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Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia Endorses Slate of Reproductive Freedom Champions for General Assembly
For Immediate Release: Monday, August 17, 2020
Contact: [email protected]
Georgia — NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia today announced its endorsement of a slate of 32 candidates for General Assembly — five in the Senate and 27 in the House — ahead of the November general election. The slate includes 20 candidates seeking to flip seats currently held by anti-choice, anti-freedom Republicans, part of NARAL’s ongoing efforts to flip Georgia’s General Assembly in order to reflect the majority of Georgians who support reproductive freedom.
These endorsements are part of NARAL’s ongoing campaign to unseat Republican legislators who turned their backs on Georgians in 2019 by voting for HB 481 — an extreme and unconstitutional ban on abortion that was struck down by a federal judge last month.
“For too long the Georgia General Assembly has been controlled by anti-choice, anti-freedom politicians advancing an out-of-touch agenda. Their efforts to roll back reproductive freedom fly in the face of the majority of Georgians, who believe everyone should be able to make their own decisions about pregnancy,” said NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia Director Laura Simmons. “Luckily, Georgia voters have a long memory, and come November we will hold accountable the legislators who turned their backs on women and families by supporting HB 481. NARAL and our 46,000 members in Georgia are proud to support these 32 candidates, whose leadership will be critical for fighting back against an extreme Radical Right agenda that seeks to deny Georgians the ability to control our own lives, destinies, and futures.”
In addition to being home to two competitive U.S. Senate races — as NARAL-endorsed candidates Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff seek to unseat Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue — Georgia is an emerging battleground state on the verge of flipping at least one legislative chamber in 2020.
NARAL has identified key seats in the House and Senate as top flip priorities and will be doubling down on efforts to mobilize voters in these districts, all part of NARAL’s multi-faceted, largest-ever electoral program for the 2020 election. The historic program aims to reach 3.6 million voters in eight key states — including Georgia — in order to win races up and down the ballot.
Endorsed Senate Candidates:
- Jen Jordan (SD-06)
- Kelly Rose (SD-17)
- Christine Triebsch (SD-32)
- Sally Harrell (SD-40)
- Sarah Beeson (SD-56)
Endorsed House Candidates:
- Natalie Bucsko (HD-24)
- Christa Olenczak (HD-25)
- Priscilla Smith (HD-34)
- Kyle Rinaudo (HD-35)
- Mary Frances Williams (HD-37)
- Erick Allen (HD-40)
- Louisa Wakeman (HD-43)
- Concetta Marie Di Cicco (HD-44)
- Sara Tindall Ghazal (HD-45)
- Mary Robichaux (HD-48)
- Angelika Kausche (HD-50)
- Shea Roberts (HD-52)
- Elizabeth (Betsy) Holland (HD-54)
- Michael Wilensky (HD-79)
- Matthew Wilson (HD-80)
- Beth Moore (HD-95)
- Mary Blackmon Campbell (HD-97)
- Sam Park (HD-101)
- Nakita Hemingway (HD-104)
- Donna McLeod (HD-105)
- Shelly Hutchinson (HD-107)
- Jasmine Clark (HD-108)
- Regina Lewis-Ward (HD-109)
- Ebony Carter (HD-110)
- Mokah Jasmine Johnson (HD-117)
- Jonathan Wallace (HD-119)
- Julie Jordan (HD-179)
Last month, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones struck down HB 481 as unconstitutional, a decision which anti-choice Governor Brian Kemp has already appealed. If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturns Jones’ ruling, the law will ban abortion before many people even know they’re pregnant, and could throw doctors in jail and lead to women being investigated for a miscarriage.
NARAL also endorsed a slate of nine candidates ahead of the June 9th primary, including: Nikki Merritt (SD-09), Kim Jackson (SD-41), Michelle Au (SD-48), Marvin Lim (HD-99), Rebecca Mitchell (HD-106), and state Representatives Teri Anulewicz (HD-42), Renitta Shannon (HD-84), Bee Nguyen (HD-89), and Dar’Shun Kendrick (HD-93).
Key to NARAL’s strategy is reaching, persuading, and mobilizing key voter segments including soft-partisan persuadable women voters, and low-propensity, pro-choice voters who are motivated by Trump and Republicans’ commitment to ending Roe v. Wade, criminalizing abortion, and punishing women. These critical voting blocs value reproductive freedom and align with the 77% of Americans who support Roe v. Wade.
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NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all. For more than 50 years, NARAL has worked to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. Since 1969, NARAL has made history, grown to over 2.5 million members, and met the moments that have defined this fight with action, power, and freedom. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”