Olens opening is Deal’s latest chance to reshape Georgia’s government

Not since 1997, when Gov. Zell Miller appointed Thurbert Baker to the post, has a governor had an opportunity to tap an attorney general. And not since 2010, when Gov. Sonny Perdue picked Brian Kemp for an open secretary of state’s seat, has a governor had the chance to appoint a constitutional officer.

Deal appears likely to tap Chris Carr, the commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development and a Deal protege, to the post. Already, Carr’s lack of courtroom experience and public elected office have raised the concerns of his critics, though Carr’s allies point to his political chops — he was a top aide to U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson — and his background running a state agency as his biggest asset.

The AG selection is just the pinnacle in a range of other openings under Deal’s watch — many routine, but some exceedingly rare — that Deal has filled with allies, many of them young conservatives who will seek re-election or fight to stay in their posts long after he leaves office.

“Unless you were creating government for the first time, you could not have as much impact as he has had on the judiciary,” said Randy Evans, Deal’s attorney and co-chairman of the Judicial Nominating Commission. “Just the Georgia Supreme Court appointments alone would cement his legacy for 20 years.”

Deal has tapped more than 100 attorneys to open judgeships across the state. He's endorsed the presidents of two of Georgia's most influential universities and backed the heads of the state's most powerful, and ostensibly, independent agencies.

He’s appointed hundreds of board members to dozens of agencies that quietly shape Georgia policies.

By the end of his term, he will have selected a majority of the justices on Georgia’s Supreme Court.

And he’ll doubtless have more chances to appoint top posts in his final two years in office.

His supporters see the spate of job openings as a sign of good governance on his watch. Joel McElhannon, a veteran Republican strategist, said he sees the “unusually high number of appointments as a very loud statement of trust” that outgoing leaders have in Deal.

To his critics, the attorney general vacancy and the flurry of other posts is another Machiavellian ploy by Deal and his top aides for more control in his waning days in office.

“Governor Deal’s legacy will be the unprecedented power grab and expansion of power in the governor’s office, the impact of which will be felt in our courts, our commerce and our schools for decades after his term ends,” said Bryan Long of Better Georgia, a left-leaning group critical of Deal.

Amassing power

Each governor comes to office prepared to hoist a long list of donors and supporters in key posts, many of which come open within days of taking office. Two-term governors get the chance to make droves of these appointments, often outlined in weekly press releases with long lists of names.

State Sen. Jason Carter knocked Deal in 2014 in the governor's race for putting contributors on the state's most influential boards, though many of Deal's predecessors — Republicans and Democrats alike — did the same.

The appointees, though little-noticed outside the Capitol, play an instrumental role in everyday policy. The governor’s selections to the Board of Regents, for instance, oversee higher education decisions. His picks for the Department of Natural Resources approve environmental regulations.

Governors also make a spate of judicial nominees, which has only increased as many judges step down before their terms end. Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist, calculated several years ago that about two in three judges had initially been appointed by the governor rather than elected to an open seat.

“Although the old joke is that when a governor makes an appointment it creates nine enemies and one ingrate,” Bullock said.

Deal has tried to capitalize on other positions that come open more seldom.

He quickly backed Steve Wrigley as chancellor of the University System of Georgia in August after Hank Huckaby announced his retirement. He trumpeted his confidence in Griff Lynch to head the Georgia Ports Authority when Curtis Foltz stepped down after 12 years.

And when University of Georgia President Michael Adams retired after 16 years at the school, Deal left little doubt that his successor — Jere Morehead — was his pick to lead the state's flagship school.

Still other opportunities were meticulously planned by Deal and his aides.

The governor unveiled a plan last year to expand the Georgia Court of Appeals by three judges, giving him a trio of vaunted posts. He followed that up this year with an expansion of the Georgia Supreme Court from seven justices to nine. Both passed with little opposition, even from stalwart Democratic critics.

The crown jewel

The attorney general opening is the rarest of the bunch, and the vacancy came as a surprise.

Dan Papp led the fast-growing Kennesaw State University for a decade before he was forced to resign in June when an audit showed he violated financial rules. Once considered a potential contender for higher office, Olens instead quietly sent word that he was interested in the Kennesaw State post after Papp’s resignation.

A delicate months-long dance ensued as word quickly spread around the Capitol and the campus that Olens had his eye on the presidency. Some faculty and student groups soon criticized the process, voicing worry that the Olens appointment would set a concerning precedent.

For Deal and Olens, never exactly close, it was a political match.

Olens was ready to leave elected office and return to Cobb County — which he once led as chairman of the County Commission — and the Kennesaw State job is one of Cobb's most influential jobs. And Deal is eager to select an ally who can withstand a GOP primary challenge and a strong Democratic opponent.

Incumbent status would give Carr a big advantage over any possible challengers — and there are several Democrats and Republicans lining up. Baker, a Democrat appointed to the post in 1997, won re-election three times before deciding to run for governor in 2010. He lost that race.

But Deal's preference for Carr comes with perils. It opens the governor to a familiar line of attack that he favors allies regardless of their experience. Carr's likely Republican and Democratic challengers will cast him as a political crony. And some are already blasting Deal for what they call a secretive selection process.

Republican state Sen. Josh McKoon, a frequent Deal adversary likely to run for attorney general, said it's "disturbing" that the governor appears poised to make an appointment with little transparency and no public vetting.

“It is principally unfair to the appointee who must enter office under such a cloud,” McKoon said. “For the sake of all Georgians, I hope the next attorney general will take his or her cue from Sam Olens on running and maintaining an independent office committed to open and transparent government.”