Oconee County businessman launches campaign for state senate

Released by Ray Smith’s campaign:

Athens, GA –A large crowd of friends, family and supporters gathered to cheer Ray Smith on Saturday at the official launch of his campaign for Georgia Senate District 46.

“I intend to be the voice that we have been lacking for decades,” Smith told them. “We need housing that is affordable. We need healthcare that is available without it being the No. 1 cause of bankruptcy.  We need a full Medicaid expansion to close the coverage gap for hundreds of thousands of Georgians.  And we need universal child care,” the father of a two-year old son said, as the crowd erupted in loud cheers.

Smith, 34, is a software engineer and consultant to nonprofits and political organizations who need help improving their use of technology.  He will be on the Democratic ballot in the state’s primary election in May.

The critical issues facing Georgia’s farmers, business communities and local governments are also among the key concerns he said he will carry to the State Capitol.“We need protection from corporate monopolies, corporate bullies who squeeze farmers and small businesses,” Smith said.  “And I promise to fight tooth and nail to get these things done.”

Proposals currently before the Georgia State Legislature to eliminate property taxes would devastate towns and cities across Georgia, Ray told the crowd. While the state needs property tax relief and protections for people on fixed incomes, “property taxes are what support all of the services that county and city governments provide for us.  All of them,” Smith said.

“If we eliminate property taxes, it will create a huge hole in municipal budgets across the entire state.  That’s schools, that’s fire departments. That’s police departments.  They’re (Republicans) opposed to defunding the police, and yet, they’re here cutting the funding source that supports our police departments.”

Many of those who attended the launch at AthenticBrewery Company in Athens said they knew Smith from having worked with him in one of his many community service activities.  Smith is the 2^nd Vice Chair of the Oconee County Democratic Committee and a co-founder of Community Works Oconee, a non-partisan organization dedicated to solving local problems through volunteer efforts. He also holds leadership roles in IndivisibleGA10, a coalition of people across Georgia’s 10^th Congressional District who support progressive policies, and in the Unitarian Universalist Georgia Legislative Action Network.

“Creating community is one of the most significant things that somebody can do, right now especially,” said Linda Gilbert, a long-time friend and fellow member of IndivisibleGA10, who spoke to the gathering about why she supports Smith. I’ve watched Ray in the last few years, not just find a village, but make a village; creating connections, bringing people together and working for a future for his kid, and all the others.”

“Doing the hard work, creating opportunity, building community and thinking for the future.  These are qualities we need in our elected officials. This is the difference between a politician and a public servant,”Gilbert said.

As State Senator for District 46, Smith would represent all or part of Barrow, Clarke, Gwinnett, Oconee and Walton Counties, including the cities of Watkinsville, Dacula, Monroe and parts of Athens. Ray Smith and his family are residents of Oconee County.

Smith acknowledged that Georgia Senate District 46 has been gerrymandered by the state legislature to be a deeply Republican district. But he noted that the 2025 election results in the Public Service Commission and State House District 121 showed that a titanic political shift is happening among voters in Georgia.  “This district is flippable,” he assured listeners. “Let’s win this thing.”