The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House Democratic leader says he won’t seek another term
Both spots to lead minority caucuses now up for grabs.
The leader of the Georgia House Democratic Caucus will not seek another term in office.
State Rep. James Beverly of Macon said after nearly 13 years in office and four as the minority party leader, he had begun to lose sight of why he became a politician.
“I’ve always been motivated by the idea of why are some communities, specifically African American communities, doing so bad and other communities are doing well?” he said.
But Beverly said being a party leader has made it difficult for him to focus on improving communities in Macon, calling it a 100-houra-week job.
“The amount of time it takes to make sure that my members are good takes away from the time I can make sure my communities are good,” he said. “So you don’t have the ability to just go back home, because now your constituency is the members that you have.”
House Minority Whip Sam Park of Lawrenceville said he was thankful for the hard work Beverly put in for House Democrats while in leadership and was hopeful for the future of the caucus.
“Our caucus will continue to do what we’ve been doing on the House floor — trying to pass good bills in a bipartisan manner and working to stop bad bills,” Park said.
Beverly, an optometrist, was first elected in 2011. He became Democratic Caucus chairman in 2017 and was elected minority leader in 2021.
In all that time, he’s never passed a bill. Instead, he focused on pushing Democratic priorities — such as gun control and expanding Medicaid, the public health program that provides care to people with low incomes or disabilities — and working his way up through the Democratic leadership.
“Up here it’s about relationships and trying to move the dial forward toward progress,” he said. “Every single year I’ve been in leadership we’ve picked up (Democratic) seats.”
In 2017, when Beverly was first elected chairman, there were 64 Democratic seats in the House. This year there are 78. Still, Republicans have retained their majorities in both chambers.
House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican, said Beverly should be able to leave office “holding his head high” about the work he did in the House.
“James Beverly has been a tremendous advocate for the minority party in the House for a number of years,” Burns said. “But just as importantly, he’s been a friend to myself and many in our chamber.
“While we certainly didn’t always agree, we found ways to work together to improve the lives of Georgians across our state.”
Beverly said he hopes to focus on his small construction company and plans to build affordable housing in the Macon area and beyond.
Beverly’s retirement means the top spot for leading the Democratic caucuses in both chambers will be up for grabs.
Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, a Democrat from Stone Mountain, also is retiring after two terms as leader — and 26 years in office.
Beverly said he hopes the caucus will continue to grow in the coming years, something he plans to focus on for the rest of his term as leader.
“I hope for the future that the caucus has really learned what it means to be a team and focus on the work that’s in front of us,” he said. “What I will do during the summer interim is to make sure that I pull together people I think are very much interested in teamwork and saying, ‘You guys have an opportunity to create how we move forward.’ ”