Tony Kozycki
September 22, 2026 · Newsletter
Rich McCormick Says He Doesn’t Recall Being Invited to the Hall County Debate. Here are the receipts.
On Friday night, September 18, voters packed the Flowery Branch Train Depot for the fourth debate in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District series (of six debates).
Access North Georgia’s Will Daughtry moderated.
I took the stage. And once again, Rep. Rich McCormick’s podium sat empty, except for the life-size cardboard cutout that has become the most reliable stand-in for a representative who doesn’t represent.
Earlier that same day, McCormick told the AJC’s political newsletter that he didn’t recall being asked to participate in the debates.
That is a lie, and he knows it.
The moderator said it before we did
Before a single question was asked, Daughtry opened the night by setting the record straight. He told the crowd that, contrary to what McCormick had told the AJC that day, Access North Georgia had emailed McCormick three times and had called his office that very afternoon, leaving a voicemail that was never returned. Access North Georgia later confirmed this in its own recap of the event, noting that McCormick again failed to appear, just as he had at the first three debates.
That’s not our campaign talking. That’s the moderator, a local journalist, telling a room full of Hall County voters that their congressman’s excuse didn’t hold up.
Here’s the full timeline of how our campaign has reached out for months to invite Rich and his team to shape the debate series and show up for the district.
The receipts
June 30: Our campaign emailed a letter from myself to Rich McCormick inviting him to a debate series and posted it publicly. The invitation, we said, would remain open throughout the series.
July 7: With no reply, I hand-delivered the letter to McCormick’s office. A staffer told Tony on camera he’d make sure McCormick received it on the campaign side. (I’d have gone to a campaign office in the district, but McCormick doesn’t have one.)
July 11: Still no response to my letter. So I made another video and posted it for those asking when the debates would take place in Georgia’s 7th District.
July 15: The Cherokee Tribune became the first outlet to report the debate challenge, and McCormick’s campaign gave them a quote in reference to their article inquiring about the debates.
July 28: Access North Georgia reported on the challenge. McCormick’s campaign gave them the same quote.
July 30 and August 7: After speaking in person with a member of McCormick’s campaign staff at the one open event he held all summer, where he gave us his email address specifically to receive the debate details, my Communications Director sent them. Yet, no response.
August 4: The Gainesville Times, Forsyth County News, and Dawson County News all reported on the debate series.
August 14: The Cherokee Tribune reported the announced schedule.
August 17: The Dawson County moderator opened the debate by explaining how she personally reached out to McCormick’s campaign to invite him (4:20 in the linked debate video).
August 25: The Lumpkin County moderator did the same (0:40 in the linked debate video).
September 2: During McCormick’s own telephone town hall, his office called my home, in a chance accident. I asked McCormick directly when he was going to debate me. Rich McCormick heard the invitation with his own ears and then proceeded to lie on the call about not being able to discuss it, and just about everything else he said in his “tele townhall” where only he could speak at people and no one could reply back to him. (That’s not representation by the way)
September 9: Cherokee County moderator Rebecca Odom Woomer opened the debate by describing her outreach to McCormick’s campaign (1:20 in the linked debate video), after posting her invitation email publicly on Facebook. The Cherokee Tribune covered the Cherokee County debate the next day and was very fair in their reporting. Thank you to Shannon Ballew and her team at that paper.
September 14 and 16: Access North Georgia reported that it had reached out to McCormick’s cam
September 21: My Communications Director emailed McCormick’s campaign, to invite them again, to participate in the upcoming 5th debate in Forsyth County on October 5th at 6:30 pm at the Board of Commissioners Meeting Room at 2345 Freedom Parkway in Cumming, GA.
Emails from our campaign, letters, a hand delivery, four newspapers, four moderators, and a live phone conversation with the congressman himself. “I don’t recall” isn’t a memory problem. It’s a coward who doesn’t want to be held accountable for the harm he’s inflicted on his district.
We’ve also invited the county Republican parties to participate. According to the Hall County Democrats, when the Hall County GOP asked McCormick about Friday’s debate, he declined, saying something to the effect that he doesn’t need to debate because he’s in a “safe seat.”
A recent poll from 20/20 Insight shows this race within three points. Rich McCormick may not be as safe as he thinks. And his refusal to show up for voters is a big part of why this race has become competitive.
Why they won’t debate
This isn’t just about Rich McCormick. Republicans across the country are ducking debates for the same reason: they can’t defend the votes they’ve taken. They can’t stand in front of a room of working families and explain why they voted for a budget bill that cut benefits so billionaires could get a tax break. They can’t explain gas over $4 a gallon, diesel over $6 a gallon. They can’t explain blocking the release of the Epstein files. So they hide behind mailers, paid social media, and cardboard.
I’m not hiding. I stood for more than an hour and answered every question put to me by William Daughtry and then the audience members who stayed after to ask me the questions that weren’t covered - including the hard ones.
What’s next
The debate series continues. The Forsyth County debate, moderated by the Forsyth County News, is set for October 5, and the Fulton County debate is being finalized for October 15, moderator to be determined. Every debate so far has been standing room only, with more voters watching on the YouTube livestream.
The invitation to Rich McCormick remains open, as it has been since June 30. He knows where to find us. He’s been told in writing, in person, in the press, by four moderators, and on his own phone line.
The only question left is whether he’ll ever show up. Voters in the 7th District deserve an answer, and in November, they’ll give him one.
Watch the full debate
Missed it? Watch the full Hall County debate on YouTube, or jump straight to the topics you care about most:
0:00 Welcome and opening remarks from the moderator
1:34 Opening statement from Tony Kozycki
4:14 Cardboard Rich makes his appearance
5:07 New poll shows the race within three points
6:22 Flock cameras, surveillance and law enforcement oversight
8:41 Immigration reform and ICE detention facilities
11:11 Border security funding
13:35 Lake Lanier and representation in Congress
15:05 Iran war, gas prices and affordability
18:33 Antisemitism, Israel funding and the national debt
20:36 Housing affordability and private equity
23:34 Money in politics, Citizens United, gerrymandering and term limits
27:08 Press freedom and the media
29:35 Town halls and access to representatives
31:40 Supreme Court reform
32:17 Minimum wage and a living wage
34:02 Health care: Medicare for All, costs and Georgia Medicaid expansion
36:48 Submitted audience questions begin
37:16 Taxes and voter registration
39:30 Personal ethics and family values
42:09 Accountability, subpoenas and bipartisan standards
44:35 Independence of the Justice Department
47:14 Epstein files and transparency
50:10 Data centers, water use and environmental safeguards
53:30 Constituent services and support for veterans
57:39 Georgia’s film industry and its workers
59:41 Social Security’s financial future
1:03:22 Accountability, town halls and showing up for voters
1:05:47 Iran: boots on the ground and the cost of war
1:08:33 Cancer rates and environmental protection
1:11:07 Measles, vaccines and public health
🗳️ Learn more: kozyckiforcongress.com
💙 Chip in: secure.actblue.com/donate/foundingdonorsforkozycki