Georgia Democrats choose state senator for Lewis post
Georgia Democrats on Monday chose Nikema Williams, a state senator and chairwoman of the state party, to replace the late Democratic congressman John Lewis on the November ballot.
Lewis, who died Friday at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, had won the June primary for the 5th Congressional District seat in his bid for an 18th term. Under state law, the Georgia Democratic Party was required to choose a replacement nominee on Monday, the first business day since Lewis’s death.
Williams, 41, was first elected to the Georgia state Senate in 2017. She is also the vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Southeast, and in 2019, she became the first black woman to chair the Georgia Democratic Party.
Williams was among 15 demonstrators who were arrested at the Georgia Capitol in November 2018 amid a protest organized by a local Black Lives Matter group demanding that state officials tally all absentee and provisional ballots in that year’s gubernatorial election.
The charges were later dropped.
In remarks to the executive committee, Williams said she was grieving for Lewis, whom she called “a personal hero, friend and mentor.”
“Nobody could possibly fill the shoes of Congressman Lewis,” she said, adding, however, that she has a long track record for standing up for what’s right, as Lewis did.
“It would be the honor of my life to serve as the voice of the 5th Congressional District,” she said.
Williams will be the strong favorite in November to win in the heavily Democratic district, which includes Atlanta.
The Democrat will face Republican Angela Stanton-King, an author and television personality. In February, President Trump pardoned Stanton-King for her role in a stolen vehicle ring in 2004, for which she served six months in home confinement.
Lewis’s seat will remain vacant until January unless Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp calls a special election for the remainder of the late congressman’s term. Kemp has so far not indicated whether he plans to do so.
Early Monday afternoon, the U.S. House honored Lewis with a moment of silence and a bereavement resolution. A visibly emotional Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., presided over the chamber.
Pelosi said Monday that “the appropriate way to honor John Lewis is for the Senate to take up the Voting Rights Act and name it for John Lewis.”