2010 Race to the Georgia Governor's Mansion

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 and the long hot summer and brisk fall leading up to it are bound to be as explosive as Independence Day fireworks shows across Georgia. What's at stake? The governorship of the great southern state of Georgia.

About eight years ago, the republicans provided a shakeup when Sonny Perdue became the 81^st governor of the state and noticeably, turned a former Democratic stronghold on its ear. He took office on January 13, 2003 and became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Reconstruction.

Time has rolled around. Constitutionally, Perdue cannot be elected to a third term. How did he beat out Democrat Roy Barnes? Well, there were several issues. The primary one was the Georgia State Flag, which bore the emblem of the Confederacy. Many debates heated up during Barnes' time and Barnes directed the change of the flag without a vote.

This enraged many voters. But what happened when Perdue took office, was that he changed the flag again-one that was in resemblance to an earlier flag that had flown across Georgia during slavery times as well. And whether folks in Georgia were just tired of the fight or had no way to combat the new flag, it went through without a big fuss.

Education was a hot topic before. Teachers felt they had been let down by Barnes. They thought surely that Governor Sonny, being the sun of a teacher and being publicly educated, would herald the triumph through. But the latter years have proven that Perdue is no friend of public education in Georgia. All over the state, teachers have been furloughed without pay, test scores have plummeted, districts have been accused of widespread cheating and fraud, jobs have been lost, and Georgians face a real educational crisis. Now, Roy Barnes is running for the job he once held again, and many teachers are looking in his direction again.

There are a total of fourteen announced and bonafide candidates for Governor of Georgia: seven republicans, five democrats, one independent and one libertarian. Most experts feel that the seat is truly up for grabs-it could return to the Democrats after this one Republican experience, or perhaps the Republicans may be hold onto it in a state that votes heavily Republican in all other elections.

So who are the candidates? I debated long and hard to try and pick who I will discuss first as I, as a long time lover of Georgia politics, am truly non-partisan at this point. My biggest issue is the education of our children and I am waiting to see who has the best plan to solve the total educational chaos that has been created by the current sitting Governor.

But here we go. I am going to start with the Republicans, follow with the Democrats and then finish up with the Libertarian and the Independent.

Keep in mind the race is still yet very young. The Republican front leader appears, by most polls, to be John Oxendine, who now serves the state in the capacity of Georgia Insurance Commissioner. He has been fraught lately by scandal and has been accused of trying to manipulate his GOP brethren into allowing him to reign supreme. His website is www.johnoxendine.com where he lays out his plans, although vaguely. Up next, we have Nathan Deal and his website is www.dealforgovernor.com. Other GOP contenders include Karen Handel, www.karenhandel.com, and Eric Johnson, whose website is www.johnsonforgeorgians.com.

The other three candidates on the red side of the ballot are Ray McBerry at www.georgiafirst.org, Austin Scott, whose website is www.scottforga.com and Jeff Chapman, whose plans can be read at www.jeffchapmanforgovernor.com.

Now let's go over to the blue side of the equation where five men stand to battle it out for the winner in the Democratic Primary. One of these men will go against the red winner in November. Roy Barnes, the former governor is way ahead in the polls. But these new guys have much to say as well. Only time will tell if they will be able to put a dent in Barnes' considerable lead. Barnes' website is www.roy2010.com and the other four Dems are Thubert Baker, at www.thubertbaker.com, Carl Camon, whose website is www.camonforgovernor.com, and DuBose Porter, whose website address is www.porterforgeorgia.com. Rounding out the five is David Poythress, who interestingly enough, has said he will not take a salary if he is elected until all of Georgia's unemployment statistics have been drastically reduced. His website is www.poythressforgovernor.com.

And finally, we have the two candidates that do not fall along the major party lines. The Libertarian candidate is John Monds, at www.votemonds.com, and actually received over a million votes in a previous election, and is very viable. The Independent candidate is Al Bartell, whose website address is www.albartell.com.

We as Georgians all have a lot of homework to do and we really need to know where these candidates stand, especially on education, which affects all our children. What exactly are they going to do? How will they do it? Where will the money come from?

There are a lot of questions. To find the answers, we as Georgians need to know what to ask in the first place and not follow along party lines. There has never been a better time to be informed voters that actually vote in Georgia. There is too much at stake to not vote. The right man or woman can mean all the difference for the stability in our state.