District 170 representative candidate hopes to speak for everyone

Apr. 17—TIFTON — In his campaign for state representative, candidate Donny Roberson is confident he can be a voice for all.

Following the announcement from Rep. Penny Houston that she would not be seeking reelection, Roberson was one of two candidates who decided to throw their hat in the ring and serve as the legislator for District 170, the other being fellow Republican candidate and Berrien County native Jaclyn Dixon Ford.

Roberson stated that he became motivated to run for the position out of a strong desire to better support his community.

"Quite a few years ago, I thought that I would like to do something more for the area in which I live," Roberson said. "I talked to quite a few people, and the more I learned about this particular job, I thought, 'Well, this could be a great way.'"

Born and raised in Berrien County, Roberson helped out at his father's tractor business, Roberson Tractor Company, from a young age, graduated from Berrien High School, and studied at both the University of Georgia and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

He has a Master's in Guidance and Counseling, a Master's in Recreation and Leisure and a certification in Gerontology, and served as a professor abroad for many years at universities in Croatia and the Czech Republic before returning to Nashville in 2019.

Many of the policies he hopes to pursue if elected are focused around his areas of expertise and experiences, namely a focus on mental health and healthy aging, tourism recreation, and the support of agricultural industry.

However, Roberson asserts he will be a representative that can listen to and support all of his constituents as well.

"I'm not connected to anything; I don't have some sort of agenda to go and take to Atlanta and work on," Roberson said. "I can really just work on the people of Tift, Berrien, and Cook, and see if I can help improve their lives in some way."

In regards to campaigning, Roberson has been marketing his bid for election through social media, mainly Facebook, but has also been applying a more old school and more personal touch to spreading the word by handing out flyers on the street and arranging library town meetings in Nashville for his potential future constituents to meet and ask him questions face to face.

At the first of these meetings, held April 10, he focused on informing residents of Cook, Berrien, and Tift County of the new mapping of District 170, which had recently been redrawn to include a larger portion of Tift County.

Roberson plans to hold another library town meeting at noon in the Perry Memorial Library of Nashville on May 1, with a greater emphasis on asking the community what concerns they have and hope he will address if he is elected.

In the event of him becoming District 170's representative, he hopes to be able to organize similar meetings in all three counties he will speak for, once again asking them directly what he can do to support them in the state House of Representatives.

Roberson will compete against Ford in the upcoming May 21 primary election. As both are Republican candidates and there are no Democratic candidates running, whoever wins this election will be named District 170 representative.

Early voting will be from April 29 to May 17. On election day, polls will remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, contact the elections office at (229) 386-7915.