Casey Cagle

Lowell Stacy "Casey" Cagle[2][3] (born January 12, 1966) is an American politician who served as the 11th lieutenant governor of Georgia from 2007 to 2019.

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

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

[21][independent source needed][neutrality is disputed] 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.

[4] On February 26, 2018, while Lieutenant Governor, Cagle threatened to block legislation that benefited Delta Air Lines after the company ended its discount for National Rifle Association members in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, which led to the death of seventeen students in Parkland, Florida.

[30] Cagle tweeted, "I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA.

[33] Constitutional law professors Michael J. Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina, Kathleen Burch of Atlanta's John Marshall Law School, and Gregory P. Magarian of Washington University in St. Louis all argued that Cagle's response to Delta Air Lines' decision violated the company's right to free speech under the First Amendment.

[35] A New York Times investigation in June 2018 found that Cagle had purchased a one-bedroom apartment in 2008 from natural gas lobbyist Terry E. Hobbs at a discounted price.

[36] In June 2018, a secret recording of a conversation was released by Clay Tippins, who finished fourth in the 2018 Georgia Republican Gubernatorial Primary,[37] where Cagle described how he supported "bad public policy" in an attempt to undermine Hunter Hill's run for governor.

[38][39][40] Cagle explained how he changed his position on Georgia House Bill 217 in order to prevent Hill from receiving financial support from a Super PAC.

His campaign felt that, if Hill received the donation from the school-choice group, he would pose a significant threat to Cagle's gubernatorial ambitions.

[25] Two Georgia state legislators, Bill Heath (R-31) and Susan Holmes (R-129) have authored a letter urging local and federal prosecutors to open an investigation into "compelling evidence of a direct quid pro quo offered by Cagle to trade legislative action for campaign funding.

"[43] A 50-second excerpt from the Tippins recording was released by Brian Kemp's campaign in the weeks leading up to the gubernatorial runoff where Cagle discloses his thoughts about the Republican Primary.

[44] After discussing policy issues with Tippins, his former political opponent, Cagle states that "the problem is in a primary — and you and I are just talking off-the-record frank — they don't give a shit about those things.

"[45] His political adversaries were quick to label Cagle a corrupt, calculating politician following the leak of the conversation, and accused him of patronizing his Republican constituents.

In an official statement to the press, however, his campaign maintained that the comments were specifically directed at Kemp, who had released two contentious ads during the primary.

[48] When using air travel for state business, Cagle on more than 100 occasions added extra legs to trips by picking him up or dropping him off in Gainesville, where he lives.