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Stephe Kootz, Georgia's first trans elected official.

The South’s progressive wave

Recently, Southern progressives have a lot to be thankful for. Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in deep red Alabama, shaving down the Republican Senate majority to 51-49. If it can happen in Alabama, we can have a lot of hope for America, and Georgia’s future.

We’ve seen a lot of recent progressive victories in Georgia lately and 2018 is shaping up to be a big year for progressives.

Democrats Deborah Gonzalez and Jonathan Wallace won special elections to vacant state House seat, flipping the seats to the democrats, and democrats held on to the one vacated democratic seat in the special election.

Jonathan McCollar will be the first African-American mayor of Statesboro.

Mary Parham Copelan was elected Milledgeville’s first female African-American mayor, beating the incumbent by six votes. Booker Gainor, 27, will become Cairo’s first African-American mayor.  

Liliana Bakhtiari became the first queer Muslim councilwoman in Atlanta.

Stephe Kootz, Georgia’s first trans elected official.

Stephe Koontz, elected to city council, became Georgia’s first trans elected official.

In state Senate District 6, Democrat Jen Jordan successfully flipped the seat, ending the conservative supermajority in the state senate.

Loganville elected Rey Martinez as the city’s mayor. Martinez is believed to be the first Hispanic elected mayor of a city in Gwinnett County.

There’s a lot happening in Georgia. Contribute to Better Georgia to power up the state’s largest progressive community as we head into an important election year.

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