There are 13 people currently parading around Georgia, shaking hands and asking voters to choose him or her as our next governor.
Thirteen candidates seem like a lot of names and faces to keep track of. Georgia has not had a truly contested governor's primary for both the Democrats and the Republicans in the same election cycle since 1998.
This year we have a roster of political heavyweights duking it out in both primaries, including a former governor, two former Georgia secretaries of state, a U.S. Congressman, the state attorney general, the most powerful insurance commissioner in state history and a handful of current and former state representatives.
The problem is, as powerful as those positions are, many potential voters have no idea whom I was referencing in the last paragraph. And there are even more voters out there who are as of yet unaware that the candidate pool will shrink from 13 to five, four or possibly even three by the time the polls close on July 20.
This summer's governor primary is a big deal. The future of our state is in our hands. We would be wise to take the time to learn about the seven Republicans, five Democrats and one Libertarian before heading to the polls.
The last time there was a seriously contested primary on the Republican side, Sonny Perdue defeated Linda Schrenko and Bill Byne without a runoff. Believe it or not, we lucked out. The 28-percent of primary voters who backed Schrenko in 2002 were later shocked to find out that the former state school superintendent had bankrolled her campaign with taxpayer money intended for the classroom. In 2006, she was sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud and money laundering.
Now, there's no reason to believe that we have criminals like Schrenko lurking in this year's primary field, but there are a handful of candidates who are carrying significant ethical baggage into this race.
Two of the Republicans with the most name recognition and fundraising clout -- U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine -- are dealing with serious ethics violation charges. Deal was even infamously named one of America's 15 most corrupt members of Congress.
I have yet to see the five Democratic candidates debate in person.
On Saturday, I saw six of the seven Republican candidates debate at a forum sponsored by the Georgia Tech College Republicans. While I consider myself a political independent, I will vote in the Republican primary this summer because I know that it will have the most impact on the local races that will also be on the ballot.
Austin Scott, a current state representative from Tifton, really looked sharp Saturday at Tech. Outside of the 20 or so Karen Handel supporters who clapped after her every answer, Scott was the only one of the six candidates present to consistently draw a positive reaction from the audience.
While five candidates stretched their responses to the end of their time limits, circled issues with non-answers and force-fed the crowd what they thought it wanted to hear, Scott was refreshingly direct and to the point.
After Deal, Handel, Eric Johnson and Oxendine meandered their way through a question about whether or not Sunday alcohol sales should go on the ballot as a statewide referendum (all four said yes, in some roundabout way), Scott grabbed the microphone.
"I'm going to give a direct answer: yes. I support the referendum," he said. "This is what you can expect from me as your governor: straightforward, honest answers."
Scott is a good candidate. He has refused to accept campaign contributions from lobbyists. Instead he raised money for his governor's bid by literally walking around the state -- over 1,000 miles from Chickamauga to Bainbridge to Brunswick to Clayton.
Some of the other candidates might be equally as impressive in the eyes of other voters. But the point is, now is the time to get to know these 13. One of them will be leading our state by this time next year and it is our responsibility to pick the right one.
Alverson, a Fayetteville native, is the editor of this newspaper. |
