Sonny Perdue

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George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is the current governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. Upon his inauguration in January 2003, he became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Benjamin Conley at the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s.

Perdue was born in Perry, Georgia and grew up in Houston County, Georgia, near Bonaire.

He was elected in November 2002, defeating incumbent Democrat Roy Barnes in what was widely regarded as an upset. The campaign focused largely on perceived abuses of power by Barnes, and the poor test scores in Georgia schools.

Perdue's main focus in office has been on reforming state government, improving education, and growing the state's economy. Regardless of the fact that the Republicans have gained a majority in both houses of the legislature, Perdue does not influence or dominate either house to a large extent. Perdue has advocated for comprehensive ethics reform legislation, and has instituted a series of reforms designed to cut waste in government.

In education, Perdue has focused on returning decision-making to the local level. Despite his beliefs in localism, however, Perdue has not opposed efforts by the Legislature to mandate increased extracurricular paperwork to thwart the founding of support clubs for teenage homosexual students. Since Perdue took office, Georgia briefly moved out of last place in SAT scores, but returned to last place in 2005.

During his campaign, Perdue denounced Governor Barnes and Democratic party state legislators for changing the Georgia state flag by removing its "St. Andrews Cross" Confederate Battle Flag emblem. Georgia added the emblem to its state flag in 1956 as a "Living Memorial to Georgia's Confederate Dead", in anticipation of the American Civil War centennial. However, given its incorporation shortly following the landmark desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka the incorporation of the Confederate Battle Emblem to the state banner is believed by some to have been done as a protest to the Supreme Court's desegregation of public schools. Georgia Governors are powerful state executives if they choose, mainly through influence with the legislature, and Barnes had successfully pressed the state legislature to adopt a seemingly innocuous flag featuring the state seal on a blue field with a bottom row of small previous state and national flags. This change proved unpopular, and signs calling on voters to "Boot Barnes" popped up throughout rural areas of the state. Perdue's strong opposition to this change, charged by some as "race baiting" and "Good ol' Boyism," contributed to his unexpected defeat of Barnes.

Having won office after promising to let the citizens of Georgia vote to determine their flag, Perdue let down many of his supporters by signing legislation that would allow for a vote but not include Georgia's previous 1956-2001 flag as an option. The referendum, which saw the lowest voter turnout in twenty years, saw close to 80% of Georgian voters chose to take down the Barnes flag and replace it with the flag; which is essentially a slight modification of the State Flag that flew prior to 1956, itself a modified version of the original Confederate "Stars and Bars." Despite this, "Boot Barnes" has been replaced by "Punt Perdue."

As Governor, he is a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association, and the Republican Governors Association.

Perdue will face Ray "States Rights" McBerry in the July 18, 2006 Republican primary and, should he win, the winner of the Democratic primary in the November general election.

Polling data

The Rasmussen poll from May 6 indicates Perdue’s lead over Secretary of State Cathy Cox (D) has almost evaporated to within just 6 points, 48% to 42%, after leading by as many as 21 points in January. His margin is somewhat larger against Lt. Governor Mark Taylor, 51% to 36% [link].

The Strategic Vision poll from May 5-7 shows Perdue leading Cox 50% to 42%, and leading Taylor 51% to 37% [link].

Electoral history

2002 Race for Governor
*Sonny Perdue (R), 52%
*Roy Barnes (D) (inc.), 46%

External links

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