From staff and wire reports
—
Whitfield County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Babb says he “had a rough night” Tuesday.
Babb, one of a number of local officials who backed former U.S. representative Nathan Deal in his bid for governor, says he was keeping a close eye on the Republican runoff tallies as they came in for Deal’s race against former secretary of state Karen Handel.
“It was close, and I thought for sure when Fulton County came in it was going to eke her in, but it didn’t,” he said. “At the end of the night, Deal was ahead, but I thought we’d have a recount.”
After a bitter runoff that featured nasty attack ads and dueling endorsements from potential 2012 presidential contenders, Deal defeated Handel by just 2,489 votes out of more than a half-million cast, according to unofficial returns.
Handel, who had cast herself as an outsider, conceded the race Wednesday, avoiding what could have been a drawn-out recount. Deal now faces a general election battle with Democrat Roy Barnes, a one-term governor who was ousted eight years ago.
“The best thing for our party is to rally around Congressman Deal as our nominee in the fight against Roy Barnes,” Handel said in a statement. “Barnes would return Georgia to a past that is best kept in our rearview mirror.”
John Hutcheson, chairman of the Division of Social Sciences at Dalton State College, said a recount could have put Deal’s campaign on hold for a week or two. Avoiding it, he said, allows Deal to focus his time and energy on his campaign against Barnes.
Between them, Deal and Barnes have spent more than 50 years in elected office.
“Barnes is going to try to portray himself as an outsider when he is actually a major player in national Democratic politics,” said Babb.
Barnes served four years as governor and another 22 years in the General Assembly. Deal served 12 years in the General Assembly and almost 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Northwest Georgia, including Whitfield and Murray counties.
“These are two very seasoned, and very skilled politicians,” said Hutcheson.
Republicans are linking Barnes to the Obama administration and congressional Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
“The refusal of those leaders to listen to the will of the people on critical issues such as out-of-control spending and health care mandates simply reminds Georgians about the way Barnes ruled imperially here before 2003,” outgoing Gov. Sonny Perdue said.
Barnes argues that Georgia’s ruling Republicans are driving the state to ruin.
“(I)t doesn’t matter who my opponent is, this election is about the serious issues facing all Georgians, not the out-of-state endorsements and sideline issues that the other team has used to divide voters,” the former governor said.
Fred Gould, a Democratic Party state committee member from Murray County, said the Republicans’ record over the past eight years while controlling both the governor’s mansion and the General Assembly will be a major issue this year.
“Any candidate right now for a party that is responsible for the economic situation that our state finds itself in would be in a tough position,” Gould said.
During the campaign, Handel hammered Deal on ethics allegations and attacked the “good ol’ boy” network.
Earlier this year, the Office of Congressional Ethics found Deal may have violated U.S. House rules by lobbying state officials to keep intact a lucrative deal with the state that earned his auto salvage business $1.5 million from 2004 to 2008. Deal stepped down shortly before the office issued its findings to run for governor.
Georgia’s revenue commissioner has received a federal subpoena related to his discussions with Deal, who says he has not been told he is the target or subject of a federal investigation.
But all was forgiven on Wednesday as the Deal camp sought to appeal to Handel voters.
Deal called Handel “selfless” in her devotion to Georgia and the state’s Republican Party.
Despite her ties to Perdue, Handel ran as an outsider and was the pick of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. High-wattage political endorsements from Palin and others made Georgia’s gubernatorial runoff look like a proving ground for the 2012 presidential race. Ex-presidential contender Mike Huckabee backed Deal as did former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich. Mitt Romney, another 2009 White House contender, supported Handel.
The Palin touch proved not enough to push Handel to the finish line.
After coming in first in the state’s seven-person July 20 primary — 11 percentage points ahead of Deal — Handel saw her lead evaporate.
Deal picked up a number of rural counties in south and middle Georgia that had been won by former rivals state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and former state Senate president pro tempore Eric Johnson in the primary. Handel won counties along the coast that Johnson, of Savannah, had carried on July 20.
And, in the low turnout runoff, Handel failed to make significant gains in metro Atlanta counties that she won easily in the primary. Deal picked up a win in suburban Gwinnett County and made gains in voter-rich Cobb County.
