After Tuesday’s vote, Georgia’s November races for the commissioners of agriculture, labor and insurance coverage are set.
These three positions have a heavy hand in regulating totally different elements of the state. Every leads the state’s division in its respective subject, and the obligations of every workplace are far-reaching.
The Dept. of Agriculture regulates and screens most food-related points, from which pesticides are allowed for farming to acceptable practices in bottling and meals processing vegetation. The oversight additionally extends to fuel station pump calibration and regulating pet breeders, in addition to a large berth of different points.
The commissioner of Insurance coverage screens insurance coverage corporations, offers licensing providers to insurance coverage brokers and regulates industrial mortgage officers. The workplace additionally solutions questions and complaints relating to particular insurance coverage suppliers and charges.
The Labor Commissioner is answerable for implementing the state’s workforce rules and working Georgia’s unemployment insurance coverage and rehabilitation applications.
Every place comes with a four-year time period.
Commissioner of Labor
The Republican nominee for Labor Commissioner is Bruce Thompson who gained with 62% of the vote Tuesday evening.
Thompson is a member of the Georgia Senate, representing District 14, a place he has held since 2013. Thompson launched and signed controversial laws in 2022, together with a invoice that may require girls to see medical doctors in particular person earlier than receiving a particular abortion capsule, and Georgia’s iteration of the “Don’t Say Homosexual” invoice.
Present Labor Commissioner Mark Butler determined to not run for the place once more this 12 months, citing “new alternatives” and saying he needs to concentrate on his household.
On the Democratic facet, Will Boddie and Nicole Horn superior to a runoff, as each completed with lower than 30% of the vote in a five-way race. Savannah’s Lester Jackson was third. Boddie and Horn will meet once more on June 21.
Boddie is the present state consultant for Georgia Home District 62 and has held the seat since 2017. Boddie has been a member of the Georgia Affiliation of Prison Protection Attorneys, the Georgia Trial Attorneys Affiliation, the South Fulton and Douglas County Chamber of Commerce, the Douglas County Small Enterprise Society, the Metropolis of Douglasville Housing Committee, and the Douglas County Democratic Social gathering.
Horn labored beforehand as a political fundraiser and media guide and in public radio and TV information. In 2002, she and her husband constructed a enterprise that “helped faculties and universities develop applications to coach and retrain the workforce.” She says she hopes to enhance the disbursement of unemployment advantages, create cellular profession facilities and introduce apprenticeship applications in tandem with the Technical School System of Georgia.
Commissioner of Agriculture
Republican Tyler Harper secured the Republican nomination for Labor Commissioner on Tuesday, successful his unopposed contest.
Presently the state senator for District 6, the Republican farmer from Ocilla says he’s seeking to maintain liberal affect out of Georgia. He says if elected, he’ll “guarantee our meals provides are saved protected, ensuring that our households are fed. He’ll all the time put Georgia agriculture first and struggle the overreach of Washington, D.C.”
Harper will face off in opposition to Democrat Nakita Hemingway in November. Hemingway gained with 56% of the vote.
Hemingway works as an entrepreneur, Realtor and cut-flower farmer. She says if elected, she is going to construct a world-class meals system that allows Georgia farmers to grow to be extra worthwhile. Hemingway ran for Georgia Home District 104 in 2020, however misplaced.
Sitting Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black did not search re-election, mounting a run for the U.S. Senate seat presently held by Democrat Raphael Warnock as a substitute.
Commissioner of Insurance coverage
November’s commissioner of Insurance coverage race is but to be decide, with Democrats Janice Legal guidelines Robinson and Raphael Baker headed to a runoff. The winner will face Republican John King, who defeated Trump-backed candidate Patrick Witt with 70% of the vote.
Robinson ran for insurance coverage commissioner in 2018 and misplaced with 47% of the vote. Robinson says if elected she is going to be sure that “there’s a pathway for all our households to be included on the stage of the commissioner’s workplace in a dependable and sustainable manner.”
Baker is an insurance coverage salesman and creator who says he’ll advocate for cheap insurance coverage charges if elected. He hopes to work with legislators to carry inexpensive well being care to the individuals of Georgia, present equitable insurance coverage charges for Black Georgians, and decrease automobile insurance coverage premiums.
King, the incumbent Republican, was appointed because the insurance coverage commissioner in 2019, after Jim Beck was suspended from the place. King served because the Doraville police chief for 17 years. King mentioned he hopes to “restore belief within the division of Insurance coverage, get rid of corruption, and advance insurance policies that put customers forward of the particular pursuits.”
Will Peebles is the enterprise reporter for Savannah Morning Information. He could be reached at [email protected] and @willpeeblessmn on Twitter.
