GOVERNOR
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Gov. Nathan Deal: Heads into his second legislative session as the top man at the Statehouse with a little more money to spend and a team that is a little more seasoned after a fairly successful first year in office. Deal didn’t come in last year as a legislative rookie. He 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 knows his way around the State-house, and he will set the agenda for the session. Has a good relationship with legislative leaders, something that has not always been the case with previous governors.
CHIEF OF STAFF
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Chris Riley, chief of staff: Riley has been with Deal for almost two decades and is the most powerful gubernatorial chief of staff since Bobby Kahn and Tom Perdue in the respective administrations of Roy Barnes and Joe Frank Harris. Deal and Riley lived near each other in Gainesville and Riley has served as Deal’s personal pilot for years.
SENATE
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Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle: 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 out of the race. Like Deal, generally cautious and fiscally conservative. And like Deal, from Gainesville. Continues to have issues with chamber’s leadership team, but still has influence over what legislation gets considered.
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Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams, R-Lyons: Savvy, veteran lawmaker who was part of the team that led the Republican takeover of the General Assembly in 2002. Second-in-charge in the Senate. Typically operates as a behind-the-scenes player who is interested in a wide range of issues.
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Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock: Well-spoken, telegenic voice of the GOP Senate. Big-time supply-sider who has never seen a tax cut he didn’t like. He is widely seen as a prospective candidate for higher office.
HOUSE
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House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge: This 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. Big supporter of the push to change the state’s tax structure. Favors North Georgia with his appointments to key jobs. Dines out more with lobbyists than just about any other lawmaker.
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House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, R-Milton: 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.
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House Majority Leader Larry O’Neal, R-Bonaire: 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 majority leader’s job and is the go-to man in the House on tax issues.
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House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta: 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. Her challenge will be to devise a strategy that will help get a devastated party moving in the right direction.
TOP LOBBYISTS
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Troutman Sanders Public Affairs Group, with Pete Robinson, Robb Willis, Sheila Humberstone and team: Robinson served with Deal in the Senate and on his gubernatorial transition team. They represent, among others, Aflac, Citigroup, Cigna, GE, General Motors, Merck, Synovus and Verizon Wireless.
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Trip Martin and GeorgiaLink Public Affairs Group: This group has one of the longest client lists at the Capitol and hustles for a diverse group of interests. Like Robinson, Martin is close to several legislative leaders and in the know about almost everything going on at the Statehouse. The team also includes John Bozeman, who headed Gov. Sonny Perdue’s legislative affairs office; Boyd Pettit, a former lawmaker and member of the Department of Transportation board; and Skin Edge, a former Senate Republican leader.
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McKenna, Long & Aldridge: Impressive lineup of top lawyers, former politicians and political operatives, although most of them don’t lobby at the Statehouse. A strong team that got a lot stronger with the addition of Chuck McMullen, a former top GOP staffer and veteran lobbyist as the firm’s managing director. He brought a number of top clients from Pied-mont Public Affairs. The firm has also added former Attorney General Thurbert Baker and Rollin Downs, a lobbyist who served as former deputy chief of staff to Perdue.
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Jay Morgan: Co-chair of Deal’s inaugural, Morgan is a longtime Republican activist and top Statehouse lobbyist who represents AT&T, AGL Resources, Procter & Gamble, the Distilled Spirits Council and many others.
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Bruce Bowers, Lewis Massey, Brandon Hembree: Massey, a former Georgia secretary of state, has the Gainesville connection to Deal. His father represented the poultry industry for decades. Bowers, son of former Attorney General Michael Bowers, has strong GOP credentials. Hembree is a veteran Statehouse lobbyist. The group represents a long list of companies and groups interested in both legislation and state contracts.
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Joe Tanner & Associates:Tanner is a former state labor and Department of Natural Resources commissioner whose team is stocked with well-connected veterans, from a one-time head of the state’s Environmental Protection Division to the son of the University System’s chancellor. Tanner’s group works on state legislation and consults on local issues, such as the building of new reservoirs. It has a diverse client list, from national companies to Georgia counties.
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Others: Georgia Power, AGL, AT&T and Georgia Chamber teams, Brad Alexander and Georgia 360, Tom Lewis, Tom Daniel, Amanda Seals, Merri Brantley, Dene Sheheane and the University System team, Tony Simon, Sam Choate, Monty Veazey, Wendi Clifton, Robert Highsmith, Tom Boller, Rusty Sewell, Mark Middleton, Mo Thrash, Jim Tudor, Roy Robinson, Eric Johnson, Chandler Haydon, Chuck Clay.
James Salzer
