Ticket Talk

The campaign season is now in full swing, despite the General Assenbly being in session. We have five stellar candidates running for governor. But none for Lt. Governor.

So what will the democratic ticket look like come July 20? Let's take a look.

Democratic Activist Amy Morton of Macon tosses out a name that haven't been mentioned as a potential candidate: Lisa Borders.

Borsers just came off a race for Mayor of Atlanta in which she came in third place to Mary Norwood & the eventual winner Kasim Reed.

Here's a look at Borders: Borders served as President of the Atlanta City Council, having been elected in a citywide special election on August 10, 2004. She was re-elected by an overwhelming margin in 2005’s normal citywide election cycle. Her duties included presiding over Council meetings, appointing committee chairs and participants for Council and maintaining relationships with the Executive branch of government.

Formerly, Lisa was CEO of the LMB Group, LLC, a consulting company advising clients on community reinvestment, external affairs, marketing and communications. The LMB Group brought the Atlanta Dream WNBA team to Atlanta in 2008. Lisa also served as a Senior Vice President of Marketing and External Affairs with Cousins Properties Incorporated, an Atlanta-based Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

Prior to joining Cousins, Lisa worked in the health care arena for over 15 years. She served as the Chief Administrator for Atlanta Women’s Specialists and also served as VP-Operations for Healthcap Atlanta (a Physician Practice Management Company acquired by FPA Medical Management).

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Duke University (Durham, NC) and a Masters of Science in Health Administration from the University of Colorado (Denver, CO). She has one son, Garry, who has graduated with honors from Georgia State University.

Now by looking at her background, she most certainly can make a run for Lt. Governor. But would she consider a run? That's the question. She certainly would not have a problem raising money to mount a run for Lt. Governor, probably not as much as cagle, but enough to really make a serious run & possibly defeat cagle.

I don't know much about her, but she's an interesting candidate that if she runs would strengthen the democratic ticket. The possibilty of the first female,African-American Lt. Governor of Georgia would grab headlines through out the state & would energize the democratic base. Borders is more of a moderate, therefore that would help her in a statewide contest.


Carl Camon is another person who's name has picked up steam among some democrats as a candidate for Lt. Governor. I've been telling people that Carl is a candidate that needs to be taken seriously. His experience at both the national & state level puts him at the level of the other democratic candidates for governor. Like carl said in the debate on tuesday night, you don't have to look a certain way or be from a big city & have millions at your back to run for governor. But let's look at him as a potential candidate for Lt. Governor:


Carl has served for two terms as a city councilman and five terms as the first African-American Mayor of Ray City. As mayor, he helped start the first Pre-K program in the State of Georgia operated by a municipality. He founded the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Institute of Ray City, and the Mayor and Council’s Education Initiative Scholarship.




He was appointed by the Governor, in 2002, and served a four-year term on the County & Municipal Probation Advisory Council, where he also served as chairman. He has served as Chairman of the Mayor’s Motorcade for the Southern Region of Georgia, Chairman of the Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee and as a member of the Budget Committee, and Executive Committee for Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), located in Atlanta, Georgia. He was also selected, and served as a member of GMA’s Training Board.


He has served a total of 10½ years in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves, where he received early promotion and was given positions of notable responsibility.

His website is http://camonforgovernor.com/p_economy.htm where you can find his comprehensive platform for the economy, water, transportation, education, as well as his initiatives for

Georgia’s Families
- Reduction Of Domestic Violence
- Stiffer Penalties For The Perpetrators Of Child Abuse & Neglect


Georgia’s Cities/Counties
- Support Local Government Friendly Legislation
- Support A Municipal Option Sales Tax – MOST (This is a 1% sales tax that your city collects. This option helps to
provide necessary revenue and should keep property taxes low. Everyone who visits your city and makes a purchase,
contributes specifically to your city.)

Small businesses
- Incentives for small businesses who hire new employees,
- Incentives for small businesses who incorporate "green technologies"

He is the only South Georgian in the race & would bring a balance to the democratic ticket & offer a new, fresh outlook to the woes that is ailing Georgia at this time. Camon is a outsider & that outsider image would probably appeal to Georgia's families who wants someone who really understands the tough times they are going through. No he doesn't have Cagle's millions, but given the anti-incumbent mood the state is in right now, he won't need much to mount a serious challenge to Cagle. His performance at the debate Tuesday night really open people's eyes towards him & left a very good impression on those who saw the debate. Keep an eye on Carl Camon in the near future.

I know Carl much better than I do Miss. Borders, so I have a better assessment of Carl that I do Lisa, but I'll take either one for Lt. Governor over Casey Cagle any day.

Michael Thurmond's name is still out there, but I say its 50/50 that he leaves to run for Lt. Governor. The best strategy for Thurmond is to run for re-election to the Labor Dept & then in 2014, run for the U.S. Senate against Saxby Chambliss or run for governor if democrats fail in its attempt to re-capture the governor's mansion.

Michael Meyer von Bremen makes sense because he's not holding any elected offiec. He hails from rural Southwest Georgia & he knows how the senate chamber operates, in addition he's a centrist democrat.

Tim Golden is another possibility, but could be a candidate for congress depending how the congressional districts are drawn after the 2010 census, especially for Rep. Sanford Bishop's 2nd congressional seat if he gets an appointment to a cabinet position in the Obama Adminustration like Secretary of Agriculture if the president wins another term or if Tom Vilsack grows tired of the USDA before Pres. Obama's 1st term is over.

I have my preference for who I would like to see on the democratic ticket, but will keep that to myself.

So many names, so many possibilities.