TIFTON — Four south Georgia men embarked on a whirlwind 3-week campaign Wednesday at the start of a special qualifying period for the District 13 Georgia Senate seat.
Horace Hudgins, Rusty Simpson, Wally Roberts and Bob Usry qualified Wednesday with Republican party officials on hand at the Georgia Secretary of State’s South Georgia office in Tifton.
The special qualifying period, which lasts through noon Friday, was called by Secretary of State Karen Handel last month after Sen. Joseph Carter, R-Tifton, withdrew his name from the July 15 primary.
Voters will decide between candidates for the Senate post in a special called primary Aug. 5.
Simpson said he’d been campaigning for the seat since announcing July 23 that he wanted it.
“I hope the difference will be that I’m a real grassroots Republican,” Simpson said. “I worked for 17 years to build the Republican party in Southwest Georgia.”
A longtime party member before many in the area switched parties, Simpson faces a fifth challenger for the post, Senior Judge John “Dickie” Crosby, who also announced recently he’d seek the seat. Also from Tifton, Crosby has not yet qualified, however.
“There are people running that have absolutely no connection to the Republican party,” Simpson said. “In terms of having really been in the trenches, trying to build the party, I don’t think anybody other than me has done that.”
The 13th Senate District covers Lee, Worth, Turner, Irwin, Crisp, Ben Hill and Tift counties and part of Wilcox.
From Ocilla in Irwin County is Hudgins, a district manager for Georgia Power who said he’d gotten to know the region well during his 36-year career with the company.
“I share the same values of the district and region. I feel like I’d be ready to go to Atlanta to represent the people of our district,” Hudgins said.
Usry’s particular concerns are water — refusing to share with north Georgia and insisting upon metro Atlanta’s “total reuse,” he said.
He also wants the “bed tax” on nursing homes removed and puts a premium on agriculture and agrilcutural education, he said.
The value of agriculture in Lee County last year was $77 million, he said. “I don’t think a lot of people realize how heavy agriculture is for this area.”
Also from Lee County is Wally Roberts, a Lee County Commissioner and retired Troop Commander for the Georgia State Patrol.
Roberts could not be reached Wednesday.
A runoff between two Republican candidates in Lee for Tax Commissioner will help draw voters to the special primary, Usry said.