Chip Rogers Out As Majority Leader
Rogers withdrew his name for consideration and endorsed Sen. Ronnie Chance of Tyrone.
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Senator Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) has decided not to seek re-election to the post of majority leader in the Georgia Senate.
Rogers, who has served as majority leader for four years, said in a emailed statement he decided not to seek re-election, noting the "toll of serving my caucus was taking too much from my family."
"While I had no challengers for the position of Majority Leader, the decision was still clear to me," he said. "Leadership positions should never become permanent and I am very supportive of our new Majority Leader and my good friend, Senator (Ronnie) Chance.”
Chance's election to the post of majority leader isn't the only news out of the Georgia Senate Republicans' election of new leaders. David Shafer of Duluthdefeated Athens Senator Bill Cowsert to win the post of president pro tem.
Chance announced his candidacy after Rogers decided not to seek re-election and noted he was "honored" to have the support of Rogers. He added he appreciated Rogers' "successful service as our majority leader."
"He is a close personal friend, and after his decision to step down, I was honored to receive his full support," he said. "For this I am sincerely grateful."
Rogers was first elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2002 and then to the Georgia Senate since 2004. He was first elected as majority leader in November 2008.
Georgia Moderate
5:14 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Rogers simply didn't have the support of the Republican Senate caucus, and didn't have enough votes. Rather than face a loss in leadership elections, he removed himself from consideration before that happened. We'll see if he's happy not sitting in the front row.
Phil McCall
5:25 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Georgia Moderate: Do you have inside knowledge to facts or are you guessing?
Debbie Harry
5:22 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Totally agree, Georgia Moderate. If he'd had the backing, he would have been in the running. He's just trying to save face. Not buying it. Even his colleagues are tired of his shenanigans. And with Georgia earning an "F" in ethics, that's saying a lot.
GoodScout
6:51 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Read Jim Gallaways column. Chip jumped right before he got pushed off the plank. His brand of crazy stupid finally embarrassed enough Republicans -- and it takes a lot to embarrass them. Cherokee, if you've been backing Chipper hoping his power would flow down to the county, time to jump off and saddle a new horse. Chip should tender his resignation from the legislature itself.
A B Alcott
6:51 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
I thought it was common knowledge that Chip didn't have enough votes and planned to step down before the vote. Thought he would have done it sooner, but guess he wasn't ready to throw in the towel until just before losing. Definitely pulled his name so he wouldn't be Will the Loser.
Georgia Moderate
7:30 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
@Phil, let's just say it's not a guess.
Phil McCall
8:16 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Georgia Moderate: State your source, otherwise a) you are misrepresenting yourself as someone possessing facts you do not have or b) you are able to count caucus votes before the caucus met. I doubt your knowledge and challenge you that you are guessing. Put up with source or go away.
Frank Jones
8:46 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
About time! Chip is an embarassment to the county and the state. It's only a matter of time until the good people of Georgia see the light and vote him out. Or better yet, he gets prosecuted for a crime and is booted from the Senate.
Max Jackson
9:21 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
I wish Chip was being pushed aside for ethical reasons Frank, but we all know that is not it. Chip was caught in the same tangled political web he created in 2010 when he marginalized Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle immediately after the elections. We need to elect better candidates who want to do the people's work and not carpet bagging political animals who are serving their own blind ambition.
Terry T
8:46 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Will-the-Winner-aka-Senator-Chip-Rogers-Please-Step-Down/198651746858030 Be sure to visit this facebook page especially those that need a reminder of why the other senators did not want Chip Rogers as their fearless leader!
Terry T
8:46 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Phil McCall, obviously you don't read the AJC or the Peach Pundit - they reported on the new leadership ticket of David Shafer and Ronnie Chance almost 2 months ago.
Phil McCall
10:42 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
You are half right in your 'obviously' as to what I read, which shows you guess and do not know. The challenge to Georgia Moderate; and I now extend to you - is to name the person or persons as a source that can definitively state as fact that a caucus head count was taken showing Senator Rogers did not have the vote to remain Majority Leader. The sole reason I challenged Georgia Moderate's statement is that I don't think he knows, and is simply pretending to have info he does not have. You, Terry T, are welcome to continue guessing, also.
Phil McCall
10:01 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
Terry - You are half right regarding what I read. Neither Galloway or Charlie are members of the Senate Republican Caucus so anything they said 2 months ago was speculation. The question asked to Georgia Moderate, and now I will include you, is tell us your source that can state a head count was taken before the Senator withdrew his name. He may not have had the votes - I don't know, and I'm challenging anyone to tell us their source from within the Caucus that can tell us there was a count before Sen. Rogers withdrew his name. As Mike Hassinger wrote; "Let the rumor-mongering and speculation begin! That’s what comments are for".
A B Alcott
10:42 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
Phil McCall, you seem very defensive. Are you, by chance, Chip Rogers? If so, I'd like my vote back.
Terry, another good site to check out is Chip's Facebook page. Some interesting comments there.
Phil McCall
11:21 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
I am not Chip Rogers, although I am in Senate District 21. My real name is as shown. I apologize for sounding defensive. Speculation by Galloway and Charlie are speculation and not fact. My challenge to folks is tell us your source within the Senate Republican Caucus or qualify your opinion as opinion. Georgia Moderate started and perpetuated the string with pretending he actually has knowledge of a vote before Senator Rogers withdrew his name. I'd like to hear his source before I believe his rumor. Glad to see you use your real name, also.
bob l.
2:54 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
From the Cherokee Tribune:
A source familiar with the situation, however, told the Cherokee Tribune that it was not a case of Rogers stepping down.
According to the source: “The press release implies that Chip had decided he wasn’t going to run for majority leader, which opened up a seat and Ronnie Chance decided in the last two minutes that he would graciously put his name in because somebody has to be majority leader. It didn’t play out that way. … The handwriting was on the wall that Chip wasn’t going to get re-elected. There’s a lot of issues, internally and externally, you’ve read about some of them in the campaign. … The current leadership did not continue to have the support of the majority of the Republican Caucus, so they’ve stepped aside to allow a new group of leaders to lead the state moving forward.”
http://www.cherokeetribune.com/view/full_story/20854508/article-Rogers-to-step-down-as-Majority-Leader
Guy Bailey
10:50 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
Well if you will pal around with mind control lunatics...
Terry T
2:54 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
Phil you seem to be more concerned with who is sharing information rather than what is being reported. So much of what is reported by the media comes from a confidential source and the media then confirms the information from that source before they report it to the public. The media does not reveal their source unless that person is willing to be named.
If you read Jim Galloway’s column in today’s AJC you will see that he clearly states that Chip withdrew his bid after the caucus voted 25 to 10 in favor of David Shafer over Bill Cowsert. The tickets were Cowsert/Rogers and Shafer/Chance and Chip didn’t need a crystal ball to see that he was on the losing ticket after Shafer won with such a large margin!!!
What Jim Galloway did not report was the fact that Chip was a sore loser. After the votes were taken Chip packed up his marbles and went home. The republican caucus meeting was a 2-day event to plan for the 2013 legislative session and he bailed on the rest of the meeting.
Georgia Moderate
9:53 am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Is it Phil, or is it Jesse?
Phil McCall
5:54 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012
Terry T - My 'concern' is what is being reported by creditable news vs. people guessing. Senator Rogers stated he made his final decision on Thursday and called Senator Chance on Thursday afternoon - one full day ahead of the request to remove his name and the Galloway piece on Friday. There is no news report disputing Senator Rogers' version. The fact Senator Chance took only two minutes to submit his name formally to the Caucus leads me to believe Senator Chance already knew Senator Rogers would withdraw his name.
There are people pretending to have the inside story that no news reporter has reported - I believe those people are guessing and have no definite knowledge even though they say 'trust me'. I don't.
My challenge continues to be: IF anyone can provide a source within the Republican Senate Caucus that can state a vote was taken before Senator Rogers' withdrew his name please provide the name of the source.
I am unaware of any news reporter not agreeing with the details in the Senator's written statement.
Georgia Moderate - My friends know me by my middle name; which is Phil.