Word has circulated in and out of the Gold Dome that state Senator Ronnie Chance of Tyrone is in the running for the next Majority Leader of the Senate for the 2013 legislative session.
They are nothing but rumors at this point, as Chance has declined to comment on the matter. With experience serving as a floor leader for Gov. Nathan Deal and former Gov. Sonny Perdue for several years, Chance may well have the political chops to garner serious if not strong consideration for the position.
Strife among factions of the Republican Party in the Senate have been well-chronicled. Senate dysfunction has risen to the point that outgoing Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams has already appointed the leadership team for the Senate’s upcoming 2013 legislative session. The problem with such a move is that Williams himself won’t seek another term as President Pro Tem, meaning that another legislator will fill that role in 2013.
The matter is expected to be settled in a caucus vote following the November elections.
Furthermore, last year’s Senate Majority Leader, Chip Rogers of Woodstock, has been dogged by ethical problems unearthed by AtlantaUnfiltered.com and The News Enterprise group of Emory University.
One of the stories dealt with Rogers’ co-ownership of a motel in Calhoun, Ga., that soured when the ownership group let the property slide into foreclosure, stiffing the bank for a $1.55 million loan that was used to pay for the motel by Rogers and U.S. Rep. Tom Graves.
The other series of articles addressed Rogers’s previous career in the sports gambling industry and his connection to an offshore casino that took sports wagers.
Per the article, Rogers was intimately involved in the publication of promotional mailers advertising the offshore casino and phone sports handicapping services, but the mailers were sent to Alabama addresses and not Georgia because Walker was running for the legislative seat that he now holds.
The article also noted that Rogers has admitted to being a “personality” hired for the TV spots pitching the offshore gambling company called Oasis Casino & Sportsbook, based in Curacao.
