Connie Stokes (born September 3, 1953) is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, she is a former

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama * DeKalb County, Georgia * DeKalb County, Illinois * DeKalb County, Indiana * DeKalb County, Missouri ...

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

, and formerly served in the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

. Stokes ran for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

in 2014.

Early life and career

Stokes was born into poverty and abandoned by her mother, who was an alcoholic. Her great-grandmother raised her in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

's Fourth Ward. She went into business in

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

Political career

Stokes ran for the

seat representing the 43rd district in 1994, receiving the endorsement of ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

''. She won, and was reelected five times. While she served in the Georgia Senate,

Roy Barnes Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th Govern ...

, the

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

, appointed her to serve as one of his

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s. She also served as chairwoman of the Health and Human Services committee. In 2004,

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

won control of the Georgia Senate, and stripped Stokes of her committee leadership positions. As a result, she chose to run for in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, which was being vacated by Denise Majette, who was running for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. She received an endorsement from Barnes, but lost the Democratic nomination to

Cynthia McKinney Cynthia Ann McKinney (born March 17, 1955) is an American politician, academic, and conspiracy theorist. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first African American ...

, and was elected a

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

that fall. She chaired the budget committee. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, she challenged Hank Johnson for the House of Representatives, also representing Georgia's 4th congressional district, but Johnson won the nomination. In 2013, Stokes declared her candidacy in the

2014 Georgia gubernatorial election The 2014 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Georgia, concurrently with the election to Georgia's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other ...

. After Jason Carter entered the race, Stokes decided to run for

instead. She lost in the general election to incumbent

Casey Cagle Lowell Stacy "Casey" Cagle (born January 12, 1966) is an American politician and businessman, who served as the 11th lieutenant governor of Georgia from 2007 to 2019. He was previously a Republican Party member of the Georgia General Assembly f ...

Personal

Stokes received an Associate's degree from the

Art Institute of Atlanta The Art Institute of Atlanta is a private art school in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by Education Principle Foundation. The school is one of eight Art Institutes. It awards associate's and bachelor's degrees, including Bachelor of Fine Arts ( ...

and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Georgia State University's

J. Mack Robinson College of Business The J. Mack Robinson College of Business is the business school of Georgia State University in Atlanta. Based in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business Administration Building, it is one of Georgia State's six colleges. History Robinson College ...

, with a major in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

. She received a Masters in Public Administration, with a major in public management, from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She lives in Lithonia, Georgia, with her husband and three sons. She works as a

business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Connie Living people 1953 births Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Women state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) Politicians from Atlanta People from Lithonia, Georgia Georgia State University alumni African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) African-American women in politics 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women