Sonny Perdue, of course, was a two-term governor of Georgia, as well as secretary of agriculture under former President Donald Trump. And so, you know, they point to things like that and they also point to issues, you know, point to things that, you know, hey, other states have hired elected officials and former politicians to lead colleges or universities. 11/08/2018 02:42 PM EST. The business holdings were a source of concern during his confirmation process, as well as during his time as Georgia governor from 2003-11, when he faced more than a dozen ethics complaints and was found to have funneled illegal amounts of money from his businesses to his campaign in 2002. It's a little off the beaten path. I ran because I was frustrated with the government. Both elections are set for Jan. 5, though early voting began on Monday. [6] His nomination was approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee by a 191 voice vote on March 30. @SecretarySonny (to use his folksy Twitter handle) stayed the course that characterized his entire time at UDSA. Governor Pierre Howard asking for more responsibilities, and Howard obliged. But Perdue is struggling. Eric Stirgus: The chancellor is hired by the Board of Regents as a 19-member body, and all of those folks are appointed by the governor and so they serve seven-year terms. Republican Sen. David Perdue, a former Fortune 500 CEO, will face off against Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 33-year-old media executive, again in a runoff election Jan. 5. A chancellors job is to defend the system against such bills, said Matthew Boedy, a rhetoric and composition professor at the University of North Georgia and the president of the Georgia conference of the American Association of University Professors. So, you know, we've been hearing that this from faculty members who have been upset about, you know, some of his credentials in that space. [64][65][66], In June 2021, a news story broke of financial dealings Perdue had after his nomination as Secretary of Agriculture but before his confirmation. The state's Board of Regents on Wednesday named a veteran finance official as the acting chancellor of Georgia's public university system, stalling former Gov. Steve Fennessy: The last full-time permanent chancellor, why did they leave? A longtime Atlanta-based journalist, he is a former editor-in-chief of Atlanta magazine. Raphael Warnock. Eric Stirgus: Yes, I think the governor could certainly use this on the campaign trail and, you know, to, you know, David Perdue supporters and say, "Hey, look, you know, I've made Sonny Perdue, chancellor of the university system. Her name is Theresa McCartney, and she worked under Mr. Wrigley. Mr. Perdue, a graduate of the University of Georgia, said he considered the opportunity to lead the university system, which has more than 340,000 students, as the capstone to a career of public service. [51], Perdue was the designated survivor on January 30, 2018, for President Trump's first State of the Union address. [12], In education, Perdue promoted the return of most decision-making to the local level. Georgias public university system said on Tuesday that former Gov. So you've had recently, you know, the Board of Regents members serve seven-year terms. All Rights Reserved. . Brian Kemp and thought Trump thought his endorsement would spell immediate trouble for the incumbent. Eric Stirgus: Yeah it's an important issue because, you know, colleges and universities that do not have accreditation, they can their students cannot get federal financial aid that helps pay for tuition for a lot of college students. There is no conflict of interest in becoming a trustee of a trust that contains no conflicting interests.. The board cited Perdue's, quote, "vast understanding of the issues facing the university system," unquote. [21] He became the first Republican governor of Georgia in 131 years since Benjamin F. Why are we still talking about this, then? Brian Kemp is in a fierce battle with David Perdue. AGrowStar (including the assets acquired as part of the Estill deal) was sold by Perdue's trusts in 2018 for 12 million dollars, but due to the secretive nature of the trusts, this was not widely disclosed. of Agriculture", "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 115th Congress 1st Session", "Sonny Perdue Named Chancellor of the University System of Georgia", "Meet David PerdueHe Might Be Georgia's Next Senator", National Governors Association: Sonny Perdue, "Trump taps former Georgia governor for agriculture secretary", "Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue Perdue Farms Plans Major Expansion in Georgia", "Official Results of the November 5, 2002 General Election", "Ethical Lapses Trail Nominee For Agriculture Conflicts of Interest as Governor of Georgia", "3 minutes, 1 tax bill, $100,000 for Sonny Perdue", "Georgia climbs in SAT rankings despite drop in score", "2008 SAT Results Highlight Need for Rigor", "Georgia View: Sonny Perdue's Non-Legacy", "Georgia leaders try to skip controversy in flag vote", "Tom Price, Kasim Reed, Sonny Perdue and the Art of the Georgia Deal", "Statement of Governor Sonny Perdue Regarding Court Ruling to Stay Transition to Reformulated Gasoline", "Georgia Enacts a Tough Law on Immigrants", The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The "Great Truth", "Trump could name Agriculture Secretary whose drought strategy was to pray for rain", "Yes, There Were Black Confederates. I give him my full and total endorsement.". (David Perdue is now locked in a tight runoff election that could decide which party controls the Senate in the next Congress.). He would not be the first governor to move into academia: Former Gov. Secretary Perdue has visibility into and control over the trusts and their underlying assets, and he continues to benefit from them despite the plain terms of his 2017 ethics agreement, Evers wrote to the inspector general. And besides the national prominence afforded any state governor, Perdue garnered widespread attention for his actions in 2007 during the worst drought in Georgia's history. Kemp is sort of paying back a favor. Perdue is a kind of an easy-going Southern version of the president he served so zealously. Ethics authorities have already issued warnings to a dozen Trump administration officials for violating the Hatch Act, but Perdues straightforward appeal to reelect Trump was seen as especially flagrant. Here to help us make sense of the implications of all this is Eric Stirgis, who covers higher education at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Brian Kemp: Obviously, this is huge for our campaign. The Board of Regents named Dr. Sonny Perdue the 14th chancellor of the University System of Georgia effective April 1, 2022. A Big Ag corporation sold it to Sonny Perdue's company for $250,000", "Agriculture secretary pick Perdue led big political change in Georgia", "Official: Perdue flew copter without license", "Governor Perdue Makes Acting Debut in "We Are Marshall", Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonny_Perdue&oldid=1142223043, Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators, Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators, Presidents pro tempore of the Georgia State Senate, Republican Party governors of Georgia (U.S. state), Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state), Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 05:05. He also won reelection in 2000. Purdue merged the voter-fraud myth with another racist fantasy, also fervently indulged by Trump, that undocumented immigrants burden taxpayers by siphoning welfare benefits. American Oversight and another watchdog group, Accountable.US, claim that violates Perdues 2017 agreement with ethics officials that he would restructure his original family trust and transfer all of its stock in Perdue Business Holdings to a new, irrevocable trust that wouldnt be overseen by or benefit the secretary. Why isn't he going back to his farm? This is the golden rule do unto others.". Eric Stirgus: I think you would have many people who would say that it is a political decision or that the board members themselves have, you know, some say depending on their own personal politics. [67], Regardless of whether the deal was intended to influence Perdue's actions, and if it was if it actually had any impact, the Perdue years were good ones for ADM. Steve Fennessy: So what happened then? His name is Sonny Perdue. David Perdue now a U.S. senator to . You know, he also backed Brian Kemp to fill the position of Secretary of State. [News tape] 11Alive: This is where angry parents are accusing the school board of trying to indoctrinate students with controversial curriculum on race and American history. [48], During meetings with Georgia state port officials, then-Governor Perdue discussed his family business's use of a terminal, then started a new export company in Savannah soon after leaving office. The Perdue USDAs largesse to large-scale farmers and agribusinesses went beyond cutting wages and protective measures for their workers. On December 30, 2016, Perdue's company AGrowStar purchased property and a facility from Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), a large American agribusiness corporation that the Department of Agriculture regulates. The property (in Estill, South Carolina) had originally been purchased by ADM for 5.5 million dollars, and independent assessments and government tax assessors agree on that as a fair range; however, AGrowStar was offered the property for US$250,000, a fraction of its value. [3], In 2004, Perdue sued the Environmental Protection Agency to block environmental regulations on reformulated gasoline. So very excited to have the president standing with us and I'm a lot like him. On March 1, 2022, the Board of Regents of University System of Georgia appointed Perdue as the system's 14th chancellor, effective April 1, 2022. Sanders: one of the the most fun, engaging, charming, and charismatic people Ive ever been around. Perdue: he has an amazing instinctive ability to make decisions.. [71], In 2006, while still governor, Perdue made a cameo appearance as the coach of the East Carolina Pirates football team in the movie We Are Marshall, large portions of which were filmed in Georgia. Sonny Perdue and Brian Kemp have a longstanding relationship politically, and then you have Sonny Perdue's cousin who is running against the governor now in the GOP primary. Steve Fennessy: OK, Sonny Perdue is, I think he's 75. Steve Fennessy: And when Wrigley said he was going to retire, was there kind of a shortlist floated around of possible successors? So those are some of the things that have concerned a lot of state leaders or particularly on the Republican side. All Rights Reserved. Born George Ervin Perdue III, Perdue has been known as Sonny since childhood, and prefers to be called by that name; he was sworn in and signs official documents as "Sonny Perdue". Kemp continues to be grateful for that support, and he feels some, you know, some loyalty, from what we've been hearing from our sources towards Sonny Perdue. Economists in the USDA's research branch were told to include disclaimers in their peer-reviewed publications stating that the findings were "preliminary" and "should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy". There are probably about 48,000 employees in the university system, and they range from professors, assistant professors, you know, associate professors, guest lecturers, you know, everything from electricians to people who work in the cafeterias. In July, as the general election heated up, the department tapped a Depression-era funding mechanism called the Commodity Credit Corporation to come up with $14 billionwithout having to consult Congressto hand to producers of commodities like corn, soybeans and wheat, ostensibly for losses due to the coronavirus. This week, officials on the Board of Regents announced Perdue is the sole finalist for the top job of chancellor. Jess Mador is the lead podcast producer at GPB News. Kudlow used the opportunity to fluff Trumps economic record. There may be that short list that some of these members of the Board of Regents have, but they're not allowed to discuss it publicly. Steve Fennessy: So he left in June. Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do. [News tape] WSB: Gov. Yes, there is a acting chancellor. He oversees 26 public colleges and universities with a $9.8 billion annual budget, 48,000 faculty and staff and more than 340,000 students. And you know, I think there have been a couple of state lawmakers who have publicly come out against the idea. Eric Stirgus: Georgia's top elected officials constantly talk about, you know, we need workers who are college and career ready, people who can just step into jobs. [31] The choices were a modified version of the First National Flag of the Confederate States of America, with the Georgia State Seal prominently displayed inside a circle of 13 stars, or the flag created in 2001 by the Roy Barnes administration. Some farmers ended up destroying perfectly good food. Eric Stirgus: For now, we have not heard any discussion about, you know, where Sonny Perdue will ultimately fall on the governor's race. Your support makes this possible. Eric Stirgus: There was some support on the regents, but not enough support to get him across the finish line to be named as chancellor. The USDA's press office rejected CNN's request to interview Ziska, but not Politico's, where he went on to describe the department as internally fearful of Perdue's open skepticism towards climate change, which, according to Ziska, has led officials to "go to extremes to obscure their work to avoid political blowback". He won his first term in 2014 by fewer than 8 percentage points. Steve Fennessy: News that Sonny Perdue will, in all likelihood be the university system of Georgia's next chancellor comes at a time when state legislators are debating bills about how racial history should be taught in classrooms. How did we find out about that? Sonny Perdue on Confirmation to Lead Dept. You know, I guess at the time, they sort of came to an impasse and there was a search firm that was hired to help with the process, but pulled out of the process. RELATED: Oversight group isnt reviewing Georgia regents choice of Sonny Perdue. Perdue will begin his duties as the 14th chancellor on April 1, according to a press release from USG. Perdue is poised within . Steve Fennessy: Welcome back to Georgia Today. Perdue has long been Trumps most effective advocate among rural voters, visiting all 50 states to spread the presidents message and spearheading massive taxpayer aid programs that kept farmers afloat through Trumps trade war and the pandemic. Feb. 15, 2022 Georgia's public university system said on Tuesday that former Gov. Steve Fennessy: Well, let's unpack a little bit more this rather awkward political relationship going on. But last year, he disclosed he had become trustee of a newly formed fund that includes many of the same assets as his original family trust. In fact, for the next two weeks after the prayer, the state's epic dry streak grew worse. But you know, obviously, you know, there's been a lot of talk recently about issues like critical race theory. Has he said, "I'm supporting the guy who's pushing my candidacy for chancellor" or "I'm supporting my cousin who's running against him"? Please consider making a gift today to support this vital public service. We've been hearing that Gov. The COVID-19 crisis served as yet another opportunity to promote the political fortunes of his boss, without impeding his pursuit of a pro-agribusiness, anti-worker agenda. [33] Georgia voters chose the flag resembling the Confederate flag. [1][10] He grew up and still lives in Bonaire, an unincorporated area between Perry and Warner Robins. If a college loses accreditation, warned the agencys president, Belle S. Wheelan, it could cause enrollment declines, lead to bad publicity and revoke the schools access to federal money. Like Trump, hes a former Democrat who ascended to political power (in Perdues case, Georgia governor) in a stunning upset. Steve Fennessy: Well, there was also some changes that happened on the board itself, right? Steve Fennessy: Yeah. And I understand that he wasn't the biggest supporter of the idea of Sonny Perdue as chancellor. [30], In 2001, Democratic governor Roy Barnes replaced the 1956 state flag, which incorporated the battle flag of the Confederacy, and which had been adopted by Georgia largely as a protest against desegregation. Entitled President Trumps Affection for American Farmers, the episode featured the host and former White House press secretary competing to see who could lavish the most praise on Trump. American Oversight is now calling on the inspector general to investigate whether Perdue improperly participated in any such decision, given his ethics pledge to stay out of any matters that might have a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of the assets in his trusts. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who like Grassley is up for reelection in 2022, said he hasn't "paid a lot of attention" to Georgia's governor race, saying "we got our hands full .