I dropped by Gov. Nathan Deal’s office recently for a visit. In little over a month-and-a-half, our 82nd governor will be our newest former governor. My timing could not have been better. The governor seemed happy to see me. (Not the kind of reaction I usually get from many of our public officials.) What was supposed to be a 30-minute appointment stretched to almost an hour. Good for me. Bad for those in charge of scheduling his time. I asked the governor his reaction to the just completed governor’s race. “I am glad it is over,” he laughed. Aren’t we all. On a serious note, he said it was obvious that our current election laws will be a major debate going forward. The governor cautioned that whatever changes are considered will likely be expensive and can’t be accomplished overnight or perhaps even within the next two years. But it is an issue that is not going away. Be prepared. In my not-so-humble opinion, Deal has been a good governor. There were a few bumps in the road along the way — an ethics investigation while still a member of Congress, questions regarding payments to his daughter-in-law’s fundraising company during his re-election campaign and the famous — or infamous — Snowmageddon debacle of 2014. Today as he prepares to leave office, Deal’s approval ratings are extremely high. A recent survey by the Atlanta newspapers showed that more than 85 Republicans in the state approve of his performance as well as 48 percent of Democrats. Want further proof of his popularity? In one of the most acrimonious partisan elections in memory, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former House minority leader Stacey Abrams ran television ads touting her good working relationship with the governor.