GEORGIA PRIMARY 2006
Brown ahead in labor job race
BYLINE: NANCY BADERTSCHER
Staff
DATE: July 19, 2006
PUBLICATION: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA)
EDITION: Main; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SECTION: Metro News
PAGE: D3
Atlanta businessman Brent Brown appeared to be headed to easy victory Tuesday night in his second straight bid for the Republican nomination for state labor commissioner.
Brown held a sizable lead over Woodstock state Rep. Chuck Scheid, in early returns. The winner faces Democratic incumbent Michael Thurmond in November.
“Things are certainly trending in the right direction,” Brown said of the early returns. “But some of the bigger counties haven’t come in, so we’re still watching.”
Brown ran for labor commissioner in 2002, but narrowly lost the Republican primary to Richard McGee, a former deputy commissioner with the labor department.
This year, Brown’s primary opponent was hampered by tax and ethics problems.
Scheid, who has been in the General Assembly for more than six years, was hit twice in the past year with tax liens, alleging he owed $42,467 in taxes, penalties and interest for the tax years 1998-2002 and $18,277 for 2003-04.
In addition, he was hit last July with a $1,000 fine and $1,450 in late fees by the State Ethics Commission for failing to file 11 required campaign disclosure reports from 1998 to 2004 and for being late filing nine other reports in that same six-year span.
Most of his tax problems were resolved before the campaign, but, as of May, he still owed the state $4,237, according to a letter he provided The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Brown, who is in sales for NCO Financial Systems, has said he’ll work to ensure that Georgia has a well-trained work force by forming a strong alliance between the Labor Department and the state Department of Education.
