Tomorrow, Nov. 5, 2024, is election day.
CNI recently interviewed the two candidates competing for U.S. House of Representatives District 9; Republican incumbent Andrew Clyde, and Democratic challenger Tambrei Cash.
By Lang Story and J. Todd Truelove
CNI News Service
Tambrei Cash
Marietta native and current Loganville resident Tambrei Cash is running to represent Georgia’s 9th Congressional District.
Cash, a Democrat, will oppose Republican incumbent Andrew Clyde in the Nov. 5 general election.
“First and foremost, I’m running to protect our democracy,” Cash told The Northeast Georgian Friday. “I’m interested in protecting freedom and democracy for everyone, not just those who agree with me. I don’t think that Andrew Clyde is on the same page.”
Cash also believes the inflammatory rhetoric of her opposition is endangering lives, and says she felt that danger on a recent visit to Habersham County.
“When I came to Habersham I went to the county fair and I left because I feared for my safety. It shouldn’t be that way,” she added. “If you disagree with me on policy that’s cool, but I shouldn’t fear for my life because you disagree with me.”
Cash lists three key messages of her campaign.
Regarding women’s rights, she backs the right to choose.
“We all deserve bodily autonomy. The government should have no say in the private decisions that are meant to be between us, our families, and our doctors,” Cash said. “No one should be denied proper healthcare, or access to birth control.”
Other issues vital to Cash include protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Veterans Benefits.
“I will work tirelessly to make sure Social Security and Medicare are protected,” she said.
Regarding veterans, Cash says “Our veterans sacrificed for us, so that we can be free, and live knowing that they have our backs. We should have their backs when it comes to their benefits.”
“Our veterans should not have to beg for the healthcare that they deserve,” she added.
Cash is also passionate about unions.
“Unions are making a comeback, and I’m here for it,” she said. “The decline in membership has been a detriment to the American worker. Unions empower workers to collectively negotiate with employers, giving them a strong voice in the workplace and fostering a more equitable distribution of power and resources.”
Cash, 51, has lived in Georgia her entire life. She is a single mother of three and says gun violence made her a widow at age 20.
Cash graduated from West Georgia Technical College in the medical field. She spent over a decade as a business owner in the flooring industry.
She attended Winder-Barrow High School.
As someone personally affected by gun violence, Cash feels it’s important for folks to be aware of her opponent’s history with firearms.
“Andrew Clyde owns two gun stores in Georgia and was under federal investigation for selling an extensive number of weapons to people that then use them in crimes,” said Cash.“Aside from that, he also has federal contracts to sell weapons to the government that then he gets to legislate on.”
“That sounds like a conflict of interest to me,” she added.
Andrew Clyde
Republican Andrew Clyde, who represents Georgia’s 9th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, is seeking
his third term in office.
Clyde said that he has promoted several measures successfully during his tenure, one of those being blocking
the Washington, D.C. Council’s Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022 (RCCA).
The reason, he said, was because that code would have reduced maximum penalties on violent criminal offenses
such as homicides, carjackings, and robberies and provided mandatory limited sentences.
Clyde said that crime in D.C. had been rising and that the House supported his resolution to block D.C.’s revision
of its criminal code.
“That (RCCA) would absolutely have decimated the people,” Clyde said. “We passed that (resolution) in a bi-
partisan way.”
Clyde said he also was proud of the House passing a budget amendment that prevented the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers from renaming Lake Lanier and Buford Dam.
“I was able to stop that,” he said. “We don’t need Washington D.C. to dictate what we’re going to call our
landmarks.”
Clyde said protecting the unborn was a top priority for him.
“We need to protect the innocents,” said Clyde. “I am staunchly pro-life.”
Clyde said he would look to address if elected for a third term he nation’s dependency on energy from other
counties.
“There are over 450 years of fossil fuel within our nation’s border,” Clyde said.
Also, Clyde said the border with Mexico must be secured.
“Every single illegal immigrant has broken the law. They need to be deported, all of them.” Clyde said, noting the
killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley while she was jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens.
“The (border) wall has to be finished,” he said.
Clyde said he would look toward abolishing the excise tax on firearms, protecting 2nd Amendment rights.
“If you can tax it, is it truly a right?” said Clyde.
Clyde said he anticipates there will be a majority of Republicans in Congress come 2025 and that policies of the
Biden administration would be done away with, such as mandates for electrical vehicles and protecting women
sports,
“Across the board, we are going to have many congressional review acts,” said Clyde.
Clyde is a member of the House Appropriations Committee with subcommittees of Commerce, Justice, Science
and related agencies. He’s also on the legislative branch and Labor, Health, Human Service, and Education
subcommittees.
Clyde said that Department of Education must stop “indoctrinating our students on woke ideologies.”
And, if you haven’t voted yet. Clyde encouraged casting a ballot in the races.
“Everybody needs to get out to vote,” Clyde said. “If you don’t vote, then you’re not participating in the process."