New House speaker seen as steady hand

By James Salzer

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

When Rep. David Ralston takes over as expected next month as Georgia’s next House Speaker, he’ll get about a $100,000 salary, a prime suite with staff, a security detail with a car, and a Capitol full of supplicants hoping to win his favor.

It’s all a bit much for a plain-spoken Blue Ridge lawyer who describes himself as a simple guy with simple tastes, an outsider in a place where insiders generally rule.

“Entourages make me uncomfortable,” Ralston said. “I don’t need trappings.

“Under current law, it’s OK [for lawmakers] to take tickets to concerts, tickets for out-of-state travel, for stock car races,” he said. “That’s fine, but I’d rather go home and watch it on TV.”

Ralston has accepted dinners and tickets from lobbyists in the past, but his steady, calm demeanor and public focus on ethics will likely provide a sharp contrast to the often-mercurial leader he’ll be replacing, Glenn Richardson.

Ralston narrowly won the vote of the majority Republican House Caucus last week against the favored, insider candidate, and he is expected to be voted in by the full chamber in January.

The House Speaker is generally the second or third most powerful person in state government, behind the governor and comparable to the lieutenant governor. He controls committee assignments and the flow of legislation and debate; he rules on issues of law and devises strategy. The speaker has the power to settle votes on legislation by breaking ties and can direct the spending blueprint presented by the chamber.

Ralston hopes to change the public’s perception that under Richardson’s leadership, the chamber became little more than a lobbyist-abetted political frat-house.

Ralston’s election followed more than a month of scandal that began with Richardson’s admission that he tried to take his own life on Nov. 8. Richardson’s ex-wife then gave a devastating television interview in which she said that the speaker had an affair with an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist while he was championing legislation that would benefit the utility. He announced Dec. 3 that he would resign his post.

Lawmakers and former colleagues say Ralston, a gregarious, beefy baritone who has been more competent artisan than showman in the past, is the right person to replace Richardson.

“He’s absolutely the best choice Republicans could make to try to get themselves on the right path,” said former state Rep. Tom Bordeaux, a Savannah Democrat who served with Ralston. “He’s honest, he’s not a philanderer and he’s bright. He’s solid.

“He’s not going to get distracted by lobbyists, he’s not going to be distracted by some hot-button social issues. He’s going to hunker down and try to steer this ship through some very, very rocky times.”

Ralston, 55, is a onetime journalist and University of Georgia law school graduate who has been married to his wife, Jane, for 33 years. They have two children, Elizabeth and Matt.

Growing up, he didn’t have to go far to learn about small-town politics; his father was the local clerk of the courts for more than two decades.

Ralston was elected to a North Georgia state Senate seat in 1992, ousting an incumbent. Six years later, he won the Republican nomination for attorney general, only to lose the general election to Democrat Thurbert Baker. He returned to the General Assembly after winning a House seat in 2002.

As a small-town attorney, Ralston has concentrated heavily during his legislative career on criminal and legal issues, from teen-driving legislation to bills on corporate liability. However, he also pushed typical Republican legislation during the 1990s, such as proposed constitutional amendments to limit the terms of lawmakers. And he showed an ability to handle complex legislation when he served as a point man this year on a bill reorganizing the state’s troubled transportation agency.

He hasn’t always gone with the GOP majority. He was in the minority in his party last session when he voted against allowing Georgia Power to begin charging customers for additional nuclear reactors years before they come online. That bill passed and was signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Ralston’s tenure has not been without problems. His name has come up several times over the past decade in stories detailing tax problems.

Ralston repaid more than $400,000 in back taxes and penalties and fees covering 10 years in 2006. He said the tax problems were caused by an employee of his law firm who embezzled money. Ralston said the employee was eventually prosecuted for the crime.

State Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kidd called Ralston’s selection as speaker more of the same from Republicans.

“What the House Republicans seem to be banking on is that just about anybody’s record will compare favorably to Glenn Richardson’s,” Kidd said.

Ralston decided last year to take on Richardson after the speaker engaged in much-publicized feuds with Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. Ralston said the interparty wars were interfering with the General Assembly’s ability to get things done.

He got a boost when he received a testimonial from a fellow North Georgian, former governor and U.S. Sen. Zell Miller. Still, Richardson ultimately beat him 75-25 in the House Republican Caucus vote.

A month later, Richardson stripped Ralston of his committee chairmanship. But Ralston said he didn’t regret taking on the powerful speaker, a move that is usually considered political suicide.

“I did it because it was the right thing to do, and I don’t think you ever get punished for doing the right thing,” he said.

Ralston didn’t expect to run for speaker again so soon, but the implosion of Richardson’s political career presented an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

Chuck Clay, a Marietta lawyer who served with Ralston in the Senate, said the lawmaker has the right makeup to change the reputation of the House.

“He’s a mainstream conservative. You have a limited number of conservative principles, and you try to live by them,” Clay said, including promoting limited government and job creation. “He’s also a workhorse. If you asked me to list one or two workhorses in the General Assembly, he would be at the top of my list.”

One of the men he beat out for speaker, Rep. Bill Hembree (R-Winston), called Ralston “solid, steady and predictable. What we need right now is stability, and he’s the right person to provide it.”

Ralston’s victory in the House Republican Caucus was the talk of the small-town barber shops and restaurants near his home late last week.

Joe McCutchen of Ellijay, a local newsletter publisher and cable TV show host known for his criticism of pork-barrel spending, said the folks of Ralston’s North Georgia district are proud of their local boy made good.

“He’s a good guy, he really is,” McCutchen said. “You could call him an SOB, and he’d still smile at you and say, ‘Let’s sit down and talk about it and find out why you think I’m an SOB.’”