There are a few people in politics I can’t be objective about. One of them is Senator Johnny Isakson. On Wednesday, he announced to the state that he was retiring at the end of the year.
He said, in part:
“I am leaving a job I love because my health-challenges are taking their toll on me, my family and my staff. My Parkinson’s has been progressing and I am continuing physical therapy to recover from a fall in July. In addition, this week I had surgery to remove a growth on my kidney.
In my 40 years in elected office, I have always put my constituents and my state of Georgia first. With the mounting health challenges I am facing, I have concluded that I will not be able to do the job over the long term in the manner the citizens of Georgia deserve. It goes against every fiber of my being to leave in the middle of my senate term, but I know it’s the right thing to do on behalf of my state.”
Johnny was a Republican elected official when there were only 6 Republicans in the Georgia House of Representatives. He rode the wave of Republican wins and served his state under Democrats and Republicans. I voted for him every time I could. One of the times he came to the station to do an interview, he asked for my vote. I told him, he already had it.
He is a Republican who gets lots of votes from Democrats and women across the board. I asked him about that. He said, “I ran a company with 3000 1099 employees, mostly women, who could walk across the street to the competition at any time, so I had to learn to get along.” And Johnny Isakson always gets along, with everyone!
He’s not going anywhere until the end of the year, and he will make his mark on the Senate in the time they have in session for the rest of the year. Johnny is not going anywhere.
Here’s what I will say to close. They don’t make politicians like Johnny Isakson anymore. He reaches across the aisle. He respects people and he gets things done. I have considered him a friend for more years than I’d like to count and Georgia is lucky to have the service of Johnny Isakson to this great state.
God Bless Johnny and his family on all the journey’s they have ahead.
