John F. Kennedy (Georgia)

John Kennedy

Republican Party

Georgia State Senate District 18

Tenure

2015 - Present

Term ends

2025

Years in position

9

Compensation

Base salary

$24,341.64/year

Per diem

$247/day

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

John Kennedy (Republican Party) is a member of the Georgia State Senate, representing District 18. He assumed office on January 12, 2015. His current term ends on January 13, 2025.

Kennedy (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Georgia State Senate to represent District 18. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

John F. Kennedy was born in Bolingbroke, GA and earned a Juris Doctor from the Mercer University School of Law in 1990 and a bachelor's degree in economics at Mercer University in 1990. Kennedy’s career experience includes working as a partner at James-Bates-Brannan-Groover, LLP. He is on the executive board of Directors for the Central Georgia Council and Boy Scouts of America, and served as president of the Macon Bar Association. Kennedy was elected to the state senate in 2014 and has served as Vice-Chairman of the Banking and Financial Services Committee and Secretary of the Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee.

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

• Ways and Means Committee
• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Vice Chair
• Senate Ethics Committee, Ex-Officio
• House Health and Human Services Committee, Ex-Officio
• Insurance Committee, Ex-Officio
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, Secretary
• Senate Rules Committee, Ex-Officio
• Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee, Ex-Officio

2021-2022

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

• Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Vice chair
• Senate Judiciary Committee, Secretary
• Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, Chair
• Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, Secretary

2019-2020

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Vice Chairman
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee
• Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, Secretary
• Senate Rules Committee, Ex-Officio

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Kennedy served on the following committees:

Georgia committee assignments, 2015
• Banking and Financial Institutions
• Judiciary

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 18

Incumbent John Kennedy won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 18 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Kennedy (R)	100.0	80,905

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source	Total votes: 80,905
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18

Incumbent John Kennedy advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Kennedy	100.0	14,180

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,180
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Kennedy in this election.

2022

See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Georgia State Senate District 18

Incumbent John Kennedy defeated Chris Benton in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 18 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Kennedy (R)	64.4	49,581
		Chris Benton (D)	35.6	27,372

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 76,953
= 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 18

Chris Benton advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Benton	100.0	10,025

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,025
= 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18

Incumbent John Kennedy defeated Diane Vann in the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Kennedy	89.1	24,531
		Diane Vann	10.9	2,998

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,529
= 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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2020

See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Georgia State Senate District 18

Incumbent John Kennedy won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 18 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Kennedy (R)	100.0	71,209

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 71,209
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18

Incumbent John Kennedy advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Kennedy	100.0	22,976

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 22,976
= 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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2018

See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Georgia State Senate District 18

Incumbent John Kennedy won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 18 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Kennedy (R)	100.0	57,935

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 57,935 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18

Incumbent John Kennedy advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Kennedy	100.0	13,027

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 13,027
= 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.

John F. Kennedy ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 18 general election.

Georgia State Senate, District 18 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John F. Kennedy  (unopposed)	100.00%	60,751
Total Votes				60,751
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

John F. Kennedy ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 18 Republican primary.

Georgia State Senate, District 18 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	John F. Kennedy  (unopposed)

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. John F. Kennedy defeated Spencer T. Price in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election.

Georgia State Senate, District 18 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
John F. Kennedy	56.7%	9,197
Spencer T. Price	43.3%	7,017
Total Votes		16,214

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

John Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

John Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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John Kennedy campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Georgia State Senate District 18	Won general	$373,182	$210,754
2022	Georgia State Senate District 18	Won general	$404,070	$0
2020	Georgia State Senate District 18	Won general	$253,934	N/A**
2018	Georgia State Senate District 18	Won general	$180,657	N/A**
2016	Georgia State Senate, District 18	Won	$150,793	N/A**
2014	Georgia State Senate, District 18	Won	$201,598	N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Georgia

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].
In 2023, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 9 to March 29. Georgia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].
In 2022, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 10 to April 4. Georgia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 31. ACLU Georgia Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to civil rights issues. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Georgia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].

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. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Georgia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Georgia Environment Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].

In 2019, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 14 through April 2. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Faith and Freedom Coalition of Georgia: House and Senate Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues. Georgia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2018

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show].

In 2018, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 8 through March 29. Faith and Freedom Coalition of Georgia: House and Senate Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues. Georgia Center for Opportunity Legislators are scored on their votes on children's education. Georgia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].

In 2017, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 9 through March 31. Americans for Prosperity Georgia Legislators are scored on their stances on economic issues. Faith and Freedom Coalition of Georgia: House and Senate Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues. Georgia Center for Opportunity Legislators are scored on their votes on children's education. Georgia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Georgia Environment Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].

In 2016, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 11 through March 24. Americans for Prosperity Georgia Legislators are scored on their stances on economic issues. Georgia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2015

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show].
In 2015, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

Noteworthy events

Decision to self-quarantine for coronavirus on March 19, 2020

See also: Political incumbents, candidates, and government officials diagnosed with COVID-19 or quarantined due to the coronavirus pandemic, 2020

Kennedy, along with his Georgia State Senate colleagues, entered self-quarantine after State Sen. Brandon Beach tested positive for coronavirus.

Coronavirus pandemic
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Georgia State Senate District 18

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Georgia State Senate District 18 2015-Present	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the Georgia State Senate

Senators

District 1

Ben Watson (R)

District 2

Derek Mallow (D)

District 3

Mike Hodges (R)

District 4

Billy Hickman (R)

District 5

Sheikh Rahman (D)

District 6

Jason Esteves (D)

District 7

Nabilah Islam Parkes (D)

District 8

Russ Goodman (R)

District 9

Nikki Merritt (D)

District 10

Emanuel Jones (D)

District 11

Sam Watson (R)

District 12

Freddie Sims (D)

District 13

Carden Summers (R)

District 14

Josh McLaurin (D)

District 15

Ed Harbison (D)

District 16

Marty Harbin (R)

District 17

Brian Strickland (R)

District 18

John Kennedy (R)

District 19

Blake Tillery (R)

District 20

Larry Walker (R)

District 21

Brandon Beach (R)

District 22

Harold Jones (D)

District 23

Max Burns (R)

District 24

Lee Anderson (R)

District 25

Ricky Williams (R)

District 26

David Lucas (D)

District 27

Greg Dolezal (R)

District 28

Matt Brass (R)

District 29

Randy Robertson (R)

District 30

Tim Bearden (R)

District 31

Jason Anavitarte (R)

District 32

Kay Kirkpatrick (R)

District 33

Michael Rhett (D)

District 34

Valencia Seay (D)

District 35

Donzella James (D)

District 36

Nan Orrock (D)

District 37

Ed Setzler (R)

District 38

Horacena Tate (D)

District 39

Sonya Halpern (D)

District 40

Sally Harrell (D)

District 41

Kim Jackson (D)

District 42

Elena Parent (D)

District 43

Tonya Anderson (D)

District 44

Gail Davenport (D)

District 45

Clint Dixon (R)

District 46

Bill Cowsert (R)

District 47

Frank Ginn (R)

District 48

Shawn Still (R)

District 49

Shelly Echols (R)

District 50

Bo Hatchett (R)

District 51

Steve Gooch (R)

District 52

Chuck Hufstetler (R)

District 53

Colton Moore (R)

District 54

Chuck Payne (R)

District 55

Gloria Butler (D)

District 56

John Albers (R)

Republican Party (33)

Democratic Party (23)