Garry Guan
Garry Guan (Republican Party) ran for election to the Georgia State Senate to represent District 40. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Guan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Garry Guan was born in Harbin, China. He received a bachelor's degree from Peking University in 1982, a master's degree from Central Institute of Nationalities, Beijing, in 1985, and attended the University of Pittsburgh in 1992. Guan's professional experience includes working as a translator/interpreter, a research associate in history of art and architecture at the University of Pittsburgh, and the managing editor of Chinese Cultural Relics. He has been affiliated with the Rotary Club of North Atlanta, the Asian American Resource Center, Inc., and Friends of Refugees.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 40
Incumbent Sally Harrell defeated Garry Guan in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 40 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sally Harrell (D) | 60.5 | 54,359 |
 | Garry Guan (R)  | 39.5 | 35,494 | |
| Total votes: 89,853 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 40
Incumbent Sally Harrell advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sally Harrell | 100.0 | 23,354 |
| Total votes: 23,354 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40
Garry Guan advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Garry Guan | 100.0 | 11,071 |
| Total votes: 11,071 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2012
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2012
Guan ran in the 2012 election for Georgia State Senate District 5. Guan ran unopposed in the Republican primary on July 31, 2012, but withdrew before the primary.[2] He would have faced incumbent Curt Thompson (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[3][4]
2010
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2010
Guan was unopposed in the July 20 primary.[5]
| Georgia State Senate, District 5 - Republican Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
 Garry Guan
|
2,230 | 100.0% | ||
Guan's lost to incumbent Curt Thompson (D) in the November 2 general election.[6]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Garry Guan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Guan's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Moving to Georgia in 1992, he has been a passionate volunteer and leader with a number of non-profits and professional organizations for 28 years. These include Asian American Resource Center, Partnership for Community Action, National Families in Action, Atlanta Association of Interpreters Translators, and many others. A member of Norcross First United Methodist Church, he has participated in a mission trip to Nicaragua and as President of Rotary Club of North Atlanta went on a humanitarian trip to Iquitos, Peru. Garry is a graduate of the Atlanta Regional Leadership Institute in 2006. He was inducted into Who's Who in Asian American Communities in 2007.
Promoting understanding and unity has been the hallmark of Garry's life. Garry shares the interests and concerns of the diverse constituents in Senate District 40 regarding education, development, transportation, and tax reform.
- Bring a fresh view, a new perspective, and a new voice to the state legislature to the table with a better understanding of our diverse citizens of the state.
- Bring civility to politics in the state legislature by willing to listen and giving consideration of the views and opinions across the aisle and building bi-partisan consciences and collaborations to serve the citizens of this great state.
- Providing easier access to our government for our diverse citizens. I will always be accessible with my mobile numbers and direct emails published to the public. With the pro bono convenience of my language service business, even non-English speaking citizens would no longer facing barriers of communications to their government.
As an Asian American parent of two public school children, education is always high on my priorities. I want to make sure to better teachers' pay to keep the talents in our state and for our future generations. I will advocate the parent and local controls for education, not the state, or federal government to decide how we educate our kids.
Health care is also one of the top concerns of our citizens. This is particularly the case for our seniors, mental health, and low-income and uninsured populations. I will advocate tort reform to reduce the skyrocket medical liability cost that passed on to patients and consumers. I will also fight the pharmaceutical companies' heavy influence on our government policies in emphasizing and promoting medications that "managing" diseases rather than cure them! I will advocate the medical billing transparency and allow the patients/consumers the informed options.
Bring civility to politics in the state legislature by willing to listen and giving consideration of the views and opinions across the aisle and building bi-partisan consciences and collaborations to serve the citizens of this great state.
As a matter of fact, I strongly believe that anyone who is so caught up in his/her own legacy would be a sign that he or she is not fit to hold that office!!
An elected official must think for the best interests of the people, the state and the country, and at times, must make decisions that may not be popular at the time, and can only be seen in hindsight for most people. A good leader must put him/her own popularity aside to make tough decisions that would benefit the people in the long run.
1992: Senior Archeologist, Garrow & Associates, Inc. Norcross, Georgia.
1993-1995: Archeologist, New South Associates, Inc. Stone Mountain, Georgia;
Serving as Principal Investigator and Managing Cultural Resource Management and Archeological projects across the southeast U.S. region.
1995-Present: Professional Translator/Interpreter & Owner of a small translation company, A-A Language Services, LLC.;
2016-Present: Research Associate of History of Art and Architecture, Department of History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh;
As a small group of African Americans armed protested Chinese merchant in front of Atlanta Chinatown on May 19, 2020, it was the African American Police Chief of the City of Chamblee that provided adequate police protections to ensure the event being peaceful without incident. Even in the backdrop of the nationwide Black Live Matters movement swept the country due to the unjust murder of George Floyd by police brutality, the Chinese American community showed their gratitude and appreciation to Chamblee Police by donating 2000 facemasks to the police force.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2010
On his campaign website, Guan lists five issues he is concerned about.[7] They are:
- Jobs/Economy
- Excerpt: "The best role for government is to foster a favorable business environment. That is why Garry is staunchly in favor of lowering tax burdens and lessening bureaucratic red tape."
- Education
- Excerpt: "Garry favors a new formula, to be worked out with teachers' involvement, that will focus on the individual teacher's education and commitment. Moreover, Garry vows to work to overhaul the current furlough system."
- Fiscal Responsibility/Smaller Government
- Excerpt: "Garry is working to identify exactly which government programs and departments fit in with government's core mission, and which have become an unnecessary burden to taxpayers."
- Property Rights
- Excerpt: "Home ownership was a vital component of The American Dream. The mortgage criswas and decline in property values have hit home owners hard. They should not be hit yet again by higher property taxes as governments try to make up for education short falls."
- Engage and Empower
- Excerpt: "Garry wants your feedback on ways to make Georgia politics both transparent and all-inclusive. Together, we will improve voter turnout and citizen participation."
See also
2020 Elections
External links
- Georgia Department of Elections list of state senate candidates
- July 20, 2010 Georgia Senate primary results
- Garry Guan official campaign website
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Garry Guan on Facebook
- Garry Guan on Twitter
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 17, 2020
- ↑ Secretary of State News, "Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp Releases Final Decisions on Multiple Candidate Challenges," July 23, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State Elections Division, "Candidate List," accessed May 29, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official 2010 Primary election results," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2010 Election results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Garry Guan and campaign website, "Issues" (dead link)
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