The Political Insider has this:
A search committee on Wednesday recommended that board governing the state Department of Transportation choose Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) to be DOT commissioner. The full board will vote Thursday.
Smith would have to give up his seat in the House, where he chairs the transportation committee.
After the committee announcement Wednesday Smith cautioned that the deal wasn’t done. “They’re just making a recommendation to move forward,” Smith told my AJC colleague Ariel Hart. “You know, anything can happen in 24 hours in politics.”
All the same, his election seemed a foregone conclusion, in stark contrast to the last time he was a candidate. In a bitterly contested 2007 vote, the board chose his opponent, Gena Abraham (later Evans), by a one-vote margin.
The board was caught in a vise between Gov. Sonny Perdue, who supported Evans, and House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who supported Smith. After a year and a half of turbulence, the board fired her in February.
The board member who led the search committee was a consistent supporter of Evans, but said Smith was the right choice to replace her.
“We’ve been through a period of having a commissioner that didn’t have the full support of the board and it was difficult,” said DOT board vice chairman Larry Walker said. “We hope this will be better.”
A couple of questions:
a) Will Smith get the job?
b) Who runs for Smith’s House seat?
c) Who will Chair the House Transportation Committee?
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Business as usual. Move on.
My guesses:
A) yes
B) a large field of candidates
C) don’t know
Breaking news from Columbus, Georgia…….
Longtime Columbus resident and loyal conservative Jerry Luquire just confirmed his candidacy to fill the House seat being vacated by Rep. Vance Smith.
Luquire has been extremely instrumental in Republican politics in Muscogee County for numerous years. He will be an excellent choice to replace Smith.
d) Will Georgia ever catch up with competitor states when it comes to transportation issues?
d) – We won’t know until Nov 2010
d) Does Buzz know the difference between “a couple” and “a few”?
e) Will Vance be better at this then he and Coy were at replacing Bo and Luke?
Why was Gena Evans dismissed? I don’t think the details were published.
Sorry Steve, “a couple” is Southern for “a couple of three.”
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