EMILYs List Endorses Nikema Williams in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District
For Immediate Release
August 11, 2020
EMILYs List Endorses Nikema Williams in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Nikema Williams in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:
“EMILYs List is proud to endorse state Senator Nikema Williams to succeed the late Congressman John Lewis in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. Nikema is a proven leader whose work in pursuit of justice and equality exemplifies the values John Lewis stood for. The first Black woman chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, the deputy director of civic engagement of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and the former vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Southeast, Nikema has an outstanding record of fighting for women and working families. She has dedicated her career to standing alongside and empowering marginalized communities to ensure their voices are heard at the ballot box and beyond. We are confident that Nikema will carry on the Congressman’s legacy, and we are proud to stand with her.”
Nikema Williams was born in Columbus, Georgia and was raised by her grandparents. She attended Talladega College, a historically black college across the Chattahoochee River in Alabama. Nikema currently serves as the state senator in Georgia’s 39th Senate District. She is the first Black woman chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia and is a member of the executive and standing resolutions committees of the Democratic National Committee. Nikema is a former vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Southeast, the current deputy director of civic engagement of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and the deputy executive director of Care in Action. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Leslie, and young son, Carter.
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 55,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices.
