Carol Porter Stewart: Cagle Opponent in 2010, Supporter in 2018
A couple of weeks ago I noted a bit of a thaw in the sometimes frosty relations between Speaker of the House David Ralston and Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle. If that was a slight thaw, then consider the following more of polar ice caps melting.
A friend sent me the pictured invitation for a fundraising event in Macon benefitting Cagle’s gubernatorial campaign. Two names down there on the right of the $2,500 Red Level sponsors were the reason for the exchange. Brother and Carol Stewart are supporting Cagle. They’re not just names on the invite. The address at the bottom? The Stewarts’ property.
Carol Stewart is the former Carol Porter. She is also the former opponent of Casey Cagle from the 2010 cycle. As a Democrat.
Eight Years is 12 lifetimes in politics, and a lot has changed since then, for all of us. Porter has divorced and remarried, and has quietly and methodically shifted her political alliances. She was a fundraiser host for Jack Kingston’s campaign during the 2014 cycle.
When asked about it then, she preferred to not be included as a news item. Her divorce papers still fresh, she didn’t want it to be about her former marriage nor bring her family into any public partisan controversy. Her support was her own (she and Libby Kingston have been longtime friends) and she didn’t want a story to be about any more than that.
Four more years have passed, and she’s a bit more willing to talk about her role as a fundraiser and campaign supporter for Republicans. After all, supporting an occasional candidate is one thing. Supporting a former statewide opponent from a general election is another.
“I have always voted based on the issues and I think there’s only one issue in this election and it’s the economy -which is going stronger than I remember since Bill Clinton. Nathan Deal has a huge popularity rating for a reason and I think Cagle will continue Deal’s legacy on economic progress.” she told me by phone.
“I don’t agree with Cagle on some issues. However, I have come to believe the person who puts the most money back into the pockets of the people is the person who ends up helping them the most.” She was also kind enough to send a picture from the event.
The rush of water from this melt of polar ice cap has the ability to wash over a lot of others’ feelings from 2010. Despite the number of lifetimes in political history, there is but one thing that has the power to trump the past: It’s the future.
About Author
Charlie
Founder of GeorgiaPol.com; Now weekly columnist Very interested in Georgia and Georginas. Interest in politics is waning daily.
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Yikes.
Sorry to hear that. I used to think she was pretty sharp. Not sure what happened, but “I think there’s only one issue in this election and it’s the economy” is pretty shallow.
I thought this election was all about illegals. Either hauling them in your truck or sending the guard to defend the border with Mexico.
I thought the election was about who had the most and biggest guns and nothing else.
Sounds like the ’82 Gov race. Joe Frank and Bo Ginn were talking tuff on crime, prompting lagging cabdidate Macon mayor, Buck Melton, to say that they were both trying to see “who could slam the jail door the hardest…”
I thought it was about who was the blackest (sorry, thats on the democratic side)
I actually don’t remember the Dem side. What antics there do you remember?
In this light, all Dems who switched parties helped thaw relationships. Maybe true on a personal level, but I doubt it leads to a Unity ticket.
Kingston out of office has revealed himself to be a Trump nothing burger.
She’s supporting the likely winner.
Here is someone who she is on the same page with:
“Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) is very upset that Democrats think racial discrimination is still a problem. Days after a House floor clash with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) over the House Republican majority’s decision to rescind Obama-era protections against auto lending discrimination, he complained on Tuesday morning’s Fox & Friends that claims of modern day racial inequalities are not American.”
“Kelly, an automobile dealer, argued that at a time when the economy is good, House Democrats should not raise this issue. ”
“I said that’s not America. We don’t talk about those things.”
https://thinkprogress.org/pennsylvania-congressman-mike-kelly-un-american-to-talk-about-racism-fb297d0719c6/