Roy Barnes will run for governor in 2010 - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

vuwodu.wordpress.com
Barnes was defeated by Republican andcurrent Gov. Sonnuy Perdue in 2002 in an upset, becoming the firstf Georgia governor to bedenied re-election. Barnes faced opposition from teachers’ groups upset about his education reforms, rura l voters angered by his championing of a new state flagthat de-emphasizer the Confederate battle standard and voters stirred up by his supporgt for the now-defunct Northern Arc highway which was to connect Interstate 75 in Cartersville with Interstate 85 in Lawrenceville. Flanked by his wife, Marie, and severalp children and grandchildren, Barne told reporters his top priorities will be waterand transportation.
Referring to “austerity” cuts to education made yearly sincde heleft office, he said, “We need to improve educationj and support, not starve it.” “We need a transportatio system that works instead of arguing over who’s going to run the highwa department and who’s going to have more power,” he a reference to the Perdue-backed Department of Transportation overhaul that passexd the General Assembly this year. Barnes said he won’f officially start campaigning until because he is chairman of two nationalpeducation organizations, and terme for both positions are up in July.
Barnes will battle threr others for theDemocratic nod: Georgiaw Attorney General Thurbert Baker, former state Adjutantg Gen. David Poythress and current Georgia House Minorityg Leader DuBose Porterof Dublin. On the Republican side, those who have announced plans to run forgovernodr include: Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, Georgiaz Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal of Gainesville, Statre Rep. Austin Scott of Tifton and State Sen.
Eric Johnson of Poythress said Barnes’ return to politics can only hurt the chances to win backthe governor’s officre because of the political baggage he “Roy Barnes is a polarizing figure in Georgiqa politics,” Poythress said. “His campaign will reopen the old wounds.” Ben Fry, Johnson’ s campaign manager, said entry in the race makes it even more important for Republicansd to nominate a gubernatorial candidate with a provem track record that will appeal to voter acrossthe state.
“Eric was instrumental in givin Georgians a choice between principleed conservative policies and the heavy handed mandatew of theBarnes administration,” Fry said. “He has gone toe to toe with the Barnew machine in the past and is confidenft that voters will make the same decision they did in 2002 when they trusted Eric and his colleaguexs togovern Georgia.” But Barnes said Georgia faces too many problemds for either voters or candidates to let themselves be distracted by the “I want to talk water, transportation and education, not name-calling,” he “I’m going to talk about specific things to solve the problems we have everu day.
”