Republican candidate Shelly Echols was victorious in her bid for the District 49 senate seat in the 2022 midterm election.
District 49 covers most of Hall County, stretching northward to Clermont. Its southern border is drawn north of Buford. Prior to 2020 redistricting, the 49th senate district included most of Dunagan and parts of Jarrett. Under the redrawn lines, those two areas have been removed. The previous District 49 Senator was Butch Miller, who placed his bid for the Lt. Governor seat during the 2022 Republican primaries. Miller was defeated by Burt Jones.
Currently, the District 49 senate seat represents approximately 196,756 citizens. Georgia senators serve two-year terms and are not subject to term limits.
Shelly Echols ran against Democratic candidate Jody Cooley in this year’s midterm election and said shes proud of Hall County voters.
"We worked hard," Echols said. "We've been working hard for about a year and a half now. And you know, the voters of Hall County, they showed up and they showed out."
Echols first priority is to address and strengthen education.
"I think we've got to make sure that, you know, we have great education, we're protecting our students, we're protecting our teachers," Echols said. "We're doing everything we can with education. That's kind of a priority right now."
Echols comes into some large financial decisions in terms of taxes.
"I mean, first of all, it's the taxpayers money of Georgia, so that's, you know, that's who needs to get the money first," Echols said. "We've got to replenish the fuel tax, we've got to replenish that fund. But you know, I think that that money needs--instead of creating more things to spend that money on, we just need to return that money back to the citizens, the taxpayers."
Echols also emphasized the need to protect female athletes.
"I want to make sure that our female athletes, female students are protected, and they're not intimidated in bathrooms in your private areas, by having male students in those areas," Echols said. "So I just think we need to make sure that those are protected."
You can learn more about Echols and her positions by visiting her website.
