Lauren âBubbaâ McDonald wins fourth term on Georgia Public Service Commission
Lauren âBubbaâ McDonald wins fourth term on Georgia Public Service Commission By Olivia Gunn | January 7, 2021 at 12:04 AM EST - Updated January 7 at 12:50 PM
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Lauren âBubbaâ McDonald claimed a fourth term on the Georgia Public Service Commission.
McDonald defeated Democrat Daniel Blackman of Columbus in a runoff after falling short of a majority in the November general election.
McDonald ran for the five-member utility regulator in a race that drew much less attention than the two nationally watched U.S. Senate contests.
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CALHOUN, Ga. A visit to her home by a Republican canvasser for candidate David Perdue prompted Deela Sutton of Gordon County to vote on Tuesday in the Georgia runoff elections for U.S. Senate.
“And I was like, ‘Wow!’ I was so impressed by that,” said Sutton, who moved to Gordon County a year ago from Ohio. She said she never saw a canvasser come to her door since she first started voting in the early 1990s let alone see one travel to a home far out in the country and up a steep hill.
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Caption Lauren Bubba McDonald.
Veteran Georgia Public Service Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald withstood a challenge from Democrat Daniel Blackman on Tuesday, winning reelection to a six-year term.
With 91% of precincts reporting as of 11 p.m. Tuesday night, the incumbent Republican was leading with 52.5% of the vote to 47.5% for Blackman, according to unofficial results. McDonald won more votes than either of the Republican Senate candidates did in their contests despite tens of thousands fewer votes cast in the PSC race.
McDonald, who served 20 years in the Georgia House of Representatives before joining the PSC in 1998, fended off a series of criticisms from Blackman, an environmental advocate who also lost to McDonald in 2014.
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The runoff, like the general, has been fought on the questions of whether McDonald is too friendly to Georgia Power Co. and whether he’s doing enough for consumers.
McDonald says he’s struck the right balance between the company and consumers, arguing in a Dec. 15 town hall hosted by the Climate Reality Project that consumers need to pay for what they use instead of trying to shift burdens onto the shareholders of the Southern Co., the Atlanta-based parent of Georgia Power.
“There’s no such thing as free electricity,” McDonald said, repeating one of his favorite phrases. “Somebody is going to pay for it.”