“I’m Ready for Barrow”
Sheffield relishes underdog role
Dublin attorney Maria Sheffield is the least known, least funded and probably the least feared among the four Republican candidates eyeing each other for the chance to run against Democratic incumbent John Barrow for Georgia’s 12th Congressional District. But according to her, she’s proud to be what some would dismissively call a “grassroots” candidate.
“
It makes it hard to run a race when you haven’t raised $300,000, but it’s not an auction where the candidate goes to the highest bidder,” she says. “It makes it easier if everybody on your campaign disclosure list is willing to write you a $2,500 check, but for a lot of people that’s the end of their involvement. Those people who give you that $5 — they’d go to war with you to make sure they get a conservative in D.C. That’s the difference.”
Those campaign disclosures have been the source of woe for all the candidates lately. When businessman Rick Allen started pointing fingers at the inner workings of Evans real estate attorney Wright McLeod’s campaign, that set a lot of people from all sides combing through the disclosures. In Sheffield’s case, the woe comes from the fact that she has raised so little money. With Allen and McLeod raising well above $250,000 apiece and Grovetown farmer Lee Anderson raising just over $200,000, Sheffield is pulling up the rear, having raised only $14,000 beyond a $100,000 loan.
That’s enough to get you left off the debate list in some places, but Sheffield insists that in the day and age of social media, ground-up campaigning can be effective.
“
I think you do win races without having the most money,” she says. “It means you work a lot harder because you spend a lot more time out there in the district going door to door and making those telephone calls.”
Unlike some, who it’s been suggested have come by their conservative viewpoint through opportunism or a shrug, Sheffield earned her conservative stripes at a young age. She was five when her father, a full-time member of the Air National Guard, was forced to retire due to medical issues. When she was 15, her mother was killed by a driver who was high on drugs.
“
Because of that and because of my father’s disability, I found myself in a situation from an early age knowing that I was going to have to support myself,” she says. “There wasn’t going to be a safety net or back up.”
She later spent nine years caring for a grandmother suffering from dementia.
“
My parents were not involved in anything political — at all,” she says. “Still, there was that sense that you don’t rely on someone else.”
While overcoming such hardships took tenacity and a singular desire to succeed, it instilled in her an allegiance to the conservative values that makes some of the well-publicized chatter coming from the other campaigns tough for her to take.
“
All I know about these issues is what I’ve heard,” she says. “I have not spent one penny of campaign money to investigate any of these allegations and what’s going on. But to me, something that relates to policy is someone who has voted consistently as a Democrat.”
She is speaking foremost of Wright McLeod, who the Allen campaign demonstrated voted for Democrats in 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010.
“
He can explain that any way he wants, but I will tell you, grassroots conservatives look at a vote for a Democrat in a presidential preference primary…” she lets her voice trail off. “There’s no explanation for that.”
She claims his 2008 decision to vote in the Democratic primary didn’t show fellow Naval Academy graduate John McCain the same consideration he’s now requesting from veterans and military families.
“
Wright has interjected his military record for himself,” she says. “No other candidate did this.”
As for McLeod and his wife contributing $10,000 to Democrat Rob Teilhet’s run for attorney general, she calls it “absolutely unacceptable,” given how a Democratic attorney general could affect the state’s ability to fight President Obama’s healthcare plan.
Sheffield is equally hard on Allen, who also donated to Democratic candidates, in particular to imprisoned State Senator Charles Walker’s son, Champ.
“
I appreciate he’s a businessman,” she says. “He gets government contracts and there’s a political machine in place that makes that happen, but it’s inexcusable in my opinion.”
Given the consequences, financial contributions, she says, should go beyond friendship and business relationships.
“
It’s the direction of this country,” she says.
She characterizes Lee Anderson, the most established conservative in the race, as a career politician who has failed to distinguish himself despite his years in elected office.
“
If you’re not leading on issues in this state, if you’re not known for something substantial or fundamental — what are you going to do when you get to Washington?” she asks. “Talk about being a little fish in a big pond — casting a vote is not enough. You’ve got to fight for those things that are fundamentally important to you because that’s what being a representative is all about.”
Part of Sheffield’s social media campaign rests on her policy statements, which she’s made available in video form. She hopes her relatively comprehensive statements will stand out from the shorter policy statements often employed on candidates’ websites.
She has statements on jobs, education and national security, but she’s especially passionate about the idea of tax reform.
“
When Congress is changing the tax code every two months, small businesses cannot plan for that,” she says. “We could spend the rest of our lives tweaking our tax code and be almost no further down the road [to tax reform] than we are today.”
Though she is supportive of both the Fair Tax and the 999 Plan, she stresses that the important thing right now is to make sure tax reform remains in the spotlight.
While politically staunch, she’s also pragmatic enough to remain nimble. After a recent appearance on the Austin Rhodes Show, Sheffield quickly posted a policy regarding the Corps of Engineers’ management of Clarks Hill Lake that fell in line with the host’s position.
“
It was not, in all honesty, something I had taken and developed like some of those other issues, but I think in talking with him and him asking that question, it’s a complaint that I’ve certainly heard.”
Though still considered a long shot, she remains optimistic that, compared to the three men, she is the candidate most able to go head-to-head with John Barrow this fall.
“
You know what a liberal man fears the most,” she jokes. “A strong, conservative woman.”
Barrow, she says, has been intentionally deceptive about his true position regarding the president’s policies.
“
I think it’s unacceptable for him to say that he’s working hand in hand with President Obama and then, when he comes to the district, he says he doesn’t necessarily support the administration,” she says. “He is a prime example of a career politician and why, I think, Congress has a nine percent approval rating.”
She acknowledges Barrow’s ability to effectively walk the tightrope between a Democratic team player and an independent-minded voter, but continues to believe that the advantages lie with the Republicans when it comes to the general election.
Not only was the district redrawn to give Republicans an eight percent advantage, she says the Democratic National Committee appears to be leaving Barrow unprotected, while the Republican National Committee has allocated $900,000 into the media market for the November election.
“
As a candidate, that’s almost a dream come true,” she says. “I do believe his days in political office are numbered, and I’m ready for that general election.” You Might Also Like:
“It makes it hard to run a race when you haven’t raised $300,000, but it’s not an auction where the candidate goes to the highest bidder,” she says. “It makes it easier if everybody on your campaign disclosure list is willing to write you a $2,500 check, but for a lot of people that’s the end of their involvement. Those people who give you that $5 — they’d go to war with you to make sure they get a conservative in D.C. That’s the difference.”
Those campaign disclosures have been the source of woe for all the candidates lately. When businessman Rick Allen started pointing fingers at the inner workings of Evans real estate attorney Wright McLeod’s campaign, that set a lot of people from all sides combing through the disclosures. In Sheffield’s case, the woe comes from the fact that she has raised so little money. With Allen and McLeod raising well above $250,000 apiece and Grovetown farmer Lee Anderson raising just over $200,000, Sheffield is pulling up the rear, having raised only $14,000 beyond a $100,000 loan.
That’s enough to get you left off the debate list in some places, but Sheffield insists that in the day and age of social media, ground-up campaigning can be effective.
“I think you do win races without having the most money,” she says. “It means you work a lot harder because you spend a lot more time out there in the district going door to door and making those telephone calls.”
Unlike some, who it’s been suggested have come by their conservative viewpoint through opportunism or a shrug, Sheffield earned her conservative stripes at a young age. She was five when her father, a full-time member of the Air National Guard, was forced to retire due to medical issues. When she was 15, her mother was killed by a driver who was high on drugs.
“Because of that and because of my father’s disability, I found myself in a situation from an early age knowing that I was going to have to support myself,” she says. “There wasn’t going to be a safety net or back up.”
She later spent nine years caring for a grandmother suffering from dementia.
“My parents were not involved in anything political — at all,” she says. “Still, there was that sense that you don’t rely on someone else.”
While overcoming such hardships took tenacity and a singular desire to succeed, it instilled in her an allegiance to the conservative values that makes some of the well-publicized chatter coming from the other campaigns tough for her to take.
“All I know about these issues is what I’ve heard,” she says. “I have not spent one penny of campaign money to investigate any of these allegations and what’s going on. But to me, something that relates to policy is someone who has voted consistently as a Democrat.”
She is speaking foremost of Wright McLeod, who the Allen campaign demonstrated voted for Democrats in 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010.
“He can explain that any way he wants, but I will tell you, grassroots conservatives look at a vote for a Democrat in a presidential preference primary…” she lets her voice trail off. “There’s no explanation for that.”
She claims his 2008 decision to vote in the Democratic primary didn’t show fellow Naval Academy graduate John McCain the same consideration he’s now requesting from veterans and military families.
“Wright has interjected his military record for himself,” she says. “No other candidate did this.”
As for McLeod and his wife contributing $10,000 to Democrat Rob Teilhet’s run for attorney general, she calls it “absolutely unacceptable,” given how a Democratic attorney general could affect the state’s ability to fight President Obama’s healthcare plan.
Sheffield is equally hard on Allen, who also donated to Democratic candidates, in particular to imprisoned State Senator Charles Walker’s son, Champ.
“I appreciate he’s a businessman,” she says. “He gets government contracts and there’s a political machine in place that makes that happen, but it’s inexcusable in my opinion.”
Given the consequences, financial contributions, she says, should go beyond friendship and business relationships.
“It’s the direction of this country,” she says.
She characterizes Lee Anderson, the most established conservative in the race, as a career politician who has failed to distinguish himself despite his years in elected office.
“If you’re not leading on issues in this state, if you’re not known for something substantial or fundamental — what are you going to do when you get to Washington?” she asks. “Talk about being a little fish in a big pond — casting a vote is not enough. You’ve got to fight for those things that are fundamentally important to you because that’s what being a representative is all about.”
Part of Sheffield’s social media campaign rests on her policy statements, which she’s made available in video form. She hopes her relatively comprehensive statements will stand out from the shorter policy statements often employed on candidates’ websites.
She has statements on jobs, education and national security, but she’s especially passionate about the idea of tax reform.
“When Congress is changing the tax code every two months, small businesses cannot plan for that,” she says. “We could spend the rest of our lives tweaking our tax code and be almost no further down the road [to tax reform] than we are today.”
Though she is supportive of both the Fair Tax and the 999 Plan, she stresses that the important thing right now is to make sure tax reform remains in the spotlight.
While politically staunch, she’s also pragmatic enough to remain nimble. After a recent appearance on the Austin Rhodes Show, Sheffield quickly posted a policy regarding the Corps of Engineers’ management of Clarks Hill Lake that fell in line with the host’s position.
“It was not, in all honesty, something I had taken and developed like some of those other issues, but I think in talking with him and him asking that question, it’s a complaint that I’ve certainly heard.”
Though still considered a long shot, she remains optimistic that, compared to the three men, she is the candidate most able to go head-to-head with John Barrow this fall.
“You know what a liberal man fears the most,” she jokes. “A strong, conservative woman.”
Barrow, she says, has been intentionally deceptive about his true position regarding the president’s policies.
“I think it’s unacceptable for him to say that he’s working hand in hand with President Obama and then, when he comes to the district, he says he doesn’t necessarily support the administration,” she says. “He is a prime example of a career politician and why, I think, Congress has a nine percent approval rating.”
She acknowledges Barrow’s ability to effectively walk the tightrope between a Democratic team player and an independent-minded voter, but continues to believe that the advantages lie with the Republicans when it comes to the general election.
Not only was the district redrawn to give Republicans an eight percent advantage, she says the Democratic National Committee appears to be leaving Barrow unprotected, while the Republican National Committee has allocated $900,000 into the media market for the November election.
“As a candidate, that’s almost a dream come true,” she says. “I do believe his days in political office are numbered, and I’m ready for that general election.” You Might Also Like:
