Georgia Blogger to Challenge Cynthia McKinney

Last week I wrote a post on this blog stating my frustration with Rep. Cynthia McKinney. I am tired of my representative being the butt of jokes throughout the nation. I, along with many people in the 4th District of Georgia, am fed up with having ineffective representation in Congress. I also wrote that I would be willing to challenge McKinney unless a better candidate ran against her. Well, this was not a joke either.

Pledges of Support
Since I wrote the post, I have had an outpouring of support and encouragement to run against McKinney. Over 15,000 people visited my blog last week and within the first 48 hours I had emails from numerous people committing thousands of dollars for me to run. I was pleased to see that a majority of the emails pledging support were from voters in the 4th District. And this support seems to know no political boundaries. Support has come from liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats.

Radio Interview

I was even more suprised to receive an email from WGST 640 AM in Atlanta asking me to appear on the Tom Hughes show last Friday. I was happy to do so and pleased with the way the interview went. I had expected very little air time, so I was happy to receive over five minutes of airtime. Please click the icon below to listen to this interview.

(Big thanks go out to Bill Oliver for making this recording and to Andrew Maysilles of MayDay Sound Studio for editing the audio)

Next Steps
So what next? I am absolutely serious about challenging McKinney. I would be happy to see another candidate emerge that can make a strong run at defeating McKinney. But short of this, I am willing to do it myself.

The first step is going to be filing for candidacy. As I am planning on running as an Independent, there are two steps to be taken to get my name on the ballot. The first is to pay a filing fee of $4,863. Based upon the emails I have received so far, this should be very easy to raise this money. The second step is to get a nomination petition signed by 5% of the registered voters in the district. This should be a bit over 15,000 signatures.

I believe we can do this. Are you sick of politics as usual? Are you tired of only rich people and career politicians representing you? Most importantly, are you tired of having an ineffective representative in Congress?

I ask for your help. Please consider donating to my exploratory committee and/or volunteering your time to get my nomination petitions signed.

Donations
Please use the button below to donate. In the notes field, please enter your name, address, job title, and company you work for. I am required to collect this information by the FEC. If for any reason I fail to raise the filing fee total, I will refund your full donation. Additionally, should a strong candidate enter the race that I feel has a good chance of defeating McKinney, I will refund your donation and request that you support the new candidate instead.

(Donations from corporations are strictly prohibited)

Volunteers
If you would like to volunteer to help me defeat Cynthia McKinney, please email me at willhinton@gmail.com. I will especially need help getting the signatures needed for my nomination petition. Our deadline to file is June 30th.

My friends, this can be done. Why should the 4th District of Georgia continue to suffer with ineffective representation? I will spend the next week going into more detail as to why Cynthia McKinney needs to be defeated, where I stand on issues important to the district, and why I can defeat McKinney. Check back here throughout the week for updates.

Sincerely,
Will Hinton

Update: Thanks again to Glenn Reynolds for the link today and getting the word out!