We were saddened to learn of the prostate cancer diagnosis of former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes. Barnes received that alarming diagnosis during a routine physical, and he recently has undergone radiation treatment and surgery.
He told The Associated Press that he hopes he has "whipped" the disease.
We hope he has, too.
Barnes, now 63, has been a fixture in Georgia politics for well over three decades. First elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1974, he served multiple terms in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
A Democrat, he was elected governor in 1998 but lost in his re-election bid against Republican Sonny Perdue. Barnes lost to Nathan Deal in a 2010 attempt to regain the governor's seat.
We join Deal and other Republicans and Democrats from inside and outside Georgia in wishing Barnes a quick, full recovery. We hope he enjoys many more productive years of life.