Nathan Deal

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Nathan Deal
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 9th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Edgar L. Jenkins
Born	August 25, 1942 (1942-08-25) (age 66) Millen, Georgia
Political party	Democratic (1993-95) Republican (1995-present)
Spouse	Sandra Dunagan
Residence	Clermont, Georgia
Alma mater	Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Baptist
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1966-1968

John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American politician, a member of the Republican Party, and has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing the 9th congressional district of Georgia. The district, which was numbered as the 10th District from 2003 to 2005, includes most of the north Georgia mountains. It runs along the entire border with Tennessee, part of the border with North Carolina and extends southward to the fringes of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Deal is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Georgia to succeed term limited Sonny Perdue in 2010.^[1]

[edit] Early life

He was born in Millen, Georgia, educated at Mercer University and Walter F. George School of Law in Macon, Georgia and served in the United States Army. He later worked as a lawyer, assistant district attorney, judge and member of the Georgia Senate from 1981 to 1993, serving as president pro tempore in his last term.

[edit] Political career

Deal served his first congressional term and the first four months of his second term as a Democrat. However, he switched to the Republicans in April 1995, after stating that he felt uncomfortable being the most conservative Democrat in the Georgia delegation. He'd been rumored to be considering a party switch since the Republicans won control of Congress after the 1994 elections. He won his first full term as a Republican in 1996 by a large margin even though his Democratic opponent, McCracken Poston, was endorsed by Deal's predecessor, popular eight-term Democrat Ed Jenkins. It was the first time his district had elected a Republican for a full term since Reconstruction. He was unopposed for reelection in 1998, 2002 and 2004 and defeated an underfunded Democrat in 2000.

With Deal's party switch, no white Democrats represented Georgia in the House until the election of Jim Marshall in 2002.

On November 7, 2006, Deal was re-elected 77%-23% over former elementary school teacher turned truck driver, Democrat John Bradbury. He carried every county in the district. It was only the second time he'd faced a Democratic challenger since 1998. However, he was still heavily favored for an eighth term (and sixth full term as a Republican), especially since a mid-decade redistricting made it even more Republican by extending it farther into the northern fringes of the Atlanta area. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+28, it is now the most Republican district in the Eastern Time Zone, and tied for the third-most Republican district in the nation.

Deal was reelected almost as easily in 2008.

[edit] Voting record

Deal's voting record had been relatively moderate in his first term, getting ratings in the 60s from the American Conservative Union. However, he veered sharply to the right after his party switch. He voted for all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton, and has consistently garnered ratings of 90 or higher from the ACU since 1996.

As an immigration reform advocate he has introduced such reform legislation as H.R. 698, the Citizenship Reform Act, which would eliminate birthright citizenship in the U.S. The 14th Amendment begins "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States...." Deal's argument is that illegal aliens (and their children) are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.^[2]

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Health (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Nathan Deal official House site
• Nathan Deal for Governor official gubernatorial campaign site
• Nathan Deal at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Nathan Deal campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Nathan Deal issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Nathan Deal campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Nathan Deal (GA) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Nathan Deal profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Nathan Deal voting record
• NYT Article on effects of his anti-immigration legislation March 12, 2007