DuBose Porter (born October 2, 1953) is an American attorney, politician, businessman, and former newspaper publisher who served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia and served as a member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

from 1982 to 2011. He served as Minority Leader in the House from 2005 to 2011. He was previously Administration Floor Leader for Governor

Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 79th governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States senator representing the state from 2000 to 2005. He was a member of the Dem ...

from 1991 through 1992 and ran for

governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...

in 2010.

Early life and education

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Laurens County, Georgia, Porter is the son of Dr. Lester and Katherine D. Porter. Porter earned his Eagle Scout Badge in 1970. He was a co-president of his senior high school class at Dublin High School, where he graduated in 1971. He attended

Davidson College Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...

Davidson, North Carolina Davidson is a suburban town in Mecklenburg, Iredell, and Cabarrus counties, North Carolina, United States. It is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 15,106 at the 2020 census, up from 10,944 in 2010. The town was ...

, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1975. After college, Porter interned in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, for Georgia Senator

Sam Nunn Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr. (born September 8, 1938) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Georgia (1972–1997) as a member of the Democratic Party. After leaving Congress, Nunn co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initi ...

, where he was inspired to attend law school. He earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from Cumberland Law School at

Samford University Samford University is a Private university, private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama, United States. It was founded by Baptist Church, Baptists in 1841 as Howard College and located until 1887 in Marion, Alabama. It is governed by an in ...

Career

After law school, Porter returned to his hometown and formed the law firm of Nelson & Porter. In 1982 he decided to run for the

. Elected in 2003, he represented the district until 2011. In 1987, Porter and Griffin Lovett purchased ''The Courier Herald'', the daily newspaper in Dublin. Porter is chairman of the board of the publishing company and runs the business side of the company daily. In 1998, Porter and Lovett purchased ''The Soperton News'', ''The Montgomery Monitor'', and ''The Wheeler County Eagle''. In 2002, they purchased ''The Johnson Journal'', ''The Twiggs Times New Era,'' and ''The Cochran Journal''. In 2004, they purchased ''The Wilkinson County Post'' and in 2006 they purchased ''The Baldwin Bulletin''. Porter is the business manager of these nine publications. Since 1987, Porter also has been a stockholder and member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Dudley. In 1991 and 1992, he served as Administration Floor Leader in the House of Representatives to Governor Zell Miller. In January 2003, Porter was elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives. Porter is currently in his fourteenth term and serves on the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Ethics, and Rules Committees. In January 2005, he was elected Leader of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives. Porter is a former trustee for the Nature Conservancy of Georgia, former member of board of trustees and board of advisors of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. He is the former president of the Georgia Press Association and of the Georgia Library Trustees Association and served as a member of Governor

's Preservation 2000 Committee. He was a member of the 1985 class of Leadership Georgia. He is a member of the Dublin Rotary Club. He is also a member of the Gridiron Secret Society. On April 6, 2009, Porter announced his candidacy for

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. He lost the Democratic primary on July 20, 2010, to former Gov.

Roy Barnes Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th governo ...

. On August 31, 2013, Porter was elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia in a special election to fill the vacancy created when former DPG Chairman Mike Berlon resigned. Porter won 62% in the second round of voting. On January 31, 2015, Porter was re-elected to serve his first full four-year term as chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Personal life

DuBose has four sons, also Eagle Scouts, Stephen DuBose Porter, Jr., Guyton McCall Porter, and twins, Asa Shearouse Porter and Inman Lee Porter.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Dubose 1953 births Davidson College alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives People from Dublin, Georgia State political party chairs of Georgia (U.S. state) Candidates in the 2010 United States elections 21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly