Incumbent Sheri Gilligan defeated Democratic contender Natalie Bucsko for the Georgia House District 24 seat in the 2020 general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Gilligan earned 27,898 votes, overtaking 73% of the 38,029 ballots cast in the county. Opponent Bucsko, on the other hand, earned 10,131 votes, claiming more than 26% of the votes.
Who is she: Gilligan has served in the Georgia House since 2015, and she has lived in the district for a total of 36 years. Gilligan graduated from Forsyth County High School before leaving the county to attend the University of Georgia. After college, she moved on to U.S. Navy Reserves, which later led her to a career with the CIA as an intelligence analyst. Eventually, she returned home to then teach at Lanier Technical College.
On the issues: Leading up to the election, Gilligan stressed the importance of protecting citizens' Second Amendment rights to own firearms along with citizens' First Amendment rights, specifically to free speech and freedom of religion. Gilligan has also called for further transparency in medical pricing, more freedom to patients when it comes to medical decisions such as vaccinations, and further schooling choices for students and parents.
How she reacted: "I am very humbled to have earned the opportunity to continue to serve the people of the 24th House District. I campaigned on the same conservative polices that have made Georgia the No. 1 state to do business in. Forsyth County is a great place to live and raise a family and we want to keep our county this way."
Priorities for upcoming term: "Georgia has made great strides in protecting the precious lives of the unborn. I want to continue to be a leader in this movement because all lives have value from the moment of conception until their last natural breath.
"Going forward, my priorities are to focus on policies to support families and students. I want to ensure that girls have a level playing field on the athletic field. I will focus on saving girls' sports. We need to ensure that all of Georgia students have access to a quality education, so I will work on policies that promote school choice and ensure that the Hope Scholarship remains merit-based. Working with my colleagues in the House, we will continue to bring transparency in the costs of healthcare and prescription drugs and make sure that decisions on healthcare are between the doctor and the patient.
"These are sound policies that will help all Georgians, and I am certain that, working together, we can make Forsyth County and all of Georgia the best place to live and raise a family."
