Georgia Democrats unveil 5 finalists to replace John Lewis' name on November ballot


As state law dictates, Georgia Democrats on Monday unveiled a list of five finalists to replace the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on the November ballot and — because the district is so safely Democratic — likely fill his seat in the House.
The names include Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon, Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens, the former president of Morehouse College, Robert Franklin, State Sen. Nikema Williams, and Rev. James "Major" Woodall, the president of the Georgia NAACP. The candidates were vetted and selected out of a pool of 131 applicants by a seven-member panel that included former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, among others. The next step will be for the Democratic Party of Georgia Executive Committee to meet virtually, hear from the candidates, and select a nominee.
Not everyone is satisfied with the process though, with some suggesting Lewis wouldn't want his replacement decided by state party officials, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Tharon Johnson said the civil rights icon advocated fiercely for voting rights and would want his successor to "be chosen and elected by" voters. Michael Collins, Lewis' former top aide, joined the chorus, urging Democratic officials in a letter Monday to consider "the will of the people."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
People pushing for that strategy would like to see a placeholder representative who agrees to serve a sole two-year term or another candidate who is willing to resign in January, clearing a path for a special election. But it looks like the Democratic Party will go through with the original plan. "Whomever wants to run against the pick can," said State Sen. Jen Jordan. "Two years is nothing. Whomever it is will face multiple challengers in 2022." Read more at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from