A former Home Depot executive and founder of a nonprofit organization entered the wide-open Republican race for Georgia's 7th District on Monday with a pledge to bring the perspective of an "outsider, a businesswoman and a mom" to Congress.
Lynne Homrich launched her campaign with an ad that featured a string of clips of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib – who have fast become the favorite targets of Republicans – before flashing to Homrich.
“That’s the best they can do in Washington? If your kids behaved like these women, you’d ground them. If they worked in your business, you’d fire them,” she said. “We need more women in office with conservative values, common sense and real-world experience.”
She's one of the first Republicans to enter the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, who is retiring after narrowly winning a fifth term last year. Former NFL player Joe Profit is also in the race, and state Sen. Renee Unterman is likely to soon join.
The last time Georgia’s 7th District seat was open in 2010, no fewer than eight Republicans jostled to represent the seat, which hasn’t elected a Democrat since the mid-1990s.
Democrats see the open seat, which spans parts of Gwinnett and Forsyth counties, as one of their top targets in 2020. It was the tightest U.S. House race in the nation last year, and Democrats hope to squeeze more votes from the district’s fast-diversifying electorate.
Carolyn Bourdeaux, who lost to Woodall by less than 500 votes, is running again. Other Democrats include attorney Marqus Cole, former Fulton Commission chair John Eaves and activist Nabilah Islam. State Rep. Brenda Lopez will soon announce whether she'll run.
Homrich, who recently moved from the neighboring 6th District to Duluth, is set to run as a political newcomer who can partially fund her campaign.
She was a Home Depot vice president for human resources and founded She's a 10, a nonprofit that aims to prepare women for leadership roles. She and her husband David, the chief financial officer for Arthur Blank's for-profit businesses, raised four children, who are spotlighted in her campaign ad.
In her announcement roll-out, Homrich made clear she’ll run as a conservative who supported President Donald Trump.
She said “liberals in Washington do not speak for women and they do not speak for me” and cast herself as someone who can fill a void in the Georgia GOP, which is dominated by white men. Among her slogans: “Results, not resistance.”
“Washington isn’t working for us. It’s working for the politicians,” she said. “I’m going to go to Washington and help President Trump drain the swamp, unleash the American economy and stop liberal extremism from ruining our way of life.”
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