Tonya Peterson Anderson (born July 16, 1969) is an American pastor and politician who serves in the Georgia State Senate. She previously served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005 ...

, from 2013 to 2015. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Anderson was a candidate District 43 of the Georgia State Senate in the 2016 election. She advanced to a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

against

Dee Dawkins-Haigler Dee Dawkins-Haigler (; January 31, 1970) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, she was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives representing the state's 91st district from 2008 until 2017. She has also ...

. Anderson led Dawkins-Haigler in the official vote count by 0.12 percent (4,276 votes to 4,266 votes), leading to

Georgia Secretary of State The Secretary of State of the U.S. state of Georgia is an elected official with a wide variety of responsibilities, including supervising elections and maintaining public records. The office has had a four-year term since 1946. Before 1880, th ...

Brian Kemp Brian Porter Kemp (born November 2, 1963) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 83rd governor of Georgia since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Kemp served as the 27th secretary of state of Georgia from 2010 to ...

to order a

recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

. The recount confirmed Anderson's victory over Dawkins-Haigler by 10 votes. Anderson defeated Republican incumbent Janice Frey Van Ness. The two women faced off prior in a December 2015 run- off, resulting in a very narrow win for Van Ness. Anderson was sworn into the State Senate on January 9, 2017. Before serving in the legislature, Anderson served as the mayor of Lithonia. Anderson has served in the

Air Force Reserves The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commiss ...

. She also served as Chair of the Georgia Women's Legislative Caucus.

References

External links

Profile
at the Georgia State Senate *
Biography
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Profile
at the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are direct ...

from the 2013-2014 Session {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Tonya African-American female military personnel African-American mayors in Georgia (U.S. state) African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) African-American women in politics Living people Mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives People from Lithonia, Georgia Female United States Air Force personnel Women mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians African-American Christians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 1969 births African-American United States Air Force personnel