2010 Qualifying Day 1

A 68-year-old Republican Special Investigator from Savannah is the first new name in the Congressional race for the 12th.
Mike Horner's website says he's a former U.S. Air Force special investigator who currently conducts background investigations for the FBI and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Horner saysid the March on Washington was a wake up call to the Sleeping Giant that is the American public and inspired him to run for public office.

Getting back into the Swing of Things

Update: Gold Dome Live will be holding down the "pair of conference rooms on the second floor" of the present Capitol for the Atlanta paper.
In news of local interest: Republican Ray McKinney and Democrat Regina Thomas have been the first to throw their hats in the ring again to unseat incumbent Dem John Barrow in the 12th District race for Congress.
State Senator Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, is the first local incumbent to sign in for the General Assembly--though it is reported that state Representative Rusty Kidd, I-Milledgeville, will run again as an independent, requiring him to file a petition with 5 percent of the 141st District's registered voters, so he will probably not get posted on this link immediately.

One Capital Removed has taken a lot of time off recently to revive and start several new and old part-time projects. Milledgeville's only state politics blog also has been experimenting with emerging Internet technology through its new twitter feed.
Check 1 Capital Removed out on Twitter for more up-to-date information about state matters that might affect the State's Antebellum Capital. I'm going to continue blogging here when issues require more analysis.
But to the point of this post, statewide election season starts today! Candidates for statewide offices from U.S. Senate to Governor to state House of Representatives will qualify at the state Capitol in Atlanta throughout this week.
Check here to learn who is qualifying at the Capitol.
One Capital Removed is still out of the office today (Monday), so any qualifying news will post here before it ends up on your lawn in The Union-Recorder.

Barrow Not Leaving the Party of his Predecessors

Thankfully, AJC's Political Insider laid to rest the rumor that Congressman John Barrow would forsake the Democratic party and become a Republican.
Hearing this, I can only wonder what Democratic maven Maxine Goldstein would think. On more than one occasion, Goldstein has told me about how she's known Barrow since he was a young child attending statewide Democratic meetings with his mother, Phyllis Barrow.
I don't think she would ever think Barrow could become a Republican, but game on with the continuing punishment of dissenting ideas!

Barbecue returns to political spotlight today in Statesboro

Peach Pundit is bull-horning a Statesboro barbecue party aimed at swaying Congressman John Barrow's vote on Healthcare Reform.
Barrow is one of several Georgia Blue Dog Democrats sitting on the fence with their vote for or against healthcare overhaul legislation. Georgia Public Broadcasting reports that eighth District Democrat Jim Marshall has already signaled he will vote no on the reconciled bill and says that Barrow will likely side against the bill as well. Sanford Bishop, a southwest Georgia Democratic representative, is reportedly undecided at this time, according to GPB.

Forgoing Critical Thought on Regina Thomas' Chances in the Primary, Savannah Morning News Picks Barrow in 010 General Election

I had meant to say something about the John Barrow political mailer I received just about first thing in the new year. It gave a county by county breakdown of the federal grants he has locked down for the 12th District.
But this came up in my Google Alerts and I think it'll be just as easy to link to this.
The piece takes a look at his voting record and comes to this conclusion:

"Republicans grouse about liberal GOP officials they call RINOs - Republicans In Name Only. These days, as least, Barrow is almost a DINO - or Democrat In Name Only.
Sure, that miffs liberals, who backed former state Sen. Regina Thomas against him in the 2008 Democratic primary, as they do this year.
She got 24 percent in 2008, so that base looks covered. And the more she attacks his positions, the better he may look to general election voters.
It will take a dynamic challenger to knock off Barrow, who, by the way, soon likely will report a $1 million-plus campaign till. So far, neither GOP candidate is being confused with the Charisma Kid."

Right now, it appears that Barrow's likely Republican challengers include Carl Smith and Jeanne Seaver. It appears Republican COL. Wayne Mosley, M.D. has dropped out of the race.