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Secretary Of State: Democratic Ballot Packed With 6 Names
Jul. 2, 2006 -
Morris News Service, Augusta Chronicle and Athens Banner-Herald - One has worked on Marion Berry's campaign and has a campaign rap song that has drawn national attention. Another oversaw elections in the war-torn Balkans. Another served on the state's parole board.
And the list goes on.
In all, six candidates have crammed into the Democratic primary for secretary of state, from former legislators to lawyers to executives. Whoever survives the crowd will square off with one of four candidates from the Republican field.
Rep. Gail Buckner, D-Jonesboro, said she's in the secretary of state's race, in part, to get a new job.
"After 16 years in the House, it's time to ask the citizens to hire me in this new position as a promotion," Ms. Buckner said.
Like every other candidate in the race, Ms. Buckner supports the idea of a paper trail for the state's electronic voting machines.
But one of Ms. Buckner's boldest proposals is her idea for public financing of elections in Georgia, using qualifying fees, tax check-off boxes, ethics penalties and private donations.
Candidates would agree to accept no contributions larger than $100 in return for help from the public fund.
THERE'S ONE THING SHYAM REDDY isn't short of in his first bid for public
office: money. Mr. Reddy, a lawyer and political neophyte, had raised more than $500,000 by March in a crowded down-ballot race in a party whose viability is under siege in Georgia.
And his endorsements include House Democratic Leader DuBose Porter, from Mr.
Reddy's hometown of Dublin.
An articulate, charismatic second-generation American, Mr. Reddy has gone from unknown to a major player in the secretary of state's race.
"All I know is that I really care about this office, and that's why I'm running for this office," he said. "I think one of the problems with politics is people look at politics as a career."
Mr. Reddy joins the common criticism among Democrats of the voter ID law, and he's part of the bipartisan call for a paper trail on the state's electronic voting machine.
He also wants to make scam artists "wish they never heard of the state of Georgia."
IN NOVEMBER 2000, as Florida's elections were melting down, Scott Holcomb was across the ocean, serving in Bosnia, where that nation was also going through an election.
"Watching it from abroad," the onetime soldier and current attorney says of the Florida fiasco, "it really left an impression of how important the secretary of state's office is."
Now, Mr. Holcomb is running for that office, endorsing some of the same measures as his opponents to keep the people's faith in the machinery of democracy. He has also pledged not to head political campaigns. Being involved in campaigns has caused criticism of other secretaries.
Mr. Holcomb also promises a commission to look at election reform.
DARRYL HICKS REMEMBERS growing up in middle Georgia, one of seven children being raised by his mother.
"We had difficult times in our life, but there were people in our community that helped us out," he said.
Mr. Hicks credits that help for giving him the boost he needed to become an executive at Atlanta Gas Light, and he's trying to perhaps repay the favor by running for secretary of state.
Mr. Hicks said his experience managing business and his expertise as an auditor makes him the ideal candidate to run the office. He promises an audit of the voting machines to check all their potential flaws; an aggressive campaign to try to soften the effects of the voter ID bill; a training push among the agency's employees; and a focus on securities fraud and identity theft.
WHEN SHE WAS STILL YOUNG, Angela Moore got involved in D.C. politics - local stuff, like council elections and the mayor's race. From there, she went on to work on the campaign of President Clinton, and she eventually began to notice that she was hooked on politics.
"Then I realized I was paying attention to issues," she said. "Oh, my God, I was a political person now."
In addition to her support for the paper trail, Ms. Moore said she would like to look for ways to bring new revenue into the secretary of state's office, making the position less reliant on state funding. One way is to add some punch to the state's boxing industry; the secretary also serves as boxing commissioner.
IT MIGHT BE SAID THAT Walter Ray started the job a bit early.
The former state senator and chairman of Georgia's parole board has already lent a hand in trying to get photo IDs to the some of the state's American Indian population.
In addition to the seemingly mandatory opposition to the voter ID bill among Democratic candidates, Mr. Ray has proposed a blue-ribbon commission to look at absentee ballot fraud.
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