Sarah Riggs Amico outlines her bid for US Senate

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Sarah Riggs Amico said her business experience of more than 15 years separates her from other Democrats looking to challenge US Republican Senator David Perdue in November.

Amico jumped into the political arena in 2018, becoming Georgia’s democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Her more than 1.8 million votes came up about 125,000 short of Republican Geoff Duncan. Amico said her experience in that state-wide race and her background prepared her for this.

“I’m the only candidate in this race who has been out there creating and saving thousands of jobs for more than 16 years,” Amico said. “I’ve been in the private sector. I’ve been in the middle of the pension crisis. I’ve seen the effects of the trade war on our manufacturing and industrial sectors. I’ve certainly seen what it’s done to our farmers.”

Amico falls more in line with moderate Democrats on the healthcare issue. She supports keeping the private option while expanding accessibility to a public plan.

“Once you have a public option, we’ll be able to reduce premium prices in the private market and provide better healthcare outcomes for Americans,” Amico said.

On immigration, Amico told WTOC the system needs some major changes as well. She does not support open borders though, which is how the President characterizes democrats.

“We need additional guest workers. We need a number of programs to make the system more efficient,” Amico said. “We also need to live up to our values as being a refuge of hope and opportunity for people who have longed for freedom around the world.”

A bill expanding background checks on gun buyers is sitting in the Senate. The house passed it in early 2019. Amico supports senate action on the Bipartisan Background Checks Act.

“Because of the failure of Republican leadership in the US Senate that that hasn’t yet become law despite the fact that a majority of Americans want it to,” Amico said. “That’s undermining the will of voters. I would absolutely support moving that legislation forward.”

WTOC also discussed criminal justice reform and the private prison industry with Amico.

“We need to remove the profit incentive to incarcerate another human being. Nobody should profit off the incarceration of someone else. That includes private prisons; that includes cash bail; that includes prison labor,” Amico said. “I’d like to see us continue criminal justice reform, end the school to prison pipeline and end mass incarcerations particularly in our communities of color.”

Like her opponents, Amico said she will not take corporate PAC money despite the expectations that this race will be one of the most expensive in state history.

Former Columbus mayor Teresa Tomlinson is the other challenger in May’s primary.

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