Sunday, Jun. 21, 2009

Two Columbus residents seek Vance Smith's Georgia House seat

Colin Martin, Jerry Luquire announce they will run

Two Columbus residents have announced that they will seek the Georgia House of Representatives seat being vacated by Vance Smith.

Colin Martin, 42, and Jerry Luquire, 70, said Sunday they will run for the District 129 seat that includes most of Harris County and parts of Muscogee and Troup counties.

Smith, who was chosen last week as the new commissioner of the state’s Department of Transportation, must resign his House seat before he starts the job later this month.

Martin, a financial representative with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, said he’s been involved in Columbus politics for about 10 years. When Smith was tapped to become the next DOT commissioner, Martin began looking at the House District 129 seat.

“I talked to a couple of folks and decided it was the right thing to do,” Martin said.

Martin said transportation, education and the state’s budget were high on his list of priorities.

“Transportation is probably the issue on everyone’s mind right now,” Martin said. “Transportation is a big concern here in Columbus.”

A former vice chairman of the Muscogee County Republican Party, Martin had an unsuccessful bid for the Columbus Council Post 2 seat in 2002. Martin is married to Beth Martin. They have two daughters.

Luquire, a publications consultant, decided over the Memorial Day weekend that he would run for the seat, when he felt Smith’s position with the DOT was virtually secured, he said. He wants to run because he has the business experience.

“I want to bring benefits of these and other life experiences to District 129 as a Christian, husband, father and grandfather which confirm to me that the classical observer who said America is great because her people are good included our elected officials,” Luquire said.

Luquire noted that if elected, he would step into the job in the middle of its two-year session. His primary focus would be on developing the trust of other General Assembly members and representing his constituents.

Luquire has run for Columbus Council and the school board once each, being defeated both times.

Luquire is married to Joyce W. Luquire. They have two sons.

State officials haven’t yet decided when the special election will be held. State law requires the governor to first call for the election, and then for the Georgia secretary of state to set qualifying dates.