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Who's Who in the 2013 Georgia Legislature

 

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  • Heads into his third legislative session as the top man at the Statehouse with a disciplined team that knows how to get things done. Deal was a member of the state Senate leadership team in the early 1990s back when he was a Democrat. He then spent nearly two decades in Congress, mostly as a Republican. He will set the agenda for the session. Has a good relationship with legislative leaders, something he will need because he faces yet another year of budget cuts and tough choices. Expected to run for a second term in 2014.
  • Riley is the most powerful gubernatorial chief of staff in at least a decade. Deal and Riley lived near each other in Gainesville, and Riley has served as Deal’s personal pilot for years. Riley knows the governor’s mind and little happens within a two-block radius of Capitol Hill without him knowing about it.
  • The president of the Senate and the first Republican to run the chamber. Was considered a top contender for governor in 2010 until he backed off the race. Like Deal, generally cautious and fiscally conservative. And like Deal, from Gainesville. Change of leadership in the Senate should make his life easier.
  • A former top Republican staffer and campaign manager in his 20s. Onetime chief deputy insurance commissioner, Shafer lost the general election for Secretary of State in 1996 before winning a seat in the state Senate just as Republicans were taking over. A careful, politically astute operator who built a formidable campaign war chest while running the Senate Regulated Industries Committee. Shafer is a fiscal conservative and was an early supporter of gift limits on lobbyists. He won a tough, behind-the-scenes caucus fight to earn his leadership post.
  • Like Shafer, a political veteran who came up through the ranks. Chance worked for U.S. Rep. Mac Collins and was U.S. Sen. Bob Dole’s Georgia executive director when Dole ran for president in the mid-1990s. He became well-known at the Capitol lobbying and doing political public relations before winning a Senate seat in 2004. Served as a floor leader for Republican Govs. Sonny Perdue and Deal. He won a Republican caucus fight last year to succeed Chip Rogers as majority leader. Has good relationships with colleagues and the media, but this will be his first test as spokesman for GOP caucus’ policy in the Senate.
  • A blue-collar lawmaker who has run a training institute for union members, Henson has been in the Senate for most of the past 21 years. Lost a bid for state Labor Commissioner in 1998, giving up his Senate seat, then returned to the body four years later. Solid spokesman for the minority party in the chamber.
  • The level-headed, plain-spoken lawyer took over for scandal-plagued Glenn Richardson and quickly earned high marks for leading a chamber that can be raucous at times. Has favored fellow North Georgia lawmakers with his appointments to key jobs. A frequent mealtime guest of lobbyists in the past, he has opposed limits on gifts to legislators. However, after primary voters in both parties voiced support for limits, Ralston called for a total ban.
  • Seen as a smart, stable leader from a politically important part of metro Atlanta. A former journalist and marketing executive, Jones is the highest-ranking woman in General Assembly history. Before being elected to the leadership post, she served on the House Education Committee and as vice chairwoman of the budget subcommittee that develops spending plans for education.
  • Well thought of by his colleagues, the generally soft-spoken lawyer from Houston County was close to former Gov. Sonny Perdue. He has adapted well to the majority leader’s job and has long been the go-to man in the House on tax issues.
  • Thought of as one of the brightest minds in the General Assembly, Abrams, a lawyer, was elected minority leader in 2010 for a party that has fallen on hard times. Well respected in the House, although she has typically been on the losing side of arguments because of her party’s standing. Abrams has been willing to work with Republican leaders on key issues.