Six candidates -- ranging from state lawmakers to local business leaders -- are challenging an incumbent with just six months in the job to become Georgia’s top election official.
Two Republicans and five Democrats are vying in the July 20 primaries for secretary of state, a job that also involves monitoring businesses, overseeing professional licensing and handling the state’s public records.
Whoever wins the job in November also might have to deal with a lawsuit filed last week to get federal court approval of how Georgia verifies voters’ identity and citizenship.
The office appears almost completely up for grabs. Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed Brian Kemp as secretary of state in January, after Karen Handel resigned to run for governor.
Kemp, who spent four years as a state senator before losing a 2006 bid to become state agriculture commissioner, faces former Sandy Springs City Councilman Doug MacGinnitie in a GOP primary marked most by their dust-up over overseas military personnel's ability to vote.
MacGinnitie recently sent out a flier about a “Captain Basnett,” who missed voting because an absentee ballot was sent to the battlefield while he was at a hospital receiving care.
Kemp called the ad a “flat-out lie,” noting that there was no such person and that the soldier could have still voted from the hospital.
“It didn’t happen and it wouldn’t happen,” Kemp said.
He added that he had pushed for a new law that allows overseas voters to cast ballots electronically this year, including a pilot project that set up secure kiosks on military bases worldwide.
MacGinnitie said he wanted to spark debate on the issue, which he felt wasn’t getting enough attention.
The new law doesn’t go far enough, he said, in things such as extending the time for absentee ballots to be returned to ensure deployed soldiers’ votes are counted.
Still, overall the GOP candidates agree that the secretary of state should make voting easier for military personnel. In most other respects, they have other similar priorities.
For instance, both tout their years in the business world as driving the goal of improving how new businesses can incorporate in Georgia.
Both also have called for the secretary of state to take a more active role in promoting the state to attract or retain more businesses and jobs.
MacGinnitie, though, has made much of his background in private enterprise. He calls Kemp a career politician and himself an outsider in those goals.
Kemp, meanwhile, draws on his four years’ experience as proof he has a track record.
“I cut $2.9 million of spending in this office this year. I’ve redesigned our corporate Web site to save businesses time and money,” Kemp said. “I’ve done what I said I would do.”
Kemp also asked for a special attorney general to file a lawsuit that seeks federal court approval of two state procedures to verify voters' identity and citizenship.
Both he and MacGinnitie have pledged to continue the lawsuit.
It was filed last week after federal officials rejected Georgia’s system, which includes checking the citizenship of voters at registration, three different times.
“The voter ID law and the citizenship law both pass the common-sense test in keeping integrity in our elections,” said MacGinnitie, a co-founder of a commercial brokerage.
All five Democrats said they would drop the lawsuit and focus on other issues, including their universal support for the state’s electronic voting system.
With no clear front-runner, ethics has become a major topic among candidates.
State Sen. Gail Buckner has the best name recognition, from her 18 years in the Legislature and for being the Democratic nominee for the office in 2006.
She has pledged to boost trust in government, and elections, by taking a very public role if elected.
Her goals include securing elections by listening to local election directors and tackling fraud by partnering with law enforcement and banking industry leaders.
She also wants an officewide audit to determine, among other things, if the office is getting its fair share of licensing revenue.
“I’ve heard of people losing jobs because this office wasn’t turning licenses around fast enough,” Buckner said. “That’s unacceptable, and I will put an end to that.”
Gary Horlacher took a flashier approach to ethics last year. The attorney hooked himself up to a lie-detector test, administered by an FBI agent, then put the results up on YouTube.
He has since called on all candidates to agree to a polygraph, answering questions about marital infidelity or tax evasion. In more practical terms, he also wants to restore the funding that was cut from the Ethics Commission.
“The bottom line is, we must change that culture of corruption and the lack of transparency,” Horlacher said. “I’m the one to stand up and bang that drum for ethics.”
Michael Mills, a public relations consultant, has pledged to take a more activist role if elected. He proposes not just improving voting systems but pushing for more voter education, including adding civics to public school curriculum.
He also calls for using the office as a bully pulpit to push for more support of licensing boards and for better enforcement of fraud.
“Georgia is a place of tremendous opportunity, and we’re squandering it,” Mills said. “I would get engaged and involved on every level to turn that around.”
Angela Moore, a communications director, also plays up her background out of politics. Practical matters, such as making it easier for people to transfer licenses from other states, dominate her agenda.
She also has called for the state to develop an open-source software it could own, to make elections more secure and provide a paper trail.
“This is a business office,” Moore said. “I would restore this office to do the business it was intended to, whether that’s improving veracity of elections or helping our businesses.”
State Rep. Georganna Sinkfield argues that political leadership is needed to get that work done.
With 28 years in the state Legislature, she has pledged to use her experience to examine how to best return trust to elections, keep costs contained and promote businesses while streamlining the process for a professional license.
“There are a lot of responsibilities and duties to this job, and I know about how to work with others to make the changes when needed and get the job done,” Sinkfield said.
The office oversees elections, administers business incorporations, maintains the state archives and oversees independent professional licensing boards.
Republicans
Brian Kemp
Age: 46
Education: Bachelor of Science in agriculture, University of Georgia
Profession: Secretary of state since January 2010; owns Kemp Properties, private business specializing in real estate investments and property management.
Political experience: Served in Georgia State Senate, 2003-2006; lost 2006 GOP primary for state agriculture commissioner.
Military experience: None
Civic experience: Member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens
Family status: Married to Marty Kemp; three daughters
Doug MacGinnitie
Age: 43
Education: Bachelor's degree, history, Dartmouth College; J.D., Emory School of Law
Profession: Attorney and co-founder, commercial insurance brokerage firm Beecher Carlson
Political experience: Sandy Springs City Council, 2007-2009
Military experience: None
Civic experience: Rotary Club; board member, Truancy Intervention Project
Family status: Married to Missy; two sons and one daughter
Democrats
Gail Buckner
Age: 59
Education: Bachelor's degree, Clayton State University
Profession: Retired teacher; owns a marketing company; currently serving in the Georgia Senate
Political experience: State representative, 1991–2006; Democratic Party nominee, secretary of state, 2006
Military experience: None
Civic experience: Two honorary life memberships in the Georgia PTA; president of the Clayton County Boys and Girls Foundation Inc.; League of Women Voters of Georgia member
Family status: Married to Charles Buckner for more than 40 years; three children and six grandchildren
Gary Horlacher
Age: 53
Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Georgia; JD Law, Georgia State University
Profession: Partner, Adorno & Yoss
Political experience: First run for public office; managed campaigns for lieutenant governor and labor commissioner; press secretary, Gov. Roy Barnes; adviser, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin
Military experience: None
Civic experience: Former Peachtree City planning commission member; Habitat for Humanity; Peachtree City youth basketball and soccer coach; pro bono attorney, Robert Clark, who was exonerated through DNA testing
Family status: Married to Teresa for 23 years; three children
Michael Mills
Age: 36
Education: Bachelor of Arts, Hobart College, and Master of Arts, Georgia State University
Profession: Public relations firm owner
Political experience: Legislative aide, Secretary of State Lewis Massey; press secretary, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor
Military experience: None
Civic experience: Founder, Vote for America-Georgia; author of "Battling Democracy's Decline"; board member/volunteer: League of Women Voters of Georgia, YES!Atlanta, Communities in Schools of Georgia, Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition, American Cancer Society
Family status: Single
Angela Moore
Age: 47
Education: Bachelor of Science, biology/science, University of the District of Columbia
Profession: Owner of medical personnel company
Political experience: Volunteer and employee on campaigns since a teen, including those for President Bill Clinton and D.C. Mayor Marion Barry; 2006 state Senate advisory chair, 43rd District; communications director, Democratic Party of DeKalb County; unsuccessful campaigns for DeKalb County Commission in 2004 and secretary of state in 2006
Military experience: None
Civic experience: Advocate, Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless; YMCA Childcare Academy's board of directors, 2004 to present
Family status: Three children
Georganna Sinkfield
Age: 67
Education: Bachelor's degree, biology, Tennessee State University; attended Emory University School of Law
Profession: State representative, Georgia House of Representatives, since 1982; real estate services
Political experience: State representative for 28 years; chair of Committee on Children and Youth for 14 years; chair, House subcommittee of appropriations on human development; now serves on Children and Youth, Insurance and Banks and Banking committees; authored legislation creating the Office of the Child Advocate, co-sponsored legislation to end predatory lending, and had a legislative focus on programs for marginalized students. Was the first female president of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.
Military experience: None
Civic experience: Served on the Education Review Commission, which laid the groundwork for the Quality Basic Education Act, the State Chapter 2 Advisory Committee, and the State Task Force on Homelessness; served on the State Task Force Turning Points, Preparing Our Youth for the 21st Century, and Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education; awarded the Drum Major for Justice Award and legislative awards from AARP, GCAPP and others.
Family status: Husband, Richard; two children and five grandchildren
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