DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. — Dawson County is among the reddest of red counties in Georgia, if not the nation. Few can remember the last time a Democrat or independent was bold enough to even run for county commission here, much less win.

So, you might say that Robert J. Wiley, who is attempting to run as an independent against Republican Chris Gaines in the November General Election for Board of Commissioners in District 2, will have an uphill battle on his hands.

First, he will have to obtain more than 600 signatures on a nomination petition in the next three weeks to even become eligible to run. Then he will have to defeat a popular former Dawsonville City Councilman who has strong name recognition, a history of public service and who is battle tested.

But then, Wiley is no stranger to combat. He is a retired U.S. Army Major and a combat veteran with two tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan under his belt. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Indiana, a Masters Degree in Public Administration From Weber University and is working on his PhD in Public Policy and Administration. He is currently a junior ROTC instructor at Dawson County High School.

Wiley says he is a Republican and would have run in the Republican Primary had he not missed the deadline due to working on his PhD.

He and his wife and three daughters have only lived in Dawson County for two years, but he says the people he has talked to feel they have been disenfranchised and want to have a strong voice in county government.

If he’s elected Wiley says his top priority is to oversee a healthy budget. “If the budget is out of whack you can’t do anything,” he said.

Another priority for Wiley is employee retention. “I believe our county employees are underpaid,” he said. “We can do better than what we’re doing. Also, the infrastructure must be maintained. New developments coming to the 400 corridor. I don’t want us to bring in retail businesses that put old established businesses out of business and leave us with a bunch of empty buildings. I’d like to see most of the retail businesses stay in the 400 cooridor. There are a lot of farms on the north side I dont want to see their farming way of life change.”