Georgia Labor Chief Leaning Toward US Senate Bid

Published April 17, 2010 at 9:47 a.m.

ATLANTA (AP) Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said Friday that he's leaning toward a run for U.S. Senate.

The 57-year-old Democrat told The Associated Press he is strongly considering a challenge to one-term Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson. He'll announce his plans on Wednesday.

Thurmond would face an uphill battle in Georgia, which has voted reliably Republican in recent elections. But he said his experience as labor commissioner would serve him well if he decides to run, because jobs are a top priority for the nation.

``In thinking about what role I could play in helping some 15 million Americans at the end of this downturn who, as we begin to reach the point of recovery, find themselves unemployed...obviously, the Senate offers me that opportunity,'' Thurmond said.

Isakson is seeking a second term and has $4.4 million in the bank for his re-election bid. He recently returned to the campaign trail after being hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat and a blood clot.

Thurmond, who served with Isakson in the Georgia General Assembly, said the senator's illness won't factor into his decision. Thurmond is happy Isakson has recuperated.

``But I'm running for the seat,'' he said ``I don't see myself necessarily running against Johnny Isakson.''

Isakson campaign spokeswoman Joan Kirchner didn't directly address Thurmond's comments in a statement Friday.

``Johnny looks forward to campaigning on his strong record of conservative Georgia values,'' she said.

So far, the only Democrat to challenge him is former Rockdale County chief of staff and first-time candidate R.J. Hadley.

After generations of rule in Georgia, Democrats have struggled to win statewide since Republicans began their takeover of the state in 2002.

Thurmond, an Athens native, attorney and historian served in the Georgia House from 1986 to 1994 before he was appointed head of the state's Deparment of Family and Children's Services, where his welfare to work program became a national model. In 1998, he won his first term as labor commissioner, becoming one of only two blacks elected statewide still a rare feat in Georgia.

Thurmond was re-elected in 2002 and 2006. He is weighing his next move even as Georgia's unemployment rate hit a record high of 10.6 percent this week.

Clark Atlanta University political science professor William Boone said Isakson, with a reputation as a pragmatic moderate, could be tough to beat

``Isakson is not exactly the kind of person who has really antagonized folks in the state of Georgia,'' Boone said.

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock said Thurmond's chances against the respected, moneyed Isakson are slim. He suggested the labor commissioner stay in his current job longer.

``He's better off biding his time...running in 2014,'' he said, adding that Sen. Saxby Chambliss would be older and is less popular than Isakson and that the state could be trending more Democratic by then.

``I don't think it's there yet,'' Bullock said.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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