When Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine spoke to the Clarke County GOP on Monday, part of his pitch was that he could win in Athens and fend off a Roy Barnes candidacy funded by The Socialist Who Dare Not Speak His Name.

Oxendine lost Clarke County in 1994 and won the county narrowly in 1998, 2002 and 2006, years when he won in landslides statewide. Why would liberal Clarke County side with a Republican three times in a row?

The power of incumbency in down-ballot races.

Democratic Attorney General Thurbert Baker and Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond won Oconee County in 2006. Does that mean Baker, who's running for governor, would stand a chance in the OC in 2010?

Uh, no.

Tim Echols, a Winterville resident and conservative activist, will be taking over Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine’s gubernatorial campaign.

Echols is a former aide to Rep. Paul Broun who resigned last year to start a consulting firm with the goal of recruiting more minorities into evangelical Christian politics. He had considered running for the state Senate seat Ralph Hudgens is leaving to run for insurance commissioner, but decided against it. He also runs TeenPact, an organization that trains young Christians in the ways of government, but is taking a leave of absence to become Oxendine’s campaign manager.

Echols called me from Braselton this afternoon with the news. We didn’t have much time to talk, but we made plans to meet Monday, so I’ll have more details then.

Blake.aued@onlineathens.com