Filling the Shoes of Sen. Jack Hill
It has only been a week since Sen. Jack Hill was laid to rest, but the Georgia political wheels have continued to turn in order to fill the big shoes he left behind in Gerogia’s 4th Senatorial District and the State Senate.
Sen. Blake Tillery, a Republican from Vidalia, was selected as the successor as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee in an unanimous vote.
Five candidates have qualified for the race to fill the unexpired term of Sen. Hill: Scott Bohlke (R), Billy Hickman (R), Kathy Palmer (R), Neil Singleton (R), and Jared Sammons (I).
Four candidates have qualified for the Republican general primary for the 2021-22 Senate session: Scott Bohlke (R), Billy Hickman (R), Kathy Palmer (R), and Neil Singleton (R).
QUALIFYING-INFORMATION-FOR-SENATE-DISTRICT-4
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lawtonsack
Lawton is a graduate of Georgia Southern University (the GSU) with a degree in Information Technology. He has held numerous positions within the Georgia Republican Party throughout the years.
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I felt like Senator Hill was a friend. He was for me an honest, sincere man who aimed to serve his district’s citizens and his state. He wielded immense influence for those of us in his district and South Georgia. His strength and influence will be missed.
Five people have qualified for his seat. I have looked at what I could find about the gentlemen that have put their names forward to replace him. Most of them seem to have the public interest at heart, but none seem to have the experience to be our senator as does Judge Kathy Palmer.
Judge Palmer has a lifetime record of public service and announced earlier in the year her intention to retire after twenty years as the Senior Superior Court Judge for the Middle Judicial Circuit. That she would present herself to serve as our senator is to show how she wishes to continue to work for her community and state.
Palmer served the Middle Judicial Circuit for 20 years as superior court judge. She had decided to retire from the bench when her term expired at the end of this year.
Judge Palmer graduated from the University Of Georgia School Of Law in 1979 after receiving her undergraduate degree from UGA in Family and Consumer Sciences. She is very familiar with the legislative process and has worked extensively monitoring and advocating for legislative issues since her first legal job. She has served many leadership positions with the Council of Superior Court Judges, including serving as president of that organization, where she was responsible for leading the legislative agenda.
She has also served as a member of the Judicial Council of Georgia, both as an administrative judge for the Eighth Administrative District of Georgia and as a CSCJ officer. Other service includes the Judicial Council’s Workload Assessment Committee, the Georgia Board of Court Reporting Matters, the Chief Justice’s Statewide Committee on Professionalism, and the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia and its Legislative Policy Committee and Bench and Bar Committee.
Judge Palmer has been a lifelong supporter of Georgia 4-H, including serving as chair of the board of trustees of the Georgia 4-H Foundation and has been active with the Emanuel County 4-H Foundation since her return to Swainsboro. With all this, she has served as chairperson of the Kitchen Committee of Swainsboro First United Methodist Church planning and serving the fellowship meals served in their Social Hall.
There are very few people that can match Judge Palmer’s devotion to the tasks set before her be it her work with 4-H, her Church, UGA’s College of Consumer Science, or the various legal and judicial organizations. I know that a number of politically savvy readers of these columns take politics seriously. That is why I don’t hesitate to recommend Judge Palmer for the District 4 Senate seat.