Carolyn Jordan Bourdeaux (born June 3, 1970) is an American educator and politician serving as the

U.S. representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Georgia's 7th congressional district Georgia's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is currently represented by Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux. The district's boundaries have been redrawn following the 2010 census, which granted an a ...

since 2021. The district was based in

Gwinnett County Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia (after Fulton C ...

, an affluent suburban county northeast of

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 ...

. 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 was a professor at the Andrew Young School of Public Policy at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

from 2003 to 2021. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Bourdeaux ran for Georgia's 7th congressional district, coming within 433 votes of defeating the incumbent

Republican 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 ...

Rob Woodall William Robert Woodall III (born February 11, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. The district included most of Gwinnett County, a suburban county northeast of Atlanta. A Republica ...

, in the closest congressional race in that cycle. On February 7, 2019, Woodall announced he would retire at the end of his current term. That same day, Bourdeaux announced her intention to once again seek the seat. She won the 2020 election, defeating Republican

Rich McCormick Richard Dean McCormick (born October 7, 1968) is an American politician and physician. He has represented in the United States House of Representatives since 2023. Education and military service McCormick was born in Las Vegas in 1968 and grad ...

. On May 24, 2022, Bordeaux lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent

Lucy McBath Lucia Kay McBath ( née Holman; born June 1, 1960) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Georgia's 6th congressional district. The district, once represented by Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, include ...

Early life and education

Bourdeaux is from

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

and is the daughter of Robert "Bob" Montgomery Bourdeaux, IV, and Jerry Jordan (nee Ellis) Bourdeaux. In Roanoke, she attended Northside High School. She graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in history and economics. She earned a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and a

Doctor of Public Administration The Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A.) is a terminal applied-research doctoral degree in the field of public administration (a part of public service). The D.P.A. requires significant coursework beyond the masters level and a dissertation ...

from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 2003.

Early career

Bourdeaux worked as a political aide to

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden (; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United Stat ...

for four years, when he served 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 ...

and then in 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 ...

. In 2003, she became an associate professor at

. From 2007 to 2010, she served as director of Georgia's Senate Budget and Evaluation Office. After her time there, she returned to the Andrew Young School and founded the Center for State and Local Finance. In 2021, Bourdeaux was selected to become a member of the US National Academy of Public Administration.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

In 2018, Bourdeaux ran for the

in . She faced a six-way primary for the Democratic nomination. She came in first place in the May primary and earned a spot in the July 24 runoff. She won the runoff and the Democratic nomination. She faced Republican

in the November 6 general election. Bourdeaux was endorsed by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. The race was considered a sleeper, but it received more attention later in the campaign as Bourdeaux continued to outraise Woodall and as Democrats picked up momentum nationwide. In the third quarter of 2018, Bourdeaux outraised Woodall by a margin of more than 3-1, raising over $1 million. On election night, the race was too close to call. Just a few hours after it was filed on November 15, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May denied an emergency motion to force

to count previously rejected absentee ballots in the race. On November 21, after a recount, Bourdeaux conceded.

2020

On February 7, 2019, Bourdeaux announced that she would run for the same seat in 2020. She was endorsed by a number of Georgia politicians, including Congressman

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

. In the first week of her campaign, she announced raising over $100,000. In the first quarter of 2019, she outraised all other congressional challengers in the country, with a total of over $350,000, but she still attracted challenges from local activists and community leaders in the Democratic primary. Bourdeaux won the primary, narrowly avoiding a runoff with 52.7% of the vote. Woodall did not seek reelection in 2020. Bourdeaux defeated Republican

in the general election. Aside from Deborah Ross and

Kathy Manning Kathy Ellen Manning (born December 3, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician from North Carolina. She is the U.S. representative from North Carolina's 6th congressional district. The district is in the heart of the Piedmont Triad and includes ...

in North Carolina, who won seats that were redrawn to become safely Democratic, Bourdeaux was the only Democratic House candidate in 2020 to flip a seat previously held by a Republican.

2022

On May 24, 2022, Bourdeaux lost a redistricting primary race to fellow incumbent

Tenure

Bourdeaux was sworn in on January 3, 2021. She is the first Democrat to represent this district since its creation in 1993 as the 4th district; it became the 11th in 1997 and has been the 7th since 2003.

John Linder John Elmer Linder (born September 9, 1942) is an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011. His district was numbered the from 1993 to 1997, the from 1997 to 2003, and the from 2003 u ...

held the seat from its creation until handing it to Woodall, his former chief of staff, in 2011. Bourdeaux is the only Democrat since 1994 to win as much as 40% of the vote in the district. She is also the first white Democrat to represent a district based in the Atlanta suburbs since

Buddy Darden George Washington "Buddy" Darden III (born November 22, 1943) is an American politician and lawyer from Georgia. He served in the state house and then for more than five terms as Congressman from Georgia. Early life Darden was born in Hancock C ...

left office in 1995. On August 12, 2021, Bourdeaux and eight other House Democrats signed a letter to Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

saying, "We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law." She said her support for the Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget resolution would be withheld if the timeline did not change for passage of the budget. Bourdeaux ultimately voted for the $3.5 trillion budget. As of August 2021, Bourdeaux had voted in line with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Small Business ** Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access *

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...

** Subcommittee on Highways and Transit ** Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Caucus memberships

Blue Dog Coalition The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative De ...

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a congressional caucus, caucus in the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democratic Party (United States), Democrats, primarily Centrism, cent ...

* Problem Solvers Caucus

Personal life

Bourdeaux is married to Jeffrey Skodnik, a sales manager at

LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer informa ...

. They live in

Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. Portions of Forsyth and Fulton counties ...

, and have a son. Her sister Margaret Bourdeaux is a researcher at Harvard University and is married to astronomer

David Charbonneau David Brian Charbonneau is a professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. His research focuses on the development of novel techniques for the detection and characterization of exoplanets orbiting nearby, Sun-like stars. Early life and educat ...

References

External links

Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux
official U.S. House website
Carolyn Bourdeaux for Congress
campaign website * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourdeaux, Carolyn 1970 births 21st-century American women politicians Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Candidates in the 2020 United States elections Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) Female members of the United States House of Representatives Georgia State University faculty Living people Politicians from Roanoke, Virginia Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumni USC Sol Price School of Public Policy alumni Women in Georgia (U.S. state) politics Yale College alumni American women academics 21st-century American politicians Fellows of the United States National Academy of Public Administration