Talk show host to run for Congress

ATLANTA - Conservative radio talk show host Jody Hice - who found himself in the center of a Ten Commandments dispute in Winder a few years ago - says he will run to replace John Linder in Congress.

Hice founded Ten Commandments-Georgia Inc., which raised funds to defend Barrow County against an American Civil Liberities Union lawsuit aimed at forcing removal of the Ten Commandments display in the county courthouse in Winder.

Hice was among six pastors at the center of a battle over the tax-exempt status of churches in 2008 when he endorsed GOP candidate John McCain from the pulpit of his Bethlehem, Ga. church and sent a copy of the remarks to the Internal Revenue Service.

He lives in Walton County.

State Rep. Clay Cox, a Republican from Lilburn, is also running for the seat, which covers Gwinnett County and other areas northeast of Atlanta.

Linder announced in February that he was retiring after 18 years in the U.S. House.