ATLANTA —
Republican Gov.-elect Nathan Deal on Wednesday named the team that will help him assume office in January and pledged to disclose donors to an inaugural celebration he said would be “tasteful” for tough economic times.
After a solid 10-point win over Democrat Roy Barnes on Tuesday, Deal appeared at a news conference Wednesday morning with Gov. Sonny Perdue in the state Capitol office Deal will soon call his own.
Deal announced that his longtime top congressional aide and campaign manager Chris Riley would become his chief of staff.
Rogers Wade, chairman of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, will lead Deal’s transition team. Perdue’s former chief of staff John Watson, a onetime lobbyist, and Pete Robinson, a veteran state Capitol lobbyist, were tapped for the team. The Deal camp said Robinson would take himself off the state’s registry of lobbyists while working on the transition.
Also serving on the transition is Philip Wilheit, a North Georgia businessman and a major Deal campaign donor. Wilheit and Deal are part owners in an airplane Deal used for campaigning around the state.
Leading Deal’s inaugural committee will be Jay Morgan, another veteran lobbyist and Republican activist, and Tricia Pridemore, founder of the conservative 912 Project.
Deal said Wednesday he was considering caps for donations to his inaugural fund but had not yet decided. Inaugurations are funded by private donations and there is no limit on the size of contributions.
Deal predicted the inaugural would not be gaudy or extravagant.
“We’re going to keep our inauguration in keeping with who I am,” Deal said.
Deal also reiterated Wednesday that he would place all his assets in a blind trust as governor — something Perdue declined to do.
Deal’s personal finances and business dealings have been under scrutiny throughout the campaign. He and his wife are on the hook for roughly $2.3 million to pay off a loan from his daughter and son-in-law’s failed sporting goods store.
His meetings with the state’s revenue commissioner to preserve a lucrative arrangement with his Gainesville auto salvage business became the target of a congressional ethics probe. A report released earlier this year from the Office of Congressional Ethics said Deal may have violated House rules. But he left Congress in March before any action could be taken and was never charged with any wrongdoing.
Also embroiled in that ethics probe was Riley, who as Deal’s congressional chief of staff used his congressional e-mail account to arrange meetings with state officials.
Riley and Deal enjoy an unusually close relationship for a politician and his aide. Deal sold Riley land adjacent to his own Gainesville property and financed the sale for his staffer. Riley also acts as Deal’s pilot when he travels around the state by plane.
Riley also was with Deal when the congressman met with state officials — including state Attorney General Thurbert Baker — to lobby on behalf of a landfill Deal and his business partner wanted next to their auto salvage business.
Election 2010
Related Photos
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Georgia Gov.-elect Nathan Deal, center-left, shakes hands with Gov. Sonny Perdue following a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol Wednesday. Sandra Deal is at far left. John Spink
Discussion
Deal names transition, inaugural teams
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