Democrats select new leadership for state House
ATLANTA — For the first time in more than two decades, Democrats in the Georgia House of Representatives nominated new leadership as a majority caucus. For the first time in the 238 years since Georgia joined the United States, a pending House majority caucus also nominated a Black person as speaker. That person, Rep. Carolyn Hugley, D-Columbus, is also the first woman nominated to a full term as speaker, after Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, stepped into the role as acting speaker from late 2022 into the start of the 2023 legislative session. Assuming the unofficial results from Election Day do not change before Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger certifies the results next week, Democrats will hold four more House seats than Republicans. Hugley said expanding Medicaid would be "first and foremost" on the House agenda. She said Democrats were excited to work with Democratic Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms to accomplish that goal as part of a broader agenda to address the cost of living. The Democratic advantage narrowed last week when officials found an overlooked election machine memory card in Seminole County and uploaded the results, changing the outcome in a House race. Incumbent Rep. Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert, had
