Rich McCormick Says You’re a Foreign Agent for Worrying About Your Water Bill

Last week, Rep. Rich McCormick sat down with Bloomberg and said the quiet part out loud: he thinks Georgians who oppose new data centers in their communities are part of an “astroturfed” campaign and that the protesters are being paid by China.

Watch his comments, and Tony Kozycki’s response, here:

Let that sink in for a second. Families in Dawson, Lumpkin, Fulton, Cherokee, Forsyth, and Hall County who are raising legitimate concerns about their water tables, their power bills, and the land under their feet aren’t organizing because they’re worried about their communities, according to their sitting congressman…they’re foreign-funded actors.

What’s Actually Happening on the Ground

Data centers are being proposed and built across Georgia at a pace many residents feel they’ve had no real say in. The concerns aren’t abstract:

Water usage. Large-scale data centers can consume millions of gallons of water a day for cooling- a real issue in a district that includes rural counties already managing water resources carefully.
Power bills. As data center demand strains the grid, Georgia Power has already sought rate increases, and residents are asking who ends up footing the bill for infrastructure built to serve corporate server farms.
Local control. Many of these projects move through zoning and permitting with limited community input, leaving residents feeling like decisions are being made about them, not with them.

These are the kinds of kitchen-table concerns a congressman is supposed to take seriously, not dismiss as a foreign influence operation.

My Response

As the Democratic nominee for GA-07, and a former Naval Aviator with three combat deployments, I can’t let Rich’s comments slide. My answer to McCormick is simple: the people raising concerns about data centers in this district aren’t paid operatives, they’re neighbors, farmers, and families who live here (and some would say that may not necessarily be true of you Rich)!

That’s the contrast at the center of this race. McCormick has a pattern of dismissing constituent concerns rather than engaging with them. This is just the latest example. My approach, on the other hand, has been to show up: town halls, six-county debates, and direct engagement with the people I want to represent regardless of which side of the aisle they sit on.

Why This Matters Going Into November

Calling your own constituents astroturfed and foreign-funded isn’t a gaffe- it’s a tell. It says a lot about how a member of Congress views the people who disagree with him. Georgia’s 7th District deserves a representative who treats resident concerns as legitimate, not as a conspiracy to be waved away.

Upcoming Debates - attend in person by clicking the debate you’d like to attend and RSVP’ing on the form linked.

Or subscribe on YouTube to watch our Live Stream:

Cherokee County - September 9 at 6pm

Hickory Flat Library (Community Room) - 2740 East Cherokee Dr, Canton, GA

Hall County - September 18 at 6:30 pm

Train Depot - 5302 Railroad Avenue, Flowery Branch, GA

Forsyth County - October 5 at 6:30 pm

Board of Commissioners Mtg Room - 2435 Freedom Pkwy, Cumming, GA

North Fulton County - Date TBD - will be announced soon

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