Hudgens acts like Hudgens
Well now, this is pretty darn interesting - Ralph Hudgens deciding not to run for the 10th District Congressional seat vacated by the late Charlie Norwood.
The man has infuriated residents of Athens-Clarke County and Democrats in Northeast Georgia, but it's also pretty clear that's now he's got to have burned some bridges with the Republican Party. First, he comes out and says he's running for Congress only a few hours after Norwood had passed away, thus showing a lack of tact and drawing rebukes from folks on both sides of the aisle. The governor then goes and calls a special meeting with both Hudgens and Jim Whitehead in attendence in which they outline how the timeline for the special election will work so as not to lose both seats in the Georgia General Assembly in the middle of session.
And now he's not running after all ... thus blocking any attempt by Brian Kemp, widely known as one of the up-and-comers in the Republican Party, to actually jump back into politics. One of those grand conspiracy theories that has long floated around this community was that redistricting of Athens-Clarke County, engineered by Hudgens, was that it would enable him to run for Norwood's seat at the appropriate time, and then Kemp, with his home now newly redistricted into Hudgens's district, could seek that seat.
If there's any kernel of truth to that theory, it's impossible to execute now. If Hudgens sits out this time around, he's going to face an even steeper climb to knock off an incumbent in the 10th Congressional District in 2008. So ... what now for Kemp? Unless Hudgens retires his State Senate seat following this term, Kemp's options are limited in the immediate future. Would Kemp be so bold to challenge Hudgens next year in the primary for his State Senate seat? If anyone could knock out Hudgens, it would be someone like him.
You've got to think that Hudgens saw the writing on the wall ... his popularity had sunk among the party's leaders (including well-circulated rumors that he had fallen way out of favor with the governor) and Whitehead was busy locking up support from the conservative leaders in the district. I don't know if anyone asked Hudgens to not run, but he's also a savvy enough politician to know that he was facing an uphill battle.
For what it's worth, I'm not entirely alone in thinking some of these things as Jeff Emanuel articulates some of those views at Peach Pundit. As an aside ... this is the second time in three days I've sorta agreed with Emanuel on something. I was waiting for the world to stop spinning, but it's still moving ...
The man has infuriated residents of Athens-Clarke County and Democrats in Northeast Georgia, but it's also pretty clear that's now he's got to have burned some bridges with the Republican Party. First, he comes out and says he's running for Congress only a few hours after Norwood had passed away, thus showing a lack of tact and drawing rebukes from folks on both sides of the aisle. The governor then goes and calls a special meeting with both Hudgens and Jim Whitehead in attendence in which they outline how the timeline for the special election will work so as not to lose both seats in the Georgia General Assembly in the middle of session.
And now he's not running after all ... thus blocking any attempt by Brian Kemp, widely known as one of the up-and-comers in the Republican Party, to actually jump back into politics. One of those grand conspiracy theories that has long floated around this community was that redistricting of Athens-Clarke County, engineered by Hudgens, was that it would enable him to run for Norwood's seat at the appropriate time, and then Kemp, with his home now newly redistricted into Hudgens's district, could seek that seat.
If there's any kernel of truth to that theory, it's impossible to execute now. If Hudgens sits out this time around, he's going to face an even steeper climb to knock off an incumbent in the 10th Congressional District in 2008. So ... what now for Kemp? Unless Hudgens retires his State Senate seat following this term, Kemp's options are limited in the immediate future. Would Kemp be so bold to challenge Hudgens next year in the primary for his State Senate seat? If anyone could knock out Hudgens, it would be someone like him.
You've got to think that Hudgens saw the writing on the wall ... his popularity had sunk among the party's leaders (including well-circulated rumors that he had fallen way out of favor with the governor) and Whitehead was busy locking up support from the conservative leaders in the district. I don't know if anyone asked Hudgens to not run, but he's also a savvy enough politician to know that he was facing an uphill battle.
For what it's worth, I'm not entirely alone in thinking some of these things as Jeff Emanuel articulates some of those views at Peach Pundit. As an aside ... this is the second time in three days I've sorta agreed with Emanuel on something. I was waiting for the world to stop spinning, but it's still moving ...
posted by Jmac at 7:55 AM
4 Comments:
seems like this is the beginning of the end of Hdgens' political career. He's pretty much without support from either party now. Unless Kemp decides on another statewide run, he'll kick Hudgens out of his senate seat with the blessings of just about every major player in the Republican party. Bye Ralph - we won't miss you one bit.
As a friend of the Hudgens family and someone who works in polities, I must comment on what I’ve read here. Ralph got out because he realized he loved what he is doing now. No one talked him out of running, in fact there has been an amazing outpour of support and financial backing. You don’t know who supported him because he wasn't ready to go public with his campaign since he promised to continue as Senator for the duration of the Session. His support from the Governor and Senate leadership continues otherwise he would not have retained his chairmanship of the Senate Insurance & Labor Committee after the election. People always want to point at his support of Ralph Reed for LT Governor but don’t remember that he whole heartily supported the Republican Party’s candidate once Casey Cagle won the primary. Ralph supported him by putting up signs, supported him publicly and donated to his campaign. People seem to forget that the point of primaries is to find the best candidate for the job. The part the Democratic Party forgot is the ‘come together and support the party’s choice’ part. It is always interesting to read opinions from people who allow their personal feelings to color their 'insight.' It is obvious that neither of the previous bloggers personally like Ralph or even know him, so they make-up their own reality and since they publish it…it must be so. My question to you both is why don’t you run for office? Let’s see you put yourself in the public eye and allows others to critique you and make-up their own reality and blog it.
In all sincerity, thanks for stopping by and offering a fresh perspective and defense of Hudgens. It's refreshing to have someone check in and stick up for him, so I appreciate you taking the time to post your thoughts.
Also, regarding some clarification, I didn't suggest that anyone had talked Hudgens out of running. I'm not privy to those types of discussions, so far be it from me to project those types of thoughts. If Hudgens says no one asked to bow out, then I'll take him at his word. Fair enough.
Regarding your criticism of 'come together and support the candidate' ... I'm not entirely sure where that's coming from. I, for one, haven't referenced Hudgens's support of Ralph Reed in context to this discussion, and I haven't suggested that he didn't support Casey Cagle after the primary. Like or dislike the man's politics, you can't say that he doesn't go to bat for his team.
My point in my original post was to show that Kemp, upon declaring his run for what-was-to-be Hudgens's vacated seat, had garnered the support of the GOP leadership. Coupled with Kemp's popularity in the party, and conversations I've had with Republicans who are involved with this type of thing, some signs point to Kemp possibly challenging Hudgens in the 2008 primary should the latter decided to seek re-election.
Regarding Hudgens himself ... I don't personally know the man, and I don't wish him any ill will. I'm sure he's a good man who works hard, loves his family and stands up for what he believes in. I respect that and applaud him for it.
Politics, however, are a different matter. I've been very critical of Hudgens's political views and, more to the point, his role in the redistricting of Athens-Clarke County, and I don't back down from said criticisms. I think it was disrespectful to the people of Athens-Clarke County, unnecessarily marginalized our voice in an attempt to shore up an extra Republican seat and stamped all over local control and representation.
While I say 'you're darn right' to my personal feelings coloring my take on the situation (why else would I pen some commentary on the matter), I also would argue that I'm not creating some alternate reality here ...
Hudgens did lead the redistricting efforts.
Hudgens did fail to consult with Athens-Clarke County officials regarding the redistricting.
Athens-Clarke County now does have two state senators - good men to be sure - who are not very representative of the political views of the vast majority of its citizens.
Hudgens did declare his candidacy for the vacated 10th Congressional District seat the same day Norwood passed away.
As for this ...
My question to you both is why don’t you run for office?
Well our first commenter actually has some experience in that matter seeing how his wife is kinda important in these parts.
As for me? Well ... we'll see.
jmac,
First bit of advice if you do run for office. Get rid of the blog.
Post a Comment
<< Home