DeKalb commissioner Lee May mulling congressional run against Hank Johnson
DeKalb County Commissioner Lee May, 33, is contemplating a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Decatur).
According to Crossroads News, word of May’s possible candidacy leaked out during a church meeting:
News of May’s interest in the congressional seat surfaced this week after he asked the ministerial team at New Birth Missionary Church, where he is an elder, to pray for him.
May said it was a private meeting of deacons and elders at the Lithonia church, but he knew once he uttered it, it would get around.
“I didn’t want it out, but I wanted the prayers more,” he said.
In the last several decades, the 4th District has changed hands more than any congressional seat in Georgia. Said Johnson:
“I can’t expect to keep being returned unopposed,” he said. “I am preparing for opposition. I will be running on my record.”
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18 comments Add your comment
Preachers
August 21st, 2009
4:26 pm
When will the 4th District send a rep with some brains to Congress? Cynthia, Denise, Hank and now maybe Lee. Dang!
Metro Fellow
August 21st, 2009
5:16 pm
One indicator of how well Hank is liked is that during the last election he didn’t have any opposition at all… neither the Primary nor the General Elections. Our of all 13 members of the US House from Georgia, he was the only one. That’s impressive.
jw
August 21st, 2009
7:52 pm
I really doubt DeKalb County would elect someone as antigay as Lee May. If his attachment to Bishop Eddie Long is not enough of a red flag, then just dig up an article from the December 2004 AJC that details that infamous Marriage March of Bishop Long’s where Lee May talks about why he was marching. Eye opening.
Jay
August 22nd, 2009
4:42 am
Metro Fellow: Hank Johnson did have an opponent in the 2008 general election. Loren Collins was an official write-in candidate.
South DeKalb
August 22nd, 2009
5:17 pm
Lil’ Lee May wants to challenge a congressman who won his first election by the largest margin in Fourth District history, ran unopposed for a second term, was the first Rep in GA to endorse Obama, and is already a subcommittee chairman and part of the House leadership? Good luck!
TrueDemATL
August 23rd, 2009
12:05 pm
I think Lee May is a breath of fresh air to Dekalb County. He would be a formidable opponent of Hank Johnson.
Peggy Roney
August 23rd, 2009
2:43 pm
I am always disgusted when a Democrat runs against a perfectly fine Democratic incumbent. If there were anything “wrong” with Hank Johnson, I would say YES, GO AHEAD, but Hank Johnson is a fine Congressman, and we are blessed to have someone so principled and ethical and effective representing us. And the George W. Bush-like thinking by this opponent fantasizing that his deeds would be “pleasing to God” is more than I can stomach.
–Peggy Roney
Metro Fellow
August 23rd, 2009
5:51 pm
Jay: Thanks for helping to prove my point. Hank had no credible or formal opponent who even took the time to pay a qualifying fee to run against him. I think a “write-in” candidate is pretty nick-picking. Any of the other other 12 members of Congress from Georgia (who did have opposition) would have gladly changed places with Hank, I’m sure!
pmuckle
August 24th, 2009
1:35 pm
change is good i say go for it!
Name One
August 24th, 2009
3:30 pm
Lee May has done NOTHING to distinguish himself. He voted exactly how Vernon Jones and Larry Johnson told him to vote; on every single commission vote. He fans the flames of the South DeKalb vs. North DeKalb debate, instead of trying to unify this large, diverse county. I had high hopes for him when he started as commissioner, I thought he was a young, energetic businessman. Instead, he quickly became a member of the Vernon Jones cabal. He’s got no chance of beating Hank Johnson.
Jay
August 26th, 2009
12:51 am
No, Metro Fellow, I didn’t help you prove your point. In your original post, you stated that Hank Johnson didn’t have “any opposition at all.” You said nothing about his opposition being credible or formal. If that is what you are now trying to say, then you are also trying to make a new point.
As to your point about him being a formal candidate, Loren Collins chose to run as an independent. He considered himself a voice for, in his own words, “economically conservative Democrats, socially liberal Republicans, classical liberals and libertarians.”
I think someone who follows the rules of the Secretary of State’s office to be an official write-in candidate should be considered a formal candidate. Or maybe you’re happy with the fact that Georgia’s ballot restriction laws have meant that no third party or independent candidate for U.S. House has met the legal requirements to have his name placed on a general election ballot in over 65 years. But why someone would be opposed to more voices being heard and more citizens running for political office is beyond me.
Loren Collins also opposed Hank Johnson in 2006. He appeared at debates that year with Johnson and Republican Catherine Davis, at which, any unbiased observer would state, he was just as knowledgable about policy and current events as the two major party candidates. Loren Collins also created YouTube campaign commericals and maintained a web site and blog.
If someone is truly interested in “change,” then they should understand that labeling a candidate as being credible or not is just a tactic the powers that be use to keep playing the same political game. Four years ago, would anyone have considered Barack Obama to be a credible candidate for president?
In addition to Loren Collins, two other people were qualified write-in candidates against Hank Johnson in 2008: Faye Coffield, a former aide to Cynthia McKinney, and Jacob Perasso, a member of the Socialist Workers Party.
As for your faulty logic behind the assumption that any other member of Congress from Georgia would have gladly “changed places with Hank,” I can think of seven Republican congressmen who would not want to run in the Fourth Congressional District.
Hank Johnson to draw challenger? — Peach Pundit
August 26th, 2009
3:27 pm
[...] tip line pointed me to this article from Aug. 21st about DeKalb Commissioner Lee May, who is thinking about taking on Hank Johnson in the 4th CD. News [...]
flowergirl
August 27th, 2009
5:48 pm
Just wondering – does anyone know what a DeKalb County Commissioner makes in straight salary, not inclusive of travel costs or other benefits?
Self_Made
August 31st, 2009
4:05 pm
I’m not concerned about Lee May unseating Hank Johnson, I don’t think that will happen. Johnson has done surprisingly well with what has been left to him. I really want to see a replacement for May on the commission.
Always_E
September 24th, 2009
9:45 am
Lee May brings the energy to bring real dollars down from Washington. What has Hank done? Nothing! Lee is hands on, smart and knows how to get things done. Hank….well, just listen to him give a speech (enough said). Hank, if you remember, was just the temporary answer to getting Cynthia McKinney out of the way. Hank is good…but Lee will be GREAT! He has my vote.
Self_Made
October 22nd, 2009
8:43 am
I’m hoping Lee May will run. That would open the 5th district seat to a worthy candidate committed to raising the profile and prospects of South DeKalb without blaming all our woes on North DeKalb. We have the human, commercial, and educational resources to prosper if led and represented by someone with vision as opposed to political ambition. We haven’t had real community representation since the days of Dr. Brown.
SPharr
November 2nd, 2009
12:56 pm
It isn’t so much that so many like JOhnson that he ran unopposed, most of us just figure what’s the use. He’s terrible, biased, and the most obvious kind of politician. He contributes to the racial and social divisions in his division openly and unapologetically.
Dekalb Commissioner to mount primary challenge to Hank Johnson? : Georgia Liberal
January 12th, 2010
9:02 am
[...] Word is that Lee May, a Dekalb County Commissioner, is in the early stages of mounting a primary challenge to incumbent Representative Hank Johnson. [...]