THOMASVILLE — Hunter Hill wants to take the lessons he learned as an Army officer and apply them to leading the state of Georgia.

Hill is seeking the Republican nomination to replace Gov. Nathan Deal, whose second term in office ends next year. He said it is a fair question from voters to those in office on what they have done to put the values of less taxes, less government and more freedom into place.

“If you want business as usual, no robust change, and maintaining the status quo, I’m not your guy,” he said. “If you want bold change that is going to move Georgia to its full potential, I am a conservative Army Ranger and I am ready to shake things up.”

The West Point grad and former Army Ranger served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, twice with the 101st Airborne Division and later with the South Carolina National Guard.

“Being an Army Ranger, you learn about leadership, you learn about focus and you learn about results,” he said. “You’re getting missions that do have a finite mission and purpose and if you don’t deliver results, people’s lives can be at risk. Politics is unique in that you can go have a career having delivered no results.”

Hill, a Cobb County native, was elected to the state Senate in 2012 and served in the General Assembly for five years. He resigned his seat in August. He had been vice-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and vice-chairman of the majority caucus. Hill also had been chairman of the Senate Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee.

It was during his third combat tour, and his second to Afghanistan, that he had his first experience seeing how government misuses its resources, he said.

“We have great leaders in the military,” Hill said. “It’s in the government where we lack leadership.”

Hill said that when he first ran for office, he wanted to use his beliefs in limited government, free enterprise and individual responsibility to make a difference in policy.

“I’ve been in the Senate for five years and lo and behold, I find we have dozens of broken philosophies in our state government,” he said. “I was proud of being part of moving the conservative agenda forward in the state Senate but many times that was blocked by the more establishment career politicians who like to talk strong during campaigns but aren’t willing to lead strong enough once elected.”

Among his aims, if elected governor, are to eliminate the state income tax. Florida and Tennessee do not have state income taxes, though Tennessee has taxed dividend and interest income.

Having a state income tax puts Georgia at a competitive disadvantage, Hall said.

“We have talked about it for 14 years as Republicans,” he said, “but there hasn’t been a willingness to get it done and I’m going to lead to get it done.”

Hill’s plan to make up the difference for the state budget is based on Tennessee’s model of a broad-based consumption tax.

“But there also would be economic growth,” he said. “When families are able to keep more of their money, they are able to direct their spending in a way that is more beneficial to them and the economy will have a net growing effect as a result.”

Hill’s economic development platform has three planks. First, he said, businesses look at what the taxes and regulatory conditions are. Second, they look at the transportation network. Third is the workforce and businesses look at if a community is prepared to take on the jobs offered.

Hill wants to double the state’s spending on transportation in a first term. Back in the 1970s, 15 percent of the state’s budget went to transportation, he said. Now that figure is at 5 percent.

“Over time we wanted to be all things to all people and funded things that don’t deliver for people,” he said. “We have starved transportation from its necessary and needed investment.”

Hill said he wants to get transportation funding back to 10-12 percent of the state budget, which is in line with what Florida spends.

Hill also said he wants to remove the burdens on teachers and principals to be able to lead their schools and is in favor of expanding more options and choices for parents.

“Lifestyle choices and how people live is very important and we can’t ignore those facts,” he said. “Right now, I’d say we need to look to our health care delivery system and say it’s not producing results and we’re going to have some key and tough decisions.”

Hill added he has voted three times for religious liberty measures in the General Assembly that have failed to be enacted into law. Gov. Deal vetoed a 2016 measure and a bill put forth in the 2017 session was crafted after the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, adopted by Congress in the 1990s.

“If it’s good enough for federal government, it should be good enough for the state of Georgia,” Hill said. “All we’re wanting to do is restore religious liberty to its original protection in the Constitution of a strict scrutiny standard. It’s a hurdle the government has to climb. That bar has been lowered and it should be restored so that people’s religious liberty is protected.”

Hill said his message of being a true conservative leader is resonating with people he meets across the state.

“People understand this liberal drift has occurred, whether Republicans or Democrats have been in charge,” he said. “The values and principles that made our country great are under attack. I tell everybody, islamic terrorism will never bring our country to its knees. We’re too strong for that. What will bring our country to its knees is weak, career politicians who undermine the values and principles that made our country great.”

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.