Hudgens to run for state insurance commissioner

State Sen. Ralph Hudgens, R-Hull, will run for state insurance commissioner in 2010, he said today.

Hudgens is chairman of the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee, a group of legislators that recommends changes to state insurance law.

Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has said he will run for governor. As long as Oxendine stays in the governor’s race, Hudgens said he will run for Oxendine's office.

Hudgens is in his fourth term in the state Senate. He previously served three terms in the state House of Representatives. He has sought higher office before, running unsuccessfully for Congress in 1994 and briefly flirting with running again in 2007.

Hudgens will not have to resign his seat until he officially qualifies to run in April 2010, so he will be able to serve out the rest of his term. His Senate seat will be up for grabs in November 2010.

Can you say Bobby Saxon (D-Nicholson) for State Senate in 2010? But he may still be interested in running for congress in 2010, especially if Paul Broun decides to challenge Johnny Isakson, which I think may well happen.