Ray McBerry Makes Bid for Governor

ATLANTA (MyFOX ATLANTA) - The 2010 governor's race is wide open. In the Republican contest, four candidates have already declared their bid and more are expected.

Republican Ray McBerry has already run for governor, but he is trying again this year for the nomination. McBerry's overriding issues is states rights.

"The theme for our campaign is not Atlanta, not Washington, but Georgia first," said McBerry. The theme helped win McBerry close to 12 percent of the Republican primary vote in 2006 when he challenged incumbent Sonny Perdue.

"There's only one candidate who will stand up to the federal government and say get the hell out of our business and leave my people alone," McBerry said.

The 41-year-old Henry County native now lives in Forsyth County and works as an independent producer of TV commercials.

"We have a lot of work that we need to be doing here at home to get out of the strings that have bound us to the federal government and also issue some warnings to the federal government that some of those monies that that [have] been taking from the people of Georgia probably should have stayed here in the first place," said McBerry.

McBerry voiced support for ending abortion, support for gun rights and opposition to what he called "the downtown Atlanta establishment."

"Well I think in large part there are a lot of folks that are not native to Georgia that have chosen to take up residence in Georgia. Many of them have congregated in downtown Atlanta and a have a very different set of values that what most of us have that are native Georgians," said McBerry.

McBerry said that addressing the economic crisis "has to do with encouraging our local economy."

This year the state legislature was deadlocked again on the question of voter referendum for a one percent sales tax increase for transportation improvements.

"I think the key to the reason that the folks are not willing to give an extra cent or two cents to fix the transportation problem is because they've seen what we've done with the money in the past. It hasn't been well spent," said McBerry. "I'm in favor of any tax that the people approve themselves."