July 21, 2004

Baptist ministers to face off in Georgia Senate race
By John Pierce
Executive Editor
Baptists Today

MACON, Ga. — Two Baptist ministers — Republican Cecil Staton and Democrat Ben Taylor —will be campaigning for an open state Senate seat to be determined in the Nov. 2 general election. The newly created district covers parts of five central Georgia counties.

Taylor, minister of education and administration at the First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, where he has served since 1986, faced no opposition in the July 20 Democratic primary. Staton was the projected winner over physician Meg Nichols in the Republican primary, receiving 54.5 percent of the votes with 95 percent of the precincts tallied.

Staton is president of Smyth and Helwys Publishing that produces curriculum and other resources for a primarily moderate Baptist audience. He also recently birthed Stroud and Hall, a new publishing house that released U.S. Senator Zell Miller’s stinging critique of the Democratic Party. The bestseller is titled, A National Party No More.

Taylor, who lives in the Bolingbroke community north of Macon, was elected three times to the Monroe County Board of Education. He resigned that position to run for the state Senate.

Staton entered the political arena in 2002, losing in a primary run-off with eventually winner Phil Gingrey (R-Georgia) for the 11th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The two candidates are graduates of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. Both Staton and Taylor describe themselves as conservatives and their entry into to politics as an extension of their ministry calling.