Fayette County Republicans will be faced with a tough challenge in the upcoming election for chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.

Rusty Paul will step down and one of three potential candidates will replace him for the next four-year term. The three candidates for the volunteer position, Chuck Clay, Linda Herren and Ron Jackson, spoke to the Fayette County Republican Party Saturday, outlining their goals and commitments.

More than 50 were in attendance for the First Saturday Republican Breakfast, including numerous local officials. State Sen. Rick Price, State Court Solicitor Steve Harris, Judge Chris Edwards, Fayette County Commissioners Harold Bost, Greg Dunn and Herb Frady and Tax Commissioner George Wingo were in attendance.

The presentation by the state chair candidates took the form of a forum with each giving a short opening speech, answering questions from the audience and then making a short closing presentation. All three candidates reinforced their commitment to decentralizing control of the party, working to support strong candidates in the year 2000 elections and to "getting the message out."

Clay emphasized a team approach to reinvigorating the party on the local and state levels. He also spoke repeatedly regarding the need to work with the media and committed to hiring a media coordinator to work with state and local parties. He said the party needs to "take control back to the community, where the passion and fire exist."

He stressed his ability to articulate issues, to be a "good cheerleader" and to work as part of a winning team. Education and learning from past painful lessons were also mentioned repeatedly during his talk. "This is a party whose time has come."

Herren emphasized a grass-roots approach to getting out the vote and electing qualified Republican candidates. She noted, "The bottom line is how many go out to vote, not how much money you raise." She focused on "four

M's" - Message, Motivation, Mobilization and Money. Herren committed to putting state resources behind local candidates, restructuring and energizing fund-raising efforts and standing up for he values and principles of the Republican Party.

Jackson centered on his past abilities in raising money for the party, his experience and his availability. He said, "We've been shotgunning our efforts. We need to focus the energy of the party." Some of his goals include creation of an expanded communication grid involving e-mail, fax and phone trees, expansion of the absentee ballot program, hands on involvement with the county party chairmen, elected officials and party activists to recruit the "best possible candidates to win control of the state House of Representatives in 2000."

Clay served five terms as state senator in the 37th District, serving as Senate Republican leader in his final term. He has been active in GOP politics for over 20 years and has served on President George Bush's Staff Advisory Committee, Senator Paul Coverdell's Military Advisory Group and as Guy Millner's campaign cochairman in 1996 and 1998. He is a former Cobb County prosecutor and commissioner. He is a partner in the law firm of Brock, Clay, Wilson and Rogers.

Herren has served as the first vice chairman for the Georgian Republican Party since 1996. She is past chairman of the 4th Congressional District and the DeKalb Republican Party. She is a former precinct chairman, Georgia GOP State Convention coordinator and has been a delegate to all GOP county, district and state conventions since 1987. She is a nurse anesthetist and is active in the community. She has been active in the Republican Party for over 30 years, receiving the South Carolina Young Republican of the Year in 1972.

Jackson is past chairman of the Fulton County Republican Party. He is a member of Senator Paul Coverdell's Citizens Senate Delegation and serves as the Fulton County cochairman of the Coverdell Good Government Committee Leadership Team. He has worked on numerous campaigns in a variety of positions and is a former chairman of the 41st Senate District in DeKalb County.

He is a retired group Vice President of Westinghouse and is a former founding partner of CGW Southwest Partners.