Nathan Deal
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| Nathan Deal | |
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| In office 1993-present |
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| Preceded by | Charlie Norwood |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | August 25, 1942 Millen, Georgia |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Sandra Dunagan |
| Religion | Baptist |
John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing the 10th District of Georgia (map), numbered the 9th District until 2003. The district takes up the entire border with Tennessee and part of the border with North Carolina, and extends into part of the Atlanta suburbs.
He was born in Millen, Georgia, educated at Mercer University and Walter F. George School of Law in Macon, Georgia and served in the United States Army. He later worked as a lawyer, assistant district attorney, judge and member of the Georgia Senate from 1981-93, serving as president pro tem in his last term.
Deal served his first congressional term and the first four months of his second term as a Democrat. However, he switched to the Republicans in April 1995 after stating he felt uncomfortable being the most conservative Democrat in the Georgia delegation. He won his first full term as a Republican in 1996 by a large margin even though his Democratic opponent, McCracken Poston, was endorsed by Deal's predecessor, popular eight-term Democrat Ed Jenkins. It was the first time his district had elected a Republican since Reconstruction. He was reelected unopposed from 1998 to 2004.
Deal's voting record had been relatively moderate in his first term, but veered sharply to the right after his party switch. Originally pro-choice on abortion, he altered his stance to pro-life. His final conversion to conservative Republicanism occurred in 1998, when he voted for all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton.
With Deal's party switch, no white Democrats represented Georgia in the House until the election of Jim Marshall in 2002.
As an immigration reform advocate he has introduced such reform legislation as H.R. 698, the Citizenship Reform Act which would eliminate birthright citizenship in the U.S. However, the 14th Amendment reads "All persons born or naturalized in the United States...are citizens of the United States". Because of this the chances of birthright citizenship being eliminated are slim.
The phrase "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" indicates that there are some exceptions to the universal rule that birth on U.S. soil automatically grants citizenship.
In 2006, he fought against extending the Voting Rights Act for minorities.
On November 7, 2006 Deal was re-elected 77%-23% over former elementary school teacher turned truck driver, Democrat John Bradbury. It was the first time that Deal faced a Democrat since 1998. However, he was still heavily favored for an eighth term (and sixth full term as a Republican), especially since a highly controversial mid-decade redistricting made the 10th even more Republican. The 10th has only supported a Democrat for president twice since 1964. It gave George W. Bush his second-highest vote total in the state in 2004, when he won 77%-23% over John Kerry. Deal carried every county in the district, including Forsyth County by an 83%-17% margin.
[edit] External links
- official website
- Campaign Finance
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
| Preceded by: Edgar L. Jenkins |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 9th congressional district January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003 |
Succeeded by: Charlie Norwood |
| Preceded by: Charlie Norwood |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 10th congressional district January 3, 2003 – present |
Incumbent |
