Barnes may decide soon
Roy Barnes will determine within a month whether to take a stab at returning to the Governor’s Mansion in 2010, the founder of a group formed to encourage Barnes to run told members today.
“I have confirmation that Governor Barnes knows about our group and is going to make his decision in the next 3-4 weeks,” Michael Kozol of the Facebook group “Roy Barnes for Governor (Georgia 2010)” said in a message to members.
After Barnes’ 2002 upset at the hands Sonny Perdue, the Cobb County attorney swore off politics. In recent months, however, he’s been making speeches to small groups around the state, criticizing the Republican-led state government for its failure to address transportation and education problems — two issues Barnes had attempted to address during his one term as governor.
A March 29 AJC article that reported Barnes was thinking about running prompted the formation of two Facebook groups aimed at recruiting him — Kozol’s, which already has 588 members, and “Run ROY Run (Roy Barnes for Governor),” which has 349 members.
Three well-known Democrats already are running. State Attorney General Thurbert Baker and state House Minority Leader DuBose Porter dropped their hats in the ring earlier this month, joining longtime politician David Poythress, who’s been running since last year. But Barnes’ name recognition, his charisma and the chance that his victory would give Democrats a sense of sweet vindication would make him a heavy favorite to win the nomination.
An Insider Advantage poll last month indicated he’d be a formidable opponent to any of the three most well-known Republicans who plan to run in 2010. Polls this early in the race usually have more to do with name recognition than anything else. For what it’s worth though, the former governor was neck-and-neck with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (35-39), ahead of Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine (38-33) and ahead of Secretary of State Karen Handel (34-29).
Perdue is barred by the Georgia Constitution from running for a third term.
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