Sanford, Perdue & Huckabee...Rising Stars of the Republican Party

Mark Sanford- South Carolina's Governor


Mark Sanford was elected as South Carolina’s 115th governor on November 5, 2002. He was sworn in and took office on January 15, 2003.

With an eye on efficiency, cost-savings and value to the taxpayer, Governor Sanford continues to focus on efforts in four core areas - keeping South Carolina competitive, bringing fiscal responsibility to state government, promoting an "ownership society" and improving the state's quality of life. He has undertaken a top-to-bottom review of South Carolina's governmental structure. In addition to holding in-depth budget hearings with over thirty individual state agencies, Gov. Sanford's Cabinet agencies have already saved taxpayers millions of dollars with innovative new initiatives designed to streamline operations and eliminate waste and duplication in government. For example, after making the Department of Motor Vehicles a cabinet agency the DMV is now offering Saturday office hours and online services to better provide for its customers. Wait times at the DMV are down from 66 minutes to 15 minutes and all with roughly half the general funds requested in the past.

Gov. Sanford, who campaigned on opening up South Carolina's political process, also signed landmark campaign finance reform and Commerce Department disclosure reform bills in 2003, two measures that have brought much needed sunlight and accountability to state government. The governor holds "Open Door After 4" meetings every month in his office, chatting one-on-one with individual South Carolinians and listening to their questions and concerns. The governor also travels across the state holding regular "Neighborhood Office Hours" to meet with citizens.

Prior to Gov. Sanford’s election as governor, he lived on the South Carolina coast with his wife, Jenny, and their four young sons, Marshall, Landon, Bolton and Blake. He served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives with no previous political experience. He was rated #1 in the U.S. Congress by Citizens Against Government Waste in 1995, 1997 and 1999 for his votes to protect the taxpayer before stepping down in 2001 to honor a term limits pledge.

Gov. Sanford learned the themes of hard work and frugality with two brothers and a sister on their family farm near Beaufort, S.C. He graduated from high school in Beaufort before attending Furman University in Greenville, S.C., where he received a B.A. in business. He later received an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and went on to work in real estate finance and investment in New York and Charleston, S.C.

~Joyce Comments: Governor Sanford's impressive first term accomplishments are too numurous to list here in detail, but check them out for yourself by clicking here.




Sonny Perdue- Georgia's Governor

On January 13, 2003, Sonny Perdue was sworn in as Georgia's first Republican Governor since 1872.

At the time, Georgia was in its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and facing a $640 million dollar state budget deficit. Sonny immediately went to work reforming the budget process, setting priorities and cutting the waste. His efforts reduced the size of state government by over a billion dollars.

Sonny also worked hard to get the economy back on track by creating a business friendly climate for Georgia's hometown employers while aggressively recruiting new investment from other states and internationally. In three years, he helped generate over 230,000 new jobs and over $6 billion in new investment in Georgia's economy.

With state revenues rising and the budget in surplus, Sonny invested heavily in his top priority, education. He addressed the needs of those on the frontline by cutting class sizes, helping restore school discipline and keeping Georgia's teachers the highest paid in the Southeast. Just this year alone, Sonny invested over 70% of new state revenue in education.

Community Leader.

As Georgia's Governor, Sonny Perdue has led based on his life experiences prior to entering public service.

Sonny was born on December 20, 1946, in Perry, Georgia, to a lifelong farmer and a classroom teacher. He graduated from Warner Robins High School and enrolled at the University of Georgia where he played football as a walk-on. Sonny earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1971. While in school Sonny volunteered to serve his country in the United States Air Force.

Following his honorable discharge from the Air Force in 1974 with the rank of Captain and a brief tenure as a practicing veterinarian in Raleigh, North Carolina, Sonny returned to his native Georgia and became a successful small-business owner. He built three small businesses from the ground up. Today, those businesses have grown to include several locations across the Southeast.

At home in Bonaire, Sonny became a well respected community leader, providing quality jobs for the local economy and always seeking opportunities to give back to his hometown.

Along with his wife Mary, he taught a Sunday School class for young married couples, emphasizing the importance of faith in building a strong and lasting marriage. The couple also served as foster parents to eight newborns awaiting adoption.

Public Servant.

During the 1980s, Sonny was appointed to serve on the Houston County Planning and Zoning Board. His ability to gain the trust and respect of the community while overseeing sensitive issues caught the attention of the area’s elected officials. Sonny was asked to run for the Georgia State Senate in 1990. He won that election and spent the next 11 years representing the people of Houston, Bibb, Bleckley, and Pulaski Counties in the General Assembly.

In a time of increasing apathy toward politicians and policymakers, Sonny Perdue never forgot that his job was to serve the people, not play politics.

During his time in public life, Sonny's reputation as a skilled listener, patient decision-maker, and tireless worker earned him the bipartisan respect of his colleagues. As a result, he rose quickly to leadership positions. After only four years in the Senate, Sonny was selected by his peers to the office of Majority Leader.

Then, in 1997, Democratic and Republican Senators elected him President Pro Tempore, another testament to his expertise as one of Georgia's most effective consensus builders.

As a state senator, Sonny was often praised for tackling issues when no one else had the courage to do so and for his ability to grasp the nuances of complex problems. He was recognized as a leading authority on numerous issues including agriculture, transportation, education, emerging technologies and economic development.

Sonny campaigned for Governor on a pledge to change the culture at the Capitol and restore the public’s trust in state government. He promised to focus on the priorities and values he shares with the average Georgia family and pass sweeping ethics reform. That’s exactly what Sonny did. His administration has been dedicated to improving education, attracting new businesses and jobs, keeping communities safe, and making state government more efficient and responsive.

Husband. Father. Grandfather.

For all of his success in business and public service, Sonny’s most cherished roles are devoted husband, loving father and proud grandfather.

Sonny has been lovingly devoted to his wife, the former Mary Ruff of Atlanta, for 34 years. Together, they have four children: Leigh, a speech therapist in Clarkesville; Lara, a full-time mom in Marietta; Jim, a minister in Forsyth County; and Dan, a webmaster at Middle Georgia Technical College. They have three granddaughters, including newest addition, Elizabeth Grace, and twins, Mary Kate and Sunni. They also have two grandsons, Jack and Jake. Additionally, Mary and Sonny have served as foster parents for eight newborns awaiting adoption.

~Joyce Comments: To read Sonny Perdue on issues click here.

Mike Huckabee became governor July 15, 1996. He moved up from lieutenant governor following the resignation of Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. Huckabee became Arkansas' 44th elected governor after winning the November 1998 election with the highest percentage of the vote ever received by a Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas. He was elected to another four-year term in November 2002.

Birth date: August 24, 1955
Married: Janet McCain of Hope, AR
Children: John Mark, David and Sarah
Hobbies: Hunting, fishing, reading and playing bass guitar in his band, Capitol Offense.

Achievements as Governor

Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas is recognized as a national leader in the areas of education reform and health care reform.

In July, Huckabee completed his term as chairman of the National Governors Association where he championed his message of Healthy America. The NGA, founded in 1908, is the group through which the governors collectively influence the development of national policy. Huckabee has served in recent years as one of the NGA's lead governors on the issues of welfare reform and Medicaid reform.

Huckabee also is the past chairman of the Education Commission of the States, a highly respected education policy organization, where he led a movement to encourage the stability of art and music programs in public schools. The ECS helps governors, legislators, state education officials and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. The organization, which is based in Denver, was formed in 1965.

Last year, Governing magazine named Huckabee one of its Public Officials of the Year, and Time magazine named him one of the five best governors in America. In December, Huckabee also received the AARP's Impact Award.

Because of Huckabee's leadership to improve education, Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia -- the governor's alma mater -- has renamed its school of education the Michael D. Huckabee School of Education.

Huckabee became governor in July 1996 when his predecessor resigned. He was one of the youngest governors in the country at the time. Huckabee first was elected lieutenant governor in a 1993 special election and was elected to a full four-year term in 1994. He was only the fourth Republican to be elected to statewide office since Reconstruction. Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term as governor in 1998, attracting the largest percentage of the vote ever received by a Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas, and was re-elected to another four-year term in November 2002. He's now the second longest-serving governor in the country. A significant part of his adult life was spent as a pastor and denominational leader. He became the youngest president ever of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, the largest denomination in Arkansas. Huckabee led rapidly growing congregations in Pine Bluff and Texarkana. He said those experiences gave him a deep sense of the problems faced by individuals and families.

Arkansas' ACTAAP system is widely hailed as one of the nation's best school accountability programs. Huckabee has pushed through reforms in Arkansas that have significantly expanded the availability of college scholarships, increased the number of charter schools and established new approaches to workforce education. His Smart Start initiative placed a heavy emphasis on reading and mathematics for students from kindergarten through the fourth grade. He then created Smart Step, a similar emphasis for students from the fifth through the eighth grades. Student scores on standardized tests have risen steadily since the creation of Smart Start and Smart Step.

In addition to his education reform efforts, Huckabee has been a leader in improving health care for Arkansans. He created the ARKids First program, a nationally recognized initiative that provides health insurance to tens of thousands of children who previously had no access to health insurance. He also led a ballot initiative in 2000 that devotes all of the state's tobacco settlement money to improving the health of Arkansans. Arkansas is one of the few states spending all of its tobacco funds in this way. Huckabee created the Healthy Arkansas initiative to encourage Arkansans to stop smoking, exercise more and eat healthier. He now has expanded that effort to the Healthy America program, which is his NGA chairman's initiative.

Huckabee's efforts to improve his own health have received national attention. Diagnosed with Type II diabetes in 2003, he lost 110 pounds. In March 2005, Huckabee completed the Little Rock Marathon, and has since completed the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. and The Road Runners Club of America named him its Southern Region Runner of the Year, and he was named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week for the country. Huckabee's fourth book, "Quit Digging Your Grave With A Knife And Fork," was released by Time Warner Book Group in May and has received favorable reviews across the country. Huckabee has traveled widely since the release of the book to speak on the need for Americans to change their lifestyles.

Huckabee has partnered with former President Bill Clinton and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to fight childhood obesity, recently working with major food and beverage manufacturing companies to establish healthier guidelines for schools nationwide. Under these guidelines, only lower calorie and nutritious beverages will be sold to schools for consumption during the school day. This was the Alliance's first industry agreement as part of its Healthy Schools Program, and it affects close to 54 million students across the country. President Clinton and Gov. Huckabee are co-chairmen of the Alliance.

In 1996 during his first months in office, Huckabee led the fight for Amendment 75 to the Arkansas Constitution. The amendment created a sales tax of one-eighth of a cent that benefits the state Department of Parks and Tourism, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission. Proceeds from the amendment have allowed Arkansas to build the finest system of state parks in the country along with a system of state-of-the-art nature centers operated by the Game and Fish Commission. The first of those nature centers at Pine Bluff was named after the governor in recognition of his conservation efforts. Huckabee, a noted outdoorsman, was honored in 1997 as the American Sportfishing Association Man of the Year and was inducted in 2000 to the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame.

Huckabee also has become known nationally for his focus on technology in state government. He created an automobile license renewal system that's a model for states across the country. He has supported other advancements that have made Arkansas a technology leader among the states. Brown University recognized Arkansas for being first in the country in on-line services.

Many Arkansans also have come to know Huckabee as the "highway governor." That's because he developed and led the campaign for a 1999 bond issue to totally rehabilitate the state's system of crumbling interstate highways. Arkansas is now completing the largest road construction project in its history, and two of its most major interstates were recently recognized by a national trucking magazine as the nation's most improved --just a few years after they were identified by the same organization as the nation's worst interstates.

Huckabee, a fiscal conservative, pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history. He led efforts to establish a Property Taxpayers' Bill of Rights and created a welfare reform program that reduced the welfare rolls in the state by almost 50 percent.