David Pennington to endorse Libertarian Andrew Hunt for Governor

The Atlanta Joual-Constitution (AJC) is reporting this moing that former Dalton Mayor David Pennington will endorse Libertarian Andrew Hunt for Georgia goveor on Friday. Pennington unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary against Georgia Goveor Nathan Deal (R).

The race for goveor is locked in a tie between Deal and Democrat Jason Carter, with Hunt getting around 5 percent of the vote, according to state-wide surveys.   Since none of the candidates is able to pull 50 percent or more, the race will almost certainly end in a runoff.  The runoff is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2014.

Pennington’s pick is not surprising, considering how much criticism he’d leveled at the sitting goveor during the primary.  The mayor criticized Deal for being ”anything but conservative and for increasing ”the size and scope of state govement, mostly at the expense of local govements.

In Georgia, the Libertarian candidate usually draws support from Republicans so the news is worse for Deal than Carter.  Pennington received 17 percent of the vote during the primary, but it’s highly unlikely that anything close to that number will cross over to Hunt. 

The endorsement probably won’t change much in the race, because the Nov. 4 general election is going into a runoff whether Hunt gets 5 percent or 10.  The runoff features only the top two candidates, and most of the Libertarian support goes to the Republican.  As such, Carter still needs to figure out a way to win the general election with 50 percent or more to avoid the runoff, and with just over five weeks left till Election Day, that’s quickly becoming a pipe dream.