Two more county officials are hoping to win big this November and head for Capitol Hill in January 2003. Carol Roberts, long an active member of NACo, is running for Congress in Florida’s 22nd District, while Bibb County (Ga.) Commissioner Calder Clay hopes to capture Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District.
Roberts, a Democrat and 16-year commissioner on the Palm Beach County Board, is in a race that appears to be heating up for the November election as one of the most competitive in the nation.
Roberts has served on NACo’s Board of Directors and been chair of both NACo’s Transportation Steering Committee and the Large Urban County Caucus. She also helped lead NACo in its successful effort to enact the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995.
Roberts is no stranger to publicity during elections. She was one of three members of Palm Beach County’s Canvassing Board, which made efforts to straighten out a multitude of butterfly ballots, hanging chads, and under- and over-counts in Florida’s vote-recount process after the 2000 election in an attempt to make every vote count.
Some of Roberts’ most important issues for the November election include reduced prescription-drug prices, protection of social security benefits, ensuring corporate accountability, improving educational opportunities and protecting the environment.
Clay (R) is pitted against Jim Marshall (D), the former mayor of Macon, the Bibb County seat. Clay favors a strong national defense (House Speaker Dennis Hastert has promised Clay a seat on the House Armed Services Committee) and strengthening Social Security. Polls have Clay trailing his opponent by anywhere from 7–17 points.
Roberts and Clay join other strong county leaders from across the nation who are taking a jump into Congressional campaigns this fall, including Dutch Ruppersberger of Baltimore County, Md.; Raul Grijalva of Pima County, Ariz.; and Dario Herrera of Clark County, Nev., who were each featured in the Sept. 30 issue of County News.
