James Beverly steps down from House Leader role after four years on the job

Dr. James Beverly, the Minority Leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, has announced he’ll step down from his role at the end of 2024 Legislative Session, which ends on March 28. Beverly, a Democrat from Macon, represented the 143rd District since his election in 2013. He has been Minority Leader for the last four years. But, his district entirely shrunk after December 2023’s special session on redistricting. Beverly made his announcement Thursday among the House Democratic Caucus and again from the well inside the Georgia House chambers Friday afternoon.“50% of my district is new within a new county, Houston County,” explained Beverly during an exclusive conversation with The Atlanta Voice. “Which means that I have to go down to Houston County to shake hands, have town hall meetings in order to be elected in a space where I don’t know anybody down there. Because there’s never been a Democrat to represent that district at all for the last sixty years.”Beverly led the House Democrats with a pragmatic approach. Being the party in the minority, he felt as though incremental progress is better than an outright aggressive approach. But, as the demographics in Georgia are currently shifting to a more...