District 141 State Rep. Candidates Ready for Runoff

Early voting got underway in Baldwin and Putnam counties Monday for the District 141 State Representative runoff.

Independent Rusty Kidd, who took the biggest percentage of the votes in November, faces Democrat Darrell Black.

Both say the economy remains number one on their list.

Kidd says, "we cant expect to lure new industry to this area if it seems depressed, so we've got to create some rehiring and positions in Baldwin County if we expect to bring in new industry."

Black says, "I try to talk about education, because I'm a former teacher and I want to help the education system, but jobs dominate the conversation."

With a low voter turnout in November, both candidates say this election will come down to who can get their people to the polls.

Kidd says, "in the first election if 100 more people had gone out to vote for me, we would have won without a runoff."

Black says, "the big key of course is getting out the vote, and were working heavily in that, we've got a lot of support, a lot of people are backing us on that and we're excited about getting people to the polls."

Both say they've spent the past few weeks contacting voters and encouraging people to head to the polls.

Bobby Parham held the District 141 seat for more than 30 years, but resigned this year to take a spot on the state transportation board.

Kidd says the position has been vacant for months, leaving Baldwin County without representation.

He says, "whoever gets elected, and I hope it's me because of my experience, has to go up there immediately, I'm talking about the very next day, because we have to try to get something out of the budget system because we haven't had someone up there on the house side when they've been doing the budget, for the last three months."

Darrell Black believes his position with the democratic party gives him an edge.

Black says, "being aligned with the democrats, they will help me get on committees, they will help me get legislation through and processed through."

Rusty Kidd says it's his lobbying work that puts him ahead.

He says, "look at the experience of myself versus my opponent and vote for whoever you think can do the best job in the quickest amount of time, and hopefully that will be me."

Black says he has felt a surge of energy for the last leg of the campaign.

He says, "I feel momentum is going our way, it's a matter of do we have enough time, do we have enough money. The last few days feel like they are breaking our way, so we are excited about that."

The runoff is Tuesday December 1. Source: WMAZ-TV MACON Reporter Stephanie Susskind.