Mike Berlon

Personal life

Mike Berlon was a practicing attorney. He is married to Susan Markham Berlon and resides in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Mike Berlon was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison for fraud.

Political career

In January 2011, Berlon was elected as the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia. Since his election, he has emphasized a grassroots strategy to make the Democratic Party more competitive outside of the Atlanta metro area and a progressive platform including job creation, increased pay for teachers and educators, and increased funding of public schools.

On May 29, 2013, the Democratic Party of Georgia released a statement saying Mike Berlon would resign his chairmanship, after Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed called for Berlon to step down earlier on Wednesday. In a subsequent statement released to the media, Berlon announced his resignation from the state party would be effective midnight on June 9, 2013.

Stance on party-switchers

Berlon has also been a strong critic of elected Democrats that switch to the Republican Party. During his tenure, several Democrats switched parties to take advantage of the state's Republican-lean, most notably State House Caucus Chair Doug McKillip, and State Representative Rick Crawford (who stated his intention to switch immediately after his re-election campaign). The Democratic Party of Georgia unsuccessfully attempted to remove Crawford from the ballot.

All three party-switchers lost in their next election.