U.S. Rep. Linder will not seek re-election

By Bob Keefe and Jim Galloway

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

U.S. Rep. John Linder, the conservative Republican who has represented much of Gwinnett and surrounding counties for nearly two decades, abruptly announced on Saturday he will not seek re-election in November, immediately setting off a scramble for his congressional seat.

Among the names of possible candidates mentioned: former Braves pitcher John Smoltz.

Linder made the announcement during the dedication of a GOP headquarters building in Gwinnett Saturday morning, but gave attendees no explanation.

In an interview later on WSB radio, Linder, 67, indicated he made the decision to retire about 10 days ago. He noted that he's been running for office regularly ever since 1974.

"It was just a good idea to quit now," he said. "There's nothing behind it."

Linder said he wanted to spend more time at his sprawling family farm in Mississippi and work on advocating his idea for a "Fair Tax" system that would eliminate the IRS and the federal income tax code and replace it with a nationwide retail sales tax.

"It just struck me that this is the thing to do," Linder said on WSB. "You can't keep doing things forever -- and I never intended to stay as long as I did."

Linder was not expected to face much of a fight for re-election. That made his announcement all the more surprising.

"I didn't know anything about it, and from the look of the room it was clear that everyone was stunned," said Chuck Efstration, who as chairman of the Gwinnett County Republican Party emceed the event where Linder announced his retirement.

Efstration, an assistant district attorney who has worked on numerous Republican campaigns, said he is considering a run for Linder's seat. So is state Sen. Don Balfour, rules chairman of the state Senate. Others mentioned as possible candidates include state Sen. David Shafer, former executive director of the Georgia GOP, and state Reps. Clay Cox and Tom Rice. Late Saturday, Republican leaders also threw out the name of Smoltz as a possible entry in the race.

While the 7th District is staunchly Republican, Democrats in recent years have had unexpectedly strong showings in local elections. Because of the region's growth, the boundaries of the district -- which includes parts of Gwinnett, Forsyth and Newton counties and all of Barrow and Walton counties -- could shift significantly as the state goes through redistricting next year and picks up an expected 14th congressional seat. Both Republicans and Democrats are expected to jockey aggressively to redraw the district in their favor.

"I'm confident the voters of the 7th congressional district will choose to maintain strong Republican representation in Washington," Georgia GOP Chairwoman Sue Everhart said in a statement. "I'm sorry [Linder] won't be fighting for us in Congress any longer, but I respect his decision to retire."

Linder entered Congress in 1993 as a top lieutenant to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia. Before that he served seven terms in Georgia's General Assembly.

In his early years in Congress, he was considered a rising party star, but lost much of his luster and power as Gingrich's "Republican Revolution" ran out of steam in the late 1990s.

"Georgia Republicans will always owe John a debt of gratitude," fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County said Saturday. "He was a trailblazer in our state by party building and running for office as a Republican when you could fit all Georgia Republicans in a phone booth."

Linder rarely has bucked the Republican Party, and at least in recent years has focused almost exclusively on two pet projects: water supply issues and tax reform.

As a founder of the House Water Caucus, Linder has spent countless hours studying and talking about water and climate issues around the world -- although he vehemently denies global warming and says government regulations inappropriately favor fish and other wildlife over humans. Somewhat surprisingly, however, Linder has not been very active in Georgia's ongoing water war with Alabama and Florida.

His biggest issue in recent years has been tax reform. Along with radio talk show host Neal Boortz, Linder in 2005 co-authored the "Fair Tax Book," which became a New York Times best-seller and made Linder, a former dentist, millions in royalties. Since 1999, Linder has introduced legislation annually to try and implement his Fair Tax system.

Asked in a recent interview what he was working on in Congress, Linder shook his head and said nothing.

He quickly shifted to discussing his Fair Tax ideas, saying he was hoping to meet with members of the Tea Party, the fiscally conservative limited-government activist group, about his proposals. The Fair Tax idea, he said, is a perfect sort of issue for the group.