Snellville's Kathy Hildebrand is Delegate to GOP Convention

The Republican National Convention opens today, Aug. 27., and Kathy Hildebrand, of Snellville, will be one of nine Gwinnett County residents representing the state.

A total of 76 delegates represent Georgia at the convention in Tampa, Fl. 

Snellville Patch spoke with Hildebrand while she was on a short break in between speeches and events.

Hildebrand hoped from the beginning that would be a presidential candidate, so when she heard he was running as VP she couldn't have been more excited.

"When I heard Ryan was a candidate, I said, the game is changed," she said.

She hopes that the conversation during the debates will focus on the economy, which she feels the Democrats are attempting to avoid at all costs.

"We've got the Democrats fabricating that the Republicans are declaring a war on women," she said, "when they're welcoming radical Muslims into their convention, totally ignoring what these countries' policies are on women. What we want to talk about is the economy." 

So far, one of the highlights of the conference for Hildebrand was a concert performed by the chorus from Clearwater Christian College. Hildebrand is a board member of the college. 

"They sang three patriotic songs that were amazing and made me so happy for them," said Hildebrand. "These are very conservative kids anyway but they have never been to a political event like that."

Hildebrand considers herself a social and fiscal conservative. She graduated with a Math Education degree from Bob Jones University and an MBA from the University of Georgia in Management Science. She has served on the boards of North Atlanta Conservative Republican Women, GOP Capitol PAC, and the Gwinnett County GOP, according to her biography.

She was District Chair of the Bush Campaign in 2004, was the field director for Rick Santorum's campaign in Georgia, and is one of 16 Romney electors in Georgia's electoral college. 

"I'm so excited about being in the electoral college," she said. "I love history, so this is fascinating to me."

The other Gwinnett County residents are Heather Alvarez of Grayson, Bettye Chambers of Buford, Melanie Crozier of Braselton, Debbie Dooley of Dacula, Gloria Tow of Lilburn, Jason and Julianne Thompson of Suwanee and Joan Zellner of Burford.

What are your thoughts on this year's elections, and the Romney/Ryan ticket? Do you have a question for Hildebrand? Mention it and we'll pass it along!