and Kessler against it). Both men said they support funding for education and social services, and both said they’re against drug-testing welfare recipients, mandatory minimum sentences for criminals and voter ID requirements.
Some of Kessler’s positions have changed dramatically since the July 31 primary, when he bested fellow Republican Christopher Perlera. For example, he once pledged to oppose setting up a health insurance exchange in Georgia, as required by the Affordable Care Act, and even sponsor a law making it a crime to implement “the unconstitutional health care scheme known as ObamaCare.” Now, he said he supports setting up exchanges. “It’s the law of the land,” he said. “As state legislators, we have to understand it’s here to stay.”
Kessler also floated the idea of capping state salaries at $200,000 a year—including at the state lottery and Georgia Power, which are regulated by the state but aren’t state agencies. “I believe when we cut, we need to cut from the top,” he said.
One voter pressed Kessler, who campaigned for Ron Paul and founded a University of Georgia libertarian student group, on whether he is still a libertarian. “I’m an American” who resists labels, Kessler said, defining himself as a libertarian as opposed to an “authoritarian.” Another wondered if Kessler would pull a “reverse Doug McKillip,” referring to the former state legislator who switched parties from Democrat to Republican after winning in a Democratic Athens district.
“I’ve never been so happy to hear so much unabashed liberalism coming from both people,” Democrat Bertis Downs said.
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