34 Facts About Nathan Deal

John Nathan Deal was born on August 25,1942 and is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019.

Amid a sudden shift to conservatism in the mid-1990s, Nathan Deal became a Republican in 1995.

Nathan Deal resigned from Congress in 2010 to run for governor in the upcoming election.

Nathan Deal faced a crowded field of candidates in the Republican primary election, ultimately facing former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel in a tightly contested primary runoff election, and won by fewer than 2,500 votes.

Nathan Deal won his re-election campaign for governor in 2014 against Democrat Jason Carter.

Nathan Deal came to prominence in 2014 when he signed into law the Safe Carry Protection Act, known by critics as the "Guns Everywhere Law", which allows residents with a permit to carry a concealed weapon to bring firearms into most public areas, including churches, school zones, government buildings and certain sections of airports.

Nathan Deal was barred by term limits in 2018 and was succeeded by outgoing Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

Nathan Deal was born on August 25,1942 in the town of Millen and grew up on a farm in Sandersville, Georgia.

Nathan Deal attended Mercer University in Macon, where he earned his bachelor and law degrees with honors.

Nathan Deal was a criminal prosecutor, a Hall County juvenile court judge, and a Northeastern Judicial Circuit superior court judge.

Nathan Deal was first elected to Congress in November 1992 as a Democrat, succeeding eight-term incumbent Ed Jenkins in.

However, on April 11,1995, shortly after Republicans assumed control of the US House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, Nathan Deal joined the Republican Party, which was led by Speaker Newt Gingrich, a fellow Georgian.

Years later, Gingrich said that Nathan Deal became a Republican because he liked what he saw in the Contract With America.

Nathan Deal was handily re-elected in his first election as a Republican in the 1996 general election, even though Jenkins endorsed his Democratic opponent, attorney McCracken "Ken" Poston.

Nathan Deal was unopposed for re-election in 1998,2002, and 2004 and defeated an underfunded Democratic candidate in 2000.

Nathan Deal's district was renumbered the 10th District in 2003, but became the 9th again after a mid-decade redistricting in 2006.

Nathan Deal moved sharply to the right after his party switch and voted for all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton.

The Office of Congressional Ethics released a report on March 30,2010, that concluded Nathan Deal appeared to have improperly used his office staff to pressure Georgia officials to continue the state vehicle inspection program that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for his family's auto salvage business.

On March 1,2010,29 days before the official release of the ethics report, Nathan Deal resigned his seat, which he said, excluded him from the Office of Congressional Ethics' jurisdiction.

In July 2012, Nathan Deal agreed to pay $3,350 in administrative fees to resolve violations of campaign finance and disclosure laws.

Nathan Deal performed the strongest in the northern part of the state, where he lives and represented in Congress.

Nathan Deal won five counties with a majority including his home of Hall, Dade, Walker, White, and Stephens.

The run-off election between Handel and Nathan Deal was very competitive.

Nathan Deal was endorsed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, US Representative Jack Kingston, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Nathan Deal took office as governor on January 10, the second Monday of 2011.

In 2011, despite protests outside his office and threats of boycotts, Nathan Deal signed Georgia HB 87 into law, which increased the state's enforcement powers in regards to illegal immigration, as well as required many employers to determine whether their newly hired employees are undocumented immigrants or not.

Some of Nathan Deal's initiatives include education and jobs training programs, "banning the box" and creation of the Department of Community Supervision, which streamlines re-entry programs across various state agencies.

Nathan Deal stated that gun rights through the United States Constitution's Second Amendment are important to people in Georgia.

In 2015 Nathan Deal issued an executive order ordering state agencies to "halt any involvement in accepting refugees from Syria for resettlement in the state of Georgia", resulting in the state's Department of Human Resources refusing to process applications for food stamps and other benefits filed by newly arrived Syrian refugees.

Nathan Deal rescinded his order on January 4,2016, after Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens said Nathan Deal lacked the authority to issue it.

On March 28,2016, Nathan Deal vetoed a religious liberty bill that had been passed by both houses of the Georgia State Legislature, and that had been opposed by multiple large corporations, including Salesforce.

On May 3,2016, Nathan Deal vetoed a campus carry bill that had been passed by the state legislature, after a number of state legislators refused to include exceptions for child-care centers and other places on college campuses.

One year later, on May 4,2017, Nathan Deal signed a revised and stricter version of the campus carry bill into law.

Nathan Deal was succeeded by Governor Brian Kemp on January 14,2019.