Roy Barnes to announce 2010 governor bid

Jim Galloway reports:

Roy Barnes will announce today that he intends to become the first former Georgia governor in a half-century to reclaim the office after being turned out by voters.

The announcement is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Marietta. Barnes, we’re told, will delay the actual start of his campaign until July, in order to wrap up some trial work and finish up as chairman of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Barnes, 61, enters a field already occupied by three Democrats — Attorney General Thurbert Baker, House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, and David Poythress, former commander of the Georgia National Guard.

Polling in anticipation of a Barnes return indicates the former governor becomes the immediate favorite in the primary, though he also carries the burdens that caused voters to reject his bid for a second term — teachers who resented his attack on a tenure system, Confederate enthusiasts angered by his hauling down the ’56 state flag, and residents found themselves the path of a now- defunct Northern Arc.

Check out Galloway’s full post for more information and background. Insider Advantage’s Dick Pettys notes Barnes just might face off with some of the same political strategists who helped launch Gov. Sonny Perdue into the West Paces Ferry residence.