Seeking political office for the first time, Branko Radulovacki will speak in Savannah this morning about why he is running for the U.S. Senate seat Republican Saxby Chambliss has held in Georgia for a decade.
Radulovacki, an Atlanta psychiatrist who entered the race as a Democrat earlier this year, began a mini-tour of Coastal Georgia Saturday with meet-and-greets in both Savannah and Statesboro.
Speaking with a couple dozen members of the Young Democrats of Georgia gathered in Savannah for a training summit, Radulovacki, who is known as “Dr. Rad,” explained how his work advocating for underprivileged mental health patients pushed him toward wanting more civic responsibility.
“I pursued what I felt I was called to do and that was to stand up for those who could not speak for themselves — those who are disadvantaged or vulnerable in our society,” Radulovacki said. “It made me believe that one person can make a difference to positively affect a crisis and change the status quo.”
Radulovacki emigrated with his family to the United States at age 7 from the former Yugoslavia. Before graduating medical school, he earned degrees in economics and business management and worked as a Wall Street banker.
Those experiences along with his career in medicine, he said, have shaped his belief that he could make a very positive impact on a “gridlocked” U.S. legislature “in crisis.”
Among his key issues, Radulovacki said, are education, immigration and health care.
On education: “I’m a believer in education. I’m a believer that it’s important to give opportunity — to give access to educational institutions to as many people as you can, and we’ve got to make that affordable … I want to make sure those who are seeking higher education will not be overly (financially) burdened by those pursuits.”
On immigration: “By the time I was 8 years old I’d lived on three continents (Europe, Africa and North America) and it really made me realize just how important our differences are and how we need to understand and be inclusive of those differences … Many immigrants here are folks who only want to make a difference and be productive members of our society, and we need a program that allows those individuals to make a home here in the United States.”
On health care: “Health care’s something that is very close to my heart, obviously, as a physician. The Affordable Care Act — is it perfect? Well, it’s not perfect and it has limitations, at the same time, at its core is access to health care, and we have to have access to health care. We need to have a healthy population. A population that is healthy is a population that can be productive and can contribute to our society and make it stronger and better.”
Radulovacki will speak between 10 a.m. and noon today during morning worship services at St. Phillip Monumental AME Church at 1112 Jefferson St.
“I’m excited about this opportunity,” he told the Young Democrats on Saturday. “I believe while one person cannot govern, one person can make a significant impact in a positive way to change the governing process.
“I heard this recently from a friend: Georgia really needs a senator and Washington really needs a psychiatrist, so I’m the man for the job.”