Note: This is the first in a series of profiles on the four candidates running for House District 129 in the Dec. 20 special primary.
At 23, Davis Green is the youngest candidate for House District 129, but he has plans for the role.
He is one of four candidates in the Dec. 20 Democratic primary to replace Rep. Wayne Howard, who died in office Oct. 13. The other candidates are Karlton Howard, Scott Cambers and Brad Owens.
A senior in criminal justice at Georgia Southern University, Green said he can finish his three remaining courses online if he wins.
“My main role in the House of Representatives would be to champion Augusta, but also make sure I’m representing the constituents that sent me here,” he said. “The No. 1 issue that is specific to Augusta that I think we need to address is crime.”
The son of two Richmond County educators who’s had a lifelong passion for law enforcement, Green has specific plans for what he’d do in the House. They include boosting law enforcement and educator salaries statewide.
MORE: Candidates fined, fail to file in House special primary
“People keep saying that Richmond County school system is a failing school system, but we’re not failing because the students aren’t trying to learn,” he said. “We’re failing because the students don’t have properly certified teachers, because you’re not giving teachers an incentive to stay.”
Green said teachers shouldn’t be allowed to work with provisional licenses for more than two years. They must show proof they are working toward certification, he said.
He also wants to raise the minimum age a student may drop out of school from 16 to 18. In addition, he wants to require a parent or guardian be present when a minor is read his Miranda rights before police questioning.
Green has served as a Student Government Association senator and as senate speaker at Georgia Southern. He completed a summer internship with the Richmond County Marshal’s Office and went through a Citizen’s Police Academy.
“I’m very passionate about law enforcement,” he said. “Every chance I get, I go up to an officer and have a conversation with him.”
Green said he plans to complete a Master of Laws degree at the University of Georgia School of Law before deciding his next move.
“If I still have the juice in me, I’ll go for my J.D. Ultimately my track is attorney or law enforcement,” he said.
Asked about his greatest achievement in life, Green said so far it probably is “silently serving.”
“I say serving silently, meaning you don’t have to be in the spotlight. You don’t want to be the one that the news captures all the time. You don’t have to be the one that holds office to do things for people in the community,” he said. “It’s just your mere service day-to-day, how you help somebody, whether that be helping an elderly person get to their car at a grocery store, community service projects you do at your church or through your school. By doing those simple things you have a much greater impact on your community.”
MORE: House District 129 Profile: Scott Cambers
In public service, partisan politics gets in the way in Atlanta, he said.
“We focus too much on who’s a Republican and who’s a Democrat versus let’s get stuff done,” he said. “I’ll work with Jody Lott from Columbia County; Rep. Mark Newton; all of those individuals if it’s best for Augusta.”
If elected, Green would join the Augusta legislative delegation’s four other representatives. They are Newton, a Republican, and Democrats Brian Prince, newly-elected Lynn Gladney and Gloria Frazier.
Early in-person voting in the special primary continues weekdays as well as Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Linda Beazley Room of Augusta Municipal Building. All polling places in the district will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 20.
Georgia House District 129 by augustapress on Scribd
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
