Decision 2024: Meet Leland Olinger, candidate for Georgia Senate District 25, Republican Primary
Early voting began on April 29 and ends on May 17. Election Day will be May 21.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Two Republican candidates are qualified for the upcoming Georgia Senate District 25 election.
Leland Olinger and Rick Williams are competing to win the Republican nomination in the upcoming primary election.
41NBC’s Monica Diaz-Meek spoke with each candidate ahead of the May 21 election.
Candidate name: Leland Olinger
Running for: Georgia Senate District 25
Campaign Website: Facebook
MONICA- Good afternoon. Today we have a Leland Jake Olinger, who’s running for Georgia Senate District 25. Thank you for being here.
LELAND- Thanks for having me. This is a great experience.
MONICA- Of course. Now I have a few questions. First off, what do you think is the biggest issue or challenge that needs to be addressed? And how do you plan on solving that if you’re elected?
LELAND- There’s not just one issue that needs to be challenged. It’s a lot of issues, a lot of old, outdated laws that need to be changed. We are in a different time period than when these laws were made. So we need to update the laws of the policies, making it more fair to everybody, you know, with each law that needs to be changed. You know, for like example, I’m really big on the personal side of a parental alienation and stuff like that. So there was a lot of child custody, child laws and family laws that need to be changed. And then, you know, there’s a lot of other things people talk about the economy. There are things that we, as the state, can do to help the economy by telling the federal government, hey, we can’t do this. This is costing our people this, you know, and challenge the federal government at that level. And then you move on.
There’s just so many laws that need to be changed. And then, you know, once you change things, you can look at social issues that it’ll change incarceration rate. People always bring that up. Well, the suicide rate in mental health, you’re going to change that. You know, suicide rate is the highest among men. Changing some of those laws. Because when you look at it, it comes down to there, you know, financial ruin, loss of family. What do they do. Yeah. Or they end up in jail, you know, because it has been weaponized. And I’m going to say, you know, so you got to change those laws. I want to change the dynamics of social issue change laws.
MONICA- Alright. Now how has your background and experience prepared you for this role?
LELAND- I’m the everyday person. I’m the one that things have happened to the alienation with the parents, with the other parent, you know, more so could have been different now than what they were doing. Could have changed that, you know, because things don’t ever change for your kids. They’re gonna turn 18. When they turn 18, they’ll change. No they don’t. And that’s the sad truth. So, you know, I always told my kids I’d fight for, but they didn’t allow them. This is how. Because I don’t want no one else to go through what I’ve been.
MONICA- All right. And lastly, what would progress look like to you if you were elected?
LELAND- Progress would be changing the laws, you know, updating them. You know, we like I said, we’ve always had to change laws in the past. That’s how we became the United States. That’s the world. So we had civil rights and we’ve always had to change laws and society changed. So that’s what we need to do now.
MONICA- Alright. And what separates you from your opponent? Why should voters vote for you?
LELAND- I can’t say why to vote me. I mean, he is like a politician. He’s the reason why we are where we are today in society. So you know, it’s time for a change. The laws that you helped create affected me. I want those laws like you helped, right? That affected me. I want to change them so they don’t affect the next generation the same.
MONICA- Alright. Well, thank you for joining us today.
LELAND- Thank you.
MONICA- To watch the full interview and to find out more about all of the candidates running for this upcoming election cycle, head on over to our website 41NBC.com
Snippets from all candidates’ interviews will air on 41NBC News at 6 p.m., 11 p.m., DayBreak and 41Today. All interviews will also be posted in full on 41NBC.com on the following days:
Wednesday, May 15: Leland Olinger
Thursday, May 16: Rick Williams
