Secretary of state candidate touts experience

Mar. 15—T.J. Hudson brings a skill to the table he says none of his fellow Republicans running for Georgia Secretary of State — prior hands-on experience running elections.

Hudson, keynote speaker at Monday's Golden Isles Republican Women meeting, said his nearly two decades as a former probate and magistrate judge makes him the most qualified person seeking the nomination.

"I've done elections over two decades," he said. "I'm the one who knows where the off button is. Georgia has never had a secretary of state with election experience."

The lack of experience is a reason Georgia's election results have been questioned in recent elections.

"We can't afford to have a candidate who doesn't have a clue what they're running for," he said. "I know it. I've done it. I've actually run elections."

When he was elected in 2004, he was the first African-American man to be elected as probate judge in Georgia and at the time, was the youngest in the state. In Treutlen County, he was the probate judge, chief magistrate judge and is still serving as election superintendent.

Hudson said he knows where the flaws are in the system, and voters want a verifiable paper trail so the results of an election can not be questioned.

"We have a problem with our secretary of state," he said. "I can't say it (the past election) was stolen, but I can tell you how it could be stolen."

He plans to fix the mail-in ballot problems and violations, mitigate security risks to Dominion voting machines, fight attacks on election integrity and support rural Georgia election teams.

He said it takes a person of "honesty and integrity" to handle ballots. He would support a forensic audit to check the validity of election results.

"The choice is easy," he said. "If you want it done right, vote for T.J. Hudson for Georgia Secretary of State."