House District 108
GEOGRAPHIC AREA
- County: Gwinnett County
- Metro Area/Region: Atlanta Area
- Cities/Towns/Areas: Lilburn and Mountain Park
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
- Population: 55,926
- Median Household Income: $59,800
- Education:
- Completed High School 39.4%
- Completed College/Beyond 45.6%
- Race:
- White 47.2%
- Black 16.5%
- Hispanic 19.6%
- Asian 14.4%
POLITICAL AREA
- Congressional District(s): GA-4, GA-7
- GA Senate District: SD-5, SD-9, SD-41 and SD-55
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
| 2016 | Clinton 48.10% | Trump 47.65% | Margin=D+0.5% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Obama 38.64% | Romney 59.72% | Margin=R+21.1% |
DISTRICT ELECTION RESULTS
| Year | Candidate | Percentage | Vote Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Clay Cox (R) |
52.65% | 11,704 |
| T.R. Radjabov (D) |
47.35% | 10,524 | |
| 2014 | B.J. Pak (R) |
100% | |
| None |
N/A | N/A | |
| 2012 | B.J. Pak (R) |
100% | 16,074 |
| None |
N/A | N/A |
CANDIDATES
- Incumbent: Clay Cox (R)
- Campaign Website: voteclaycox.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/voteclaycox
- Twitter: N/A
- Democratic Candidate: Jasmine Clark (D)
- Campaign Website: jasmineclarkforgeorgia.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/JasmineClarkHD108
- Twitter: twitter.com/@JasmineforHD108
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Clay Cox contributed $28,697 to his campaign in 2016. He received $2,600 from the Thomas Edmunds (Tom) Price Campaign Committee. Tom Price has given over $2.7 million to Republican campaigns in the past 15 years. Cox got a lot of contributions for his 2016 campaign from other political campaigns.
TR (Tokhir) Radjabov, the losing Democratic candidate, gave his campaign $1,500, and most of his contributions came from individuals in $500 and less amounts.
In 2016, Clay Cox spent $89,372. Democrat TR Radjabov spent $83,669.
NOTES AND SUMMARY
This is a majority-minority district, and demographics continue to tilt in that direction. In 2016, Clinton carried this district by 0.5 percent. In 2012, Romney had carried it by 21 percent.
Clay Cox represented HD 102 from 2005-2011, and was elected to represent HD 108 in 2016. He owns a private corrections and offender management company that works with 60,000 offenders across the country in 50 locations.
In November 2017, a judge in Gardendale, Alabama, ruled in favor of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which filed a lawsuit alleging that Cox’s company was exploiting low-income defendants.
Cox’s aim is to cut taxes and spending, eliminate public funding for Planned Parenthood, crack down on immigration. He supports the campus carry and “religious liberty” legislation.
Jasmine Clark, born in Atlanta, got her doctorate in Microbiology from Emory University. In addition to being on the faculty of several universities in the Atlanta area, she is also deeply involved in community organizing and activism. She served as the director of the March for Science in 2017 and works closely with a number of other groups, including Georgia Alliance for Social Justice.
Her priorities include: expanding affordable health care for Georgians, quality education for ALL Georgians, welcoming immigrants, a living wage, investment in renewable energy, and decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.
All statements, answers, and information found within the 159 Georgia Together voter guide were collected via an electronic survey. Due to the sheer volume of information collected and the number of candidates that submitted survey data, all of the information presented in the guide is verbatim per the input from the survey participants (including any spelling or grammatical errors).
Clay Cox (R, Incumbent)
TOP 3 PRIORITIES IF ELECTED
No response yet
DO YOU SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PREVENT BUSINESS OWNERS AND EMPLOYERS FROM DENYING SERVICES TO LGBTQ PEOPLE AND OTHERS BASED ON THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT ENDING CASH BAIL FOR LOW-LEVEL OFFENSES?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT THE CREATION OF A NON-PARTISAN INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION?
No response yet.
WOULD YOU SUPPORT AN ENGLISH-ONLY CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IF IT WERE ON THE BALLOT?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT THE RIGHT OF WORKERS TO FORM A UNION AND BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY?
No response yet.
DID YOU/DO YOU SUPPORT GUNS ON CAMPUS?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT ELECTRICITY RATE INCREASES TO COMPLETE TWO NUCLEAR REACTORS AT PLANT VOGTLE?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT CHANGING GEORGIA'S VOTING SYSTEM TO A VOTER-MARKED (PEN OR PENCIL) PAPER BALLOT WITH OPTICAL SCANNERS?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT THE EXPANSION OF EARLY VOTING?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT PUBLIC VOUCHERS BEING USED FOR PRIVATE AND/OR CHARTER SCHOOLS?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT MEDICAID EXPANSION OR ANOTHER GEORGIA-SPECIFIC PLAN TO EXTEND HEALTH INSURANCE TO LOW-INCOME GEORGIANS?
No response yet.
WILL YOU SUPPORT POLICIES AND LEGISLATION THAT INCREASE ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE, INCLUDING ABORTION, AND OPPOSE POLICIES AND LEGISLATION THAT LIMIT OR REDUCE ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE, INCLUDING ABORTION?
No response yet.
WOULD YOU SUPPORT EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE RETIREES AND PUT THE PROGRAM ON A MORE STABLE FISCAL PATH?
No response yet.
DO YOU SUPPORT A LIVABLE WAGE OF A MINIMUM OF $15 PER HOUR?
No response yet.
Jasmine Clark (D)
TOP 3 PRIORITIES IF ELECTED
Healthcare- Expansion of Medicaid and increased access to healthcare is one of my top priorities because I believe that healthcare is a right. Using partisan politics to block people from this access is sickening! Education- From funding public schools (including updating the decades old QBE formula for determining fund required for school), increasing teacher pay, and expanding the Hope Scholarship, I am a strong proponent for strengthening our States education system! As a product of and a parent of a child in public school, I want all children in the public school system to have access to quality education and teachers. As an educator in higher education, I want all individuals, regardless of socioeconomic status, to have access to the opportunities afforded by receiving a college degree. Economy- I believe that Georgia’s economy will flourish most when care and attention is paid to Georgia’s working class. The middle class contribute most to the economy. This is why I believe the state minimum wage (which is less than the federal currently) needs to be raised to keep up with the cost of living. I also believe that the economy of the State depends on many other factors including, improving mass transit, inclusive policy making, and access to healthcare, among other things. These things will attract new business and employers to the State, bringing jobs!
DO YOU SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PREVENT BUSINESS OWNERS AND EMPLOYERS FROM DENYING SERVICES TO LGBTQ PEOPLE AND OTHERS BASED ON THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS?
Yes. I am strongly opposed to any State-funded or State-sponsored discrimination against ANY group of people. In contrast, I support a comprehensive State Civil Rights Law that will go even further than current federal civil rights laws.
DO YOU SUPPORT ENDING CASH BAIL FOR LOW-LEVEL OFFENSES?
Yes. Inability to pay copious amounts of money for minor offenses should not cause people to spend time in jail. Inability to pay bail can have collateral effects of loss of needed income and even job loss.
DO YOU SUPPORT THE CREATION OF A NON-PARTISAN INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION?
Yes. Voter disenfranchisement is antithetical to democracy. Gerrymandering has gotten out of control. It’s time to take away the ability to draw lines that benefit one group over another away from political parties. Non-partisan redistributing is the best way forward.
WOULD YOU SUPPORT AN ENGLISH-ONLY CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IF IT WERE ON THE BALLOT?
No. Georgia is extremely diverse! People from all over the globe have made this State their home. We should be welcoming them and not alienating them!
DO YOU SUPPORT THE RIGHT OF WORKERS TO FORM A UNION AND BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY?
Yes. My family was supported by unions and I believe wholeheartedly in their mission. From training to providing worker protections, rights, and competitive wages, unions focus on the people over the powerful! Investing in the people is how we as a State will flourish!
DID YOU/DO YOU SUPPORT GUNS ON CAMPUS?
No. I, along with other educators, campus staff, and campus administrators, and many in the general public were against campus carry. Having guns on campus does not make us safer.
DO YOU SUPPORT ELECTRICITY RATE INCREASES TO COMPLETE TWO NUCLEAR REACTORS AT PLANT VOGTLE?
No. I think it is time we as a state explore and invest in renewable energies.
DO YOU SUPPORT CHANGING GEORGIA'S VOTING SYSTEM TO A VOTER-MARKED (PEN OR PENCIL) PAPER BALLOT WITH OPTICAL SCANNERS?
Yes. As much as technology has advanced, the vulnerabilities of software based voting are too great. Georgians want to be able to trust that the voting process is secure. At the current time, paper ballots are the only truly secure way to vote.
DO YOU SUPPORT THE EXPANSION OF EARLY VOTING?
Yes. The right to vote is sacred! We should pushing policy that increase access to voting so more people can engage in the process.
DO YOU SUPPORT PUBLIC VOUCHERS BEING USED FOR PRIVATE AND/OR CHARTER SCHOOLS?
No. Funds designated for public schools should be used for public schools. Instead of taking money out of the public school system we need to be working towards laws and policies that bring more funds into public schools.
DO YOU SUPPORT MEDICAID EXPANSION OR ANOTHER GEORGIA-SPECIFIC PLAN TO EXTEND HEALTH INSURANCE TO LOW-INCOME GEORGIANS?
Yes. Healthcare is a right! Access to healthcare is good for Georgians and the Georgia economy!
WILL YOU SUPPORT POLICIES AND LEGISLATION THAT INCREASE ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE, INCLUDING ABORTION, AND OPPOSE POLICIES AND LEGISLATION THAT LIMIT OR REDUCE ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE, INCLUDING ABORTION?
Yes. Too many women are dying during childbirth. This should not be happening in 2018! Reproductive healthcare is very important and I support policies that address it! I support a woman’s right to choose and oppose any legislations that would limit that right.
WOULD YOU SUPPORT EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE RETIREES AND PUT THE PROGRAM ON A MORE STABLE FISCAL PATH?
Yes. Although at the State-level I would not be able to deal directly with Social Security, I am against any privatization of Social Security.
DO YOU SUPPORT A LIVABLE WAGE OF A MINIMUM OF $15 PER HOUR?
Yes. I support a liveable wage because I do not think that anyone should have to work multiple jobs just to barely be able to survive. The minimum wage must keep up with the cost of living.