Republican Whitney Pimentel, a political newcomer from Hall County, has announced plans to run for the newly-drawn Georgia House District 30 seat which covers portions of South Hall County and North Gwinnett County.
Pimental said she believes the 2022 election cycle is the time for her to represent the conservative values present in district 30.
"If not me, then who, and if not now, then when?" Pimental said. "I have the time, I have three children that I have graduated successfully from public schools here in Hall County ... and I have the ability to dedicate full time to this."
Pimental plans to run for the seat which Emory Dunahoo, R-Gillsville, has served in since 2011. Dunahoo was drawn out of his district and into district 31 during the most recent redistricting process. He has instead opted to run in district 31 in the wake of current Georgia House District 31 Representative Tommy Benton's retirement.
Pimental said she is focusing on several key issues for her campaign, including critical race theory. She said she has already been involved in education at a local level, as she founded Moms for Liberty of Hall County. However, Pimental said she is hoping to enact change on a statewide level by pushing for legislation that would ban critical race theory in K-12 schools.
"I don't believe that our educators should be allowed to politicize history," Pimentel said. "I believe history should be taught, but just not politicized."
Voter integrity and the removal of Georgia's income tax are also key issues for Pimental's campaign.
“We must restore public confidence in our elections by eliminating unwatched drop boxes and ending ballot harvesting,” Pimentel said. “I will empower taxpayers with a plan to eliminate Georgia’s income tax and replace it with the Georgia FairTax.”
Pimental said she is a speech pathologist with her own small business. She and her husband Walt have been married for 25 years, and they have three children in college.
