T. J. Hudson is spending the week in the CSRA going door to door, shaking hands and greeting the potential voters that he hopes will elect him as Georgia’s next secretary of state.
Hudson has been a probate judge in Treutlen County for the past 17 years. He said he is proud to be the first Black president of the Council of Probate Judges in Georgia, but he feels it is time to turn in his judge’s robe and serve as secretary of state.
Alongside being a probate judge, Hudson has also served as election superintendent for Treutlen County and is president-elect for the Georgia Association for Voter Registration and Election Officials.
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According to The Associated Press, Hudson is a staunch Republican and was the presiding judge at the swearing in ceremony for Gov. Brian Kemp.
Normally, the secretary of state is a “down ballot” race that does not garner much attention; however, accusations of voter fraud in the 2020 election put the office in the spotlight.
Hudson says he supports voter ID and is against unregulated mail-in votes and unsupervised ballot drop off boxes.
“We already have a process for mailing in an absentee ballot; it’s called the U.S. Post Office,” Hudson said.
The Republican field of candidates already has some well known names. Incumbent Brad Raffensperger, four-term U.S. Rep. Jody Hice and former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle are running well-funded campaigns; however, Hudson says he is running a grassroots’ campaign that focuses on his experience.
“I have hands-on experience as election superintendent and I know how to ensure fairness and also make sure election law is followed. I have the experience to guide the process in a way that the citizens of Georgia will have faith in the integrity of the election process,” Hudson said.
As a judge, Hudson’s record is spotless. However, Hudson has faced one minor controversy during his judicial career where he was forced to make a tough decision when a member of his own extended family became belligerent in his court, and he placed her in jail for one day on a count of contempt of court.
According to Hudson, his second cousin was involved in a custody issue, and the entire situation devolved into a mess within his own family. Supporters of the cousin filed a complaint against Hudson with the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
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The commission declined to launch an investigation into the matter; however, Hudson said he signed a document stating that he had no plans to run for judge again within the period of the next seven years. Hudson says he signed the document because he had already decided to run for secretary of state.
“I probably should not have signed that; I did because I thought it was a formality. But, I never did anything wrong, and I did not get investigated by the commission. It was a sad situation for my extended family, but I could have found my cousin guilty of felony kidnapping, and I didn’t. I was just simply looking after the needs of the child involved,” Hudson said.
Hudson will be on hand at a meet and greet sponsored by the Columbia County Republican Women organization from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 10 at the Jones Creek Clubhouse. Columbia County District Attorney Bobby Christine will be the speaker at the meeting.
“I hope people will come out and meet me and have conversations with me about the future of our great state,” Hudson said.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
