Floyd Griffin

Last updated

Floyd Griffin
Mayor of Milledgeville, Georgia
In office
2001–2005
Military service
Branch/serviceFlag of the United States Army.svg  United States Army
Years of service1967–1990
Rank Colonel
Battles/wars Vietnam War

Floyd L. Griffin Jr. (born May 24, 1944) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Milledgeville, Georgia, from 2001 to 2005, and in the Georgia State Senate representing the 25th district from 1995 to 1999, as a member of the Democratic Party. He sought the Democratic Party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia in 1998 and Georgia Secretary of State in 2022.

Contents

Early life and career

Floyd L. Griffin Jr. earned an Associate of Science in funeral service from Gupton-Jones College, a Bachelor of Science from the Tuskegee Institute in building construction, and a master's degree from the Florida Institute of Technology in contract procurement and management. He served in the United States Army and graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College and the National War College. Griffin flew combat helicopters missions during the Vietnam War. [1] As an officer, Griffin taught military science at Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem State University. He also coached the offensive backfield for the Winston-Salem State Rams college football team. [2]

Griffin retired from the Army in 1990 at the rank of colonel. [3] He took over the family business, Slater's Funeral Home. [1]

Political career

In the 1994 elections, Griffin ran against Wilbur Baugh for the 25th district in the Georgia State Senate. Griffin defeated Baugh in a runoff election and was elected to the state senate without Republican opposition. [4] [5] He became the first African American to win a majority Caucasian district in the Georgia State Senate since the end of the Reconstruction era. [2] In 1998, Griffin ran for lieutenant governor of Georgia. [6] Griffin finished the primary election in fifth place. [7] He ran to reclaim his seat in the Georgia Senate in the 2000 elections, but lost. [8] He was elected mayor of Milledgeville in the 2001 election, and was sworn in on January 1, 2002. [9] He served as mayor until 2006; [3] Griffin lost reelection to Richard Bentley in the 2005 election. [10]

Griffin published an autobiography, Legacy to Legend: Winners: Make it Happen, in 2009. [11] He ran for the 25th district seat in the Georgia Senate in 2010, [12] and lost to Johnny Grant. Griffin ran for mayor of Milledgeville in the 2015 election, but lost to Gary Thrower by 35 votes. [13] [14] He ran for the 145th district of the Georgia House of Representatives in the 2016 elections, and faced Rick Williams, who is also a funeral director. [15] Griffin lost the election to Williams. [16]

Griffin served as an at-large delegate at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. [17] In May 2021, the city of Milledgeville dedicated a street in Griffin's honor. [1] Griffin announced his candidacy for Georgia Secretary of State in the 2022 elections. [3] Griffin was eliminated in the primary election, with Bee Nguyen and Dee Dawkins-Haigler advancing to a runoff election. [18]

Griffin has filed to run for Georgia’s newly reconfigured State House District 149 in 2024. The district was reconfigured as a result of a federal judge’s ruling that some current state house districts in Georgia deprive African-American communities of the chance to elect a candidate amongst themselves due to gerrymandering by the state’s Republican majority legislature. The 149th district is projected to favor the Democratic Party, and contains portions of Baldwin, Jones & Bibb Counties. [19]

Personal life

Griffin and his wife, Nathalie, have two children. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milledgeville, Georgia</span> City in Georgia, United States

Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, bordered on the east by the Oconee River. The rapid current of the river here made this an attractive location to build a city. It was the capital of Georgia from 1804 to 1868, including during the American Civil War. Milledgeville was preceded as the capital city by Louisville and was succeeded by Atlanta, the current capital. Today U.S. Highway 441 connects Milledgeville to Madison, Athens, and Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vernon Jones</span> American politician

Vernon Angus Jones is an American politician who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001 and from 2017 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James C. Davis</span> American politician

James Curran Davis was an American lawyer, World War I veteran, and politician from the state of Georgia who served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1963. Davis unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination at the 1956 Democratic National Convention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kasim Reed</span> American politician (born 1969)

Mohammed Kasim Reed is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia's state capital and largest city, from 2010 to 2018. A Democrat, Reed was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002 and represented the 35th District in the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2009. He served as campaign manager for Shirley Franklin's successful Atlanta mayoral campaign in 2001. After Franklin was term limited from the mayor's office, Reed successfully ran for the position in 2009. Inaugurated on January 4, 2010, Reed was elected to a second term in 2013.

Keisha Sean Waites is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, she served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2012 to 2017, representing southeast Atlanta, College Park, East Point, Hapeville, Forest Park, Hartsfield Jackson Airport, Porsche Headquarters and parts of Clayton and DeKalb counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonya Anderson</span> American politician

Tonya Peterson Anderson is an American pastor and politician who serves in the Georgia State Senate. She previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives, from 2013 to 2015. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Georgia state elections</span>

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Georgia on November 4, 2014. All of Georgia's executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, all of Georgia's fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives and all seats in both houses of the Georgia General Assembly. Primary elections were held on May 20, 2014. Primary runoffs, necessary if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, were held on July 22, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia</span>

The 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021, to elect the Class II member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia. Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue in the runoff election. The general election was held concurrently with the 2020 presidential election, as well as with other elections to the Senate, elections to the U.S. House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Georgia state elections</span>

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Georgia on November 6, 2018. All of Georgia's executive officers were up for election as well as all of Georgia's fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives. Neither U.S. Senate seat was up for election in 2018. The Republican Party won every statewide office in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Georgia Secretary of State election</span>

The 2018 Georgia Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Secretary of State of Georgia. It was held concurrently with the 2018 gubernatorial election, as well as elections for the United States Senate and elections for the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Republican Incumbent Secretary of State Brian Kemp chose not to run for re-election and instead ran successfully for governor. Since no candidate received the requisite 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates, Democrat John Barrow and Republican Brad Raffensperger proceeded to a runoff on December 4, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dee Dawkins-Haigler</span> American politician from Georgia (born 1970)

Dee Dawkins-Haigler is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, she was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives representing the state's 91st district from 2008 until 2017. She has also run twice as a candidate for secretary of state of Georgia. She is a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States Senate election in Georgia</span>

The 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate to represent the state of Georgia. Incumbent Democratic senator Raphael Warnock won his first full term in office, defeating Republican former football player Herschel Walker. Under Georgia's two-round system, Warnock was re-elected in a runoff election on December 6 after neither candidate received over 50% of the vote on November 8. Warnock's win was the only statewide victory for Democrats in Georgia in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bee Nguyen</span> American politician from Georgia

Bee Nguyen is an American nonprofit executive and politician who served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 89th District from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected during a special election in December 2017 to fill the seat vacated following Stacey Abrams's resignation in August 2017 to focus on her run for governor. Nguyen is the first Vietnamese-American elected to the Georgia House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia</span>

The 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021, to elect the Class III member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia. Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated appointed incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler. The first round of the election was held on November 3, 2020; however, no candidate received a majority of the vote, so the top two candidates—Warnock and Loeffler—advanced to a runoff on January 5, 2021, which Warnock won narrowly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Georgia state elections</span>

Several elections took place in the U.S. state of Georgia in 2022. The general election was held on November 8, 2022. A runoff election for one of Georgia's seats in the United States Senate was held on December 6, 2022. The runoff was scheduled because none of the candidates for Senate received 50% of the statewide vote in the general election. In addition to the Senate seat, all of Georgia's seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Also up for election were all of Georgia's executive officers and legislative seats, as well as one seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission. The Republican Party decisively won every single statewide office in Georgia except for the Federal Senate race which narrowly went Democratic in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Georgia Secretary of State election</span>

The 2022 Georgia Secretary of State election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Secretary of State of Georgia. Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger won re-election to a second term. Raffensperger emerged as a major national figure in early January, 2021 when he faced significant pressure from then-President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump had been taped in a phone call asking Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes," the exact number needed for Trump to carry the state. The party primary elections took place on May 24, with runoffs scheduled for June 21.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election</span>

The 2022 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. It coincided with various other statewide elections, including for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Governor of Georgia. Georgia is one of 21 states that elects its lieutenant governor separately from its governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bo Callaway</span> American businessman and politician (1927–2014)

Howard Hollis "Bo" Callaway was an American businessman and politician. He served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for the 3rd district of Georgia. He also served as the 11th United States Secretary of the Army.

Lewis H. McKenzie was an American politician. He served as a Democratic member for the 14th district of the Georgia State Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election</span>

The 1998 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to elect the lieutenant governor of Georgia, concurrently with the 1998 gubernatorial election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Georgia is one of 21 states that elects its lieutenant governor separately from its governor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hobbs, Billy (March 2021). "Milledgeville's first Black state senator, mayor honored". The Union-Recorder. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Griffin inducted into Wiston-Salem State Athletic Hall of Fame". The Union-Recorder. November 26, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Former Milledgeville Mayor Griffin runs for Georgia Secretary of State". September 15, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  4. Pendered, David (August 10, 1994). "Incumbents from both parties are the singing runoff blues" . The Atlanta Constitution. p. B4. Retrieved May 18, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  5. Baxter, Tom (January 17, 1995). "Blacks see progress in numbers, not power" . The Atlanta Constitution. p. C3. Retrieved May 18, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 Helton, Charmagne (July 7, 1998). "Floyd Griffin: Milledgeville Democrat focusing on education". The Atlanta Constitution. p. B4. Retrieved May 18, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  7. Helton, Charmagne (July 23, 1998). "Contenders for lieutenant governor put gloves back on". The Atlanta Constitution. p. E6. Retrieved May 18, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  8. Stewart, H.D. (July 22, 2000). "Jones, Davis in DeKalb CEO Run-Off" . The Atlanta Voice. p. 1A. Retrieved May 18, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  9. Segal, Cheryl (January 3, 2002). "Another mayoral 'first'" . The Atlanta Constitution. p. C2. Retrieved May 18, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Milledgeville mayor out on medical leave". Macon Telegraph. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  11. "6 Jun 2009, B5". The Macon Telegraph. June 6, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  12. "28 Oct 2010, B5". The Macon Telegraph. October 28, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Gary Thrower narrowly wins Milledgeville mayoral run off". The Telegraph. July 15, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  14. "Judge: No recount for Griffin in Milledgeville mayoral race". The Telegraph. July 15, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  15. "Who will bury whom? Georgia House race features two rival funeral home directors". Ajc.com. August 12, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  16. "Democrats win Georgia Senate seat, House largely a wash Tuesday". Ajc.com. November 9, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  17. Hobbs, Billy (July 6, 2020). "Floyd L. Griffin Jr. participating in his first DNC event". The Union-Recorder. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  18. "Bee Nguyen, Dee Dawkins-Haigler in Democratic SoS runoff". Associated Press . May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  19. McKearney, Christian (January 27, 2024). "Floyd Griffin announces run for General Assembly". Baldwin2K News. Retrieved February 3, 2024.