Irvin's Republican opponent says it's time for a change

ALBANY - Tommy Irvin&#39;s opponents say he has been Georgia&#39;s agriculture commissioner too long, but Irvin says his 33 years experience are more vital than ever. <br> <br> With an increasing number of food recalls, the threat of bioterrorism and a need to develop new markets for Georgia farmers, he says the state needs someone who knows the ropes. <br> <br> ``We protect the food from the soil to the supermarket and every place in between,&#39;&#39; says Irvin, a Democrat who was appointed to the office in 1969. <br> <br> The November Fifth election will be Irvin&#39;s ninth. This time, he faces Republican Deanna Strickland, a family farmer from Bulloch County, and Libertarian Doug Morton, a Kennesaw computer consultant. <br> <br> Strickland has criticized Irvin for ethical lapses and for visiting communist Cuba, while Morton says he wants to weed out unnecessary regulations and privatize some services. <br> <br> The agriculture department regulates food safety, meat processing, fertilizers and pesticides, weights and measures, gasoline quality, the pet and pest-control industries and the viability of seeds. It also administers eleven state commodity groups and manages 16 farmers markets. <br> <br> The governor&#39;s homeland security task force, formed after the September Eleventh terrorist attacks, has two specialists from the department. They are responsible for food safety and animal health. <br> <br> In a recent televised debate, Strickland noted that Irvin had returned about $4,500 in campaign funds that the state Ethics Commission decided he had improperly spent on gifts, travel and other unrelated expenses. <br> <br> Irvin has acknowledged the illegal expenditures, saying a lot has changed since he took office in 1969. The commission said Irvin received a reprimand, rather than a fine, because he cooperated with the investigation.