Excerpt
from You Don't Know Me: A Citizen's Guide to Republican Family Values
by Win McCormack
Mike Bowers
In June 1997, Mike Bowers, a candidate for Georgia governor and former Georgia
Attorney General admitted to a 15-year affair with a subordinate in the attorney
general�s office. Bowers announced that he would resign his position as a major
general in the Georgia Air National Guard because of the affair. (Florida
Times-Union [Jacksonville, FL], �Governor-hopeful Bowers Admits Decade-Long
Affair,� June 6, 1997)
The Florida Times-Union noted that Bowers was �the most ardent
defender of Georgia�s morality laws� while carrying on the affair. The paper
reported that Bowers �admitted feeling hypocritical� for withdrawing a job offer
in 1991 to a lesbian planning to marry another woman.
(Florida Times-Union [Jacksonville, FL], �Governor-hopeful Bowers
Admits Decade-Long Affair,� June 6, 1997)
Mistress Revealed Bowers Made Financial Payments to Her, Often By
Signing Over State-Paid Expense Checks
In April 1998, Bowers� mistress, Anne Davis, revealed in a story in
George magazine that Bowers made $400-$600 monthly payments to her since
their affair began, �often by signing over his state-paid expense checks.�
(Atlanta Journal and Constitution, �Bowers Says He�s Stopped Payments
to Ex-Mistress,� April 17, 1998)
Bowers� wife of 35 years, Bette Rose, defended her husband�s decision to financially support his mistress:
�When she asked Mike for help, he thought that it was the right thing to do,
and I concurred. I didn�t think about it until it became an issue (this week). .
. . I look forward to the day when Mike and I stop having to apologize for the
fact that we kept our marriage together.��
(Atlanta Journal and Constitution, �Bowers Says He�s Stopped Payments
to Ex-Mistress,� April 17, 1998)
Bowers Refused to Heed Fellow Republicans� Calls to Drop Out of Campaign.
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution quoted several high level Republican officials who suggested that Bowers should drop out of the Governor�s race. Bowers refused:
�I ran the attorney general�s office in open defiance of all the damn
politicians in the state. I don�t owe them nothing. They can, every single one,
say, �Mike, get out,� but I�m not.�
(Atlanta Journal and Constitution, �Bowers Says He�s Stopped Payments
to Ex-Mistress,� April 17, 1998)
Copyright � 2008 Win McCormack