Renitta Shannon

American politician (born 1979)
Renitta Shannon
Renitta Shanbay Shannon
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 84th district
In office
January 9, 2017 – January 9, 2023
Preceded byRahn Mayo
Succeeded byOmari Crawford
Personal details
Born
Renitta Shanbay Shannon

(1979-12-29) December 29, 1979 (age 44)
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Florida (BA)
WebsiteCampaign website

Renitta Shanbay Shannon (born December 29, 1979)[1] is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives. In 2016, Shannon defeated a four-term Democratic incumbent. In January 2017, she was sworn into the Georgia State House of Representatives to represent the 84th district.

In 2017, she came out as bisexual,[2] making her the first bisexual legislator to serve in the Georgia General Assembly.

Early life

Shannon was born in Florida. After college, she worked in business development for a variety of sectors including mental health and financial services.[3] In a 2019 interview, she said that she spent most of her free time as an activist on racial justice, economic justice, criminal justice, and equality issues, including as an organizer for various progressive grassroots organizations.[4]

Career

She defeated incumbent representative Rahn Mayo in the Democratic primaries in 2016,[5] and went on to win the seat unopposed in the 2016 general election.

According to Shannon, she ran for office "to fight for policies that truly support women, working people, and people of color"[6] and has written about improving representation and of electing queer black women into public office.[7]

In her 2019–2020 term, she was appointed the Chair of the House Democratic Criminal Justice Reform Committee and is a member of the Governmental Affairs, Small Business Development, and Insurance committees[8] positions she continued in for her 2021–2022 term, with the addition of the State Planning and Community Affairs Committee.

She ran for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia in the 2022 election.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Renitta Shannon". Georgia House of Representatives, June 11, 2019.
  2. ^ "Georgia lawmaker publicly comes out as LGBTQ". Project Q Atlanta. 2017-10-12.
  3. ^ Duncan, Dallas (2018-02-01). "Georgia state Rep. Renitta Shannon on coming out, amplifying bisexual voices". Georgia Voice - Gay & LGBT Atlanta News.
  4. ^ Speak, Polly C. (2019-05-22). "A Q&A With Georgia Representative Renitta Shannon - The Lighthouse|Black Girl Projects". Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  5. ^ "Renitta Shannon’s Big Primary Victory; Lopez to be First Latina in State House". Atlanta Progressive News, May 30, 2016.
  6. ^ "I'm A Black Woman & An Elected Official, & I Had An Abortion. I'm Here To Tell My Story". Elite Daily. May 10, 2018.
  7. ^ Shannon, Renitta (2018-06-14). "Pride Month: Why It Matters to Elect Queer Black Women to Public Office". The BGG to Politics.
  8. ^ "Renitta Shannon". Ballotpedia.
  9. ^ "Democratic state Rep. Renitta Shannon enters race for Georgia's lieutenant governor". ajc. Retrieved 28 September 2021.

External links

  • Official website
  • Legislative homepage
  • v
  • t
  • e
157th General Assembly (2023–2025)
Speaker of the House
Jon G. Burns (R)
Majority Leader
Chuck Efstration (R)
Minority Leader
James Beverly (D)
  1. ▌Mike Cameron (R)
  2. ▌Steve Tarvin (R)
  3. ▌Mitchell Horner (R)
  4. ▌Kasey Carpenter (R)
  5. ▌Matt Barton (R)
  6. ▌Jason Ridley (R)
  7. ▌Johnny Chastain (R)
  8. ▌Stan Gunter (R)
  9. ▌Will Wade (R)
  10. ▌Victor Anderson (R)
  11. ▌Rick Jasperse (R)
  12. ▌Eddie Lumsden (R)
  13. ▌Katie Dempsey (R)
  14. ▌Mitchell Scoggins (R)
  15. ▌Matthew Gambill (R)
  16. ▌Trey Kelley (R)
  17. ▌Martin Momtahan (R)
  18. ▌Tyler Smith (R)
  19. ▌Joseph Gullett (R)
  20. ▌Charlice Byrd (R)
  21. ▌Brad Thomas (R)
  22. ▌Jordan Ridley (R)
  23. ▌Mandi Ballinger (R)
  24. ▌Carter Barrett (R)
  25. ▌Todd Jones (R)
  26. ▌Lauren McDonald (R)
  27. ▌Lee Hawkins (R)
  28. ▌Brent Cox (R)
  29. ▌Matt Dubnik (R)
  30. ▌Derrick McCollum (R)
  31. ▌Emory Dunahoo (R)
  32. ▌Chris Erwin (R)
  33. ▌Alan Powell (R)
  34. ▌Devan Seabaugh (R)
  35. ▌Lisa Campbell (D)
  36. ▌Ginny Ehrhart (R)
  37. ▌Mary Frances Williams (D)
  38. ▌David Wilkerson (D)
  39. ▌Terry Cummings (D)
  40. ▌Doug Stoner (D)
  41. ▌Michael Smith (D)
  42. ▌Teri Anulewicz (D)
  43. ▌Solomon Adesanya (D)
  44. ▌Don Parsons (R)
  45. ▌Sharon Cooper (R)
  46. ▌John Carson (R)
  47. ▌Jan Jones (R)
  48. ▌Scott Hilton (R)
  49. ▌Chuck Martin (R)
  50. ▌Michelle Au (D)
  51. ▌Esther Panitch (D)
  52. ▌Shea Roberts (D)
  53. ▌Deborah Silcox (R)
  54. ▌Betsy Holland (D)
  55. ▌Inga Willis (D)
  56. ▌Mesha Mainor (R)
  57. ▌Stacey Evans (D)
  58. ▌Park Cannon (D)
  59. ▌Phil Olaleye (D)
  60. ▌Sheila Jones (D)
  61. ▌Roger Bruce (D)
  62. ▌Tanya F. Miller (D)
  63. ▌Kim Schofield (D)
  64. ▌Kimberly New (R)
  65. ▌Mandisha Thomas (D)
  66. ▌Kimberly Alexander (D)
  67. ▌Lydia Glaize (D)
  68. ▌Derrick Jackson (D)
  69. ▌Debra Bazemore (D)
  70. ▌Lynn Smith (R)
  71. ▌J. Collins (R)
  72. ▌David Huddleston (R)
  73. ▌Josh Bonner (R)
  74. ▌Karen Mathiak (R)
  75. ▌Eric Bell II (D)
  76. ▌Sandra Scott (D)
  77. ▌Rhonda Burnough (D)
  78. ▌Demetrius Douglas (D)
  79. ▌Yasmin Neal (D)
  80. ▌Long Tran (D)
  81. ▌Scott Holcomb (D)
  82. ▌Mary Margaret Oliver (D)
  83. ▌Karen Lupton (D)
  84. ▌Omari Crawford (D)
  85. ▌Karla Drenner (D)
  86. ▌Imani Barnes (D)
  87. ▌Viola Davis (D)
  88. ▌Billy Mitchell (D)
  89. ▌Becky Evans (D)
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  91. ▌Angela Moore (D)
  92. ▌Rhonda Taylor (D)
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  94. ▌Karen Bennett (D)
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  100. ▌David Clark (R)
  101. ▌Gregg Kennard (D)
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  104. ▌Chuck Efstration (R)
  105. ▌Farooq Mughal (D)
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  107. ▌Sam Park (D)
  108. ▌Jasmine Clark (D)
  109. ▌Dewey McClain (D)
  110. ▌Segun Adeyina (D)
  111. ▌Reynaldo Martinez (R)
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  132. ▌Brian Prince (D)
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  134. ▌David Knight (R)
  135. ▌Beth Camp (R)
  136. ▌David Jenkins (R)
  137. ▌Debbie Buckner (D)
  138. ▌Vance Smith (R)
  139. ▌Vacant
  140. ▌Teddy Reese (D)
  141. ▌Carolyn Hugley (D)
  142. ▌Miriam Paris (D)
  143. ▌James Beverly (D)
  144. ▌Dale Washburn (R)
  145. ▌Robert Dickey (R)
  146. ▌Shaw Blackmon (R)
  147. ▌Bethany Ballard (R)
  148. ▌Noel Williams Jr. (R)
  149. ▌Danny Mathis (R)
  150. ▌Patty Bentley (D)
  151. ▌Mike Cheokas (R)
  152. ▌Bill Yearta (R)
  153. ▌David Sampson (D)
  154. ▌Gerald Greene (R)
  155. ▌Matt Hatchett (R)
  156. ▌Leesa Hagan (R)
  157. ▌Bill Werkheiser (R)
  158. ▌Butch Parrish (R)
  159. ▌Jon G. Burns (R)
  160. ▌Lehman Franklin (R)
  161. ▌Bill Hitchens (R)
  162. ▌Carl Gilliard (D)
  163. ▌Anne Allen Westbrook (D)
  164. ▌Ron Stephens (R)
  165. ▌Edna Jackson (D)
  166. ▌Jesse Petrea (R)
  167. ▌Buddy DeLoach (R)
  168. ▌Al Williams (D)
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  171. ▌Joe Campbell (R)
  172. ▌Charles Cannon (R)
  173. ▌Darlene Taylor (R)
  174. ▌John Corbett (R)
  175. ▌John LaHood (R)
  176. ▌James Burchett (R)
  177. ▌Dexter Sharper (D)
  178. ▌Steven Meeks (R)
  179. ▌Rick Townsend (R)
  180. ▌Steven Sainz (R)