The race to become Georgia’s next governor is a crowded affair. Already in the field are Six Republicans and Four Democrats, including one former governor, two former Secretaries of State, the former President of the Georgia Senate, the Attorney General, the Insurance Commissioner, and a Member of Congress are already in the field. The challenge for so many candidates is how to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.
For the most part, the candidates have focused all their efforts on raising money - an easy stick for insiders and the media to use to measure a candidate’s chances. Of course, money has not meant so much in assessing races in years past in Georgia. In 2002, the incumbent governor out raised his challenger by an overwhelming five to one (5:1) margin and lost. And in the last election, the incumbent United States Senator out raised his opponent by a dominating margin and was forced into a run-off.
So far this year, money has not been that much of a stick by which to measure candidates for Georgia’s highest office in 2010. While the leaders of the pack have raised some real money, it has been nothing like the kind of money that dominated prior elections in Georgia. The numbers tell the story.
As of last December 31, 2009, all of the major Democratic candidates for governor had raised a little over four million dollars ($4,000,000) combined. Former Governor Roy Barnes led the Democratic field with just over $2.7 million. All of the major Republican candidates for governor had raised almost $7.4 million combined. The total among the top-tier candidates for governor in 2010 was $11,416,229. That is real money, unless it is compared to years past.
As of December 31, 2005, Governor Sonny Perdue, Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor, and Secretary of State Cathy Cox had raised almost twenty million dollars ($19,784,461 to be precise). Now that is real money. Basically, 2009 fundraising among the leading candidates for governor was off over forty percent (40%) from four years ago, notwithstanding an increase in the number of top-tier candidates in the race by a factor of three.
Even that does not tell the story. As of December 31, 2001, then Governor Roy Barnes had raised alone over twenty million dollars. (Interestingly, he only received 937,062 votes, which meant that he spent over twenty dollars ($20.00) for every vote he received.) So basically, all the candidates for governor in 2010 are only raising about one-half of what a single candidate raised eight years ago.
So what does it all mean? Well, the pressure is really on for the candidates this year to find ways to distinguish themselves - especially for those candidates lingering toward the back of the pack in fundraising. Now, one way to do that is to campaign full-time to visit every part of the state. Two candidates have already stepped down from prestigious positions in order to campaign full-time. After all, full-time candidacies reflect confidence and commitment.
For those who either cannot or will not put all of their chips in, there is always the “Hail Mary” option. In politics, it means doing something that is completely out of the ordinary in hopes that it might just connect with voters. Necessarily, it involves the unexpected. Sometimes, it works. More often, it does not.
And so, there is the gubernatorial bid of Democrat Minority Leader Dubose Porter from Dublin, Georgia. Lagging far behind Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former Governor Roy Barnes, Porter took an extra deep drop and heaved a long pass down the political field. He is running for Governor. His wife, Carol Porter, is now running as a Democrat for Lieutenant Governor.
Instantly, this announcement did something for Porter that he has not been able to do during his campaign, and which would otherwise cost him thousands of dollars. He and his wife were in newspapers, on radio and television, and reaching voters all around Georgia.
Humorously, one political commentator expressed that voters might be skeptical because it could place the control of the Office of Governor and the legislature in one family. (Of course, the Lieutenant Governor actually does not have any power that the Georgia Senate does not yield and has no power over the Georgia House.)
Yet, if anything, many believe that a husband-wife combo in the offices of governor-lieutenant governor could make the political spats in the past look like child’s play. On the other hand, it could be an effective deterrent to the problems of Governor Mark Sanford. If something like that happened in Georgia, Carol Porter could kick Dubose out of the Governor’s Mansion and take over the governor’s office in one swoop. Now that is commitment to family values - just with a twist.
