3rd UPDATE
Overnight Horse-Trading Could Revive Smith's Chances In DOT Race, But Battle Looks To Be Going Down To The Wire

Posting History:
-3rd Update at 11:46 p.m. adds report of possible move to force public roll-call vote. New material highlighted
-2nd Update at 11 a.m. adds emerging details.New material highlighted
-1st Update overnight

By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

(10/16/07) The battle over the DOT commissioner's race looks to be going down to the wire and may turn on one or two swing votes. It is intensifying as it winds toward a probable resolution on Wednesday

Word had been circulating since Friday that Gena Abraham, the governor’s candidate, may have the votes she needs from the DOT board to be chosen as the next commissioner. But things may have changed overnight in this highly fluid fight.

In a strong eleventh-hour push, House Speaker Glenn Richardson and his team have opened a full-court press to secure the position for their candidate, House Transportation Chairman Vance Smith.

We are hearing the politicking was hot and heavy at a GOP fundraising event last night, with the real horse trading taking place in private at the Georgia Dome as powerful leaders met to "seal their support" for Smith.

Out of an abundance of caution, we throw in our usual caveat here: this is DOT politics, it’s always fluid and it isn’t over until it’s over.

We may know Wednesday, which is when the search committee meets again. It’s whittled a list of seven candidates down to two: Abraham and Smith. A possible compromise candidate - DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans - was floated for a while but the candidacy apparently failed to win the governor's blessing and didn't take off.

Remember: the board picks the commissioner, but the 13 members of the board are chosen by caucuses of the state legislators who reside in the congressional districts from which they are chosen. Five face re-election in January.

Governors always like to have a hand in the selection, and usually prevail when they’ve got the leadership of the General Assembly behind them.

In this case, the Speaker of the House is backing a rival candidate, as are many members of the House, while Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is believed to be behind Abraham, although he’s also made it clear that he has kind thoughts about Smith.

That's an important side note because a fair number of Cagle's Senate Republicans apparently aren't following Cagle on this one and appear to prefer Smith over Abraham. For example: Sen. Bill Heath reportedly has been flying Smith around the state to visit DOT board members in their homes. Sen. Chip Pearson also is said to be a Smith supporter.

The speculation in some quarters late Monday was that two DOT members were swing votes and potentially held the key to the election - Evans and former state Rep. Garland Pinholster.

But two sources told Insider this morning that Evans, a former Republican member of the House who is one of the five board members facing re-election in January, met with Richardson Monday night and told him he planned to support the governor's choice. The Speaker was said to have been considerably less than pleased.

Our sources said that development doesn't mean the race is over, however, because other board members have been identified as "leaners" and are potentially in play.

We also were hearing this morning that Abraham has been rather late in introducing herself to DOT board members, many of whom complain that they don't know her, while Smith has spent much of he last few weeks conducting one-on-one sessions with them.

It’s always dicey to predict DOT races, and even those with a great deal of experience counting noses in these affairs don’t consider anything in the bag until the final vote is taken.

Sorting through DOT politics makes cracking things like the Da Vinci Code look like child's play.

A couple more notes of interest:

* One DOT board member is prepared to push for a public, roll-call vote on the commissioner's election if it doesn't go the way he thinks it should, simply to make it clear to legislators where everyone stood. (Typically, these things are settled in the back room and then when board members emerge for the public vote - Eureka! - it is unanimous.)

* Comedian Jeff Foxworthy was the entertainer at the GOP fundraising dinner last night, and dropped Vance Smith's name during his act. Foxworthy owns a farm in Smith's district.