Eric Johnson tweets for governor

April 27, 2009 at 11:56 am by Scott Henry in News

EJ and a pretty lady

Proving himself to be a man of character — 136 of them, to be precise — state Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, announced his candidacy for governor moments ago by way of Twitter. Johnson had been running for guv lite, but those plans were upended when that job’s current occupant, Casey Cagle, abandoned his own campaign for governor a couple of weeks back.

Here’s Eric’s full text:

I have decided to run for Governor. Leadership is about trust. I hope to earn the trust of the people of Georgia. Keep me in your prayers.

He came in four under par and still managed to get in a religious reference. Nice.

Anyway, the senator’s news isn’t a big surprise. He’d put himself in a bit of an awkward place by resigning his position of Senate President Pro Tem before the beginning of the 2009 General Assembly, saying he wanted to devote his time to running for lieutenant governor.

From all appearances, the move backfired: Johnson’s visibility dropped and potential rivals found it easier to undercut his effectiveness. His school voucher bill — the vehicle on which he hoped to ride into the Governor’s Mansion — went nowhere.

The only real stir Johnson was able to make was with a proposal to publicly out colleagues with tax troubles, and that measure mostly served to make him a few more enemies, such as Sen. Robert Brown, D-Macon, who famously exhibited a photo showing Johnson riding in a parade wrapped in the Confederate battle flag.

So Johnson was backed into a corner. His choices were: 1) run against an incumbent Cagle; 2) return to a diminished role in the Senate; or 3) shoot for the moon by going for guv.

The question now is, Will anyone else jump into the GOP race? So far, we’ve got Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine; Secretary of State Karen Handel; state Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton; state’s right nutcase Ray McBerry; and now Johnson. Not the most electrifying field.

And the weekend brought news of another potential heavy hitter who’s decided to sit out the race. This time, it was U.S. Rep. Lynn “10 Commandments” Westmoreland. He joins Sen. Johnny Isakson and Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, (according to a recent interview) in deciding to stay put in Washington rather than join the fray back in Georgia. What do these guys know that the rest of us don’t?