Wednesday, April 7, 2004
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Wednesday, April 7, 2004 |
| Chance first to announce for new State Senate seat By J. FRANK LYNCH Ronnie Chance, a longtime figure in state and local Republican affairs who headed Bob Dole’s Georgia team in the 1996 presidential campaign, has become the first candidate to announce for the new District 16 State Senate seat that covers more than half of Fayette County, including Tyrone, Peachtree City and Brooks. Senate District 16 includes a large portion of Spalding County as well, along with all of Lamar and Pike counties and a section of Monroe County, including the city of Forsyth just north of Macon. Chance, 36, said he is well acquainted with the communities and people in the new 16th due to his years working as the area liaison for U.S. Rep. Mac Collins. Still, he acknowledged the differences and needs of constituents in a solidly surburban Atlanta area like Tyrone, where he lives, and the rural farming communities of Pike County, like Zebulon and Concord. “The needs of the people in Peachtree City are definitely not the same issues facing the people down in Pike County,” Chance said. “That’s why it’s so important to get out and talk to the people, get to know them personally, have a knowledge of their towns and that district to begin with. Understand their concerns.” The region is fortunate to have rich resources, both natural and otherwise, Chance said, citing both Griffin Tech and the University of Georgia’s Agriculture Experiement Station in Griffin as examples. A 30-year resident of Fayette County, Chance said he has been involved in Georgia politics and public affairs for over 15 years, beginning his career in 1988 as an aide to state Rep. Lynn Westmoreland. Chance served as state director to Congressman Mac Collins from 1993 through August of 1995, when he was selected to join Dole’s campaign for President. As Georgia Executive Director for the Dole team, Chance helped the senator secure the Republican presidential nomination in 1996. After the Dole race, Chance founded a company specializing in public relations and targeted grassroots and grass tops strategies. Also since 1996, Chance has served as an advisor to Rep. Mac Collins and Johnny Isakson, Public Service Commissioner Bobby Baker and scores of state, local and county elected officials. In 2002, he consulted the campaigns of Congressman Phil Gingrey and State School Superintendent Kathy Cox of Peachtree City. He has served on every level of the Fayette County Republican party and was selected as County Chairman for the 1995-96 term. In 1998 he was voted Fayette County Republican of Year. “I am excited about this wonderful opportunity to represent my hometown in the state legislature and encouraged by the support we have already received,” Chance said in making his announcement. “We are witnessing an historic transformation in the leadership of this state, and I am thrilled about the opportunity of serving in the legislature of the New Georgia.” Chance grew up in South Fayette County and attended Brooks Elementary School. He is a 1986 graduate of Fayette County High School, where he was a three-year letterman in football and basketball. He attended Georgia State University’s School of Business and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing. His mother, Bobbi Chance, taught for many years in the county, and in fact wrote the McIntosh High School Alma Mater when she was a charter member of the first faculty at the Peachtree City school, he’s proud to point out. He is a member of the First Baptist Church in Peachtree City and is married to the former Cressida Stevens of Gloucestershire, England. The Chances have one daughter, Ellia, and currently reside in Tyrone.
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