Georgia’s Insurance Chief Oxendine Wants to be Governor in 2010

Georgia’s insurance commissioner said he’s running for governor in 2010, making him the first to enter what could be a crowded field of Republican heavyweights jockeying to replace Sonny Perdue.

John Oxendine said gridlock in the recent legislative session helped convince him to get into the race.

Bickering between House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle doomed plans for a tax cut. “As a taxpayer I was disappointed that we did not see meaningful tax relief,” Oxendine said.

He said he was also frustrated that the Legislature failed to approve a plan to fund transportation improvements and to create a steady stream of funding for the state’s trauma network.

Cagle and Richardson are among those often mentioned as candidates to succeed Perdue when his second term expires.

Oxendine, previewing a possible line of attack in the race, said animosity between the House and the Senate makes a neutral candidate more attractive. “I think in the current climate for the next governor to come from the House or the Senate would be very difficult from an effective government standpoint,” he said.

Perdue became Georgia’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction when he defeated Democratic incumbent Roy Barnes in 2002. The state’s GOP stars are said to be interested in following him into the governor’s mansion. In addition to Cagle and Richardson, U.S. Reps. Lynn Westmoreland and Jack Kingston are cited as potential candidates. Many eyes are on U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, who would likely be the immediate front-runner if he decides to return to Georgia to run.

On the Democratic side, House Minority Leader DuBose Porter is said to be in the mix.

Oxendine, of Duluth, launched a 2005 bid for lieutenant governor but abandoned the plans soon afterward. He called the No. 2 job “ineffectual” and said he’d rather serve a second term as insurance and fire safety commissioner.

Some suggested Oxendine withdrew because well-known conservative activist Ralph Reed had joined the race. Reed went on to lose to Cagle.

Oxendine said he will need to hit the fund raising trail hard. “It’s going to take an extraordinary amount of money,” he said.