Veteran Rep. Nathan Deal announced May 1, just five days ago, that he is running for governor of Georgia. And fellow Republicans who want to succeed him are rushing to get a jump on the open-seat race in Georgia's 9th District -- the most heavily Republican among the state's 13 districts.
Former state Sen. Bill Stephens said Wednesday he is preparing to enter the 9th District race. He said six generations of his family have roots in the district, which shares a border with Tennessee in the northernmost part of Georgia.
"I feel like my DNA matches the district," Stephens said, adding, "And I think this is a crucial time not only in Georgia, but in the country, and I want to be a part of that."
Stephens said he will soon formally announce his candidacy for the House seat.
He ran for Georgia Secretary of State in 2006, losing to current officeholder Karen Handel in the GOP primary. Handel, like Deal, is planning to run next year in the contest to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Stephens currently works as a banker and as a director for government affairs at two separate companies.
He will enter a field for the July 2010 Republican primary that already includes former state Transportation Board Chairman Mike Evans -- who announced his candidacy on the day Deal disclosed his 2010 plans, according to news reports.
Stephens described Evans as a "past political supporter" and constituent during Stephens' state Senate tenure.
The Republican field is expected to grow even larger, given the virtually guaranteed job security attached to the GOP nomination in this district. While 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain took a modest 52 percent of Georgia's statewide vote to defeat Democrat Barack Obama, 9th District voters favored McCain with an overwhelming 75 percent.
The strongly conservative Deal won his first two House terms in 1992 and 1994 as a Democrat, but switched to the Republican Party in 1995. Since then, he has dominated his seven House elections as the Republican nominee, taking 76 percent of the vote in 2008 and running without general election opposition in three of those contests.
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