Hudgens to seek Norwood’s seat on June 19
BY ZACH MITCHAM
Madison County State Senator Ralph Hudgens (R) will be on the ticket June 19 when Georgia’s 10th Congressional District holds a special election to fill the post of Charlie Norwood, who died Feb. 13, following a long bout with cancer.
A special election will also be held that day to fill the State Senate District 47 seat that Hudgens must vacate after this legislative session in order to run for the U.S. Congress.
Hudgens met with Gov. Sonny Perdue Tuesday afternoon to discuss the timetable for the special election. No dates have been set for qualifying for either the congressional seat or the state senate post.
“It (qualifying) will probably be set pretty quickly after the session,” said Hudgens.
The Madison County state senator said that Perdue wants to hold all special elections for open legislative seats on June 19 in order to minimize election expenses.
Along with Hudgens, Republican State Senator Jim Whitehead, District 24 in Augusta, and Paul Broun (R), a physician in Athens, have also announced their intentions to run for the vacant Congressional seat.
Meanwhile, former state senator Brian Kemp (R) has said that he will seek the District 47 seat vacated by Hudgens.
Hudgens has faced criticism in recent days for expressing interest in seeking Norwood’s post before Norwood died.
Asked Tuesday about the timing of his announcement, the senator said he was contacted by The Gainesville Times and asked about Norwood’s post before the Congressman passed away.
“I told him (the reporter) that there is not a vacancy and nothing to talk about and he said, ‘yes, but we all know his (Norwood’s) situation,’ and I said that, well, when there is a vacancy, it’s my intention to run.”
A Feb. 11 editorial in The Athens Banner Herald stated that Hudgens showed a “stunning lack of tact” in his comments to The Gainesville Times reporter.
“Whether Hudgens’ comments to the Times was an unfortunate misstatement or an inadvertent admission of naked political ambition is of little consequence,” stated an editorial in The Athens Banner Herald titled “Hudgens gets out of the gate a bit too early.” “In either case, his comments show he simply doesn’t have the political skills, or the people skills, to be an effective advocate for this area in Washington.”
Hudgens said Tuesday that the Athens paper painted him in an unfair light. He said he cared very much for Norwood and that both he and his wife, Suzanne, were praying for Norwood and his family and hoping for a miracle.
“That bunch in Athens (The Banner Herald) made it look like I’m poking at a voodoo doll, hoping he (Norwood) would die, and nothing could be farther from the truth,” said Hudgens.
The senator said he was “beat up for being honest, for not lying about it (his interest in running for Congress).” He added that another person interested in Norwood’s seat had secured the services of the Republican direct mail firm Creative Direct, LLC in Virginia, in January, and then denied any interest in the seat.
“I’m not going to say who that was,” Hudgens said, when asked for a name.