Nathan Deal
Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942, in Millen, Georgia) was the 82nd governor of Georgia.[1] A Republican, Deal was first elected in 2010 over former Gov. Roy Barnes (D) and was re-elected in 2014 over state Sen. Jason Carter (D).[2]
Before serving as governor, Deal represented Georgia's 9th Congressional District in the U.S. House. First elected to the House as a Democrat in 1992, Deal switched to the Republican Party in 1995 after Republicans won the House in the 1994 elections.[3]
Deal was ranked as the fourth most conservative of the country's 30 Republican governors in an April 2013 analysis by Nate Silver of The New York Times.[4]
Biography
Deal earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from Mercer University.
After completing law school in 1966, Deal served in the U.S. Army for two years, earning the rank of captain. He worked as an assistant district attorney, a juvenile court judge in Hall County, and a Hall County attorney before entering private practice in 1979, where he continued until 1992.[5]
Education
- B.A. Mercer University (1964)
- J.D. Mercer University (1966)
Political career
Governor of Georgia (2011-2019)
Deal was first elected governor on November 2, 2010, and assumed office the following January.[6] He was re-elected in 2014 and served until January 2019.
Issues
Firearms regulation
On April 23, 2014, Deal signed a bill allowing licensed gun owners to carry firearms in public places, including schools, bars, churches, government buildings, and elsewhere.[7] The Georgia legislature passed the legislation in 2013. Deal spoke in favor of the bill in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "There are always opportunities for people to use any piece of legislation as a political tool if they don’t like it. But there was bipartisan support for the bill," Deal said. He went on, "The important premise we all should remember is these are people who have their fingerprints taken, their backgrounds checked, and they have been licensed to carry a weapon. They’ve been subjected to scrutiny of the state."[7]
Fiscal Year 2014 Budget
Deal introduced his proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 in his State of the State address, delivered in January 2013. His budget included a proposed $40.84 billion in total spending.[8][9] On the revenue side, his budget anticipated $21 billion in federal tax dollars and $19.34 billion in state taxes, the latter being a 2.7 percent increase from the fiscal year 2013 budget. Stating that action was needed to avoid a major funding shortfall in the state's Medicaid insurance program, he called on the legislature to extend the Department of Community Health's authority to levy the hospital provider tax beyond its scheduled June end. Deal announced 3 percent cuts in most departments except K-12 education and increased funding for pre-K classes.[10]
Job creation ranking
A June 2013 analysis by The Business Journals ranked 45 governors based on the annual private sector growth rate in all 50 states using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Deal was ranked number 7 (tie). The five governors omitted from the analysis all assumed office in 2013.[11][12]
Presidential preference
2012
Nathan Deal endorsed Newt Gingrich in the 2012 presidential election.[13]
Stance on Syrian refugee resettlement
- Main article: U.S. governors and their responses to Syrian refugees
Following the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015, in which members of the Islamic State (ISIS) killed at least 129 people and wounded more than 350, reports surfaced showing that one of the terrorists responsible for the attacks in Paris may have come to France posing as a Syrian refugee.[14] Many governors issued statements of support or opposition to President Obama’s plan to allow 10,000 new Syrian refugees into the United States. Deal had strong opposition to the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state of Georgia. He said:
| “ | We think it’s appropriate for us to take care of our people here in Georgia.[15] | ” |
| —Gov. Nathan Deal[16] | ||
State supreme court appointments
On May 3, 2016, Deal signed into law legislation to increase the number of Georgia’s state supreme court justices from seven to nine. Deal had appointed two judges to the court in 2012, and following passage of the new legislation, Deal appointed two more judges on May 22, 2016.
In Georgia’s judicial selection system, justices are appointed only to midterm vacancies and otherwise are elected; appointed justices must stand for the next contested election that occurs at least six months after the appointment.
In a 2012 study conducted at Stanford University, Georgia's supreme court was ranked the 20th most conservative court in the nation.
U.S. House of Representatives (1993-2010)
Deal was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992 as a Democrat, though he changed his political affiliation to Republican in April of 1995. He stated that the decision was motivated by discomfort in being the most conservative Democrat in Georgia's delegation.[17]
In 1996, Deal was elected as the first Republican to win his district since the Reconstruction era. From 1998 to 2006, he faced two contests for re-election, in 2000 and 2006.[17]
Deal submitted his resignation to Congress in 2010 to run for governor.[18]
State Senate (1981-1993)
Beginning in 1980, Deal served as a Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate. He left the Senate in January 1993 after winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives the previous November.
Elections
2018
- See also: Georgia gubernatorial election, 2018
Nathan Deal was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2014
- See also: Georgia gubernatorial election, 2014
Deal ran successfully for re-election as governor in 2014.[19]
Deal won the Republican nomination in the primary on May 20, 2014. He defeated Democrat Jason Carter and Libertarian Andrew Hunt in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Results
Primary election
| Governor of Georgia, Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Nathan Deal Incumbent |
72.1% | 430,170 | ||
| David Pennington | 16.7% | 99,548 | ||
| John Barge | 11.2% | 66,500 | ||
| Total Votes | 596,218 | |||
| Election results via Georgia Secretary of State Election Results. | ||||
General election
| Governor of Georgia, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Nathan Deal Incumbent |
52.7% | 1,345,237 | |
| Democratic | Jason Carter | 44.9% | 1,144,794 | |
| Libertarian | Andrew Hunt | 2.4% | 60,185 | |
| Total Votes | 2,550,216 | |||
| Election results via Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
Race background
Republican incumbent Nathan Deal sought a second term in 2014. He defeated two challengers for the Republican nomination in the May 20 primary.[20]
Deal faced uncontested Democratic nominee Jason Carter, a state senator and the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.[21] The Libertarian Party chose businessman and geologist Andrew Hunt as their gubernatorial nominee.[22]
An analysis of Republican governors by Nate Silver of the New York Times in April 2013 ranked Deal as the fourth most conservative governor in the country.[23]
In August 2014, The Cook Political Report changed the competitiveness rating of the Georgia gubernatorial race from Likely Republican to Toss-Up.[24]
By October, Deal had received over $2.5 million in support from the Republican Governors Association. At the time, the Democratic Governors Association had contributed $41,000 to Carter's campaign.[25]
Polls
General election
All candidates - October
| Governor of Georgia | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Nathan Deal* (R) | Jason Carter (D) | Andrew Hunt (L) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Monmouth University October 26-28, 2014 | 48% | 42% | 5% | 5% | +/-4.7 | 436 | |||||||||||||
| SurveyUSA October 24-27, 2014 | 46% | 44% | 3% | 6% | +/-4 | 611 | |||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS News/YouGov October 16-23, 2014 | 47% | 43% | 2% | 8% | +/-4 | 1,774 | |||||||||||||
| InsiderAdvantageGeorgia October 21-22, 2014 | 44% | 44% | 5% | 7% | +/-3.7 | 704 | |||||||||||||
| Landmark Poll October 20-21, 2014 | 47.7% | 45.2% | 4.9% | 2.2% | +/-2.75 | 1,000 | |||||||||||||
| SurveyUSA October 17-20, 2014 | 45% | 43% | 4% | 8% | +/-4.1 | 606 | |||||||||||||
| WRBL October 13-14, 2014 | 44.3% | 44.3% | 6.2% | 5.3% | +/-2.49 | 1,543 | |||||||||||||
| Landmark Communications October 10, 2014 | 45% | 45% | 5% | 5% | +/-3 | 1,000 | |||||||||||||
| InsiderAdvantage September 29-October 1, 2014 | 44% | 43% | 4% | 9% | +/-3.2 | 947 | |||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS/YouGov September 20-October 1, 2014 | 48% | 43% | 1% | 7% | +/-3 | 1,851 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 45.9% | 43.65% | 4.01% | 6.25% | +/-3.49 | 1,047.2 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
All candidates - through September
| Governor of Georgia | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Nathan Deal* (R) | Jason Carter (D) | Andrew Hunt (L) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| SurveyUSA (Likely voters) September 19-22, 2014 | 44% | 45% | 4% | 7% | +/-4.3 | 550 | |||||||||||||
| InsiderAdvantage September 10-11, 2014 | 44% | 40% | 7% | 9% | +/-2.9 | 1,167 | |||||||||||||
| Landmark (R) September 9-11, 2014 | 44% | 47% | 4% | 5% | +/-2.9 | 1,109 | |||||||||||||
| Abt SRBI Inc/Atlanta Journal-Constitution September 8-11, 2014 | 43% | 42% | 7% | 8% | +/-4.0 | 884 | |||||||||||||
| Landmark (R) (dead link) August 20-21, 2014 | 40.1% | 44.4% | 3.6% | 11.9% | +/-4.0 | 600 | |||||||||||||
| InsiderAdvantage August 12-13, 2014 | 43% | 39% | 7% | 11% | +/-3.7 | 719 | |||||||||||||
| Landmark (R) July 25, 2014 | 40% | 47% | 5% | 9% | +/-3.8 | 750 | |||||||||||||
| Landmark (R) July 15, 2014 | 41.3% | 48.7% | 4% | 6% | +/-4.0 | 750 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Poll (D-Better Georgia) July 11-13, 2014 | 41% | 40% | 8% | 11% | +/-3.8 | 664 | |||||||||||||
| InsiderAdvantage Poll June 24-25, 2014 | 47% | 40% | 3% | 10% | +/-2.7 | 1,349 | |||||||||||||
| Survey USA/11Alive April 24-27, 2014 | 41% | 37% | 9% | 3% | +/-2.5 | 1,567 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 42.58% | 42.74% | 5.6% | 8.26% | +/-3.51 | 919 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
**Incumbency is denoted by asterisk (*)
Deal vs. Carter
| Governor of Georgia | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Nathan Deal* (R) | Jason Carter (D) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports September 15-16, 2014 | 45% | 44% | 8% | +/-4.0 | 750 | ||||||||||||||
| Hicks Evaluation Group August 8-10, 2014 | 45% | 45% | 9% | +/-3.48 | 788 | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling (D-MoveOn) April 1-4, 2014 | 42% | 43% | 15% | +/-3.9 | 628 | ||||||||||||||
| Landmark Communications/Rosetta Stone March 30, 2014 | 43% | 39% | 18% | +/-4.0 | 575 | ||||||||||||||
| Insider Advantage/Fox 5 Atlanta/Morris News Service March 9-10, 2014 | 38% | 41% | 21% | +/-4.0 | 486 | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling (D-Better Georgia) February 19-20, 2014 | 45% | 42% | 12% | +/-3.0 | 833 | ||||||||||||||
| Atlanta Journal-Constitution Poll January 6-9, 2014 | 47% | 38% | 15% | +/-4.0 | 802 | ||||||||||||||
| InsiderAdvantage Poll January 6, 2014 | 44% | 22% | 34% | +/-4.6 | 529 | ||||||||||||||
| Better Georgia/Public Policy Polling October 7-8, 2013 | 44% | 40% | 16% | +/-4.1 | 602 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 43.67% | 39.33% | 16.44% | +/-3.9 | 665.89 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
**Incumbency is denoted by asterisk (*)
Republican primary
| Georgia Governor - 2014 Republican primary | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Nathan Deal | David Pennington | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling (August 2-5, 2013) | 71% | 11% | 19% | +/-6.1 | 260 | ||||||||||||||
| Better Georgia Poll (dead link) (May 7-9, 2013) | 53% | 18% | 29% | +/-2.5 | 1,483 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 62% | 14.5% | 24% | +/-4.3 | 871.5 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected]. | |||||||||||||||||||
**Incumbency is denoted by asterisk (*)
Campaign media
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2010
In the July 20 primary Deal came in second to Karen Handel, receiving 22.9 percent of the vote to her 34.1 percent. The two met in a runoff election held August 10, with Deal winning 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent.
Deal defeated Democrat Roy E. Barnes and Libertarian John H. Monds in the general election on November 2, 2010.[1]
- General election[26]
| Governor of Georgia, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes | 43% | 1,107,011 | |
| Republican | Nathan Deal |
53% | 1,365,832 | |
| Libertarian | John H. Monds | 4% | 103,194 | |
| NA | Write-in | 0% | 124 | |
| Total Votes | 2,576,161 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
When he served as governor, Deal and his wife Sandra, a teacher, had four children and six grandchildren. Deal taught Sunday school and served as a deacon at First Baptist Church of Gainesville.[27]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Nathan + Deal + Georgia + Governor"
See also
- Governor of Georgia
- Georgia gubernatorial election, 2014
- Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
- Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle
External links
- Social media:
- Biographies:
- Executive actions:
- Fact-checking:
- Interest group ratings:
- Issue positions:
- Public statements:
- Media appearances:
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Incoming Georgia Governor Deal Names Rogers Wade to Lead Transition Team," Georgia Public Policy Foundation, November 03, 2010
- ↑ Nathan Deal for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed April 1, 2014
- ↑ New York Times, "Representative Switches to G.O.P.," accessed March 20, 2018
- ↑ New York Times, "In State Governments, Signs of a Healthier G.O.P.," April 16, 2013
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biographical profile of Nathan Deal," accessed October 21, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Hill, "Ga. governor signs sweeping gun rights bill," April 23, 2014
- ↑ Governor Deal's State of the State Address, January 10, 2013
- ↑ The Governor's Budget Report Fiscal 2014 (PDF), Office of Planning and Budget," accessed January 29, 2013
- ↑ Mike Klein, Georgia Public Policy Foundation, "Governor Deal Pushes Medicaid Fix; Proposes $19.8 billion budget," January 17, 2013
- ↑ The Business Journals, "Governors and jobs: How governors rank for job creation in their states," June 27, 2013
- ↑ The Business Journals, "How state governors rank on their job-growth record," June 27, 2013
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Perdue will back Gingrich for president in 2012," March 21, 2011
- ↑ Washington Post, "Were Syrian refugees involved in the Paris attacks? What we know and don’t know," November 17, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Nathan Deal wants Georgia to refuse to accept Syrian refugees after Paris attacks," November 16, 2015
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Washington Post, "The U.S. Congress Votes Database - Nathan Deal," accessed August 8, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Resignation ends ethics probe of ex-Rep. Nathan Deal," April 10, 2013
- ↑ Public Policy Polling, "Georgia Miscellany," December 7, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Election Results, Secretary of State, "Primary Statewide Election Results," accessed May 21, 2014
- ↑ Jason Carter for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed November 8, 2013
- ↑ Andrew Hunt for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed May 2, 2014
- ↑ New York Times, "In State Governments, Signs of a Healthier G.O.P.," April 16, 2013
- ↑ NationalJournal, "In Governors' Races, Parties Are Spending Money in Surprising Places," September 2, 2014
- ↑ The State, "Christie urges Ga. voters to back Deal in visit," October 16, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2010 General Election Results:Governor," accessed January 18, 2013
- ↑ Office of the Governor of Georgia, " Biography," accessed July 24, 2013
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