Politicians turn eyes to 2010

You may be suffering from campaign withdrawal if:

–You check your mail each day hoping to find a glossy mailer attacking incumbent politicians’ voting records.

–You miss your answering machine being filled with robocalls urging you to support Saxby Chambliss over Jim Martin.

–You watch recorded television shows from the fall and feel nostalgic when you see ads calling Barack Obama inexperienced or criticizing John McCain’s economic policies.

By Jess Davis, Brunswick News — Mar 02, 2009

Luckily, a cure for ailing political junkies is not far around the corner. A winter break from campaign season is all but over as the state’s energy turns toward 2010, when a slew of statewide offices and one Senate seat will be up for grabs.

Drawing the most attention – and the most candidates – is the governor’s seat that will be vacated by Sonny Perdue after his two-term limit expires.

John Oxendine, Georgia’s insurance commissioner, had declared himself a 2010 candidate before the 2008 elections had ended, but is now facing tougher and much higher-profile competition from fellow Republicans.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle wants the job, as does Secretary of State Karen Handel. State Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, and states’ rights activist Ray McBerry have also thrown their hats in the ring.

In addition, a number of other prominent Republicans are putting out feelers and testing the waters to see if it’s worth making a run for the seat, including U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, who is rumored to be thinking about the seat.

Kingston, in Brunswick recently, had this to say about his potential candidacy: “I have not taken my name out of the hat on that, but I’m concentrating on the work I’m doing in Washington.”

While the 2008 Senate campaign for the seat of Republican Saxby Chambliss was hotly contested and ended up being one of the most expensive, to date the 2010 Senate campaign for the seat of Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, looks like it will be low-key.

Isakson kicked off his re-election campaign this month and so far no one has emerged as a possible challenger, either on the Republican or Democratic side. Isakson is in his first term.

Democrats have been slower in general to jump into the 2010 elections in terms of candidates running for office, although the state party says it’s very active in preparing for the mid-term vote.

David Poythress, former Georgia Assistant Attorney General, Deputy State Revenue Commissioner, Secretary of State and Georgia Labor Commissioner, ran for governor in 1998 and is actively campaigning again for the position.

State Rep. DuBose Porter, the House Minority Leader from Dublin, is the only other Democrat to say publicly he may run for the seat.

Martin Matheny, spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said it’s not that Democrats don’t plan to run. They’re just taking more time to make the decision.

“Any of these big statewide races, for governor or for senate – this is the stage where a candidate is not out there publicly but doing a lot of planning and a lot of thinking on it,” Matheny said. “We’re still a long ways out. If you’re going to run statewide, you need to make sure you can raise several million dollars and make sure it’s OK with your personal life. Now is when everybody’s making those decisions.”

Kingston said he thinks long-running campaigns have become a fixture of the times following the 2008 presidential election, which had two years of solid campaigning for some candidates.

Ruby Robinson, a leader in the Glynn County Republican Party, said she appreciates the candidates getting out early.

“I think it’s real important,” Robinson said. “I try to start early on, looking at them, talking with them, getting to know their views. With a two-year span you have more of an opportunity to get to know what their real principles and real feelings are.”

Robinson said she started thinking 2010 the day after the 2008 elections ended. The mid-term elections could be a rallying point for Republicans, she said. Nationally, the Republican Party has taken a beating, losing seats in 2006 and 2008, and could be ready for a comeback.

“It’s going to be an era where we rebuild and become stronger,” she said. “It’s a learning process if you will and will allow us to get back to what the party stands for.”

Matheny said it’s still early.

“I don’t necessarily think the voters are ready for hardcore campaigning,” he said, taking a shot at Republican candidates who are holding other offices now. “The concern I think anybody should have is, are we letting the legislative session turn into a political one-up-manship session?”

Office-holding candidates are barred from fundraising during the state’s legislative session, though they are free to make speeches and seek media attention.

Matheny said the state Democratic Party is holding regular 2010 planning meetings that are focused on fundraising and working with county parties. He said Democrats will likely be more visible starting in the summer.

The state Republican Party did not return messages seeking comment.

Vince Joubert Jr.-Davis, chair of the Glynn County Democratic Party, said people are still recovering from an intense and involved election cycle from 2008.

“My guess is people are still trying to decompress a little bit, especially on the Democratic side,” he said.

Locally, the county party is beginning to look at planning for 2010 but hasn’t cast a glance at statewide candidates, he said. No local Democratic candidates have come out to say they will run in 2010.

As with the Democrats, local Republicans have, for the most part, not begun their campaigns. But at least one race with have a primary challenge. Terry Carter, who lost this summer in an expensive campaign to incumbent State Sen. Jeff Chapman, said he plans to run again but won’t make an official announcement for some months to come.

Before any of that will be the 2009 city elections. Mayor Bryan Thompson and two commissioners, Cornell Harvey and James Brooks, are up for re-election. Harvey and Brooks say they will run again while Thompson says he hasn’t made his mind up yet.