Deal balances out lobbyist-packed transition team by... adding more lobbyists to transition team
Adds Jerry Keen, Chip Pearson and more handshake artists to the mix
- Scott Henry
- ‘Hi, are you a lobbyist? You are? Will you join my transition team?’
Gov.-elect Nathan Deal today named more everyday folk lobbyists to the list of folks who will help build the Gainesville Republican’s administration.
Included among the new names on Deal’s transition team are some of the Gold Dome’s top handshake artists and well-heeled businessmen. You’ll also notice some state lawmakers who’ll soon be making big bucks taking their former colleagues to dinner.
The AJC and Georgia Report have posted the list. Some names that stood out:
- Dan Lee: The former state senator from LaGrange — who now represents such industries as Imperial Sugar — was one of the state lawmakers who, in 2003, switched party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.
- Jerry Keen: The soon-to-be-former House Majority Leader from St. Simons and one-time Georgia Christian Coalition chair recently joined Troutman Sanders’ political consulting arm, Tom Crawford reports.
- Chip Pearson: The mustachioed state senator from Dawsonville — no friend of the environment, mind you — announced in May that he’d not seek re-election. One month earlier, the AJC reported the North Georgia developer was pushing a bill that would benefit his “consulting business” partner.
- Joe Tanner: The former labor commissioner and state Department of Natural Resources chief is the Gold Dome’s go-to man for cities, counties and everyday developers who want to build a reservoir.
More names — plus a few businessfolks and free-market think tankers — added to the governor-elect’s transition team can be viewed here and here.