Ralph T. Hudgens (born November 21, 1942) was the Commissioner of Insurance of the state of Georgia from January 10, 2011, to January 14, 2019. Hudgens served in the Georgia House of Representatives as well as the Georgia Senate. He has been a delegate to numerous Republican Party events. Hudgens defeated his Democratic opponent in the 2010 election with 53.8% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2014. He announced on July 17, 2017, that he would not run for re-election in 2018. Hudgens believed insurance rates should be allowed to increase based on competition and not regulation as did former regulatory favorable Commissioner John Oxendine. During Hudgens's time in office Georgia auto insurance rates greatly increased including one year Georgia experienced the highest increase in the United States. Hudgens and his wife, Suzanne, have four children and twelve grandchildren.http://www.ralphhudgens.com/about
Views on Obamacare With regard to Obamacare, as the Georgia Insurance Commissioner, Hudgens has opposed the implementation of Affordable Care Act and vowed to be an "obstructionist" while speaking to a group of Republicans at the Tillman Hanger Rally in Floyd County, Georgia. However, Hudgens later admitted "I spoke to a Republican group in Rome, Ga., and I said I was going to be an obstructionist, but I can’t be. I mean, I was talking to a Republican group and I was throwing them some red meat."
At the CSRA Republican Women's Club meeting, he criticized the Affordable Care Act by likening the patients with preexisting condition to a car driver that has gotten in an accident and seeks car insurance post incident. He has since retracted his remarks and stated, "I've had family members, I've had friends - who have pre-existing conditions. It's not the person's fault they have a pre-existing condition."
Controversy At a Georgia Republican public event in August 2014, Hudgens was speaking and happened to notice a journalist, Nydia Tisdale, videotaping the event, which caused him to direct a comment at her, publicly stating "I don't know why you're videotaping". This led to some apparent discomfort, in spite of her already having had approval to record the public event. Subsequently, the police arrested Tisdale, with accusations currently being leveled both at the police as well as at Tisdale. At this time, the dispute has not been settled but video has surfaced of the event.
Electoral history Georgia House of Representatives 24th District Election, 1996PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens6,49650.3DemocraticJohn Scoggins6,42549.7 Georgia House of Representatives 24th District Election, 1998PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens (inc.)5,606100.0 Georgia House of Representatives 24th District Election, 2000PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens (inc.)6,92652.4DemocraticDouglas McKillip6,29147.6 Georgia State Senate 47th District Election, 2002PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens17,88951.8DemocraticBob Banks16,61948.2 Georgia State Senate 47th District Election, 2004PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens (inc.)40,50471.1DemocraticBill Healan16,44128.9 Georgia State Senate 47th District Election, 2006PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens (inc.)24,92764.9DemocraticMarc Rawson13,50135.1 Georgia State Senate 47th District Election, 2008PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens (inc.)46,25764.8DemocraticTim Riley25,17235.2 Georgia Insurance Commissioner Republican Primary Election, 2010PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens117,46220.7RepublicanMaria Sheffield111,30219.6RepublicanTom Knox91,93016.2RepublicanGerry Purcell72,15812.7RepublicanDennis Cain53,7979.5RepublicanSeth Harp48,2658.5RepublicanRick Collum29,5365.2RepublicanJohn Mamalakis21,5133.8RepublicanStephen Northington21,1963.7 Georgia Insurance Commissioner Republican Primary Runoff Election, 2010PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens284,44755.2RepublicanMaria Sheffield230,45344.8 Georgia Insurance Commissioner Election, 2010PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens1,368,28953.8DemocraticMary Squires1,079,71642.4LibertarianShane Bruce96,5493.8 Georgia Insurance Commissioner Election, 2014PartyCandidateVotes%RepublicanRalph Hudgens (inc.)1,382,55154.87DemocraticElizabeth "Liz" Johnson1,050,88341.70LibertarianEdward "Ted" Metz86,4273.43
References
Sources Ralph T. Hudgens | Ralph Hudgens for Insurance Commissioner georgia.gov