The Christian Right and Gov. Sonny Perdue get credit for killing a bill to allow Sunday sales of packaged alcohol again this year, but lobbyists and lawmakers say credit also goes to a surprising opponent: a Gwinnett County liquor store owner.

For two years in a row, they say, Richard Tucker, co-owner of Suwanee's Beverage SuperStore and chairman of the Gwinnett County Convention and Visitors Bureau, has worked behind the scenes to stop legislation that would have let voters decide whether beer, wine and liquor should be sold in stores on Sundays.

BITA HONARVAR/AJC (ENLARGE)

Richard Tucker, chairman of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce in Duluth

It seems counter-intuitive: Wouldn't a liquor store owner want more days to sell booze? But Tucker and some other liquor store owners say opening another day probably would cost them more in payroll and overhead than they would bring in at the cash register. Meanwhile, other retailers already open on Sundays would just rack up more revenue, they say.

"We're a small business," said Tucker, whose store advertises itself on the Internet as "North Georgia's Largest Volume Spirits Retailer."

"It's not a level playing field between [liquor stores] and the grocery stores and convenience stores," Tucker said. "Many are already open 24 hours a day. They have a lot of items to sell. We just have one — alcohol."

MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR

Last week Perdue signed several alcohol-related bills into law, including a measure — supported by Gwinnett County leaders — that would allow the sale of beer on Sunday at a new baseball stadium in Gwinnett.

But a Senate bill allowing local communities to vote on Sunday beer, wine and liquor sales at stores didn't go anywhere, in part because of opposition from some liquor stores.

Liquor store owners have influence at the Capitol primarily for two reasons. They are represented by a powerful lobbying group, the Georgia Alcohol Dealers Association. And, as small businesses owners, they often are well-known in their communities. One lawmaker who represents more than 150,000 metro Atlanta residents noted that he personally knows the liquor store owners in his district. He said he doesn't know all the people who run big stores like Kroger and Publix.

Tucker, a major contributor to both Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, has even greater influence.

He rarely is seen at the Capitol, but Tucker has ties to just about everyone who had a hand in stalling passage of the Sunday liquor sales bill the past two years.

• Tucker's companies and family have made campaign contributions to Perdue of at least $25,000 since the governor won office in 2002.

• Tucker sits on the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents, which governs the state's system of colleges and universities. Perdue appointed him to the plum post in 2005.

• Cagle, who presides over the Senate, named Tucker to his transition team when he took office in 2007. Cagle's campaign received $10,000 from Tucker in 2005.

• Tucker is a neighbor of Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), who chairs the Regulated Industries Committee that handled the bill on Sunday package sales of alcohol. Tucker was a member of the host committee for a Shafer political fund-raiser in December and contributed $1,000 to the senator's campaign. During the 2008 session, the Regulated Industries Committee ignored the bill, despite an online petition signed by more than 50,000 Georgians supporting Sunday sales.

• As managing partner of Arlington Capital LLC, a real estate equity fund based in Duluth, Tucker is involved in development projects throughout the area.

• He served as president and CEO of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce from 1996 to 2003 and as its chairman in 2005.

A mark of his prominence in the community: When the Atlanta Braves announced in January that they were moving their Triple-A farm team to Gwinnett County, Tucker was at the podium with Braves president John Schuerholz.

A few weeks later, state senators from Gwinnett sponsored legislation that would allow Sunday beer sales at the new baseball stadium.

OTHERS' INFLUENCE

Lobbyists and lawmakers on both sides of the issue say Tucker had a hand in the defeat of the Sunday store sales bill.

"As a guy that's been around awhile, I've seen a lot of his footprints and fingerprints on the opposition to this," said veteran lobbyist Trip Martin, who represents Publix supermarkets, which supports Sunday package liquor sales.

Rep. David Casas (R-Lilburn), who opposes Sunday sales said, "He [Tucker] definitely has influence; he has a role.

"He has a right like anybody to express his opinion," Casas said.

Tucker says Gold Dome insiders exaggerate his influence.

Perdue said through a spokesman that he never talked to Tucker about the Sunday sales bill.

Tucker said he expressed his opposition to Cagle last session but did not talk with him about it this year.

Shafer has mentioned Tucker's opposition as one of the reasons the bill stalled last year. When asked if Tucker influenced him on the issue in this session, Shafer said, "I listen to everyone who lives in my district."

Even Casas, who says Tucker has influence, questions his reach: "I don't go down that route to think one person has the power [to stop a bill]."

Sunday sales supporters such as Publix also hold sway in the General Assembly. Campaign records show about $55,000 in campaign contributions to elected officials across the state by Publix in 2006 and 2007. Among the recipients were Perdue, $5,000, and Cagle, $3,500. The convenience and grocery store lobby spent over $3,500 feeding lawmakers at the Capitol during the session

And, once the session is over, convenience and grocery store lobbyists often invite top lawmakers to their annual conventions at seaside locales. Last summer, those get-togethers were held in Ponte Vedra Beach and Sandestin, Fla.

Casas said the Sunday sales issue has not passed for a combination of reasons.

"I stand on the side of moral concerns," he said. "Personally, I would have a hard time voting for something like that because I'd like to preserve Sunday as a sacred day.

"But I know things don't move here simply because of someone's personal beliefs. There are other factors involved," Casas said. "This is legislation that is attached to all kinds of business opportunities."

Even Tucker says his opposition isn't all based on business.

"I'd like for my employees to have a day off," Tucker said. "We don't feel there's a great call or demand that outweighs the need for our family of employees to have a day off to worship as they choose."

— Staff writer Andrea Jones contributed to this article.