The die has been cast: Senator Nikema Williams will now become the first woman ever nominated as a Democrat to the 5th congressional district of Georgia. This means a seat has been opened in SD39.
Nikema has worked her way up as an activist, from her earlier campus activism with Young Democrats of Georgia as National Committeewoman and Political Director in the 2000s to her work at Planned Parenthood Southeast. She served as Chair of the 13th Congressional District from 2007-2011, the youngest congressional chair ever elected in the DPG’s modern history at the time. She served as the DPG’s First Vice Chair from 2011-2019, stepping in temporarily as interim chair in 2013 upon the resignation of Mike Berlon. She then stepped into the electoral arena with her run for Vincent Fort’s seat in 2017, and then became the first Black woman Chair of the DPG in 2019.
Nikema, as the presumptive winner of the 5th district election, will also be the baby of the Georgia delegation at 41yo. For as long as no primary challenge is whipped up in the coming years, she has plenty of time to grow into the role.
I wonder how many YDG alums have become members of Congress, or have become officeholders at any level. We should be building more more Nikemas and other Democrats who are groomed and trained to run for moments like this. We need a well-oiled political machine.
