Georgia House Dist. 161: Bill Hitchens, David Dillie

Hitchens

There’s no doubt in my mind that affordability is the top priority for the people I represent. Inflation has diminished their buying power, and rising interest rates have compounded the problem. I’ll be advocating for a further reduction in income taxes from 4.9 percent to 3.9 percent, down from 6 percent two years ago.

We also need additional tax relief for childcare, and we need to continue the $500 state rebates to each family and each household with a homestead exemption.

Healthcare costs are part of that squeeze too. With insurance premiums and prescription prices rising, I’ll support efforts to rein in drug costs, protect access to affordable coverage, and keep our rural hospitals open for the communities that depend on them.

The budget next year will be tight, but in today’s economic environment, our priority should be reducing the burden on our citizens and returning into their pockets as much as is fiscally sound.

Dillie

My biggest priority is stopping sweetheart deals that leave hardworking Georgia families footing the bill.

Right now, we’re seeing massive data centers being pushed into our communities with enormous tax breaks and very little public input. They’re going to use tremendous amounts of water and electricity, and I’m concerned everyday Georgians will be the ones paying for it.

I believe Georgia needs to put a pause on approving new large-scale data centers until independent studies can tell us what they’ll actually cost our communities. I also want to give local governments and citizens more oversight of development authorities. Nobody should be making billion-dollar decisions behind closed doors while the people footing the bill are left in the dark.

Now, I’m not against growth or good-paying jobs. My family has farmed land in Georgia for generations, and I’ve spent my working life in the trades. I understand the importance of economic development.

But there’s a difference between responsible growth and selling out our communities. At the end of the day, I believe government ought to work for the people, not the highest bidder.

Hitchens

My entire adult life has been public service. I joined the Marines at 18 and was in Vietnam nine months later. Six days after my discharge, I entered State Patrol Trooper School in Atlanta, the start of a 28-year career in the State Patrol. I earned my degree from Georgia Southern on the GI Bill along the way, and I served in the Coast Guard Reserve, retiring as a commander.

I wrote the first two coastal defense plans for Georgia and South Carolina and served as a senior planner for the Coast Guard’s Olympic Planning Unit. After 9/11, I was named the first director of the Georgia Office of Homeland Security, which is now the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. In 2004, Gov. [Sonny] Perdue asked me to serve as commissioner of Public Safety and the colonel of the Georgia State Patrol, which I did for nearly seven years.

A month after I retired, state Rep. Ann Purcell announced she was stepping down after 18 years. She and House Speaker David Ralston both encouraged me to run. I said no at first, then reconsidered, because serving others is what I’ve done my whole life.

I don’t go up to the state capitol to to sit on the back row. I go up there to get things done. I’m grateful for every opportunity, and I hope my service has made a difference for Georgians and our country.

Dillie

I’ll be 25 years old when I take office, and that’s a big part of why I decided to run.

For too long, we’ve had politicians making decisions about our future who won’t necessarily be around to live with the consequences. I almost call it “skeleton politics.” Decisions made today that will still be affecting our children and grandchildren long after the people who made them are gone.

I was born in Georgia, and my family has farmed land here for generations. I’m a welder, pipefitter, and plumber. Just one big tradesman. 

My father is an Iraq war veteran, and I have more than 30 foster cousins. My family has taught me the importance of looking out for others and leaving something better for the next generation.

I respect our elders, and I believe experience matters. But younger Georgians deserve a seat at the table, too. We’re the ones who will inherit these decisions, whether it’s our farmland, our economy, or the cost of living. I decided to run because I want my generation to have a voice in shaping the future we’re going to inherit.

Hitchens

I’ve been fortunate to work closely with leaders like Gov. Sonny Perdue and Gov. Zell Miller, a fellow Marine. But the person I consider my moral guide is President Jimmy Carter. When he became governor in 1971, I was a young trooper selected for his security detail. A Naval Academy graduate and devout Southern Baptist, he held himself to high moral standards in public and private life. I watched him make decisions because they were right, not because they were popular, and he lived that way the rest of his life. His example shaped how I’ve tried to live mine.

Dillie

President Jimmy Carter. He was a Georgia farmer, a Navy veteran, and a man who never forgot where he came from. Even after serving as president, he was out there swinging a hammer with Habitat for Humanity and helping his neighbors.

I admire his love for the land, his commitment to public service, and his willingness to stand by what he believed was right, even when it wasn’t popular.

He understood that public service isn’t about titles or recognition. It’s about leaving your community a little better than you found it. That’s the kind of representative I want to be.