Handel, Deal campaign hard at governor's fish fry in Perry

PERRY — Fried fish, hush puppies and a huge helping of old-fashioned Republican politicking were on the agenda Saturday at Gov. Sonny Perdue’s last annual fish fry.

But with the runoff election for the GOP candidate for governor only three days away, the gathering was less about eating fish than it was about fishing for votes.

Gubernatorial candidates Karen Handel and Nathan Deal gave speeches to the crowd of about 800 people, and a number of other statewide Republican nominees showed up in an effort to rally their conservative bases.

Deal played up his midstate ties and emphasized the fact that he lived in Macon during his undergraduate years at Mercer University. He also didn’t shy away from criticizing Handel’s campaign.

“The real issue in this election is getting Georgians back to work, but unfortunately the focus has been purposely diverted to other things,” Deal said.

Handel adopted a different tone during her speech, highlighting the need for party unity and the importance of keeping a Republican in the governor’s mansion in the November election.

“We’ve had a spirited, competitive runoff, and no matter what happens or which one of us wins, the big thing is that we cannot let Roy Barnes get his hands back on Georgia. We must vote together to send Roy back home to Mableton for a permanent retirement,” Handel said.

Perdue offered a similar message to the crowd, citing the importance of Republican leadership in general.

“Any Republican candidate is better than any candidate on the other side,” Perdue said.

The room was split roughly down the middle between Deal and Handel supporters, with almost everyone in attendance sporting a campaign sticker or button for one side or the other.

Campaign literature lined the tables, and fliers and brochures spilled over onto the floor.

The big issues on people’s minds were fixing the economy, stopping illegal immigration and improving the state budget situation.

Judy Grammer, 69, came from Rock Spring for the fish fry wearing a pink “Real Women for Deal” T-shirt. Grammer said she likes Deal because of his experience in Congress and the Georgia Legislature.

Another Deal supporter, 17-year-old Perry resident Mark Pettitt, said that although he’s too young to vote, he prefers Deal because of his tax plan and his ability to create jobs for the state.

“Deal’s actually done the research, and I think he’ll do better things to improve unemployment,” Pettitt said.

Warner Robins native Julie Werner, 57, also said she thinks creating jobs is important, and in her opinion Handel would do that best. Werner also said she thinks Handel would have a better shot against Democratic nominee Roy Barnes in the general election.

“Handel’s a tenacious problem-solver who’s good at articulating herself, and that’s why she’d do well in November,” Werner said.

While passions for Deal and Handel ran strong, not everyone in the crowd said they had picked a side.

Gonzalo Yahuiti, 22, said he doesn’t know who he’ll be voting for Tuesday, which is one of the reasons he drove up from Savannah to attend the event.

“This is a good chance to figure out who I like best. But regardless, I’m going to vote Republican,” Yahuiti said.

To contact writer Carl Lewis, call 744-4347.