Committee Chairman Declares Candidacy for Georgia Insurance Commissioner

Ralph Hudgens, chairman of the Georgia Senate's Insurance and Labor Committee, has entered the race to become the state's next insurance commissioner. The veteran Republican legislator is running to succeed John Oxendine, who is running for governor in 2010.

Hudgens served in the state House of Representatives from 1996 to 2002, when he won election to the upper chamber, representing the 47th district. President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the position of state executive director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he served from 1989 to 1992.

In November, members of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators chose him as chairman of the life insurance and financial planning committee (BestWire, Nov. 26, 2008). Earlier last year, Hudgens successfully sponsored legislation to ban municipalities from assessing accident-response fees -- also known as "crash taxes" -- when emergency vehicles respond to the scene of an automobile accident (BestWire, April 11, 2008).

In a platform posted on his campaign Web site, Hudgens listed his goals as: to create a high-risk health insurance pool, affordable health insurance and to "preserve Georgia's affordable property and casualty insurance."

Hudgens is also the president of Hudgens Enterprises Inc., an investment company with holdings in real estate and also Diamond Outdoor Inc., an outdoor advertising company. He previously owned a propane company and worked for Shell Chemical Co.

Hudgens did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Peachtree City Mayor Harold K. Logsdon previously announced his candidacy for insurance commissioner (BestWire, May 5, 2009). Logsdon, also a Republican, is a former management consultant and retired colonel in the National Guard.

Mary Squires, a former state legislator and current executive director of the Georgia Society of Professional Benefit Administrators Inc., has declared her candidacy for the Democratic nomination (BestWire, March 12, 2009). Squires was elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1998 and served two terms in the State House through 2003, and one term in the Georgia State Senate between 2003-2005. She also served 10 years in the Georgia Army National Guard.

(By Sean Carr, Washington Correspondent: sean.carr@ambest.com)