Sonny Perdue

From dKosopedia

Category: Georgia Republicans

Sonny Perdue is the Governor of Georgia. His real name is George E. Perdue, Jr. but he uses his nickname Sonny on all official documents.

Perdue started as a Democrat, winning election to the State Senate in 1990. He was a protege of Lieutenant Governor Pierre Howard who moved him up the ranks of the Senate into the job of Majority Leader and then President Pro Tempore. Perdue repaid Howard's friendship by switching to the Republican Party in 1998. Perdue threw a temper tantrum when Democrats responded by voting him out of office as President Pro Tem.

As a State Senator, Perdue led the charge against the effort by Governor Roy Barnes to remove the Confederate Battle Flag from the Georgia State Flag. In 2002, Perdue defeated Barnes to become Governor on a platform of restoring the Confederate Battle Flag. Perdue thankfully reneged on his campaign platform, but it angered his racist supporters who launched a "Sonny Lied" campaign against him.

Even with the flag controversy, most observers had expected Governor Barnes to easily win reelection, and some have speculated that election fraud may have been at play. However, Perdue was re-elected in 2006 by a larger margin than his 2002, defeating Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor who abandoned his Democratic basis with reactionary general election appeals like ending parole.

Perdue's campaign manager and nephew-in-law, Nick Ayers, was arrested for drunk driving days before the general election. Perdue arranged for Ayers to be sent out of state to work as executive director of the Republican Governors Association.

Perdue is a multi-millionaire who greatly increased his net worth through land deals with political allies.

Perdue sees himself as Presidential material.

Perdue is a graduate of the University of Georgia where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and Gridiron Secret Society.