James March-April 2024 online - Flipbook - Page 35
No question that the lieutenant governor, who presides over the Senate, as well as
the speaker of the House of Representatives, wield tremendous power in the General
Assembly. But every year James selects three other legislators who we believe demonstrate
leadership and who we salute for impressive work on a wide range of policy issues.
REP RES ENTATIVE
S E N ATO R
R E P R E S E N TAT IVE
Chuck Efstration
Sonya Halpern
Houston Gaines
This longtime lawmaker is a Gwinnett
County lawyer and one-time assistant
district attorney, and before being
elected to public office spent many
years helping elect Republican candidates across Georgia. Elected in 2013
to represent a district based in Dacula,
Efstration has served as chairman of
the Judiciary Committee and as a floor
leader for former Gov. Nathan Deal.
The senator has worked in the communications/marketing and advertising sector (including with the Walt
Disney Company) before opening
her own communications consulting
firm. She was also the first Georgian
to chair the President’s Advisory
Commission on the Arts under
Barack Obama.
Currently representing his native Athens in his third term, this 29-year-old
GOP go-getter quickly earned a reputation of getting important legislation
passed, including the recently passed
prosecutor oversight law. He has also
sponsored bills dealing with human
trafficking, domestic violence and substance abuse issues, among others.
She is a first-generation Georgian
representing District 39 in Atlanta
and serves as the Senate Minority
Caucus Vice Chairwoman, as well as
Vice Chairwoman of the Urban Affairs
Committee. Elected in 2020, the Democrat is known as a staunch advocate
for issues relating to healthcare, education and criminal justice reform.
Gaines was elected by his colleagues
in 2022 to be the Majority Caucus
Vice Chairman, and serves on the
Ways & Means, Ethics, Appropriations and Public Health Committees.
He was selected by his colleagues as
Majority Leader in November 2022
and has sponsored a wide range of
legislation ranging from toughening
anti-gang laws to instituting enhanced
sentencing for hate crime convictions.
Efstration is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s School of Public
and International Affairs and Mercer
University’s Law School.
Halpern earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Master of
Business Administration from the
University of Hartford.
A University of Georgia graduate (and
UGA Student Government Association
president in 2016-2017), Gaines especially continues to help grow small
businesses in the Athens area through
his work in the General Assembly.
MA RC H/A P R I L 2 0 2 4
35
