2010 Georgia gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	2010 Georgia gubernatorial election
Country:	Georgia (U.S. state)
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2006 Georgia gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	2006
Next Election:	2014 Georgia gubernatorial election
Next Year:	2014
Election Date:	November 2, 2010
Image1:	File:Nathan Deal, official 110th Congress photo (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:	Nathan Deal
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	1,365,832
Percentage1:	53.02%
Nominee2:	Roy Barnes
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:	1,107,011
Percentage2:	42.97%
Map Size:	240px
Governor
Before Election:	Sonny Perdue
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Nathan Deal
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

The 2010 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican governor Sonny Perdue was term-limited and unable to seek re-election. Primary elections for the Republican and Democratic parties took place on July 20. Democrats nominated former governor Roy Barnes, and Republicans nominated Representative Nathan Deal following a runoff on August 10. The Libertarian Party also had ballot access and nominated John Monds. Deal won the general election, and took office on January 10, 2011.^[1]

, this was the last election in which a candidate won the governorship by double digits. This is the first gubernatorial election in Georgia since 1990 in which the winner was of a different party than the incumbent president. This was the first election in which Republicans won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state. This was the last gubernatorial election in which Douglas, Henry, and Newton counties voted for the Republican candidate and the last in which Baker, Early, Mitchell, Peach, Clinch, Brooks, and McIntosh counties voted for the Democratic candidate.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Jeff Chapman, State Senator
• Nathan Deal, U.S. representative^[2]
• Karen Handel, Secretary of State of Georgia
• Eric Johnson, former state senator
• Ray McBerry, candidate for governor in 2006
• John Oxendine, insurance commissioner
• Otis Putnam

Declined

• Johnny Isakson, incumbent U.S. senator^[3]

Polling

Primary

Poll source	Dates administered	John Oxendine	Karen Handel	Nathan Deal	Eric Johnson	Ray McBerry	Austin Scott	Jeff Chapman	Undecided
Magellan Strategies^[4]	align=center	July 18, 2010	align=center	12%	align=center	38%	align=center	20%	align=center	17%	align=center	3%	align=center	–	align=center	3%	align=center	7%
InsiderAdvantage^[5]	align=center	July 14, 2010	align=center	15%	align=center	24%	align=center	16%	align=center	13%	align=center	3%	align=center	–	align=center	6%	align=center	22%
Rasmussen Reports^[6]	align=center	July 13, 2010	align=center	20%	align=center	25%	align=center	25%	align=center	13%	align=center	–	align=center	–	align=center	–	align=center	14%
Mason-Dixon^[7]	align=center	July 8–13, 2010	align=center	31%	align=center	23%	align=center	18%	align=center	6%	align=center	2%	align=center	–	align=center	1%	align=center	19%
Magellan Strategies^[8]	align=center	July 8, 2010	align=center	18%	align=center	32%	align=center	18%	align=center	8%	align=center	3%	align=center	–	align=center	3%	align=center	14%
Survey USA^[9]	align=center	July 7–8, 2010	align=center	32%	align=center	23%	align=center	12%	align=center	12%	align=center	5%	align=center	–	align=center	4%	align=center	10%
InsiderAdvantage^[10]	align=center	July 1, 2010	align=center	18%	align=center	18%	align=center	12%	align=center	8%	align=center	3%	align=center	–	align=center	6%	align=center	34%
Survey USA^[11]	align=center	June 14–17, 2010	align=center	34%	align=center	18%	align=center	17%	align=center	6%	align=center	3%	align=center	–	align=center	4%	align=center	17%
InsiderAdvantage^[12]	align=center	April 5, 2010	align=center	26%	align=center	18%	align=center	9%	align=center	5%	align=center	–	align=center	–	align=center	–	align=center	31%
Rasmussen Reports^[13]	align=center	December 15, 2009	align=center	28%	align=center	14%	align=center	13%	align=center	2%	align=center	2%	align=center	2%	align=center	2%	align=center	32%
Rasmussen Reports^[14]	align=center	October 20, 2009	align=center	27%	align=center	12%	align=center	9%	align=center	3%	align=center	3%	align=center	3%	align=center	--	align=center	35%
Rasmussen Reports^[15]	align=center	August 18, 2009	align=center	31%	align=center	13%	align=center	13%	align=center	3%	align=center	2%	align=center	--	align=center	--	align=center	31%
Rasmussen Reports^[16]	align=center	June 17, 2009	align=center	33%	align=center	11%	align=center	10%	align=center	3%	align=center	2%	align=center	2%	align=center	--	align=center	33%
Strategic Vision^[17]	align=center	June 17, 2009	align=center	35%	align=center	13%	align=center	12%	align=center	4%	align=center	2%	align=center	2%	align=center	--	align=center	32%

Runoff

Poll source	Dates administered	Nathan Deal	Karen Handel
Landmark Communications^[18]	align=center	August 7, 2010	align=center	44%	align=center	42%
Georgia Newspapers^[19]	align=center	August 7, 2010	align=center	42%	align=center	47%
Insider Advantage^[20]	align=center	August 5, 2010	align=center	46%	align=center	46%
Landmark Communications^[21]	align=center	August 2, 2010	align=center	37%	align=center	46%
McLaughlin & Associates^[22]	align=center	July 23, 2010	align=center	39%	align=center	38%

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Thurbert Baker, Attorney General of Georgia
• Roy Barnes, former governor of Georgia^[23]
• Bill Bolton
• Carl Camon
• Randy Mangham
• DuBose Porter, state representative
• David Poythress, former adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard, former commissioner of labor and candidate for governor in 1998

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Roy Barnes	Thurbert Baker	DuBose Porter	Carl Camon	David Poythress	Undecided
Rasmussen Reports^[24]	July 13, 2010	align=center	59%	16%	5%	--	5%	12%
Mason-Dixon	July 8–13, 2010	align=center	54%	20%	3%	--	7%	16%
Survey USA	July 7–8, 2010	align=center	56%	18%	6%	3%	5%	9%
Survey USA	June 14–17, 2010	align=center	63%	13%	4%	1%	5%	11%
InsiderAdvantage^[25]	April 7, 2010	align=center	47%	18%	5%	–	6%	24%
Rasmussen Reports^[26]	December 18, 2009	align=center	48%	align=center	17%	align=center	3%	align=center	1%	align=center	4%	align=center	19%
Rasmussen Reports^[27]	align=center	October 20, 2009	align=center	43%	align=center	19%	align=center	4%	align=center	3%	align=center	4%	align=center	21%
Rasmussen Reports^[28]	align=center	August 18, 2009	align=center	42%	align=center	9%	align=center	7%	align=center	1%	align=center	2%	align=center	30%
Rasmussen Reports^[29]	align=center	June 17, 2009	align=center	48%	align=center	8%	align=center	5%	align=center	2%	align=center	2%	align=center	31%
Strategic Vision	align=center	June 17, 2009	align=center	49%	align=center	30%	align=center	2%	align=center	-	align=center	5%	align=center	14%

Results

Third party and independent candidates

Independent

• Neal Horsley^[30]

Libertarian Party

• John Monds, president of the Grady County NAACP^[31]

Write-in

• Samuel M. "Sam" Hay, III^[30]
• Jacob Perasso (Socialist Workers Party)^[30]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report^[32]		October 14, 2010
Rothenberg^[33]		October 28, 2010
RealClearPolitics^[34]		November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[35]		October 28, 2010
CQ Politics^[36]		October 28, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Nathan Deal (R)	Roy Barnes (D)	John Monds (L)	Other	Undecided
Rasmussen Reports^[37]	October 24, 2010	align=center	49%	39%	5%	5%	1%
Insider Advantage^[38]	Unavailable	align=center	49%	41%	3%	--	7%
Rasmussen Reports	October 6, 2010	align=center	50%	41%	3%	3%	3%
Insider Advantage^[39]	September 27, 2010	align=center	45%	37%	5%	--	13%
Rasmussen Reports^[40]	September 21, 2010	align=center	45%	39%	5%	6%	5%
Insider Advantage^[41]	September 16, 2010	align=center	42%	42%	5%	--	11%
Survey USA^[42]	September 10–12, 2010	align=center	49%	38%	9%	--	4%
Insider Advantage^[43]	August 17, 2010	align=center	45%	41%	5%	--	9%
Rasmussen Reports^[44]	August 11, 2010	align=center	51%	42%	--	3%	3%
Rasmussen Reports^[45]	July 21, 2010	align=center	49%	43%	--	4%	4%
Rasmussen Reports^[46]	May 20, 2010	align=center	47%	40%	--	6%	7%
Rasmussen Reports	April 22, 2010	align=center	46%	39%	--	7%	8%
Rasmussen Reports	March 17, 2010	align=center	43%	41%	--	5%	13%
Public Policy Polling^[47]	February 26–28, 2010	align=center	38%	align=center	43%	--	--	19%
Rasmussen Reports	February 18, 2010	align=center	43%	37%	--	--	--
Rasmussen Reports	January 20, 2010	align=center	42%	align=center	43%	--	--	--

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Early (largest city: Blakely)
• McIntosh (largest municipality: Darien)
• Peach (largest municipality: Fort Valley)
• Lowndes (largest city: Valdosta)
• Burke (largest municipality: Waynesboro)
• Chatham (largest city: Savannah)
• Washington (largest municipality: Sandersville)
• Sumter (largest city: Americus)
• Jefferson (largest city: Louisville)
• Muscogee (largest city: Columbus)
• Rockdale (largest town: Conyers)

See also

• 2010 United States gubernatorial elections

External links

• Georgia Secretary of State – Elections Division
• Georgia Governor Candidates at Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions for 2010 Georgia Governor from Follow the Money
• Georgia Governor 2010 from OurCampaigns.com
• 2010 Georgia Gubernatorial General Election: Nathan Deal (R) vs Roy Barnes (D) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• Election 2010: Georgia Governor from Rasmussen Reports
• 2010 Georgia Governor Race from Real Clear Politics
• 2010 Georgia Governor's Race from CQ Politics
• Race Profile in The New York Times

Debates

• Georgia Governor Republican Primary Runoff Debate, C-SPAN, August 8, 2010

Official campaign sites (archived)

• Thurbert Baker
• Roy Barnes
• Al Bartell
• Bill Bolton
• Ray Boyd
• Carl Camon
• Jeff Chapman
• Nathan Deal
• Karen Handel
• Eric Johnson
• Randal Mangham
• Ray McBerry
• John Monds
• John Oxendine
• DuBose Porter
• David Poythress
• Otis Putnam

Notes and References

1. Web site: Deal defeats Barnes to take Governor's Mansion . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . 2010-09-03.
2. http://www.wtoctv.com/global/story.asp?s=10286057
3. Web site: Johnny Isakson, former Georgia Republican U.S. senator, dies. Amy. Jeff. December 19, 2021. Associated Press.
4. http://www.magellanstrategies.com/index.php/2010/07/final-georgia-governor-gop-primary-survey-071910/ Magellan Strategies
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20100720142502/http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_715_1505.aspx InsiderAdvantage
6. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/toplines/toplines_2010_republican_primary_for_governor_of_georgia_july_13_2010/ Rasmussen Reports
7. https://web.archive.org/web/20100719174759/http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2010-07-15/poll-barnes-poised-win-georgia-dem-nomination-gop-headed-runoff Mason-Dixon
8. http://www.magellanstrategies.com/index.php/2010/07/georgia-governor-gop-primary-survey-71310/ Magellan Strategies
9. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=565890ae-814f-466b-a722-fbbbd992ebe2/ Survey USA
10. https://web.archive.org/web/20100705101410/http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_72_1488.aspx InsiderAdvantage
11. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=b33d659f-ba28-464a-83f2-389f1454a785/ Survey USA
12. https://web.archive.org/web/20100412020537/http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_46_1346.aspx InsiderAdvantage
13. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/election_2010_georgia_republican_primary_for_governor Rasmussen Reports
14. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/toplines/toplines_2010_republican_primary_for_governor_of_georgia_october_20_2009/ Rasmussen Reports
15. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_state_toplines/georgia/toplines_election_2010_georgia_gop_primary_august_18_2009/ Rasmussen Reports
16. https://web.archive.org/web/20090625200443/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/election_2010_georgia_republican_primary_for_governor Rasmussen Reports
17. https://web.archive.org/web/20091001181646/http://strategicvision.biz/political/georgia_poll_061709.htm Strategic Vision
18. https://web.archive.org/web/20110723175231/http://landmarkcommunications.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Report-GA-Statewide-Poll-8_7_10.pdf Landmark Communications
19. http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/handel-leads-deal-in-587549.html Georgia Newspapers
20. https://web.archive.org/web/20100817021304/http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/story.aspx?sid=1539 Insider Advantage
21. https://web.archive.org/web/20100805000711/http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2010/08/02/landmark-poll-karen-handel-sam-olens-lead-gop-runoffs/ Landmark Communications
22. http://www.mclaughlinonline.com/lib/sitefiles/GA_Gov_Memo_0723.pdf McLaughlin & Associates
23. Web site: Jim Galloway . Roy Barnes to join 2010 race for Georgia governor | Political Insider . Blogs.ajc.com . June 3, 2009 . 2010-08-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100610072646/http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2009/06/03/roy-barnes-to-join-2010-race-for-governor/ . June 10, 2010 . dead . mdy-all .
24. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/toplines/toplines_georgia_democratic_primary_for_governor_july_13_2010/ Rasmussen Reports
25. https://web.archive.org/web/20100413062142/http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_47_1348.aspx InsiderAdvantage
26. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/election_2010_georgia_democratic_primary_for_governor Rasmussen Reports
27. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/toplines/toplines_2010_georgia_democratic_primary_for_governor_october_20_2009/ Rasmussen Reports
28. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_state_toplines/georgia/toplines_election_2010_georgia_democratic_primary_august_18_2009/ Rasmussen Reports
29. https://web.archive.org/web/20090625200435/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/election_2010_georgia_democratic_primary_for_governor Rasmussen Reports
30. Web site: Georgia 2010 Midterm Election . Thegreenpapers.com . 2010-08-21.
31. http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/john-monds-to-seek-libertarian-nomination-for-ga-governor "John Monds to seek Libertarian nomination for Governor"
32. Web site: 2010 Governors Race Ratings . https://web.archive.org/web/20101028141343/http://cookpolitical.com/charts/governors/raceratings_2010-10-14_12-35-09.php . dead . October 28, 2010 . . October 28, 2010.
33. Web site: Governor Ratings . . October 28, 2010.
34. Web site: 2010 Governor Races . . October 28, 2010.
35. Web site: THE CRYSTAL BALL'S FINAL CALLS . October 28, 2010 . . October 28, 2010.
36. Web site: Race Ratings Chart: Governor . . October 28, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101005231611/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-governor . October 5, 2010 .
37. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/election_2010_georgia_governor Rasmussen Reports
38. https://web.archive.org/web/20101013024334/http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_1012_1640.aspx Insider Advantage
39. https://web.archive.org/web/20101003124320/http://southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_928_1619.aspx Insider Advantage
40. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/toplines/toplines_georgia_governor_september_21_2010 Rasmussen Reports
41. https://web.archive.org/web/20100919234759/http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_916_1605.aspx Insider Advantage
42. http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=90254&catid=52 Survey USA
43. https://web.archive.org/web/20100822150516/http://www.wsbtv.com/news/24689714/detail.html Insider Advantage
44. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/toplines/toplines_georgia_governor_august_11_2010/ Rasmussen Reports
45. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/toplines/toplines_georgia_governor_july_21_2010/ Rasmussen Reports
46. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/georgia/election_2010_georgia_governor Rasmussen Reports
47. http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_GA_303.pdf Public Policy Polling