>> GEORGIA SENATE
Milledgeville resident Rick Williams was sworn in Jan. 9, to officially begin a two-year term in the Georgia state senate after winning the District 25 seat last November.
District 25 physically extends approximately from Locust Grove to Lake Oconee in the north and from north Macon to Milledgeville in the south. Williams, who served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for three terms, defeated first-time political office candidate Valerie Rodgers for the senate seat.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State website election results, Williams led Rodgers district-wide 61.66% to 38.34%, representing 46,289 votes to 28,777 votes.
Williams replaces incumbent state Sen. Burt Jones, who was elected as Georgia’s new lieutenant governor.
Williams is a businessman and graduate of Baldwin County High School (1970). He works in the family industry of funeral services and attended Gupton Jones College of Mortuary Science.
Locally, he has served as chairman on the Mayor’s Committee of Hiring the Handicapped, chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Milledgeville, chairman of the Board of Commissioners in 1991 and 1992 and was appointed chief registrar of Baldwin County, a position he held until resigning in 2016 to seek the office of state representative. He was elected to the House of Representatives that same year to represent District 145.
As state senator for the 25th District, Williams represents Baldwin, Putnam, Macon-Bibb, Butts, Greene, Jasper, Jones, Morgan and Walton counties. According to his website, he plans to work on issues including protecting the right to life, eliminating state income tax, protecting the second amendment, evaluating election integrity, backing law enforcement, and stopping mask and vaccine mandates.