Handel: Richardson should step down

Published 1:01 pm Thursday, December 3, 2009

By SHANNON McCAFFREY

Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA — Secretary of State Karen Handel on Thursday became the first top elected Republican to call for Glenn Richardson to step down as speaker of the House.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Handel — a GOP candidate for governor in 2010 — said Richardson “needs to resign immediately for the good of the state and in the best interests of our citizens.”

The Georgia Christian Coalition, a powerful lobbying force at the Republican-controlled Capitol, also said Richardson should either refute the misconduct allegations or resign.

“Integrity is an absolute and cannot be divided between personal and public life,” the group’s president Jerry Luquire said.

Handel said meetings were being canceled at the Capitol as House leaders scrambled to deal with the Richardson’s mounting troubles.

The powerful Republican has been under fire after his ex-wife accused him of having an affair with a lobbyist. That claim, made this week, came just weeks after he revealed he tried to commit suicide.

“We have very serious issues that the Legislature needs to deal with that require leadership and focus and it’s clear that we don’t have either right now,” Handel said. Georgia is grappling with a massive budget shortfall that is expected to dominate the legislative session when lawmakers return to Atlanta in January.

Handel’s comments came the morning after Gov. Sonny Perdue hosted a meeting of Richardson and his two top deputies — House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter and Majority Leader Jerry Keen — at the governor’s mansion.

There was no word early Thursday on what was said at that meeting. A spokesman for Perdue had no immediate comment. A Richardson spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Handel says she reached out to Richardson’s office Thursday morning to voice her concerns.

“You always try to give people the opportunity to do the right thing, I am really quite disappointed and saddened that it’s come to this,” Handel said. “The whole situation is heartbreaking.”

Pressure is growing on Richardson, who has refused to comment on the drama unfolding around him.

State Rep, Austin Scott, also seeking the GOP nomination for governor, said that if there is a petition seeking to oust Richardson as speaker he will sign it.

“I know that caucus is going to do the right thing and there will be new leadership shortly,” the Tifton Republican told The Associated Press on Thursday.

State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, also a Republican candidate for governor, issued a statement expressing confidence that the GOP caucus would “deal with the current situation.”

The first Republican to lead the Georgia House since Reconstruction, Richardson was one of the most powerful political figures in Georgia. He once was considered a formidable candidate for governor in 2010.

But his short temper often left him feuding with the state’s other leading Republicans. And he’s been dogged by messy personal and ethical problems.

Richardson was the target of a 2007 ethics complaint alleging he had an “inappropriate relationship” with an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist at the same time he was co-sponsoring a bill being sought by the utility that would have authorized a $300 million pipeline. The complaint was dismissed at the time by a legislative ethics panel for lack of evidence.

But in an interview with Fox 5 Atlanta aired on Monday, his ex-wife, Susan Richardson, said she knew of what she called the “full-out affair.” She also said she had the e-mails between her husband and the lobbyist to prove it.

Those comments came just weeks after Richardson revealed that on Nov. 8 he tried to kill himself by swallowing prescription pills. Richardson said he suffered from depression and was seeing a physician.