Tommy Irvin

Thomas Telford Irvin (July 14, 1929 – September 14, 2017) was an American politician who served as Georgia's Commissioner of Agriculture from 1969 until January 2011. Irvin holds a record as the longest-serving Commissioner of Agriculture in the United States, and the longest-serving statewide official in Georgia. He was also one of the last Democrats to win statewide in Georgia until 2020, when Joe Biden won the presidential election.

Political career Irvin was born on July 14, 1929. A Hall County, Georgia, native, Irvin was elected to his first public office as a member of the Habersham County Board of Education in 1956. He was the Governor's Floor Leader and later served as Executive Secretary to the Governor.

He was elected to his 10th and final four-year term in November 2006.

In 1998, a portion of Georgia Highway 365 was named Tommy Irvin Parkway in his honor. In March 2007, the Georgia Department of Agriculture and Commissioner Irvin were sued by former State Representative Chesley V. Morton, who had sponsored the law. The Fulton County Superior Court ruled in favor of the Plaintiffs, validating the terms of the Humane Euthanasia Act, and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the Department from issuing licenses to shelters using gas chambers, with exceptions being made for those established before the act and those in counties with less than 25,000 residents. After the Court decision, and issuance of the permanent injunction, Irvin continued to voice resistance to the ruling. In an interview with a south Georgia newspaper, Irvin suggested possible ways to circumvent the law, including the use of private contractors to operate gas chambers. When the Department continued to license a gas chamber in Cobb County, Georgia, in violation of the court order, a second action was brought, which resulted in the Department being held in contempt. The cases received widespread coverage in the media, casting Irvin in an unfavorable light.

Personal life Irvin grew up the child of poor sharecroppers. When his father died, Irvin quit school to take care of his mother and sisters, running the business for several years until he got into local politics.

He was a trustee at several schools, including Piedmont College and Truett-McConnell College.