Sen. Seth Harp aims for insurance commish
April 10, 2009 at 3:07 pm by Scott Henry in News
That lovable gnome of a legislator, state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, has finally decided which statewide office he’ll pursue in 2010. We’d heard last week that he was considering the attorney general’s post after current AG Thurbert Baker announced he would run for governor, but Harp has now told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that he’ll shoot for insurance commissioner.
“I want to make sure the people of Georgia are protected from unscrupulous companies and I want to make sure the good companies are also protected,” Harp said.
Harp has been one of our favorite state lawmakers because he rarely seems to give much thought to partisan point-scoring. During the just-ended 2009 General Assembly, for instance, he fearlessly advocated for Sunday alcohol sales while his GOP colleagues were hiding in the bathroom, getting lost on the way to committee meetings and finding any excuse to avoid voting on the issue. His efforts earned him a coveted Arnie Award this year.
Harp also took the lead in trying to fix Georgia’s onerous and unconstitutional sex-offender law, to erase nonsensical provisions that criminalize homelessness, infirmity and church volunteerism.
Neither bill passed, but Harp is more interested in being on the right side than on the winning side.
I don’t know exactly why he wants to be insurance commissioner, but I am confident he’d be conscientious, protective of consumers and not fall victim to the sense of grandiosity that has sometimes seemed to grip incumbent John Oxendine, who is running for governor.
Let’s hope Harp would be a better driver than Oxendine, too.
(Photo: Joeff Davis)
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