Georgia Legislative Watch

Strategic Vision, a Republican-leaning firm, has a new poll out on the 2010 party primaries for Governor.

Republican primary
- John Oxendine: 35%
- Karen Handel: 13%
- Nathan Deal: 12%
- Eric Johnson: 4%
- Ray McBerry: 2%
- Austin Scott: 2%
- Undecided: 32%

Deal, despite his Fred Thompson-like campaign, is doing better than I expected. Scott is where I thought he would be, in fact I expect him to finish dead last in the GOP primary.

This poll is a mixed bag for Oxendine. He isn’t winning enough voters over. Every poll has him at or around 35%, which enough for the lead and I’m sure his campaign will make you aware of that, but he isn’t moving up despite all the noise he has made. It’s a safe bet that his name recognition has got him where he is at.

It’s also bad news for Karen Handel because she hasn’t moved much, if any, since the GOP convention. She has her work cut out for her.

Democratic primary
- Roy Barnes: 49%
- Thurbert Baker: 30%
- David Poythress: 5%
- Dubose Porter: 2%
- Undecided: 14%

I’m not too surprised by the number of undecideds here. Barnes and Baker are the only two Democrats that will be competitive against Deal, Handel or Oxendine.

CQ Politics has changed the status of the Governor’s race in Georgia to “Leans Republican,” it was previously listed as “Republican Favored,” after Roy Barnes entrance in the the Democratic primary.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Insider Advantage are reporting that Roy Barnes will announce his candidacy for Governor of Georgia today at 1:30 pm in Marietta:

Former Gov. Roy Barnes, whose defeat after a single term in 2002 sent shockwaves through Georgia politics and set the stage for Republicans to control state government for much of the past eight years, will announce today he is seeking his old job back.

That ends months of speculation about whether he will seek to swing the state back into the Democratic column, at least at the chief executive level. Winning back the Legislature is not something most observers see in the cards for Democrats for the timebeing.

The announcement is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Marietta, but the campaign won’t begin immediately. Between now and July 1, the official launch date, he will be wrapping up current commitments.

While the decision doesn’t exactly come out of the blue, given the amount of speculation it had spawned, it does set Democratic politics spinning.

An InsiderAdvantage / Majority Opinion Research poll conducted May 21 showed Barnes the prohibitive favorite in the Democratic race for governor should he decide to run. He was at 38 percent, compared with 3 percent for Attorney General Thurbert Baker, 2 percent for former Adjutant General David Poythress and 2 percent for House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, with some 53 percent of likely Democratic voters undecided.

Barnes, in my opinion, is the frontrunner in the Democratic Party primary, but he’s going to get blamed for every problem with the Democratic Party in Georgia since his defeat in 2002.

Below is a list of currently announced and prospective candidate for United States Congress in 2010. This list is by no means complete, as candidates have yet to make formal announcements. We’ll be adding to it as we progress into qualifying next year (April 26-30, 2010) for the party primary (July 20, 2010). Some of the announced candidates do not have much information with the Federal Election Commission. We’ll post it as soon as it’s available.

Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*), while potential candidates are in italics. Candidates in plain text are confirmed candidates.

United States Senate (Class III)

First District

Second District

Third District

Fourth District

Fifth District

Sixth District

Seventh District

Eighth District

Ninth District

Tenth District

Eleventh District

Twelfth District

Thirteenth District

Trying to keep track of potential candidates for 2010 is rough right now with so many rumors flying around. However, we’re keeping a list here at GLW in hopes that it’ll be a little easier. This list includes only state constitutional officers and is by no means final.

This list was complied from various press releases, news sources, filings with the Ethics Commission, Politics1.com, Peach Pundit and Tondee’s Tavern.

Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*), while potential candidates are in italics. The list will be updated throughout the year and into next year. If you feel that someone is missing from the list or someone who should come off the list, please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

Keep checking back as this list will change often.

Governor

Lieutenant Governor

Secretary of State

Attorney General

School Superintendent

Insurance Commissioner

Agriculture Commissioner

Labor Commissioner

PSC District 2

Originally posted on April 6, 2009.

I’m on vacation for the next nine days, so any posts while I’m gone will come from either Jeff or Chris. There will be an update on legislation signed by the Governor when I get back.

Until then…Peace.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle looks to have an easier path to re-election now that State Sen. David Shafer has dropped out of the race.

Congressman Nathan Deal announced his entrance into the Republican primary for Governor this morning in Gainesville to “hundreds of supporters.”

You can see his website here.

His remarks from today be viewed below the cut.
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