Donzella James
2009 - Present
2025
14
Donzella James (Democratic Party) is a member of the Georgia State Senate, representing District 35. She assumed office on December 13, 2009. Her current term ends on January 13, 2025.
James (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Georgia State Senate to represent District 28. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
James' professional experience includes teaching in Atlanta Public Schools.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
James was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee
- Education and Youth Committee
- Senate Interstate Cooperation Committee, Vice Chair
- Urban Affairs Committee, Chair
2021-2022
James was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee
- Education and Youth Committee
- Senate Interstate Cooperation Committee, Chair
- Special Judiciary Committee
2019-2020
James was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee
- Education and Youth Committee
- Senate Interstate Cooperation Committee, Chairman
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Georgia committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Economic Development and Tourism |
| • Education and Youth |
| • Interstate Cooperation, Chair |
| • Special Judiciary |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, James served on the following committees:
| Georgia committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Economic Development and Tourism |
| • Education and Youth |
| • Interstate Cooperation, Chair |
| • Special Judiciary |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, James served on the following committees:
| Georgia committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Economic Development |
| • Education and Youth |
| • Special Judiciary |
| • State and Local Governmental Operations |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, James served on the following committees:
| Georgia committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Education and Youth |
| • Special Judiciary |
| • State Institutions and Property |
| • State and Local Governmental Operations |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, James served on the following committees:
| Georgia committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Education and Youth |
| • Retirement |
| • Special Judiciary |
| • State and Local Governmental Operations |
| • State Institutions and Property |
| • Urban Affairs |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 28
Incumbent Donzella James won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 28 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Donzella James (D) | 100.0 | 79,596 |
| Total votes: 79,596 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 28
Incumbent Donzella James defeated Terracia Tee Wilkinson in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 28 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Donzella James | 75.1 | 14,128 |
 | Terracia Tee Wilkinson | 24.9 | 4,686 | |
| Total votes: 18,814 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for James in this election.
2022
See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 35
Incumbent Donzella James won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 35 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Donzella James (D) | 100.0 | 62,015 |
| Total votes: 62,015 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 35
Incumbent Donzella James defeated Whitney Kenner Jones, Lula Gilliam, and Mike Glanton Jr. in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 35 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Donzella James | 70.9 | 17,707 |
 | Whitney Kenner Jones | 11.3 | 2,821 | |
 | Lula Gilliam | 9.8 | 2,453 | |
 | Mike Glanton Jr. | 7.9 | 1,977 | |
| Total votes: 24,958 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2020
See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 35
Incumbent Donzella James won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 35 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Donzella James (D) | 100.0 | 82,600 |
| Total votes: 82,600 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 35
Incumbent Donzella James defeated Karen Ashley and Kelly Johnson in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 35 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Donzella James | 63.4 | 25,430 |
 | Karen Ashley | 19.2 | 7,688 | |
 | Kelly Johnson | 17.5 | 7,012 | |
| Total votes: 40,130 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 35
Incumbent Donzella James won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 35 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Donzella James (D) | 100.0 | 65,277 |
| Total votes: 65,277 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 35
Incumbent Donzella James defeated Karen Ashley and Mike Glanton Jr. in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 35 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Donzella James | 66.6 | 10,651 |
| Karen Ashley | 22.5 | 3,602 | |
| Mike Glanton Jr. | 10.8 | 1,728 | |
| Total votes: 15,981 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Georgia State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 24, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 11, 2016.
Incumbent Donzella James ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 35 general election.[1][2]
| Georgia State Senate, District 35 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Donzella James Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 66,099 | |
| Total Votes | 66,099 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Donzella James defeated Tony Phillips in the Georgia State Senate District 35 Democratic primary.[3][4]
| Georgia State Senate, District 35 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Donzella James Incumbent |
74.98% | 7,214 | |
| Democratic | Tony Phillips | 25.02% | 2,407 | |
| Total Votes | 9,621 | |||
2014
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Georgia State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014, with a runoff election taking place where necessary on July 22, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 7, 2014. Incumbent Donzella J. James was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Francisco X.R. Artley was unopposed in the Republican primary. James defeated Artley in the general election.[5][6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Donzella James Incumbent |
74.8% | 36,530 | |
| Republican | Francisco Artley | 25.2% | 12,285 | |
| Total Votes | 48,815 | |||
2012
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2012
James ran in the 2012 election for Georgia State Senate District 35. James defeated Detrius Hill Jones and Cory J. Lynch in the Democratic primary on July 31, 2012. Incumbent Benjamin Brooks (R) ran unopposed in the Republican primary. The general election took place on November 6, 2012.[8][9] James defeated Brooks in the general election.[10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Donzella James Incumbent |
100% | 59,430 | |
| Total Votes | 59,430 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Donzella James Incumbent |
74.8% | 10,293 |
| Cory J. Lynch | 13.2% | 1,811 |
| Detrius Hill Jones | 12.1% | 1,661 |
| Total Votes | 13,765 | |
2010
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2010
James won re-election to the 35th District seat in 2010. She was unopposed in the November 2 general election.[11]
| Georgia State Senate, District 35 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Donzella James (D)
|
50,777 | 100.0% | ||
James defeated Roberta Cooper and Torrey Johnson in the primary on July 20th.[12]
| Georgia State Senate, District 35 - Democratic Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Donzella James
|
9,739 | 66.5% | ||
| Torrey O. Johnson | 3,641 | 24.9% | ||
| Roberta Cooper | 1,256 | 8.6% | ||
2009
On November 3, 2009, James won election to the Georgia Senate from Georgia's 35th Senate district in a special election to replace Kasim Reed. Reed was required to give up his seat because he was running to become the mayor of Atlanta.[13] James won the election with 3,598 votes (26.0% of the vote), defeating eight other Democratic candidates.[14]
| Georgia Senate, District 35 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Donzella James (D)
|
3,598 | 26.0% | ||
| Torrey Johnson | 2,722 | 19.7% | ||
| Benny Crane | 2,125 | 15.4% | ||
| Aaron Johnson | 1,401 | 10.1% | ||
| Rosie Jackson | 1,302 | 9.4% | ||
| Kezmich'e Atterbury | 1,022 | 7.4% | ||
| George Oliver Sneed, Jr. | 839 | 6.1% | ||
| Cory Lynch | 531 | 3.8% | ||
| Demarcus Peters | 283 | 2.0% | ||
2000
On November 7, 2000, James won re-election to the 35th District Seat in the Florida State Senate. James was unopposed, and raised $52,057 for her campaign.[15]
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Donzella James did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Donzella James did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Donzella James did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
James and her husband, Elmo, have two children.[16]
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Georgia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 9 to March 29.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 10 to April 4.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 31.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 13 to June 26. The session was suspended from March 13 through June 11.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 14 through April 2.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 8 through March 29.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 9 through March 31.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 11 through March 24.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 13 through March 21.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 13 through March 21.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 29.
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Noteworthy events
James, along with his Georgia State Senate colleagues, entered self-quarantine after State Sen. Brandon Beach tested positive for coronavirus.[17]
|
|---|
| Coronavirus pandemic |
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Georgia State Senate District 28 |
Officeholder Georgia State Senate District 35 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election results," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed March 13, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General primary results," accessed May 24, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 10, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed November 13, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State Elections Division, "Candidate List," accessed May 29, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Elections Division, "2012 Election Results" accessed November 16, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2010 Election results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official 2010 Primary election results," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Report on James' candidacy in the 2009 special election
- ↑ Georgia Senate official special election results, 2009
- ↑ 2000 District 35 Election Results
- ↑ Donzella James Bio
- ↑ WGAU 98.7FM & AM1340, “Senator tests positive for coronavirus, Athens lawmakers self-quarantine,” March 19, 2020
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Georgia State Senate District 28 2025 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Georgia State Senate District 35 2009-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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