When Georgia lawmakers reconvene this month for another session of the General Assembly, a record number of women will be sworn into office.
An analysis by the Center for American Women and Politics show roughly 31 percent of Georgia's incoming class of state legislators are women, up from 25 percent in 2017 - and 20 percent a decade ago.
The folks at the Center for Public Integrity put together a series of graphs showing how Georgia stacks up with other states - it's roughly in the middle of the pack - with charts that show the ebb and flow of electoral trends.
The state has outpaced Congress, where a record 127 women representing 24 percent of the seats will take office this week. Nine women will serve as governor this year, matching records set last decade.
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U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall lost out on a promotion this week. The Lawrenceville Republican had been quietly seeking his party's top spot on the House Rules Committee, the powerful panel that tees up legislation for floor debate. Incoming House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy instead chose to appoint veteran Republican lawmaker Tom Cole to the position.
Woodall, who narrowly clinched a fifth House term last year, is seen as a top Democratic target for 2020.
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Speaking of 2020, it looks like a rematch could be in store for Savannah-area Congressman Buddy Carter. Democrat Lisa Ring, who lost to Carter by more than 15 percentage points in November, announced on Twitter that she plans to challenge the former pharmacist once again.
"Last year we knocked on 50,000 doors throughout the 17 counties of GA-01. With hard-work and district-wide support, we had the highest Democratic turnout in 28 years," Ring's new fundraising page states. "Imagine what we can do with two more years of organizing and cleaning up a corrupt election process."
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Georgia's delegation on Capitol Hill is officially welcoming its newest member today. Marietta Democrat Lucy McBath will be sworn in this afternoon, assuming the 6th District seat held for the last 18 months by Republican Karen Handel.
Her first vote will be for House speaker. (No mystery there: McBath has already committed to supporting Nancy Pelosi.) Lawmakers will then vote on a rules package governing the chamber for the next two years and a pair of spending bills to end the government shutdown that Senate Republicans said they'll reject due to the lack of wall funding.
We’re told McBath will begin the day at a bipartisan prayer service at a Catholic church on Capitol Hill, where she’ll be reading a poem from the 19th century abolitionist and writer Edna Dow Cheney.
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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms took office a year ago on Wednesday. Her aides made a catchy one-minute video with heart-thudding music to highlight that one-year anniversary. Watch it here.
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In its final burst of activity in the waning 115th Congress, the U.S. Senate confirmed longtime Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager to be a U.S. marshal on Wednesday evening. Yeager, first nominated in June, has been Coweta's sheriff since 1993.
Left on the shelf were DeKalb County Superior Court Judge J.P. Boulee, whom President Trump tapped for a spot on Atlanta's federal district court, and former Georgia Congressman Lynn Westmoreland. The president nominated the six-term lawmaker for a five-year term on Amtrak's board of directors back in October 2017, but his nomination has languished in the year-plus since. The White House could renominate one or both men or opt for other candidates.
The Senate also deferred action on a trio of bills that would have upped federal protections for Ocmulgee National Monument, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and Fort Frederica National Monument. Georgia lawmakers will likely try again in the new Congress.
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Our condolences to the family and friends of former state Rep. Bob Hanner, who represented a southwest Georgia District from 1975 to 2013 and served on several influential committees. An estate planner and insurance specialist, the Republican served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Vietnam in 1967-1968. The Albany Herald has more.
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