Overview

The 150th General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia convened its first session on January 12, 2009, at the Georgia State Capitol

Georgia State Capitol

The Georgia State Capitol, in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States, is an architecturally and historically significant building. It has been named a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the main office building of Georgia's government...

 in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

. The 150th Georgia General Assembly succeeded the 149th

149th General Assembly of the State of Georgia

The 149th General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia first met in 2007, succeeding the 148th General Assembly, and was the precedent of the 150th General Assembly in 2009.-Senate:-House of Representatives:-Presiding Officer:-Majority leadership:...

 and will serve as the precedent for the 151st General Assembly in 2011.

The 150th General Assembly adjourned its first session on April 3, 2009. The second session of the 150th General Assembly convened January 11, 2010.

Presiding Officer

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Position		Name	District	Party
President Lieutenant Governor of Georgia The Lieutenant Governor of Georgia is a constitutional officer of the state, elected to a 4-year term by popular vote. Unlike some states, the lieutenant governor is elected on a separate ticket from the state Governor....	Casey Cagle Casey Cagle Lowell S. "Casey" Cagle is an American politician currently serving as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. He is a member of the Republican Party, a conservative, and a former member of the General Assembly in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 2006, Cagle defeated political activist Ralph...	n/a	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
President Pro Tempore	Tommie Williams	19	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

Majority leadership

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Position		Name	District
Senate Majority Leader	Chip Rogers Chip Rogers Chip Rogers, born May 3, 1968, is an American politician in the state of Georgia. He is a Republican and was first elected in 2002 to the Georgia General Assembly to the Georgia House of Representatives, in 2004 he was elected to the Georgia State Senate. Rogers was unanimously chosen as the...	21
Majority Caucus Chairman	Dan Moody Dan Moody Daniel James Moody, Jr. , was a Democratic political figure, originally from Taylor, Texas, USA. He served as the 30th Governor of Texas between 1927 and 1931, and is best remembered as a reformer and an opponent of the Ku Klux Klan...	56
Majority Whip	John Wiles John Wiles John Wiles was a television writer and producer, now best known for being the second producer of the popular science fiction serial Doctor Who, succeeding Verity Lambert...	37

Minority leadership

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Position		Name	District
Senate Minority Leader	Robert Brown Robert Brown (GA politician) Robert Brown was a Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate, representing the 26th District since a special election in August 1991. He was elected Minority Leader in 2004 and served in that position until he resigned to run for Mayor of Macon, Georgia in 2011.-External links:* official...	26
Minority Caucus Chairman	Tim Golden Tim Golden Tim Golden is a Republican member of the Georgia State Senate, representing the 8th District since 1998. He was previously the Democratic Minority Caucus Chairman...	8
Minority Whip

Presiding Officer

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Position		Name	District	Party
Speaker of the House	David Ralston David Ralston David Ralston is a Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives for the 7th district, encompassing parts of Dawson County, Fannin County, and Gilmer County. Since January 11, 2010, he served as its 73rd Speaker.-Biography:...	7	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Speaker Pro Tempore	Jan Jones	46	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

Glenn Richardson

Glenn Richardson

Glenn Richardson is the former Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Following a suicide attempt, he announced in 2009 that he would resign as Speaker effective Jan. 1, 2010, and he resigned as a member of the House on Jan...

 (R) served as Speaker of the House from January 2009 through Jan. 1, 2010. Mark Burkhalter (R) served as Speaker pro tempore during the same period, and was acting Speaker when the House reconvened on Jan. 11, 2010, at which time the House elected David Ralston and Jan Jones.

Majority leadership

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Position		Name	District
House Majority Leader	Jerry Keen	179
Majority Whip	Edward Lindsey	54
Majority Caucus Chairman	Donna Sheldon	105
Majority Caucus Vice Chairman	Jeff May	111
Majority Caucus Sec./Treas.	Allen Peake	137

Minority leadership

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Position		Name	District
House Minority Leader	DuBose Porter DuBose Porter DuBose Porter is a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 143rd district since being elected in 1982. He is currently Minority Leader in the House. He was previously Administration Floor Leader for Governor Zell Miller from 1991 through 1992...	143
Minority Whip	Carolyn Hugley Carolyn Hugley Carolyn Hugley is a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 143rd district since 1992. She is currently Minority Whip.-External links:* official GA House website* profile*Follow the Money - Carolyn F Hugley...	133
Minority Caucus Chairman	Calvin Smyre Calvin Smyre Calvin Smyre is a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 132nd district since 1974.From Columbus, Georgia, Smyre became the youngest member of the Georgia House of Representatives when he was elected to it at the age of 26 in 1974...	132
Minority Caucus Vice Chairman	Nikki Randall Nikki Randall (GA politician) Nikki T. Randall is a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 138th district since a special election on November 2, 1999. She is currently Minority Caucus Vice Chairman.-External links:* official GA House website...	138
Minority Caucus Secretary	Kathy Ashe Kathy Ashe Kathy B. Ashe is a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 56th district since 1991. She is currently Minority Caucus Secretary.-External links:* official GA House website* profile*Follow the Money - Kathy Ashe...	56
Minority Caucus Treasurer	Don Wix Don Wix Don Wix was a member of the General Assembly in the U.S. state of Georgia. Wix is a Democrat who represented District 33 , which encompasses parts of southern Cobb County, from 1997 to 2010.Wix graduated from the University of Georgia in Athens in 1968 with a B.B.A. degree. He is the son of...	33

Members of the State Senate

District	Senator	Party	First elected	Residence
1	Earl “Buddy” Carter	Republican	2009	Pooler Pooler, Georgia Pooler is a city in Chatham County, Georgia, United States. According to 2010 US Census, the population was 19,140, a threefold increase over the 2000 count of 6,239...
2	Lester Jackson	Democratic	2008	Savannah Savannah, Georgia Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
3	Jeff Chapman Jeff Chapman (Georgia politician) Jeff Chapman is an American politician and former businessman. He is currently serving his third term in the Georgia State Senate, representing the 3rd Senate district in Georgia since 2004...	Republican	2004	Brunswick Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick is the major urban and economic center in southeastern Georgia in the United States. The municipality is located on a harbor near the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles north of Florida and 70 miles south of South Carolina. Brunswick is bordered on the east by the Atlantic...
4	Jack Hill	Republican	1990	Reidsville Reidsville, Georgia Reidsville is a city in Tattnall County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,235 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Tattnall County...
5	Curt Thompson	Democratic	2004	Norcross Norcross, Georgia As of 2010 Norcross had a population of 9,116. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 40.8% white , 19.8% black or African American , 0.7% Native American, 2.1% Asian Indian, 10.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 21.5% from some other race and 4.3% reporting two or more races...
6	Doug Stoner	Democratic	2004	Smyrna Smyrna, Georgia -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 40,999 people, 18,372 households, and 9,498 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,949.9 people per square mile . There were 19,633 housing units at an average density of 1,412.6 per square mile...
7	Greg Goggans	Republican	2004	Douglas Douglas, Georgia Douglas is a city in Coffee County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,589. Douglas is the county seat of Coffee County and the core city of the Douglas, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area which has a population of 48,708 as of the 2008 census...
8	Tim Golden Tim Golden Tim Golden is a Republican member of the Georgia State Senate, representing the 8th District since 1998. He was previously the Democratic Minority Caucus Chairman...	Democratic	1998	Valdosta Valdosta, Georgia Valdosta is the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 54,518. The Valdosta metropolitan area, according to the 2010 estimate, has a population of 139,588...
9	Don Balfour Don Balfour Don Balfour was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and Richmond in the Victorian Football League ....	Republican	1992	Snellville Snellville, Georgia Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. The population was 15,351 at the 2000 census. The city's mayor, Jerry Oberholtzer, was elected to a 4-year term in 2007. The city's commercial and residential development has grown enormously in recent years...
10	Emanuel Jones	Democratic	2004	Ellenwood
11	John Bulloch John Bulloch John Bulloch is a member of the Georgia State Senate. He is an alumnus of Abraham Baldwin College and a farmer.-Sources:*...	Republican	2002	Ockhocknee Ochlocknee, Georgia Ochlocknee is a town in Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 605 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ochlocknee is located at ....
12	Freddie Powell Sims	Democratic	2008	Dawson
13	John Crosby	Republican	2008	Tifton Tifton, Georgia Tifton is a city in Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 15,060 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Tift County.-Major highways:* Interstate 75* U.S. Highway 41* U.S. Highway 82* U.S...
14	George Hooks George Hooks George Hooks is a Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate, representing the 14th District since 1991. Previously he was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1980 through 1990.-Background:...	Democratic	1990	Americus Americus, Georgia -Early years:Americus, Georgia was named and chartered by Sen. Lovett B. Smith in 1832.For its first two decades, Americus was a small courthouse town. The arrival of the railroad in 1854 and, three decades later, local attorney Samuel H. Hawkins' construction of the only privately financed...
15	Ed Harbison	Democratic	1992	Columbus Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
16	Ronnie Chance	Republican	2004	Tyrone Tyrone, Georgia Tyrone is a town in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,916 at the 2000 census. Census Estimates for 2005 show a population of 5,789.It was named after County Tyrone in Ireland.-Geography:...
17	John Douglas	Republican	2004	Social Circle Social Circle, Georgia Social Circle is a city in Walton County, extending into Newton County, in the U.S. state of Georgia, approximately 45 miles east of Atlanta, and approximately four miles due north of access to Interstate 20....
18	Cecil Staton Cecil Staton Cecil Staton is a politician in the U.S. state of Georgia. He is a member of the Republican Party and serves in the Georgia Senate representing the 18th district, which includes portions of Bibb, Houston, Monroe, Jones, and Crawford counties.Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Staton graduated...	Republican	2004	Macon Macon, Georgia Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
19	Tommie Williams	Republican	1998	Lyons Lyons, Georgia Lyons is a city in Toombs County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,169 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Toombs County.Lyons is part of the Vidalia Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
20	Ross Tolleson Ross Tolleson Thorborn "Ross" Tolleson, Jr. is a Republican state senator from Georgia closely aligned with Governor Sonny Perdue. They are both from Perry, Georgia.Tolleson is a former banker, insurance salesman, and tree farmer....	Republican	2002	Perry Perry, Georgia Perry is a city in Houston county in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Warner Robins, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,600 at the 2000 census. This town is the county seat of Houston County...
21	Chip Rogers Chip Rogers Chip Rogers, born May 3, 1968, is an American politician in the state of Georgia. He is a Republican and was first elected in 2002 to the Georgia General Assembly to the Georgia House of Representatives, in 2004 he was elected to the Georgia State Senate. Rogers was unanimously chosen as the...	Republican	2004	Woodstock Woodstock, Georgia Woodstock is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 23,896 at the 2010 census.Originally a stop on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Woodstock is now considered part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
22	VACANT
23	J.B. Powell	Democratic	2004	Blythe Blythe, Georgia Blythe is a city in Burke and Richmond Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 718 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.-Geography:Blythe is located at ....
24	Bill Jackson	Republican	2007	Appling Appling, Georgia Appling is an unincorporated community in and the county seat of Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area....
25	Johnny Grant Johnny Grant (Georgia politician) Johnny Grant is a Republican Georgia State Senator representing the 25th district of Georgia. His district includes the counties of: Baldwin, Butts, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Jones , Morgan, Putnam, Taliaferro, Warren...	Republican	2004	Milledgeville Milledgeville, Georgia Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...
26	Robert Brown	Democratic	1991	Macon Macon, Georgia Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
27	Jack Murphy	Republican	2006	Cumming Cumming, Georgia Cumming is a city in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,430 at the 2010 census. However, places with a Cumming mailing address have a population of around 100,000...
28	Mitch Seabaugh	Republican	2000	Sharpsburg Sharpsburg, Georgia Sharpsburg is a town in Coweta County, Georgia, United States. The population was 316 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sharpsburg is located at ....
29	Seth Harp	Republican	2000	Midland
30	Bill Hamrick	Republican	1999	Carrollton Carrollton, Georgia Carrollton is a city in West Georgia, United States, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,388...
31	Bill Heath	Republican	2004	Bremen Bremen, Georgia Bremen is a city in Haralson County and Carroll County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,227.Locally the name of the city is pronounced BREE-muhn...
32	Judson Hill	Republican	2004	East Cobb East Cobb, Georgia East Cobb is an unincorporated community in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. With over 169,000 people, it is one of the largest suburbs in Metro Atlanta...
33	Steve Thompson	Democratic	|1990	Marietta Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat.As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 56,579, making it one of metro Atlanta's largest suburbs...
34	Valencia Seay	Democratic	2003	Riverdale Riverdale, Georgia Riverdale is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 12,478 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Riverdale is located at .-Demographics:...
35	Donzella James	Democratic	2009	College Park College Park, Georgia College Park is a city located partly in Fulton County, Georgia and partially in Clayton County, Georgia, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,942...
36	Nan Orrock	Democratic	2006	Atlanta
37	John Wiles	Republican	2004	Kennesaw Kennesaw, Georgia Kennesaw is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It had a population of 29,783 according to the 2010 census. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Founded in 1887, Kennesaw has a past surrounded with railroad history...
38	Horacena Tate Horacena Tate Dr. Horacena E. Tate currently serves on the Georgia State Senate, representing the 38th District in Fulton County.-Biography:...	Democratic	1998	Atlanta
39	Vincent Fort Vincent Fort Vincent D. Fort is a state Senator in the Georgia State Senate, elected since 1996. He represents part of Fulton County for the 39th district...	Democratic	1996	Atlanta
40	Dan Weber	Republican	2004	Dunwoody Dunwoody, Georgia Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is a northern suburb of Atlanta. Dunwoody became incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008...
41	Steve Henson	Democratic	2002	Tucker Tucker, Georgia Tucker is a census-designated place in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 27,581 at the 2010 Census. Although central Tucker, also known as "Main Street Tucker", is laid out as a planned "railroad town," it has never been formally incorporated. Municipal services such as...
42	David Adelman David Adelman David I. Adelman is the United States Ambassador to Singapore and a former Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate, representing the 42nd District from 2003 to 2010....	Democratic	2002	Atlanta
43	Ronald Ramsey, Jr.	Democratic	2006	LIthonia Lithonia, Georgia Lithonia is a suburban town in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, incorporated as a city. Lithonia's population was 1,924 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
44	Gail Buckner Gail Buckner Gail Buckner is a Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate, representing its 44th District since 2008. She was formerly a Georgia State Assembly representative of district 76, encompassing parts of Clayton County from 1990 to 2006. Buckner represented district 76...	Democratic	2008	Jonesboro Jonesboro, Georgia Jonesboro is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,724 as of the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Clayton County....
45	Renee Unterman	Republican	2002	Buford Buford, Georgia As of 2010 Buford had a population of 12,225. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 65.8% white, 13.8% black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 14.7% reporting some other race and 2.5% reproting two or more races...
46	Bill Cowsert	Republican	2006	Athens Athens, Georgia Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
47	Ralph Hudgens Ralph Hudgens Ralph Hudgens is the Commissioner of Insurance of the state of Georgia. Hudgens served in the Georgia House of Representatives as well as the Georgia Senate. He has been a delegate to numerous Republican Party events...	Republican	2002	Hull Hull, Georgia Hull is a city in Madison County, Georgia, United States. The population was 160 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hull is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
48	David Shafer David Shafer David J. Shafer is an American politician currently serving in the Georgia State Senate representing Senate District 48. This suburban district, located north of Atlanta, includes portions of Fulton County and Gwinnett County. Shafer is a Republican...	Republican	2001	Duluth Duluth, Georgia Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia and an increasingly more affluent and developed suburb of Atlanta. Unincorporated portions of Forsyth County also have Duluth as a mailing address, though this area is outside city limits...
49	Lee Hawkins Lee Hawkins Lee Hawkins was an American State Senator from Gainesville, Georgia. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2006 and 2008. After his first term, he was chosen to serve as Chairman of State and Local Government Operations...	Republican	2006	Gainesville Gainesville, Georgia -Severe Weather:Gainesville sits on the very fringe of Tornado Alley, a region of the United States where severe weather is common. Supercell thunderstorms can sweep through any time between March and November, but are concentrated most in the spring...
50	Jim Butterworth Jim Butterworth (Georgia politician) Jim Butterworth is the adjutant general of Georgia National Guard. Butterworth replaced Maj. Gen. Terry Nesbitt who retired after more than 40 years of service...	Republican	2008	Cornelia Cornelia, Georgia Cornelia is a city in Habersham County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,834 at the 2010 census. It is home to one of the world's largest apple sculptures, which is displayed on top of an obelisk shaped monument...
51	Chip Pearson	Republican	2004	Dawsonville Dawsonville, Georgia Dawsonville is a city in Dawson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 619 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Dawson County...
52	Preston Smith	Republican	2002	Rome Rome, Georgia Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...
53	Jeff Mullis Jeff Mullis Jeff Mullis is a state senator of the Republican Party representing the 53rd district in the Georgia State Senate. First elected in 2000, he is in his fifth term in the Georgia General Assembly...	Republican	2000	Chickamauga Chickamauga, Georgia Chickamauga is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,245 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
54	Don Thomas	Republican	1996	Dalton Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city in Whitfield County, Georgia, United States. It is the county seat of Whitfield County and the principal city of the Dalton, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of both Murray and Whitfield counties. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 33,128...
55	Gloria Butler	Democratic	1999	Stone Mountain Stone Mountain, Georgia Stone Mountain is a city in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,802 at the 2010 census. It is an outer suburb of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area.-Geography:...
56	Dan Moody	Republican	2002	Alpharetta Alpharetta, Georgia -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 34,854 people, 13,911 households, and 8,916 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,631.6 people per square mile . There were 14,670 housing units at an average density of 686.7 per square mile...

Changes in Membership from Previous Term

While no seat changed party control from the previous session, the beginning of the 150th Georgia General Assembly still saw five new state senators. Two of these new senators defeated the incumbent in the runoff for their parties' primaries. Two replaced incumbents who had run for other office. Another replaced a senator who had retired.

District	Previous	Subsequent	Reason for change
2nd	Regina Thomas (D)	Lester Jackson (D)	Ran for Congress
12th	Michael Meyer von Bremen Michael Meyer von Bremen Michael S. Meyer von Bremen, a Democrat from Albany, was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1998 to represent the 12th Senatorial District of Georgia. He served until 2009; he did not seek re-election and instead ran for a seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2008. From 2002 until he...  (D)	Freddie Powell Sims (D)	Ran for a seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals
13th	Joseph Carter (R)	John Crosby (R)	Retired
44th	Gail Davenport (D)	Gail Buckner Gail Buckner Gail Buckner is a Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate, representing its 44th District since 2008. She was formerly a Georgia State Assembly representative of district 76, encompassing parts of Clayton County from 1990 to 2006. Buckner represented district 76...  (D)	Defeated in primary runoff
50th	Nancy Schaefer Nancy Schaefer Nancy Schaefer was an American politician and conservative activist, who served in the Georgia State Senate from 2004 to 2008.Born in Clayton, Schaefer became a prominent conservative political activist in Georgia in the 1980s...  (R)	Jim Butterworth Jim Butterworth (Georgia politician) Jim Butterworth is the adjutant general of Georgia National Guard. Butterworth replaced Maj. Gen. Terry Nesbitt who retired after more than 40 years of service...  (R)	Defeated in primary runoff

Changes in Membership During Current Term

There have been three vacancies in the State Senate as of December 25, 2009. All three have been due to resignations. Two have since been filled, both by members of the same party as the former incumbent. Another vacancy is expected at some point during the term.

Date seat became vacant	District	Previous	Reason for change	Subsequent	Date of successor's taking office
August 2009	35th	Kasim Reed Kasim Reed Mohammed Kasim Reed, known as Kasim Reed, is a Democratic politician and the 59th Mayor of Atlanta, who previously represented the 35th District of the Georgia State Senate. He was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002...  (D)	Resigned to run for Mayor of Atlanta. A special election was held on November 3, 2009. Because no candidate gained a majority of the vote, a runoff was held December 1, 2009.	Donzella James (D)
September 15, 2009	1st	Eric Johnson (R)	Resigned to run for Governor of Georgia. A special election was held on November 3, 2009.	Buddy Carter (R)
November 9, 2009	22nd	Ed Tarver (D)	Resigned after being confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. A special election is to be held January 5, 2010 with a runoff, if necessary on February 2, 2010.	Hardie Davis (D)
March 19, 2010	42nd	David Adelman David Adelman David I. Adelman is the United States Ambassador to Singapore and a former Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate, representing the 42nd District from 2003 to 2010.... (D)	Nominated by President Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...  as United States Ambassador to Singapore. If confirmed, Adelman will have to resign his State Senate seat, creating another vacancy.	Jason Carter (D)

Announced Retirements

As of December 25, 2009, six state senators have announced that they will not be running for re-election in 2010. One Senator, Dan Moody

Dan Moody

Daniel James Moody, Jr. , was a Democratic political figure, originally from Taylor, Texas, USA. He served as the 30th Governor of Texas between 1927 and 1931, and is best remembered as a reformer and an opponent of the Ku Klux Klan...

 (56th) is retiring. The other five are seeking higher office.

Jeff Chapman

Jeff Chapman (Georgia politician)

Jeff Chapman is an American politician and former businessman. He is currently serving his third term in the Georgia State Senate, representing the 3rd Senate district in Georgia since 2004...

 (3rd) is running for Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

. Following State Insurance and Fire Commissioner John Oxendine's

John Oxendine

John W. Oxendine is an American politician who served four terms as Insurance Commissioner of the U.S. state of Georgia. Oxendine is of Lumbee heritage, an Indian tribe from North Carolina. A member of the Republican party, he was first elected commissioner in 1994 and was reelected in 1998,...

 decision to run for Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

, Seth Harp (29th) and Ralph Hudgens

Ralph Hudgens

Ralph Hudgens is the Commissioner of Insurance of the state of Georgia. Hudgens served in the Georgia House of Representatives as well as the Georgia Senate. He has been a delegate to numerous Republican Party events...

 (47th) announced that they will seek the Republican nomination for the office. Lee Hawkins

Lee Hawkins

Lee Hawkins was an American State Senator from Gainesville, Georgia. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2006 and 2008. After his first term, he was chosen to serve as Chairman of State and Local Government Operations...

 (49th) announced that he will run for the Congressional seat to be left open by incumbent Nathan Deal's

Nathan Deal

John Nathan Deal is a United States politician, the 82nd and current Governor of Georgia. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1992 but switched to the Republican Party in 1995...

 campaign for Governor. Finally, Gail Buckner

Gail Buckner

Gail Buckner is a Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate, representing its 44th District since 2008. She was formerly a Georgia State Assembly representative of district 76, encompassing parts of Clayton County from 1990 to 2006. Buckner represented district 76...

 is running for state Secretary of State, a position she also ran for in 2006.

Major issues

• Severe budget cuts due to the 2009 recession.
• Circumvention of the Georgia Public Service Commission
  Georgia Public Service Commission
  The Georgia Public Service Commission is a public utilities commission, a quasi-judicial tribunal, which regulates telecommunications, transportation, electric and natural gas services in the U.S. state of Georgia....
  
  , by allowing Georgia Power
  Georgia Power
  Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the largest of the four electric utilities that are owned and operated by Southern Company....
  
   to charge power company
  Power Company
  The Power Company was a team of professional superheroes-for-hire in the DC Comics universe. The team, created by Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett, first appeared in JLA 61,...
  
   customers (which includes most Georgians) for two new nuclear reactor
  Nuclear reactor
  A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
  
  s at Plant Vogtle years before they are built. The bill exempts businesses, putting the entire burden on residential customers. This passed in both chambers and was signed by the governor, but has been challenged in court as having raised revenue
  Revenue
  In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
  
   without being originated in the lower house
  Lower house
  A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
  
  .
• Proposed cuts in aid to counties, which reduce property tax
  Property tax
  A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
  
  es they must charge their residents. These were not cut, meaning that the state, rather than the counties, will have to cut over 400 million dollars from the fiscal 2010 (July 2009 to June 2010) budget
  Budget
  A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
  
  .
• The massive food recall caused by the Peanut Corporation of America
  Peanut Corporation of America
  Peanut Corporation of America was a peanut-processing business founded in 1977 and headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. The company was forced out of business after being found to be the source of a massive salmonella outbreak in the United States during 2008 and 2009.PCA operated processing...
  
   in Blakely, Georgia
  Blakely, Georgia
  Blakely is a town in Early County, Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,068. This town is the county seat of Early County.-Geography:Blakely is located at ....
  
  , and the role that the Georgia Department of Agriculture and lax state laws may have played in allowing it to happen. Food-processing companies will now be required toi notify the state within 24 hours of any test results indicating contamination, among other changes.
• A bill to move MARTA
  Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
  The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...
  
   oversight
  Oversight
  Oversight may refer to:*Oversight , a French Thoroughbred racehorse*Regulation – rulemaking*Separation of powers - the concept of separate branches of government or agencies exercising authority over one another...
  
   from MARTOC to GRTA, which did not pass.
• A bill to permanently remove the mandatory 50/50 split on capital expenditures, so that MARTA can postpone these and maintain service (operational expenditures) during periods of low sales tax
  Sales tax
  A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
  
   revenue
  Revenue
  In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
  
  . The failure of the legislature to pass this means crippling cuts in MARTA service because it cannot access its reserve account
  Deposit account
  A deposit account is a current account, savings account, or other type of bank account, at a banking institution that allows money to be deposited and withdrawn by the account holder. These transactions are recorded on the bank's books, and the resulting balance is recorded as a liability for the...
  
  , and the MARTA board has requested a special session
  Special session
  In a legislature, a special session is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year , such as outlining the government's budget for the next fiscal year, biennium, or other period...
  
   to correct the situation. The Atlanta Regional Commission
  Atlanta Regional Commission
  The Atlanta Regional Commission is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the metro Atlanta, Georgia region, as defined as a 10-county area including Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties, including the city of...
  
   has suggested giving MARTA enough money from the U.S. stimulus act to get it to the 2010 legislative session with minimal cutbacks to the already-limited public transit system.
• Reinstatement of the sales tax
  Sales tax
  A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
  
   on groceries, allegedly to target illegal immigrants. This failed.
• Elimination of sales taxes and annual ad valorem tax
  Ad valorem tax
  An ad valorem tax is a tax based on the value of real estate or personal property. It is more common than a specific duty, a tax based on the quantity of an item, such as cents per kilogram, regardless of price....
  
  es on new cars, to be replaced by a car title transfer tax of 7%, including transfers between family members, and possibly to or from charities. This would also take a significant amount of money (the 2-4% local portion of the sales tax) away from local government
  Local government
  Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
  
  . The 2000-dollar cap on the tax also would make it a regressive tax
  Regressive tax
  A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. "Regressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high to low, where the average tax rate exceeds the...
  
  . This did not pass.
• Banning of all stem-cell research, passed by the Senate.
• Gutting most of the Georgia Department of Transportation
  Georgia Department of Transportation
  The Georgia Department of Transportation is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in developing public transportation and general aviation programs...
  
  , merging all of its planning authority into a new State Transportation Authority along with the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
  Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
  The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority or GRTA is a government agency in the U.S. state of Georgia...
  
   and the State Road and Tollway Authority
  State Road and Tollway Authority
  The State Road and Tollway Authority is a government agency of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is responsible for financing transportation initiatives and operating the state's only current toll road, the Georgia 400 extension. SRTA collects tolls on the southern portion of the expressway, at a...
  
  . This failed, an instead other changes were made to put more power in the hands of state politicians.
• Changing state law in order to accept money for the state unemployment insurance fund from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the U.S. "stimulus act"). This became law, but no help will get to the unemployed until May 25.
• Requiring pickup truck
  Pickup truck
  A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
  
   and other truck
  Truck
  A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
  
   drivers to wear their seat belt
  Seat belt
  A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
  
  s like other motorists have been for years. This failed again as in years past.
• Addition of a 200-dollar fine for excessive speeding, over 85 miles per hour (137 km/h) on expressway
  Limited-access road
  A limited-access road known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway , including limited or no access to adjacent...
  
  s and over 75 miles per hour (121 km/h) on smaller roads. The money will go to trauma care in the state's hospital
  Hospital
  A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
  
  s.

External links

• Georgia General Assembly website
  • 2009-2010 Representatives by Name, District
  • 2009-2010 Senators by Name, District