Democrat Nikema Williams wins reelection to U.S. House in Georgia's 5th Congressional District

The Associated Press reports that Democrat Nikema Williams has won reelection to U.S. House in Georgia's 5th Congressional District.

Williams defeated her Republican challnger, Christian Zimm with over 80% of the vote.

Candidate88888 Party-888 Votes88 Percent of vote

Nikema Williams Democratic 115,961 80.63%

Christian Zimm 8Republican8 27,863 19.37 %

Congresswoman Nikema Williams vows to carry on legacy of predecessor John Lewis

Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the death of former congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis. But his successor, Congresswoman Nikema Williams, is determined to carry on Lewis' legacy by continuing to get into "good trouble."

Nikema Williams wins John Lewis' congressional seat

Democratic State Senator Nikema Williams won the race for U.S. Representative John Lewis’s seat, representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District.

Nikema Williams is also Georgia’s Democratic Party chairperson. She received more than 90% of the vote, beating out Republican Angela Stanton King. She says she’s proud to succeed her hero and civil rights icon Representative Lewis.

“To think that voters in this district could deliver for the presidency and get Donald Trump out of the White House is just poetic justice,” she said.

Williams says she plans to make addressing the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic her number one priority in Congress, specifically drawing attention to the healthcare disparities hurting the black community.

“We have to get this right. Our economy is hurting. Our education is hurting. Our healthcare is at risk, because we have not had leaders willing to address this pandemic,” said Williams.

She says she also plans to address voting rights, advocating for standardized processes nationwide to make sure all votes are counted equally.

[SOURCE: CBS Atlanta]

Georgia Democrats pick State Senator Nikema Williams to replace John Lewis on November ballot

Today, after a full review process of 131 applicants and a vote by the Executive Committee, the Democratic Party of Georgia announced that the Democratic nominee for the Fifth Congressional District will be Nikema Williams.

DPG General Counsel Sachin Varghese said:

“This was a very difficult decision to make so soon after Congressman Lewis’s passing, and the Executive Committee is grateful to every applicant who submitted their name for consideration. We have done our best to keep this process open and fair, while working within the strict framework and timeline set forth in Georgia law. After discussion and voting, the Executive Committee agreed that Nikema Williams’ years of service to the Fifth District and commitment to justice make her the best possible candidate for this role, with a very important legacy to uphold.

“When Nikema Williams decided to seek the nomination she recused herself from her role as chairwoman, handing off the process to other party leaders including myself. Today she recused herself from the vote and the discussion of the candidates among Executive Committee members, and was treated the same as every other candidate.”

DPG Executive Director Scott Hogan said:

“As a Party, we remain committed to upholding Congressman Lewis’ legacy of fighting for justice and for free and fair elections for every Georgian. We acknowledge that despite our best efforts here, both law and circumstance require us to use a system that falls short of a full district-wide election to ensure that we have a strong Democratic nominee on the ballot in November. While this system was not perfect and we were forced to use what the Secretary of State and Georgia law demands, we know that we have the absolute best candidate in Nikema Williams who will fight hard for Georgians.

We congratulate Nikema on this appointment, and look forward to working with her in this new capacity as we uphold and build on Congressman Lewis’ legacy and elect Democrats across Georgia this November.”

Below are the recorded vote totals from today’s Executive Committee:

• After a nonbinding poll of 41 votes, Nikema Williams had 37 votes, Park Cannon had 2 votes, and James “Major” Woodall had 1 vote, with one abstention.
• Upon reaching a 50% + 1 majority, the Executive Committee voted to approve Nikema Williams as the nominee.