State Dems host town hall

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, June 18, 2025

A town hall meeting hosted by Georgia House District 149 Rep. Floyd L. Griffin Jr., featured two other prominent members of the Georgia House of Representatives.

The town hall was held June 9 at Georgia College & State University.

Griffin was joined by Georgia House of Representatives Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley of Columbus and state Rep. Solomon Adesanya of Marietta.

The event was held in the Arts & Sciences Auditorium and lasted a little more than an hour. It drew about 90 people, including several from other parts of Georgia.

“This is something very important to the (Georgia Democratic) Caucus and to me,” Griffin said. “I always, when I run for office, I generally make sure that the things I promise you that I’m going to attempt to do, I will attempt to do those. And one of those was to have town hall meetings after the (Georgia) Legislative Session. This is our first quarterly town hall meeting.”

Griffin noted that Hugley, whom he has known since he served in the Georgia Senate back in the ‘90s, said she had wanted to hold town hall meetings and she wanted one of them to be held in Milledgeville.

“So, we decided to combine this first town hall meeting,” Griffin said.

He introduced Hugley to the crowd, which included several local elected officials, including Baldwin County Commissioner Emily C. Davis and Baldwin County Board of Education members Shannon D. Hill and Gloria Wicker.

Hugley, who is from Columbus, has served in the House of Representatives since 1993.

“She has done a super fantabulous job of leading us this year,” Griffin said of his longtime friend and now colleague.

Hugley said she was glad to visit Milledgeville and to be with her good friend.

“As [Griffin] said, we came to the Georgia Legislature around the same time when he was over in the Senate,” Hugley said. “Now, he’s a little bit more humble now that he’s in the House. But Rep. Griffin has come back to the General Assembly and he has hit the ground running. And I’m proud that you all have sent him to be a member of our caucus because he works hard. He’s a man who says what he means and does what he says. And I really appreciate that.”

Hugley also had praise for Cathy Cox, Georgia’s former Secretary of State who now serves as president of GCSU.

“Believe it or not, Cathy Cox and I served in the Georgia House of Representatives together,” Hugley said. “She is an extraordinary Georgian.”

She introduced Rep. Adesanya, calling him an asset to the caucus as well. Adesanya serves as the treasurer of the Democratic Caucus of Georgia.

“Our goal here tonight is to hear from you,” Hugley said. “The reason that we wanted to come outside of Atlanta is because we believe that voices from every corner of the state of Georgia are important. Our caucus has given me the honor of being their leader and I’m so happy to have that honor because we are 80 members strong, who are principled and who believe in the values and the future of our great state. We are teachers, entrepreneurs, doctors and lawyers and everyday people. And we bring that diversity and background and experiences together to rally around one common goal. And it’s not just because we’re Democrats. We rally around the idea that we believe Georgia should be a place of opportunity; a place where you can live with dignity; a place where you can learn without limits; and a place where you should be able to earn with pride.”

Hugley said everyone wants the same opportunities for their children.

“And their opportunity should not be based on their zip code,” she said. “Wherever you are in Georgia, you should be able to grow and have opportunities and to lead.”

The Democratic Caucus is made up of representatives from throughout the state.

“We believe that Georgians should have affordable health care,” Hugley said. “We believe we should have affordable housing in our communities and we believe people should have the opportunity to earn and meet the basic needs of their family.”

She had that the Caucus also believes strongly in higher education.

“We are here tonight because we came to hear from you and how we can better represent you,” Hugley said.