Georgia legislature nears 31% women after historic election

Women are making history in Georgia politics, winning some of the state's highest offices and gaining ground in the legislature. Nearly 31 percent of lawmakers in the incoming General Assembly will be women. And yesterday, House Democrats nominated Carolyn Hughley to become Georgia's first black House member. Fox 5's Deidre Dukes spoke with the head of an organization that spent more than two decades working to elect women to office. She's live at the state capitol with more. Deidre. That's right, women are stepping into some of the most Powerful positions in Georgia government starting next year from the governor's office to the state house. And we did speak with one woman here in Georgia who has spent more than two decades working to help make this happen. This election brought some historic firsts, as you noted, with Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms making history with her election. Longtime Columbus lawmaker Carolyn Hughley poised to become the first black woman to serve as House Speaker. But for Melina Easters, it's a moment decades in the making. Now, she helped establish Georgia Wind List more than 20 years ago to recruit, train, and support Democratic women running for office. Women will make up nearly one-third of the incoming General Assembly in 2027, with more taking on key leadership roles. For Easter's, those numbers tell a much bigger story, one of years spent opening doors for women in politics. Now she is seeing the results of that work firsthand. GEMLIST was founded twenty six and a half years ago to give an alternative of support for women candidates because the good ol' boy network in Georgia politics and at that time democrats had been in control was so pervasive and so now to see a woman governor a democratic woman governor, a democratic woman speaker and to know that we have the prospect of many women as Democratic chairs for important committees in the House is certainly a dream come true. Easter says it's about more women simply holding office. She also believes it will definitely have an impact. Some of the legislation we see coming out of the legislature starting next year as far as bills that are introduced and possibly becoming law, including Medicaid expansion, of course. But also, she said, issues such as gun safety, which she expects will get more attention and possibly more support this year at the state capitol. Deidre Dukes, Fox 5 News. Yeah, Hughley has deep political roots, Deidre, as you know, here in Georgia, representing the Columbus area. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Political maneuverability will really be put to the test in the state legislature with narrow majorities for Democrats and trying to navigate the political process through the statehouse and ultimately with the Democratic governor and the first black woman to lead our state, Keisha Lance Bottoms. That's right, especially when you consider that while the Democrats now have control of the House chamber, we still see Republicans with a stronghold they're holding on in the Senate. And so it will be interesting to see. For instance, we see bills being passed in the House, make their way over to the Senate, if they'll be able to get some of the legislation that Democrats really are working to get passed this year. So it will definitely be a very interesting and exciting year for coverage of the Georgia General Assembly come 2027. Yeah, it all starts at the beginning of the session in January. We'll start to see an idea of the way things are going. Deidre, thanks.