The Georgia political power duo: Nathan Deal and Chris Riley

Gainesville — On many weekends, arguably the second most powerful person inside the Georgia Capitol can be found up to his elbows in manure.

Chris Riley calls caring for his two dozen cows “pure therapy,” an escape from the politics that rule his days in Atlanta as chief of staff to Gov. Nathan Deal.

But even on his bucolic Gainesville farm, Riley isn’t far from his boss of more than two decades. Wander across Riley’s property and you’re in the governor’s backyard, or that of his son, Jason Deal.

Rarely in Georgia has there been a political power couple as closely entangled as Deal and Riley. As Deal wages what will almost certainly be his final political campaign, Riley will once again be at his side.

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