You’ve got to love the voters of Paulding County — they appreciate a good joke better than any other group of people I know. Where else in Georgia would you see the voters put such a colorful bunch of horndogs, carousers and hypocrites into public office?
Voters in this suburban county that lies to the west of Atlanta seven times elected Glenn Richardson to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he eventually became the House speaker and one of the most powerful political figures in the state.
During the five years that he was speaker, Richardson acquired a legendary reputation for drinking and partying with the capitol’s lobbyist crowd. He was barely slowed down by an ethics complaint filed by Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Kahn in January 2007, alleging that Richardson had an “inappropriate relationship” with an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist (at the same time, coincidentally, that Richardson was pushing for passage of a pipeline bill supported by the gas company). That complaint was quickly tossed out by a legislative “ethics committee.”
Richardson’s wife wound up divorcing him after that ethics controversy but it never hurt him among Paulding County voters — they just kept reelecting him.
The good times for Richardson ended not because of Paulding voters but because of his now former wife, Susan. She sat down for an explosive interview with TV newsman Dale Russell last November and confirmed that Richardson did indeed have an affair with that Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist. That was too much for Richardson’s colleagues in the Republican caucus and he resigned as speaker and as a member of the Legislature.
They held a special election in Paulding this week to replace Richardson, so who did the voters pick? A 29-year-old banker and Republican named Daniel Stout who’s a pleasant-looking young man and a politician who professes a deep faith in God.
What’s the catch here? Simply this: it came out during the campaign that 10 years ago Stout committed adultery. While his first wife was pregnant. With his first wife’s mother. That resulted in a divorce for Stout (he has since married another woman).
Here’s how Stout handled the matter in an email:
Kelly and I wanted to respond together to a question about a painful past event that someone has recently raised during this election.
Ten years ago I committed adultery that led to a divorce from my first wife. While the relationship was stopped short of “sex”, I recognize my mistake as adulterous and unfaithful nonetheless. I own the reality of the pain I caused to my first wife, my daughter and others. This humbling experience changed my life dramatically.
I have asked for and received forgiveness from my first wife, my daughter, my family, my friends, my church, my community and, most importantly, God.
I met my current wife, Kelly, four years later. We were completely open with one another, and we discussed all this as soon as we began dating. We got married in 2005, and God’s loving forgiveness for us has been a constant theme of our relationship. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful marriage, and through God’s strength we remain faithful to one another.
Of course, we knew when I announced for the House seat that belongs to the people of Paulding County that this and all matters of our lives would be open to the public. We believe in total transparency, even in matters of past sins anyone would rather forget.
Do I even have to mention that Stout received nearly 60 percent of the vote in the special election and will soon be sworn in as Richardson’s replacement?
Paulding County is also the home of Rep. Howard Maxwell (R-Dallas), who has voted at least four times in the past four years to pass bills that have given Georgia what is considered to be one of the toughest sex offender laws in the nation.
Maxwell went along with the Republican leaders — ironically including Richardson — who wanted to make the state code so harsh and unforgiving that persons convicted of sex crimes would be forced to leave the state and move elsewhere.
That all went out the window last summer when one of Maxwell’s friends and constituents was convicted on child molestation charges.
Maxwell, who voted for each and every bill that ramped up the penalties for child molestation, appeared in Paulding County court to testify as a character witness for his child molester associate. “I believe in coming and supporting my friends,” Maxwell said.
His support obviously helped. The judge in the case allowed Maxwell’s constituent to remain under house arrest rather than go to prison.
I asked Maxwell if he saw any contradiction at all between voting for tougher sex crime penalties and then testifying to help a convicted child molester avoid going to prison.
“I don’t particularly like the laws, no,” he told me. “I think they’re too stringent. I don’t like it that we’ve taken the power to sentence away from the judges, basically. You’ve got to use common sense.”
Can someone who changes his position so dramatically on sex crimes be reelected to public office in Paulding County?
Judging from the results of this week’s special election, I’d say yes.
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