Casey Cagle

Lowell Stacy "Casey" Cagle (born January 12, 1966) is an American politician who served as the 11th lieutenant governor of Georgia from 2007 to 2019.

After returning to Gainesville in 1986, Cagle started what would turn into a successful tuxedo rental company.

He expanded the retail business into multiple locations throughout North Georgia.

In 1994, at age 28, Cagle ran for the Georgia Senate in Senate District 49 that included Hall County and parts of Dawson County and Forsyth County.

He upset the Democratic incumbent, Jane Hemmer, and became the youngest member of the State Senate.

He was re-elected five times and served from 1995 to 2006.

During this time, Cagle served as Chairman of the State Senate Finance Committee, Vice Chairman of Science and Technology Committee, and as a member of the Natural Resources and the Environment Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee.

He was previously a Republican Party member of the Georgia General Assembly from 1996 to 2007.

He founded Southern Heritage Bank in 1999 and served as its chairman until it merged into Gainesville Bank & Trust in 2004, and later SunTrust Banks in 2008.

Cagle joined the board of directors of GB&T in 2005.

In early 2005, Cagle declared his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia.

He was opposed in the Republican primary by nationally known Christian conservative activist Ralph Reed.

Initially considered the underdog, Cagle emerged as a serious challenger to Reed.

Reed accused Cagle of negative campaigning, blaming Cagle for unfavorable media attention arising from the federal investigation into the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.

On July 18, 2006, Cagle defeated Reed in the Republican Party primary with Cagle taking 56% of the vote to Reed's 44%.

He then went on to successfully face former state representative Jim Martin in the general election and won with 54.1% to Martin's 42.3%.

He assumed the position of Lieutenant Governor of Georgia in 2007, becoming the first Republican to hold the office.

Cagle initially ran for the Governor seat but on April 15, 2009, withdrew from the governor's race, citing a degenerative spinal condition and unspecified nerve and bone problems that required surgical treatment.

He ran for and won re-election as lieutenant governor instead.

Georgia's lieutenant governor office does not have the same two-term limit as the governorship, so Cagle ran for and won a third term as lieutenant governor in 2014.

He ran unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated former State Senator and DeKalb County Commissioner Connie Stokes in the general election.

Cagle won re-election by a 58% margin.

On April 30, 2017, Cagle formally announced his candidacy for governor in 2018.

Cagle out-fund-raised his opponents by a large margin, attracting nearly $7 million in campaign contributions.

Cagle was endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), Marietta Daily Journal, Cherokee Tribune, Rome News-Tribune, Waycross Journal Herald, Educators First, and he has earned the support of the Georgia Realtors.

He has also been endorsed by over 100 police Sheriffs across the state.

Cagle and Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp advanced to a runoff on July 24 since neither received 50% of the vote in the May 22 primary.

Cagle was a candidate in the Republican primary in the 2018 election for Governor of Georgia.

Cagle was born Lowell Stacy Cagle in Gainesville, Georgia, and raised by his single mother.

He is a seventh generation resident of Hall County, Georgia.

According to his legislative biography, he "attended eight different elementary schools by age six, but persevered to graduate from Hall County's public schools."

After graduating from Johnson High School, Cagle attended Georgia Southern University to play football for legendary coach Erk Russell.

After an injury ended his dreams of playing college football, Cagle returned home at age 20, and opened a small business.

By July 2018, Cagle had raised more than Twice as Much as Kemp.

In the primary, Cagle was endorsed by incumbent Governor Nathan Deal, with Deal saying he thought "very highly" of both candidates, but that he favored Cagle.

The endorsement was described a significant factor in the primary as Deal is widely viewed as the most popular Republican in Georgia.

During the campaign, Cagle sought to appeal to the far-right edge of the Republican Party, portrayed himself as ardently pro-President Donald Trump, and mimicked Trump's imagery and rhetoric.

Cagle attacked the media as being "fake news".

During Cagle's service as lieutenant governor, the Republican majority, in order to avoid a possible windfall derived from the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, approved, under the five-year plan, a reduction of the top income tax rate for individuals and businesses (from 6 percent to 5.75 percent in 2019 and down to 5.50 percent in 2020) and the doubling of the standard deduction for both individual and joint filers.

This was the largest income tax rate cut in state history.