Free Republic

ATLANTA (AP) -- The first man in the 2006 lieutenant governor’s race is now the first man out of it. State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, a Republican who said last May he’d seek the state’s No. 2 job, announced Friday that he’ll run for his current post instead. In a letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue, Oxendine said he’d rather remain insurance and fire commissioner because the lieutenant governor’s job has become “ineffectual.” But the commissioner also may have been sizing up his chances. Two other Republicans—state Sen. Casey Cagle and well-known activist Ralph Reed—have since joined the race. Oxendine insisted...