Vote Anti Incumbent

Conservatives Upset with John Oxendine’s Credentials for Georgia Governor

The conservative blog thepatriotcaucus.net has an overview of the candidates for office of Governor of Georgia who are running as Republican candidates and sizes them up to see who would be a conservative-minded Governor.  The blog post is interesting to read.  Interestingly the post includes a frank assessment of Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. 

“Several scandals and questions of objectivity have followed John Oxendine throughout his tenures as Insurance Commissioner.  Previously, state election commission investigations revealed that Oxendine, who wields regulatory power over all insurance companies in Georgia, received $120,000 during a reelection campaign through 10 Alabama-based political action committees set up by Donald V. Watkins, a director of Admiral Life Insurance Co. of America and State Mutual Insurance. Both companies are headed by prominent businessman Delos “Dee” Yancey III and are run out of the same building in Rome.  The problem (and John has no excuse to have not known about it since he was up for another reelection) is that individual PAC contributions are limited to 12,000 per person.  However, since all of these PAC contributions were funneled into one account controlled by a single businessman, the $120,000 contribution was illegally obtained.  Per the Atlanta Journal Constitution , the Ox campaign initially denied any wrongdoing, but announced within a few weeks, that they were returning the money.  (Oops, caught red-handed and tries to “buy” his way out).

Another “awkward” incident for John occurred in August, 2009.  His father, Judge Oxendine, hired Wayne Reece, a political consultant and fellow board member (with the Judge) of the Warm Springs Rehabilitation Development Fund to work on John’s campaign, at the tune of almost $400,000 that was later discovered to be allocated from the WSRD fund.  The WSRD Board determined that both John Oxendine and Wayne Reece tried to conceal the payments.  Another “awkward” scenario (in my opinion) lies in the fact that Ivy Oxendine (John’s wife) has been working with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBS of GA), worked her way up to the corporate office in Atlanta and has served as President of the Middle Georgia Association of Health Underwriters as well as State board member of the Georgia Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.  Kudos go out to Mrs. Oxendine for a successful career.  However, my dilemma is in John’s track record as regarding investigations and fines of insurance companies within Georgia.  With a little research, you will note a pattern where John Oxendine has extended fines against insurance companies in excess of any fines (and they are very few; look for yourself) levied against BCBS of GA.  A little favoritism?; hard to honestly call without some direct evidence, which is truly tough to dig into without strong inside sources.  However, it is my opinion, based on the scandals referenced and the “awkward” situations during John’s tenure as IC, that principles are not his best suit and that is a personal attribute that I demand of my legislators at all levels.”  from blog thepatriotcaucus.net

Ethics commission seeks info in Oxendine probe - AJC.com

I have read these type comments about John Oxendine before but they seem to be coming more often. I think he may be another Sonny II type governor, but I surprised to see the conservative blog be so frank about one of their candidates.