ATLANTA, Ga. — After two decades out of power, Democrats are lining up to run the Georgia House. The new majority caucus on Thursday chose House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley of Columbus as its nominee for Georgia House speaker, a vote the full chamber is expected to take when lawmakers return in January.
If elected, Hugley would become Georgia’s first Black speaker since its 1733 founding and the first Black woman to hold the post. She has served in the House since the early 1990s and would take the gavel from Speaker Jon Burns, the Newington Republican who has led the chamber since 2023.
The speaker ranks among the most powerful elected officials in the state. The office controls committee assignments and decides which bills reach the floor for a vote.
The caucus filled out the rest of its leadership team the same day. Rep. Stacey Evans of Atlanta was chosen as majority leader, Stone Mountain Rep. Billy Mitchell is the pick for the No. 2 post of speaker pro tem, while Lawrenceville Rep. Sam Park steps up as majority whip. Mitchell would replace Jan Jones, the Milton Republican in that seat, who chose not to run again.
The margin is thin. Democrats hold 91 seats, the bare minimum to control the 180-member chamber, with three races still unresolved. Regular legislation needs 91 votes to pass, so only two or three defections could sink a bill.
Hugley told reporters at the Capitol that expanding Medicaid sits at the top of the caucus agenda, with affordability for families close behind. Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms made Medicaid expansion the centerpiece of her campaign, and her broader agenda also targets preschool, sales taxes and insurance costs.
Any of those plans will have to clear the state Senate, where Republicans kept a two-seat majority and have already picked their leaders. Hugley acknowledged the caucus may not finish its whole agenda in the first two years and said she would go into talks assuming every lawmaker wants what is best for Georgians.
Big-ticket proposals also face a tight budget picture. The state has seen revenue dips from repeated gas-tax suspensions and a significant drawdown of its reserves. House Republicans, headed into the minority after two decades in charge, are expected to choose their own leaders on Monday.
