Teresa Tomlinson
is the former mayor of Columbus, GA. Since 2019 she has been a partner at the law firm Hall Booth Smith. Prior to serving as a mayor she worked as a lawyer and as Executive Director of MidTown, Inc. She attended Sweet Briar College and Emory University.
The Questions
- 1. You’ve faced scrutiny over the local government’s use of prison labor while you were the mayor of Columbus. How do you respond to this criticism?
- 2. DeJesus asks Tomlinson “Recently a video surfaced of you speaking to supporters after your victory over an African-American pastor… Were you suggesting that African Americans aren’t serious about this election or are incapable of having a steady hand to navigate Georgia during this time?
- 3. Dillard Smith asks Tomlinson “Can you speak to your failures in not creating black cultural districts in Columbus, a predominantly African American community?”
- 4. Knox asks Tomlinson “When you were mayor, what outreach programs did you develop to make sure that veterans were adequately served in the Columbus area?”
- 6. What would you do in Washington to try and even the digital divide which impacts online learning in Georgia?
- 7. Should candidates who don’t have children be treated differently in this race? with rebuttal by Dillard Smith
About the Candidates Video Debate
This Candidates Video Debate is a project of the non-partisan democratizing media non-profit, Informing to Empower. Our mission is to bring transparency, accountability and integrity to a political process now corrupted by political advertising paid for by special interest donors. We do this by empowering citizens to be the change they want to see by easily sharing, with their social and family networks, political candidates speaking about their positions on important issues. All videos are unedited except for start and stop times, providing a pundit-free forum to help voters make better-informed decisions.