Georgia may well elect its first LGBTQ+ state senator. Kim Jackson is the Democrat running in District 41, which encompasses part of Dakalb and Gwinnett counties, suburban communities just outside Atlanta.

The seat is currently held by a fellow Democrat, Steve Henson, who has held the seat since 2003 but is not running for reelection. And while the district might be heavily Democrat, Georgia certainly isn’t. That is why Jackson is running on a platform “fighting to move Georgia forward,” focusing on issues such as criminal justice reform, medicaid expansion and raising the minimum wage.

“I was raised in a hardworking family, where love of God, family, and country were prioritized,” Jackson says. “My dad served families as a social worker for more than 30 years. For many years, he worked for Child Protective Services. From my dad, I learned the importance of advocating for the vulnerable and neglected.”

Jackson's mother, a retired nurse and professor of nursing, served as a community nurse for economically disadvantaged families living with Sickle Cell Disease. From her mother, Jackson says, she learned the importance of expanding access to quality early childhood education and health care.

Upon receiving her Master of Divinity, Jackson became an Episcopal priest. During 10 years of ministry, she served as a college chaplain, a nationally renowned consultant and preacher, a parish priest, and a social justice advocate.

Jackson is already known in Georgia’s halls of power. In 2018, the Georgia House of Representatives commended her for her “tireless efforts on behalf of the disenfranchised, disenchanted, and dispossessed.”

Jackson currently serves as the Vicar at the Episcopal Church of the Common Ground in Atlanta. She and her spouse, Trina, live on a small hobby farm in Stone Mountain with two Great Pyrenees dogs, goats, bees, ducks, chickens and a cat.

For more information, go to her campaign website.