Isakson rejects run for governor

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, widely considered a likely candidate for Georgia governor in two years, announced Thursday that he will seek a second term in the Senate instead.

Isakson, a Republican, informed his Washington staff of his intentions during a meeting on Thursday morning. Employees at the senator's Atlanta office watched via a video hookup.

"It lasted all of five or six minutes," said Joan Kirchner, Isakson's communications director. "He knew we'd all been approached by people asking about his plans."

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Isakson, elected to the Senate in 2004, had been anointed by political observers as a heavy favorite for the Republican nomination to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2010.

But Kirchner said Isakson decided he wanted to remain in the Senate because he believes he can make a contribution at a crucial time.

"He thinks this presidential election, no matter who wins, is one of the most important in our history," she said. "The Senate will play an important role in that president's first term."

Isakson's decision to seek re-election to the Senate will throw open the contest for the Republican gubernatorial nod to a large field of hopefuls.

State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has already entered the race. Other potential GOP candidates include Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville and House Speaker Glenn Richardson of Hiram.

"The jockeying is pretty well assured," said David Barbee, Republican chairman in Georgia's 10th Congressional District and a member of the state party's executive committee. "I'm sure all the egos in Atlanta are running rampant."

Republicans -- other than those interested in running themselves -- had greeted the anticipated entry of Isakson into the race for governor as a positive development.

With a reputation as a compromiser, he was looked to as someone who perhaps could unite a party divided by two years of bickering between Perdue, Richardson and Cagle that contributed to this year's unproductive legislative session.

"He's never been seen as a strong partisan," said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University.

Kirchner said Isakson gave a lot of serious thought to running for governor, a position he sought before running for the Senate.

But she said that, in the end, he decided that his place was in Washington working to find solutions to the nation's pressing problems.