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Doug MacGinnitie
| Doug MacGinnitie | ||
| Georgia Revenue Commissioner | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| Party | Republican | |
| Education | ||
| High school | Marist High School (1985) | |
| Bachelor's | Darmouth College (1989) | |
| J.D. | Emory University School of Law (1992) | |
| Websites | ||
| Personal website | ||
Contents |
MacGinnitie previously served as a Republican Commissioner of the Sandy Springs City Council. On March 5, 2009, he announced his candidacy for the statewide office of secretary of state, which was occupied by Republican Brian Kemp, who had been appointed to the position following the resignation of gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel. [2] MacGinnitie went on to place a distant second to Kemp in the Republican primary contest on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 with slightly under forty-one percent of the vote. [3]
Biography
Upon graduating from law school, MacGinnitie served as a law clerk for Judge Stanley F. Birch on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. He then went to work for the Atlanta-based private practice firm of Alston & Bird LLP, remaining there until 1995. MacGinnitie was hired on at Georgia-Pacific LLC from 1995 until 1998 as chief counsel before joining the privately-owned insurance company, Hobbs Group, LLC, as general counsel for five years. In August 2003, he helped co-founded Beecher Carlson, a commercial insurance brokerage headquartered in Atlanta, where he served as a Director and Chief Operating Officer until July 2006. He left Beecher Carlson to serve as Chief Operating Officer for Grassroot Soccer, a non-profit that uses soccer to save South African youths, for three years.
MacGinnitie has also served in the following roles:
- Leisure Committee Chairman, Dunwoody United Methodist Church (2003-2005)
- Board member, Truancy Intervention Project
Education
- Graduated from Marist High School (1985)
- Bachelor's degree, Darmouth College (1989) in history (Magna Cum Laude)
- Juris Doctorate degree, Emory University School of Law (1992)
Elections
2010
| 2010 Race for Secretary of State - Republican Primary [4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party |  Brian Kemp
|
59.2% | |
| Republican Party | Doug MacGinnitie | 40.8% | |
| Total Votes | 609,478 | ||
Controversies
Intimidation accusation
Supporters of Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp accused MacGinnitie of using pictures taken of them and their children at a Kemp fundraiser to intimidate them. While the MacGinnitie campaign acknowledged that they had indeed sent an unpaid volunteer to take photographs at the event in question on Wednesday, June 2, 2010, in Sandy Springs, the camp contended, however, that the amateur photographer was there to "document times when Kemp is raising money during working hours instead of dealing with state issues." [5] Still, State Representative Joe Wilkinson, who was present at the event, insisted that the fundraiser did not begin until after working hours, but that the photographer was "taking photos of people arriving for the event, even when Kemp was not present." [5]
Voting hypocrisy accusation
In late-June 2010, MacGinnitie launched a television advertisement rebuking incumbent Secretary of State Brian Kemp's credentials as a political conservative. MacGinnitie accused Kemp of defecting from the Republican Party three times and voting for Democrats in 1996, 1998, and 2000, respectively. [6] [7] Voting records obtained from the Secretary of State confirmed the accuracy of this statement - since 1992, Kemp voted a total of thirty-three times; of these, eight were in Republican primary contests. Kemp's campaign consultant, Joel McElhannon, argued that his client voted in Democratic races in order to have a say in local politics. Clarke County, where Kemp's hometown of Athens resides, is heavily Democratic and it is not unusual for conservatives to run as Democrats in order to be elected to public office.
MacGinnitie twice he participated in Democratic primaries - in the 1988 general primary runoff and then in the 1992 presidential primary. His campaign spokesman insisted, however, that the candidate was using the ""Rush Limbaugh playbook" -- voting for the weakest Democrat to boost Republican chances for victory." [8]
Personal
MacGinnitie currently resides in Georgia with his wife, Missy Thornton, and their three children - Hank, Katie and Ryan. He is also a practicing Methodist.
External links
- Georgia Department of Revenue
- Doug MacGinnitie's personal website
- Doug MacGinnitie on LinkedIn
- Doug MacGinnitie's Twitter account
References
- ↑ Georgia Department of Revenue, " Bio of Douglas J. MacGinnitie," accessed May 8, 2013
- ↑ Peach Pundit "Doug MacGinnitie Enters the SoS Race" 5 March, 2009
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State - 2010 Primary Election Results
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State - 2010 Primary Election Results
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Florida Times-Union "Kemp’s supporters say opponent using intimidation tactics" 9 June, 2010
- ↑ YouTube "Brian Kemp's Record" 23 June, 2010
- ↑ PolitiFact Georgia "When you were casting your vote for Republicans, Brian Kemp was voting for Democrats" 23 June, 2010
- ↑ PolitiFact Georgia "Says his GOP challenger, Doug MacGinnitie, "hadn’t voted in a Republican primary for almost 20 years until 2008" 5 July, 2010
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