INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

Ralph T. Hudgens
Party: Republican
Age: 67
Residence: Hull
Experience: Elected to state House in 1996. Served in state Senate since 2002. Worked with Shell Ag for 18 years. Served as State Director of ASCS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
What he'll do if elected: Create a level playing field for insurance buyers and sellers. Apply the same rules for commercial auto and homeowners insurance that were established in 2008. Oppose federal health care bill. Change regulations on rate increases and decreases for insurance companies to drive down costs.

Mary Squires
Party: Democrat
Age: 52
Residence: Atlanta
Experience: Georgia Army National Guard officer. Elected to Georgia House in 1998, Georgia Senate in 2002. Executive Director of the Georgia Society of Professional Benefit Administrators, Inc., a health care trade association.
What she'll do if elected: Plans to act as a watchdog for Georgia consumers. Work to see legitimate claims are paid on time and claims fraud and abuse eliminated. I would also like to make Georgia a national Risk Finance and Insurance Hub. Increasing competition to lower costs, create jobs. End practice of using credit scores to determine Georgians ‘ automobile insurance rates.

Shane Bruce
Party: Libertarian
Age: 53
Residence: Atlanta
Experience: Runs the blog Bludgeon and Skewer, a libertarian-leaning blog that covers politics in Georgia.
What he'll do if elected: Conduct a top to bottom review of all departments under the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Trash outdated regulations that inhibit insurance companies from doing business in Georgia and ensure that those who are doing business here comply with state laws. Beef up Arson Investigation unit and Fraud Division Unit. Work to reduce vehicle insurance fraud, lower auto premiums.

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER

Gary Black
Party: Republican
Age: 51
Residence: Commerce
Experience: GOP nominee for post in 2006, lost to Tommy Irvin.
Background: President of Georgia Agribusiness Council for 21 years. Owner of Harmony Grove Farms.
What he'll do if elected: Will establish a positive, goal-oriented workplace accompanied by a system to measure results. Enforce food safety laws with science-based, common-sense standards and ensure that inspectors have the equipment and support to perform their duties effectively. Establish a professional certification program for Georgia's food safety inspectors.

J.B. Powell
Party: Democrat
Age: 48
Residence: Blythe
Experience: Farmer; Richmond County commissioner, state senator; member of Interstate Cooperation and State Institutions and Property Committees
What he'll do if elected: Modernize the department to run more efficiently. Reorganize and revitalize farmers markets. Give voters a choice to bring horse racing to Georgia, which would provide a much needed boost to Georgia's economy. Evaluate cross-training food safety inspectors so they can cover multiple food lines in smaller areas. Set up a phone and online tip line to identify food quality problems.

Kevin Cherry
Party: Libertarian
Age: 49
Residence: Douglas County
Experience: Former Army Signal Corpsman. Certified pest control operator. Chairman of the Douglas County Libertarian Party. Candidate for Public Service Commission District 5 in 2006.
What he'll do if elected: Institute a review of training, schedules and regulations and licensing professionals in sanitation and food safety. Work to reduce or eliminate outdated rules, regulations, programs and fees. Increase use of Georgia farm products in state prisons, schools, shelters and colleges. Enhance research on green energy and organic farming.

LABOR COMMISSIONER

Mark Butler
Party: Republican
Age: 39
Residence: Carrollton
Experience: State representative for eight years, chairman of Appropriations Human Resources Sub-Committee. Real estate appraiser.
What he'll do if elected: Believes education systems, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Economic Development must work together to develop an educated workforce. Will create a strategic plan to build a workforce to be competitive worldwide. Will work with the Georgia General Assembly to encourage lower taxes on small businesses.

Darryl Hicks
Party: Democrat
Age: 46
Residence: Fayetteville
Experience: Manager with AGL Resources for 20 years. Officer for the Fulton County Chairman's Office.
What he'll do if elected: Reduce unemployment rate and provide new hope for those who want and need a job. Proposes drastically rethinking how the labor department assists people with not just unemployment assistance but with reemployment efforts. Thinks the Labor Department ought to be more about re-employment than unemployment.

Will Costa
Party: Libertarian
Age: 41
Residence: Kennesaw
Experience: Production manager, Costa's Pasta. Activist and a former legislative director for Georgia Libertarian Party.
What he'll do if elected: Promote free market economy, stop passing control and responsibility to Washington. Plans to work with educational systems to promote an academic program to prepare students for work force. Improve efficiency of service, identify wasteful spending and reduce the operating budget. Believes corporate income tax must be eliminated.

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONER

Tim Echols
Party: Republican
Age: 49
Residence: Athens
Experience: Executive for nonprofit.
What he'll do if elected: Plans to move forward with alternative energy, especially converting municipal and state vehicles to compressed natural gas. Address potential cost overruns for new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, potential cost increases if "cap and trade" legislation passes. Push PSC to crack down more on "rogue" movers who make it difficult for legitimate companies to make a profit.

Keith Moffett
Party: Democrat
Age: 39
Residence: Macon
Experience: U.S. Navy veteran. City of Macon official. Former regional project manager for Georgia Department of Economic Development; adjunct professor, School of Business at Macon State College
What he'll do if elected: Keep energy rates affordable, champion energy independence and promote sustainability. Promote energy independence by supporting sustainable efforts, implementing standards and best practices that protect our environment, and identifying alternate sources for energy such as solar and biomass. Going green saves green.

Jim Sendelbach
Party: Libertarian
Age: 70
Residence: Conyers
Experience: U.S. Army veteran. Ran for Congress in 2007, state legislature in 2008. Worked for numerious campaigns.
What he'll do if elected: Believes PSC has served interests of the utility companies far better than interests of the consumers. Opposes six-year terms for commissioners; wants it cut to three years, with salary cut. Wants PSC to stress competition in a free market economy over monopolistic paternalism. Believes increases in rates and charges approved in recent years are outrageous and hurt low- and medium-income families.

Sources: Candidate websites; GwinnettForum.com; The Associated Press; Georgia Newspaper Partnership