Former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue has been nominated to become secretary of agriculture. Here Perdue speaks to seniors at Tallulah Falls School in Habersham in November 2016. (photo/E. Lane Gresham)
President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
News of the decision broke Wednesday. An official announcement is expected today. Perdue was one of two top contenders for secretary of agriculture. The other was former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado.
Perdue is from Bonaire in rural central Georgia. He served as Georgia’s governor from 2003-2011. Prior to that he served ten years in the Georgia State Senate.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Perdue will become the first Southerner to lead the USDA in over twenty years.
