Congratulations to a couple of great Democrats. -- Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benefield and Judge Mike Boggs.

This year's 40 Under 40 -- Meet Georgia's Rising Stars -- selected by Georgia Trend Magazine includes a couple of great Democrats whom I am proud to call friends.
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From Georgia Trend Magazine online:

Stephanie Stuckey Benefield
State Representative/Attorney
Decatur
Age: 36

Stephanie Stuckey Benefield will probably become the state's Mother Protector now that she's juggling child rearing with her work as a family law attorney and state legislator. Think about it: Three years ago -- long before she gave birth to her son -- she helped pass a law mandating gender equity in school athletics. Since then, she has faced off with county review boards statewide to ensure girls get the funds they need to play the sports they want. "You have to carve out a niche for yourself or else you'll run yourself ragged and be ineffective," she says. "She's a terrific role model," says law partner Holly Manheimer. "The fact that she can do all the things she does and can still be an awesome friend is great."

From my website:

. . . Eastman, Dodge County, a pleasant city in the heart of South Georgia where I had the pleasure of spending a summer years ago as Youth Campaign Manager for the successful U.S. congressional race of Bill Stuckey -- yep, that one, Stephanie’s father, and that summer Stephanie was a newborn, and yes, I may have changed her diapers a time or two.

(How many years ago? I should have said decades (also from my website, and when it was known as the "Bloody Eighth," it was bloody, wasn't it Bill Shipp and Joe Sports):

Upon learning of Cottingham's candidacy, William Hedgepeth -- veteran political campaign strategist whose distinguished career includes having been a speechwriter for both Gov. Carl Sanders and Lt. Gov. Zell Miller and a writer for the Atlanta Journal and Senior Editor with Look magazine -- immediately notified his many friends and contacts around the state that "Sid Cottingham's candidacy is a breath of fresh air, a ray of real hope for Georgia and a cause worthy of your most enthusiastic energy.

I have known Sid since 1966, when, as a precocious 18-year-old, he worked with me and a crack campaign staff in electing Bill Stuckey as the Democratic Congressman from the 'Bloody Eighth' District of Georgia.

No keener mind nor purer soul exists in this race -- nor anywhere else in politics, so far as I'm concerned. If you liked the positive approach of John Edwards, Sid Cottingham will win you over for sure."
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From Georgia Trend Magazine online:

Mike Boggs
State Representative/Attorney
Waycross
Age: 39

Mike Boggs is law enforcement's good buddy under the Gold Dome, and for a very logical reason -- it runs in the family. His father was an agent for the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) and his brother is a DEA man (Drug Enforcement Administration). "Law enforcement has been part of my rearing," says Boggs, who serves on the Government Affairs, Judiciary and Public Safety committees. "I've always gravitated toward that." Elected to serve the 168th District (Ware County) in 2000, Boggs made important friends early on, quickly earning the favor of Speaker Tom Murphy and fellow South Georgia Democrats Larry Walker and Terry Coleman. Those powerful connections have worked wonders for Boggs, who used a little help from his friends to rescue a state public health lab in Waycross from budgetary extinction, and convince the state to build a new $12 million regional lab in its place.

(end of GeorgiaTrend)

I need to update the above. On July 20 of this year Mike was elected by a landslide Superior Court Judge for the Waycross Judicial Circuit. I am proud to have been on his team.

Part of my stump speech this summer included my saying that I got into the U.S. Senate race late for the simple and unselfish reason that no other electable Democrat would step up to the plate. And if time permitted, I also would add that I spent months working behind the scenes trying to persuade some great Democrats to run. Mike was one of those great Democrats. He would have been done a great job for Georgia in Washington.