Now without the day-to-day responsibilities of being Peachtree City’s Mayor, Harold Logsdon is continuing to work on his campaign to become Georgia’s next insurance and fire safety commissioner.

Logsdon, who declined to run for re-election as mayor to seek the insurance position, is in a crowded field of nine candidates hoping to replace John Oxendine, who is stepping down to run for governor.

Logsdon said the insurance commissioner’s office has roughly the same amount of employees as Peachtree City, and an $18 million budget compared to the city’s $25 million budget.

“Everybody else talks about managing a budget, but I’m the only one who’s done it,” Logsdon said of his challengers in the race for the Republican nomination.
Logsdon is hopeful that if elected he can work with insurance companies to provide affordable healthcare options to more Georgians. Right now, 1.7 million Georgia residents are uninsured, which puts a $6.6 billion drain on the state economy, he said.

Even if the state could manage to secure just a third of those people by offering more options via the free enterprise system, the results could be significant, Logsdon said.

“If we could insure a third of them, that’s a $2 billion shot in the arm for Georgia’s economy,” Logsdon said.
Logsdon also wants to beef up the state’s arson investigation capabilities, as there are just 12 arson investigators employed by the state currently. He also wants to beef up the office’s ability to conduct fraud investigations.

“There’s a lot of fraud in all kinds of insurance,” Logsdon said. “I really want to focus on that when I get in there.”
There also talk of a “prompt pay” law being approved by the legislature that would require insurance companies to make timely payments to those in the medical profession, Logsdon said.

Beyond the insurance and fire safety aspects of the office, the commissioner also issues permits for large gatherings such as the Nascar races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and circus events, for example, Logsdon said.

“A lot of it is safety regulations,” Logsdon said. “The insurance commissioner regulates hazardous materials and explosive materials. ... It’s a quite important job in state government.”
And in pursuit of that job, Logsdon has been traversing the entire state over the past few months, continuing to get out his campaign message to prospective voters. While he may not have the legislative experience of some of his opponents, he feels he does have statewide name recognition due to his work with the Georgia Municipal Association and its 500-plus mayors, most of whom know Logsdon.

Logsdon said he enjoyed his four years as Peachtree City’s mayor and he leaves office with no regrets. He hopes to build on the city’s accomplishments to achieve even more for the state as insurance commissioner.