Veteran Columbus lawmaker Carolyn Hugley picked to lead Georgia’s House Democrats

Georgia House Democrats Thursday elected longtime Rep. Carolyn Hugley of Columbus to serve as House minority leader during the two-year term starting in January.

Hugley, who was elected to the House in 1992 and served as the Democratic whip from 2003 until 2018, will succeed Rep. James Beverly as minority leader. Beverly didn’t seek reelection this year to his Macon-based House seat.

House Democrats also voted Thursday to retain Rep. Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville, as minority whip.

Rep. Tanya Miller, D-Atlanta, was chosen to succeed Rep. Billy Mitchell, D-Stone Mountain, as chairman of the House Minority Caucus.

In other leadership elections, Democrats picked Rep. Spencer Frye, D-Athens, to serve as minority caucus vice chairman. Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, will return as minority caucus secretary.

Democrats gained two seats in the House in last week’s elections, but Republicans retained a comfortable majority with 100 of the chamber’s 180 seats.

The 2025 session of the General Assembly will convene at the state Capitol on Jan. 13.