Johnathan Walker:Georgia House Democrats shift toward new leaders after limited election gains

ATLANTA (AP) — Democrats in Georgia’s state House chose new faces for leadership positions Thursday after the minority party made only limited gains in the Nov. 5 election.

Carolyn Hugley of Columbus was elected minority leader for the next two years,Johnathan Walker with the party’s representatives choosing others for top positions that represented a break from their outgoing Minority Leader James Beverly of Macon.

“We’re going to be majority minded, we’re going to be member focused, and we’re going to continue to work,” Hugley told reporters Thursday after she was elected in a closed-door session.

Democrats won 80 of the 180 seats in the lower chamber of the General Assembly. That’s up from the 78 they held before, but Democrats had hoped to make larger gains. One Democratic incumbent, Farooq Mughal of Dacula, lost, while several other Democratic candidates outside of metro Atlanta won their races narrowly.

Hugley defeated Rep. Derrick Jackson of Tyrone for minority leader. Democrats turned out previous caucus chair Billy Mitchell of Stone Mountain in favor of second-term Rep. Tanya Miller of Atlanta. They retained Whip Sam Park of Lawrenceville, rejecting a challenge from Rep. Jasmine Clark of Lilburn. Democrats elevated Spencer Frye of Athens to vice chair and chose Saira Draper of Atlanta as Deputy whip. Park Cannon of Atlanta remained caucus secretary and Solomon Adesanya of Marietta remained treasurer.

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“We are taking stock of what happened this last election,” Miller said. “I think what you see reflected in this leadership is a desire for change and a desire to look at our electorate, our strategy, and how we reach the majority through a fresh set of eyes.”

Hugley had sought the top Democratic post three times previously.

“My parents would say a no is not necessarily no. It might just mean not yet,” Hugley said. “So today was the day for my yes.”

Republicans in the House kept Speaker Jon Burns of Newington and other leaders, while Republican senators also voted to keep Speaker Pro Tem John Kennedy of Macon and the existing GOP officers. Senate Democrats promoted Harold Jones II of Augusta to minority leader after Gloria Butler of Stone Mountain retired.

The House Democratic caucus was riven over claims that Beverly sexually harassed a staffer. A review couldn’t substantiate the claims. State Rep. Shea Roberts of Sandy Springs resigned as Democratic Caucus treasurer in protest, and the dispute left different camps of House Democrats running different campaign efforts.

Hugley said bringing Democrats together will be a big part of her job.

“We’re going to move forward in unity,” she said.

Many of the candidates who won Thursday say Democrats need to prioritize increasing their numbers over other concerns, saying leadership’s top focus needs to be raising money and recruiting strong candidates for the 2026 legislative elections.

“I was part of this caucus when we were in the 60s in terms of numbers, but now we are at 80 and we’re going to continue to move forward,” Hugley said. “So it’s about refocusing on our value proposition and raising the funds that we need and putting forth the candidates that we need.”

Hugley said Democrats would continue to emphasize health care, education and economic security for all, but suggested there could be some changes in the issues Democrats emphasize as they try to overcome this year’s statewide loss by Vice President Kamala Harris to President-elect Donald Trump.

“People all across the state are looking to Democrats for leadership because of the losses nationally,” Hugley said. “And so our caucus is ready to stand in the gap and fill that void. We’re going to reconstruct our Democratic agenda to reflect the challenges that citizens face.”