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Samuel S. Olens
Samuel S. Olens (b. July 8, 1957, in Miami Florida) is a former Republican Attorney General of Georgia. He was elected in the November 2, 2010, general elections, and took office on January 10, 2011. He won re-election in 2014.[1]
Prior to becoming attorney general, he served as the chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners.[2]
In October 2016, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby confirmed after months of speculation that Olens was being considered for the position of president at Kennesaw State University. Olens interviewed for the position in a closed-door meeting on October 4; the hiring committee voted to appoint Olens on October 12.[3] The same day, Governor Nathan Deal (R) announced that Director of Economic Development Chris Carr would replace Olens effective November 1, 2016.[4]
Biography
Though native to Miami, Fla., Olens was raised mostly in New Jersey. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from American University before admission to Atlanta's Emory University School of Law brought him to the state which has since hosted and shaped his career.[5]
Olens' professional career has largely been in the legal profession. After graduating from law school in 1983, Olens worked for Ezor & Olens, P.C. until 2010. Before becoming attorney general, Olens was also chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners from August 2002 to March 2010. Previously, he was a Cobb County District Commissioner from 1999 through July 2002. Olens served as chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission from December 2004 through 2009, and was vice-chair of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District from 2005 through March 2010.[6]
Awards
- Liberty Bell Award (2005) from the Cobb Bar Association
- Excellence in Public Service Award (2007) from the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute
- Lexus Leader of the Arts Award (2007) from Public Broadcasting Atlanta
- Tom Bradley Leadership Award (2008) from the National Association of Regional Councils
Education
- Bachelor's degree, American University in international politics
- Master's degree, American University in international politics
- Juris Doctorate degree, Emory University
Political career
Attorney General of Georgia (2011-2016)
Olens was elected Attorney General of Georgia on November 2, 2010, and took office the following January. He succeeded Thurbert E. Baker (D), who had decided to run for governor in 2010 rather than seek re-election as attorney general.[7]
Olens' win in 2010 represented a victory of sorts for the state as well. For the first time in Georgia's history, a Jewish candidate was elected in a statewide, partisan race. Notwithstanding the patented Christianity of his conservative base, Olens understated the history-making implications of his win, indicating that geography (his New Jersey upbringing), rather than faith, was of greatest concern during the campaign.[8] He resigned effective November 1, 2016, in order to assume the position of president at Kennesaw State University.[4]
Noteworthy events
Ignoring law
Two consecutive chairmen of the Cobb County Commission, one of them Olens, the then-newly elected Republican State Attorney General, "told the county clerk to disregard a provision of a 27-year-old law that requires Cobb to document the actions of its county manager."[9]
County officials, who, by law, were required to keep minutes, contended that the requirement was cumbersome and outdated. Unlike the county chairman, the manager was not a publicly elected official who conducted business openly; the law, therefore, was designed to keep tabs on the person in power. This provision was not common in Georgia, as "neither the Georgia Municipal Association nor the Association County Commissioners of Georgia are aware of other jurisdictions that have to record minutes of their city or county managers."[9] Tim Lee, then-chairman of the Cobb County Commission, had said that the local government body had begun the process of repealing the measure in January 2011.
War against the tobacco industry
In December 2012, Olens accepted a plane ride from a tobacco lobbyist, raising questions about ethics violations. The ride, valued at $1,500, stood in contrast to his stance against the tobacco industry. In the midst of arbitration with big tobacco companies, in which the Georgia stood to lose $120 million, Olsen defended the flight, saying, "I was trying to save our state money."[10]
Ensuring the government's legal rectitude (with respect to the Georgia Constitution) and the full accountability of its activities are fundamental responsibilities of his office. As Attorney General, Olens has supported raising the government's ethical standards, with special attention to the issue of transparency. Although accepting the ride was not technically illegal, as it would be in some other states, the ethics issue remained, for many, in doubt.[10]
Olens fielded considerable criticism for flying on the lobbyist's dime, but insisted that the transparency which led to the public's discovery of said flight should be paramount in assessing the legal and ethical defensibility of his choice. In response to a reporter's question of whether he would make the same choice again under similar circumstances, Olens said, "I'm going to follow the law. I'm going to be transparent. And where I can save the state potentially 120-plus million, I'm going to try and save the state that money."[10]
Issues
Opposition to the Affordable Care Act
Olens' Democratic predecessor, Thurbert Baker, had refused Republican Governor Sonny Perdue's request to join the twenty-plus state attorneys general in filing suit against the federal government over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, saying that the states did not have "a viable legal claim against the United States."[11] Olens, on the other hand, argued during his campaign that the "law supersedes state sovereignty and the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution."[12] Once in office, Olens joined the lawsuit challenging the ACA.
Presidential preference
2012
Samuel S. Olens endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.[13]
Cobb County Commissioner, Board member (1999-2010)
After having served as Cobb County District 3 Commissioner for three years starting in 1999, Olens was elected as chairman of the five-member Cobb County Board of Commissioners. Republican Governor Sonny Perdue appointed him to represent the 6th Congressional District on the state's Department of Community Affairs Board in 2003. He was re-elected as chairman of the Cobb County Commission in 2005, where he remained until April 2010 when he resigned in order to concentrate on his attorney general campaign.[14]
Elections
2014
- See also: Georgia attorney general election, 2014
Olens won re-election to a second term as Attorney General of Georgia in 2014.[15] Olens was unopposed for the Republican nomination in the primary on May 20, 2014, and overtook one challenger, Democrat Greg Hecht, in the general election. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Results
| Georgia Attorney General, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Samuel S. Olens Incumbent |
56.9% | 1,436,987 | |
| Democratic | Greg Hecht | 43.1% | 1,087,268 | |
| Total Votes | 2,524,255 | |||
| Election results via Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
2010
- See also: Georgia Attorney General election, 2010
Olens announced his candidacy for attorney general in April of 2009. A little over a year later, Olens placed first in the Republican primary on Tuesday, July 20, 2010, but failed to garner enough popular support to avoid a runoff contest.[16] He officially secured the party nomination three weeks later in the Republican primary runoff on August 10, 2010.[17]
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary[18] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party |  Samuel S. Olens
|
39.9%[19] | |
| Republican Party | Preston Smith | 30.6% | |
| Republican Party | Max Wood | 29.5% | |
| Total Votes | 576,492 | ||
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary Run-Off[20] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | Samuel S. Olens
|
58.9% | |
| Republican Party | Preston Smith | 41.1% | |
| Total Votes | 508,853 | ||
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election[21] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | Samuel S. Olens
|
52.9% | |
| Democratic Party | Ken Hodges | 43.6% | |
| Libertarian Party | Don Smart | 3.5% | |
| Total Votes | 2,551,722 | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
| Samuel S. Olens | |
| Republican National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | At-large delegate |
| State: | Georgia |
| Bound to: | Unknown |
| Delegates to the RNC 2016 | |
| Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • Delegate rules by state • State election law and delegates • Delegates by state | |
Olens was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Georgia.[22] In the Georgia Republican primary election on March 1, 2016, Donald Trump won 42 delegates, Marco Rubio won 16, and Ted Cruz won 18. Ballotpedia was not able to identify which candidate Olens was bound by state party rules to support at the national convention. If you have information on how Georgia’s Republican delegates were allocated, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.[23]
Delegate rules
Delegates from Georgia to the Republican National Convention were elected at district conventions and the state convention in June 2016. Delegates from Georgia were "bound" to the candidate to whom they were allocated through the first round of voting at the national convention unless their candidate withdrew from the race after the state primary election—in which case Georgia state law required those delegates to be "unpledged" at the national convention.
Georgia primary results
- See also: Presidential election in Georgia, 2016
| Georgia Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Donald Trump |
38.8% | 502,994 | 42 | |
| Marco Rubio | 24.4% | 316,836 | 16 | |
| Ted Cruz | 23.6% | 305,847 | 18 | |
| John Kasich | 5.6% | 72,508 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 6.2% | 80,723 | 0 | |
| Jeb Bush | 0.6% | 7,686 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0.1% | 1,486 | 0 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 0.1% | 1,146 | 0 | |
| Lindsey Graham | 0% | 428 | 0 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 0.2% | 2,625 | 0 | |
| George Pataki | 0% | 236 | 0 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.2% | 2,910 | 0 | |
| Rick Santorum | 0% | 539 | 0 | |
| Totals | 1,295,964 | 76 | ||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State and CNN | ||||
Delegate allocation
Georgia had 76 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 42 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's 14 congressional districts). District-level delegates were allocated proportionally; the highest vote-getter in a congressional district received two of that district's delegates, and the second highest vote-getter received the remaining delegate. If a candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote in a given district, he or she won all three of that district's delegates.[24][25]
Of the remaining 34 delegates, 31 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 20 percent of the statewide vote in order to be eligible to win any of Georgia's at-large delegates. If a candidate won more than 50 percent of the statewide vote, he or she received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.[24][25]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Samuel + Olens + Georgia + Attorney"
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Olens and his wife, Lisa, have two children named Lauren and Jonathan.[26]
Contact information
Capitol Address:
Office of the Attorney General
40 Capitol Square, SW
Atlanta, Ga 30334
Phone: (404) 656-3300
Fax: (404) 657-8733
See also
External links
- Official Georgia Attorney General website
- Sam Olens' Facebook profile
- Project Vote Smart - Samuel Olens biography
- Campaign contributions: 2012, 2010
Campaign links
Footnotes
- ↑ Sam Olens for Attorney General 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed April 1, 2014
- ↑ Attorney General of Georgia, " Biography of the Attorney General," accessed August 27, 2013
- ↑ Atlanta Journal Constitution, "Kennesaw State vote on Sam Olens’ presidency set for Oct. 12," October 4, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 AJC.com, "Breaking: Georgia’s next attorney general is Chris Carr," October 12, 2016
- ↑ Sam Olens, "Meet Sam," accessed August 27, 2013
- ↑ Attorney General of Georgia, "Biography of the Attorney General," accessed September 12, 2011
- ↑ Fresh Loaf, "WSB: Sam Olens to run for attorney general" 21 April, 2009
- ↑ Blogs: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Sam Olens breaks through an ancient Georgia barrier," November 6, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Cobb County manager law not followed" 13 Nov. 2010
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 11alive.com, "Olens:I took lobbyist trip to save state money," January 31, 2012
- ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Thurbert Baker’s answer to Sonny Perdue: Health care lawsuit a waste of money" 24 March, 2010
- ↑ Paulding County Republican Examiner, "Sam Olen's statements regarding Healthcare lawsuit" 14 Sept. 2010
- ↑ The American Presidency Project, "Mitt Romney Announces Support of Georgia Elected Officials and Leaders," October 27, 2011
- ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens resigns" 5 April, 2010
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information: Attorney General," March 6, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State - 2010 Primary Election Results
- ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Olens wins GOP runoff for attorney general" 10 Aug. 2010
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State - 2010 Republican Attorney General Primary Election Results
- ↑ Even though Sam Olens received the most votes, he failed to receive over fifty percent of those votes required by Georgia state law. A runoff election between the top two vote recipients, therefore, was required to decide who went on to the general election.
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State - 2010 Republican Attorney General Primary Election Results
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State - 2010 Attorney General General Election Results
- ↑ AJC, "Ted Cruz backers lose bid to pack Georgia GOP delegate slate," June 4, 2016
- ↑ To build our list of the state and territorial delegations to the 2016 Republican National Convention, Ballotpedia relied primarily upon official lists provided by state and territorial Republican parties, email exchanges and phone interviews with state party officials, official lists provided by state governments, and, in some cases, unofficial lists compiled by local media outlets. When possible, we included what type of delegate the delegate is (at-large, district-level, or RNC) and which candidate they were bound by state and national party bylaws to support at the convention. For most delegations, Ballotpedia was able to track down all of this information. For delegations where we were not able to track down this information or were only able to track down partial lists, we included this note. If you have additional information on this state's delegation, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography: Sam Olens," accessed January 17, 2013
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thurbert Baker (D) |
Georgia Attorney General 2010–2016 |
Succeeded by Chris Car |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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