Stacey Evans was first elected to represent Georgia House District 40 in 2010. After some redistricting, she headed over to House District 42 in 2012. She served as the representative their for six years before throwing her hat in the ring for the 2018 gubernatorial race. Thanks to Georgia’s resign-to-run laws which require resigning if you are running for a different office (one reason why resignations or appointments set off such a game of musical chairs for elected office in Georgia), Evans resigned her seat in 2018.
Stacey Evans
Stacey Abrams ultimately would triumph in the 2018 Democratic primary, leaving Evans wondering about her next move, besides her career as an attorney. That next move came this year, when she returned to politics in a run for House District 57. She won the Democratic primary over Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan and ran unopposed in the general election.
In January, Evans will take her seat in the House Chamber as one of the few members to leave and come back, offering perhaps a different perspective as she comes back for Round II.
Asked if she feels it has changed her outlook since she first started, Evans is mixed. And has a surprising insight on the partisan nature, or lack thereof, in the General Assembly.
“Yes in the sense that I now have the benefit of knowing personally that the political jabs we all read about don’t mean you can’t work together with those who are across the aisle to do good work, said Evans. “Going in the first time, I think I thought everything would be very partisan and the truth is, once you’ve been there for a little while, you figure out that very little is partisan. The problem is the things that are partisan are usually big issues and get a lot of attention, so it overshadows everything else.”
Evans may be able to serve as a good guide for other incoming “freshmen” to the General Assembly, particularly on one lesson regarding governing. “The most important thing for any legislator is to remember that there are no permanent “enemies.” Each issue generally stands on its own and you could be fiercely debating a colleague on Bill 123 on Monday and then co-sponsoring Bill 456 together on Tuesday,” said Evans.
For Evans, the issue that she has been at the top of her list since she first ran, and what was certainly a major feature of gubernatorial run, remains the same. “I’m most passionate about opening up access to higher education because I know personally that being the first person in my family to go to college changed my life in ways younger me could not have even imagined. It was a total game changer and I want to make that game changing opportunity available for more Georgia kids. Those priorities haven’t changed for me.”
“I will be picking up where I left off on making technical college in Georgia—once again—tuition free. I will also be pushing bills to expand access to HOPE Scholarships. I also look forward to fighting to for comprehensive civil rights legislation in Georgia. I’ll be working hard on as many fronts as possible.”
