Sonny Perdue

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81^st Governor of Georgia
Sonny Perdue

Incumbent
Assumed office January 13, 2003
Lieutenant(s)	Mark Taylor (2003-2007) Casey Cagle (2007-)
Preceded by	Roy Barnes
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	December 24, 1946 (1946-12-24) (age 61) Perry, Georgia
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Ruff Perdue
Profession	Agribusiness, Veterinarian
Religion	Southern Baptist

George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is the governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. Upon his inauguration in January 2003, he became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Benjamin Conley at the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s.

Perdue has recently been touted as a potential Vice-Presidential candidate for the GOP.

1 Personal
2 Political history
- 2.1 Election to governor
- 2.2 Actions as governor
3 Controversies
4 2006 re-election campaign
5 Electoral History
6 References
7 External links

Perdue was born in Perry, Georgia and grew up in a small town called Bonaire. His father was a farmer and his mother was a teacher. As a youngster he flew a crop duster and has maintained his pilot's license since.

Perdue has been known as Sonny since childhood and prefers to be called by that name (he signs official documents as "Sonny Perdue").

Perdue played quarterback at Warner Robins High School and was a walk-on at the University of Georgia, where he was also a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity (Beta-Lambda chapter).

Perdue was in the Air Force rising to the rank of Captain before his discharge.

In 1971 he earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and worked as a veterinarian before becoming a small business owner, eventually starting three small businesses.

Perdue and his wife, Mary, were married in 1972. They have four children (two boys and two girls) and seven grandchildren (the most recent grandchild was adopted from Guatemala on July 10, 2007), and have also been foster parents for eight children.

In addition to flying, Perdue is also an avid sportsman.

Perdue had a cameo appearance as an East Carolina football coach in the movie We Are Marshall, large portions of which were filmed in Georgia.

Perdue won a Georgia state senate seat in 1992 as a Democrat. He switched to the Republican party in 1997.

Perdue was elected Governor of Georgia in November 2002, defeating incumbent Roy Barnes, 52% to 46% in a three way race. Perdue's defeat of Barnes was largely attributable to his campaign's relentless criticism of Barnes's efforts to change the state flag, removing a confederate symbol from the flag many found offensive. Barnes received the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library's Profiles In Courage Award in 2003 for his efforts to change the state flag that led to his electoral loss to Perdue.

Perdue's main focus in office has been on reforming state government, improving education, and growing the state's economy. Perdue has advocated comprehensive ethics reform legislation, and has instituted a series of reforms designed to cut waste in government, most notably the sale of surplus vehicles and real estate. (Prior to Perdue's becoming governor, no state agency had even compiled an inventory of what assets the state owned, much less managed them.)

In education, Perdue has focused on returning decision-making to the local level. Since Perdue took office, Georgia briefly moved out of last place in SAT scores; though it returned to last place in 2005, in 2006 Georgia rose to 46th place.

Having won office after promising to let the citizens of Georgia vote to determine their flag, Perdue signed legislation for a flag referendum in 2004. The choices given to Georgia voters were a modified version of the 1879 Georgia flag that had been used as the state's official banner since 2003 or the version of the flag created in 2001 by the Roy Barnes administration. (The nickname of this flag was the Barnes flag or Barnes rag). Perdue angered some rural Georgians when the 1956 flag was not a choice on the ballot after promising throughout his campaign that the '56 flag design would appear in any referendum. However, Perdue was faced with a Democratic House that would not consider having the 1956 flag on the referendum.

As of September 2007, Governor Perdue (R) remains popular. Perdue has a 56% approval rating, while 35% disapprove, according to Republican pollster Strategic Vision.[1]

Governor Perdue has recently expressed reluctance about Georgia issuing a formal apology for its role in slavery. "Repentance comes from the heart, and it's not right to apologize for other people" said Perdue in response to a question relating to the issue.^{[citation needed]} This was not the first time Perdue's views on hot-button racial issues caused controversy. One of the key issues that Perdue used in his 2002 campaign was to offer Georgians a vote on whether to restore the 1956 flag with its prominent display of the Confederate battle flag, as the state's official banner.

In mid-2003, Perdue purchased 101 acres of land next to his Houston County home, for $303,000, after negotiating directly with the owner. The purchase was done using a limited liability company named Maryson LLC, a corporation formed on July 23, 2003.^[1] Maryson's registered agent was Stephan Holcomb, a Houston County dentist. Perdue appointed Holcomb, a neighbor of the governor's sister in Houston County, to the state Board of Dentistry in 2003. The lawyer who organized Maryson LLC was state representative Larry O'Neal (R-Warner Robins), the chairman of the Ways & Means committee of the House.^[2] Perdue paid the 2003 tax bill on the property after it was acquired by Maryson, Houston County tax records show.

In May 2004, the land was transferred from Maryson to Perdue's own name.^[1] The transfer price was recorded at $305,000. Maryson was dissolved on July 9, 2005, a year after the sale.^[2]

Perdue failed to disclose the property or any interest in Maryson on his financial disclosure forms for calendar years 2003 and 2004, as required by Georgia law.^[1] Five days after Maryson was incorporated in 2003, O'Neal also incorporated a partnership for Perdue and his wife, Mary, called Perdue Plantation LLC, according to the Secretary of State's Office. This partnership also was not listed on Perdue's 2004 financial disclosure report. The Secretary of State's Office said an official is required to report ownership or a fiduciary position in a company.^[2]

The property, just south of Perdue's Bonaire home, has more than doubled in value between 2004 and 2006, according to tax records.

In September 2006, Perdue refused to comment on the purchase. His spokesman, Derrick Dickey, would not answer questions about the land deal, other than to say: "The governor purchased a tract of land that adjoins his home. He intends to keep that land in his home place.

In 2004, Perdue sold 318 acres of Houston County property that he and his sister had inherited. With money from the sale, Perdue bought 19.5 acres of Florida land near Disney World in late 2004, paying $2 million. He told the Associated Press, the day after a newspaper reported on the purchase, that he had purchased out-of-state land because "If I bought land within 100 miles of a new road construction [in Georgia], I'd be accused by the other side of influencing that."

The governor bought the Florida land from Newnan developer Stanley Thomas. Perdue had appointed Thomas to the state's economic development board in 2003. A month after Perdue bought the Florida property, O'Neal sponsored a bill to allow Georgians who sell property in the state and buy out-of-state property to defer capital gains taxes. The new tax break allowed Perdue to defer paying $100,000 to the state of Georgia.

In November of 2007, while Georgia suffered from one of the worst droughts in several decades, Perdue, along with lawmakers and local ministers, prayed for rain on the steps of the state Capitol. This came shortly after Alabama Governor Bob Riley issued a proclamation declaring a week in July as "Days of Prayer for Rain" to "humbly ask for His blessings and to hold us steady in times of difficulty." The Atlanta Freethought Society opposed the rain prayer saying in a statement, "The governor can pray when he wants to. What he can't do is lead prayers in the name of the people of Georgia."[2]

Main article: Georgia gubernatorial election, 2006

Perdue's Democratic opponent in the November 2006 general election was Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor. Libertarian Garrett Michael Hayes was also on the ballot. Sonny Perdue was proclaimed the winner early, and finished with nearly 58% of the vote.

Georgia gubernatorial election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Sonny Perdue	1,041,677	51.4
	Democratic	Roy Barnes (Incumbent)	937,062	46.3
	Libertarian	Garrett Michael Hayes	47,122	2.3
Turnout			2,025,861
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

Georgia gubernatorial election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Sonny Perdue (incumbent)	1,229,724	57.9	+6.5
	Democratic	Mark Taylor	811,049	38.2	-8.0
	Libertarian	Garrett Michael Hayes	81,412	3.8	+1.5
Turnout			2,102,185
	Republican hold		Swing

^ ^a ^b ^c Ken Foskett, "Perdue failed to disclose land buy near prized tract: Acreage next to the governor's Houston County home abuts a pristine forest that's slated for major development", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 28, 2006
^ ^a ^b ^c James Salzer, "Perdue invests close to home: Governor appears to ignore his rationale in Florida deal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 2, 2006

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue official state site
- Saturdays With Sonny
National Governors Association - Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue biography
Follow the Money - Sonny Perdue 2006 campaign contributions
On the Issues - Sonny Perdue issue positions and quotes
Project Vote Smart - Governor George 'Sonny' Perdue (GA) profile
Perdue for a New Georgia official campaign site

Preceded by Roy Barnes	Governor of Georgia 2003 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Jon Corzine	United States order of precedence as of 2007	Succeeded by M. Jodi Rell