Perdue picks Cole as next Secretary of State

By James Salzer

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Sonny Perdue is expected to announce Monday that his floor leader, Rep. Jim Cole, will be Georgia’s next Secretary of State.

Perdue decided on Cole, sources told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, after considering several other candidates and discussing it with political advisers.

Cole will replace Karen Handel, who announced last week that she would resign to concentrate full time on her race for governor.

Cole, 38, a three-term lawmaker from Forsyth in Middle Georgia, has served as an administrative floor leader for three years. He will serve out the final year of Handel’s term, which runs through 2010. He will also run for a full four-year term.

As a floor leader, Cole has filed and pushed Perdue’s legislation.

The Secretary of State's Office incorporates businesses and oversees professional licensing boards and elections. The last three Secretaries of State have gone on to run for governor. The Secretary of State before that, Max Cleland, was elected to the U.S. Senate, serving one term.

Cole, who is married and has two children, has undergraduate and MBA degrees from Mercer University. According to his House biography, after leaving school he began Culligan Water of Middle Georgia. He opened offices in Macon and Columbus, then sold his business and took over as assistant athletics director at Mercer.

John Watson, former Perdue chief of staff, said, “The governor has a high opinion of Jim, he’s a real good guy and he has real good managerial ability. The governor was looking at governing philosophy, how you approach a situation, whether you are a leader.”

Watson said Perdue had a tough choice because there were several top candidates for the job.

Perdue also had to consider which candidate would be able to successfully campaign and raise money during the 2010 election season, when Republicans hope to sweep all statewide offices.

Rep. Rich Golick (R- Smyrna), a former Perdue House floor leader, said Cole has shown the ability to win tough races, ousting a longtime Democratic incumbent in 2004.

“This is an outstanding appointment,” Golick said. “Jim is a combination of the experience and maturity, youth and energy needed to do the job effectively.”