State Rep. James Beverly of Macon will step aside after leading state House Democrats for more than three years and serving in the House for more than 12 years.
Ahead of Friday’s announcement, Beverly granted WABE an interview about his decision and his future.
Beverly says one of the reasons he is leaving is the growing business and community opportunities to build affordable housing in Macon, instead of serving another term in the House.
“What that would mean is that I would stay here for another two years and still continue alone is a continuum where there are people in my home district right now who are still suffering, still need affordable housing and still need some hope and, and the demand for me to lean into that right now is there,” he said.
Beverly is comfortable with the position the Georgia House Democratic caucus is in.
“The caucus is in great shape. You know, when I got the caucus, we had no money, we had no staff, we had nothing,” he said. “Now, we have a great staff. We have some money in the bank and there’s a new group of people coming in and they’re gonna do fine.”
Beverly has no doubt about the number one priority for the next House Democratic leaders. Republicans currently have a 100-to-78 advantage in the House. There are two vacancies, both in Republican-leaning districts.
“We’ve been saying this forever, is the governor has to expand Medicaid, like full stop, man,” Beverly said. “It’s 500,000 people in the state of Georgia right now not insured. And just because someone just has … doesn’t have the political will to do it. And that’s ridiculous.”
Beverly says he does not know his political future, but will consider statewide or congressional office.
In a statement released after the official announcement, Beverly says “I’ll announce my next move later this year.”
