Georgia House Democrats elected state Rep. Carolyn Hugley as minority leader on Thursday, putting her in charge of setting their agenda after a bruising presidential election.
Hugley, a Democrat from Columbus who has served in the House for 32 years, overwhelmingly won the top job where she’ll be responsible for refining the party’s priorities and growing its numbers.
“People all across the state are looking to Democrats for leadership because of the losses nationally, and so our caucus is ready to stand in the gap and fill that void,” Hugley said. “We’re going to reconstruct our Democratic agenda to reflect the challenges that our citizens face.”
Hugley, an ally of former Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, is known as a calm strategist who holds Democrats together during tough votes. She lost three prior races for the top Democratic leadership post in the House.
Hugley replaces state Rep. James Beverly, a Democrat from Macon who didn’t seek reelection this year after serving as minority leader since 2021. Beverly faced harassment allegations that an investigation conducted earlier this year found to be unsubstantiated.
Democrats picked up two House seats in last week’s election, but Republicans hold a 100-80 majority in the chamber.
The Democrats are seeking direction in Georgia after Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the presidential election. Hugley said Democrats will come back like a winning football team.
“The next game, what do they do? They look at the tape, see what they did wrong, make adjustments and head back to the field,” Hugley said. “So that’s what we’re going to do.”
Hugley said she’ll prioritize health care access, economic security and educational opportunity.
She won the post by defeating state Rep. Derrick Jackson of Tyrone, a U.S. Navy veteran who ran for lieutenant governor in 2022.
House Democrats also picked state Rep. Tanya Miller of Atlanta as minority caucus chair, ousting state Rep. Billy Mitchell of Stone Mountain.
Minority Whip Sam Park of Lawrenceville retained his role, defeating a challenge from state Rep. Jasmine Clark of Lilburn.
In the state Senate, Democrats elected state Sen. Harold Jones as minority leader last week.
The Republican majority will continue to lead the state House and Senate, with House Speaker Jon Burns and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in charge of each chamber.
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